We live in a world where not everyone is free. Freedom is based on race, gender or money. The good news is God’s freedom is not partial. The Word says, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” and God’s freedom is free for everyone! It doesn’t matter what your nationality, heritage or gender is, or what your family name is. It doesn’t matter how much money you have or don’t have; God wants you free from everything that would hold you back from your relationship with Him!
Today, God wants to pour out His abundant blessing on all who honour Him and do what is right. In fact, the Bible says in Galatians, that in Christ, there is no Jew or Greek or even male or female. That means God’s not judging you based on physical conditions. He’s looking at your heart. He’s looking at the gifts He’s placed inside of you, and is offering you His freedom.
Today, don’t let the enemy lie to you and tell you that God is blessing everyone else but you. Look for the ways He is pouring out blessings in your life. Thank Him for His acceptance, love and freedom. Focus on honouring Him and doing what is right, and you will be free in mind, body and Spirit, and you’ll see His hand of blessing in every area of your life! Hallelujah!
“…God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.” (Acts 10:34—35, NIV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank You for loving and accepting me and setting me free. Father, my desire is to do what pleases You, and honour You with my attitude, words and actions. Holy Spirit, show me if there is any area that isn’t pleasing to You, and help me eradicate it today. God, I want to live as an example of Your goodness all the days of my life. In Christ’s Name! Amen.
The notion of so-called postcode wars may have slipped from the headlines recently but the territorial divisions continue to exert a powerful influence on the lives of thousands of young Londoners.
This lady gives her thoughts on Knife Crime in the UK. We salute this woman for speaking out! The passion in her voice is intense.
Guns, Gangs and Postcode Wars
The youth culture seems to be falling apart at the moment. We’ve seen a real sea change over the past few years, with a significant increase in the number of people who have been injured, in the number of injuries sustained per person, and the severity of those injuries.
The more deprived the area, the more they try to assert control over the one thing they can lay claim to: the streets. Concepts such as hood passes and stripes may seem alien to anyone over 21 but are considered normal by an entire generation.
Politicians need to get their act together and pour money into this right now. Tomorrow is too late. Parents also need to take responsibility.
Gang-related organised crime in the United Kingdom is concentrated around the cities of London, Manchester and Liverpool and regionally across the West Midlands region, south coast and northern England, according to the Serious Organised Crime Agency. With regards to street gangs the cities identified as having the most serious gang problems, which also accounted for 65% of firearm homicides in England and Wales, were London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. Glasgow in Scotland also has a historical gang culture with the city having as many teenage gangs as London, which had six times the population, in 2008.
In the early part of the 20th century, the cities of Leeds, Bristol, Bradford (including Keighley) and Nottingham all commanded headlines pertaining to street gangs and suffered their share of high-profile firearms murders. Sheffield, which has a long history of gangs traced back to the 1920s in the book “The Sheffield Gang Wars”, along with Leicester is one of numerous urban centres seen to have an emerging or re-emerging gang problem.
On 28 November 2007, a major offensive against gun crime by gangs in Birmingham, Liverpool, London and Manchester led to 118 arrests. More than 1,000 police officers were involved in the raids. Not all of the 118 arrests were gun related; others were linked to drugs, prostitution and other crimes. Home SecretaryJacqui Smith said it showed the police could “fight back against gangs”.
THE WORDS ON OUR STREETS Irrespective of who uses it and for what purpose, street slang is constantly evolving. Words in common parlance five years ago like “buff” (good-looking) are now deemed antediluvian, replaced by newer terms such as “chug”, “peak” and “wavey”. “Skadoosh”, a personal favourite, is a relative newcomer.
Bang – punch Bare – a lot Bate – obvious Blud – friend Booky – suspicious Butters – ugly Chug – good-looking Dutty – nasty Fam – friends Gallis – womaniser Gased – talking nonsense Gem – fool Ghost – to be frequently absent Greezy – bad Junge – whore Liccle – small Marga – extremely skinny Moist – no ratings, silly, naff Murk – attack Nang – good Peak – used to highlight an eventful situation Peng – good-looking Shank – stab Shower – cool, good Skadoosh – goodbye Skettel – loose woman Slipping – to be caught off-guard Swag – crap Tekkers – technique Wallad – idiot Wavey – high or drunk
I ran out to the mailbox. It was -35 with the wind, so I didn’t want to be out there very long. I put the key in the lock, turned it, and opened the door. I didn’t even look inside. I just thrust my hand in and grabbed everything.
Minus 35 is cold. Wind or not.
As I raced back to the house, I glanced at what was in the pile. Bills. A letter about tax receipts. More bills. Something for my brother-in-law. And more bills.
I got back into the house. Sighs were mixed with shivers from the winter air.
A wave of frustration, a wave of fear, a wave of “Oh God, what are we going to do” hit me. Then completely subsided when the Holy Spirit said these words.
“There is a time for bills.”
Leave it to God to remind me of the Scriptures.
It was a play on the wisdom literature of Solomon, from the book of Ecclesiastes.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”
Sometimes this is a hopeful passage. Other times, it’s read when we are profoundly sad.
There are people that read this as if it’s the way that God does things, controls things, acts in the world; as if God made people die, or wanted them to be torn down, killed, or thrown away. But I find that completely out of his character.
Rather, I see Solomon’s book a reflection of how life works. That life works in a kind of cycle. There is a sort of balance. A time to be born and then die. A time when you plant and then harvest.
It’s a cycle. There is a time when things happen. There is a time when things don’t happen.
And there is a time when the mail is all bills like it was that day.
It wasn’t a sign that God was punishing me or my family. It wasn’t a sign of us being irresponsible with what God had blessed us with. It was that time for the bills to arrive.
And there will come a day, hopefully not as cold, when I will check the mail and it will not be bills, bills, and more bills. Because it will be the time when bills are paid.
We can be quick to blame God for what is happening in our times, things that are irritating or uncomfortable; things that may add stress or make our anxiety jump. But that is not his character. That is not who God is.
Remember what Jesus said about his heavenly Father, our heavenly Father,
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
Life works in cycles. Sometimes it is a time to plant. Sometimes it is a time to harvest. Sometimes it is a time for bills. And if you find yourself in that time now, remember: there is also a time when the bills are paid. And God will provide.
The outcome of a project largely depends on the behaviour of the manager as their actions will directly influence the behaviour of the team. Even with all the efforts, employees may put forth to salvage a once positive work environment, at the core of every toxic working environment is the bad manager. There are different types of managers, and each one has their own characteristics that determine how employees will react, the working environment and overall production. Five common types include:
1. Laissez-Faire
‘Laissez-Faire’, is French for leaving things to take their own course without interference. These types of managers tend to leave subordinates to get on with the work on their own and have little to no communication with them. They fail to provide regular feedback when supervising. Though this form of management may seem irresponsible, it requires a lot of trust. Highly experienced and capable employees need very little interference, as they are trusted to do the task to the best of their abilities. However, when it comes to employees with limited experience, this form of management means there will be low production value as these employees feel they do not have to do any work due to the lack of authority they have over them. It can also make these employees a lot harder to control and since work is not being done, resources, money and time are wasted, which in turn increases the costs of the project.
2. Autocratic
This form of management is most suitable for places such as the Army as it gives the manager complete power. These types of managers make all the decisions with very little or no input from the subordinates, and since they have total authority over them, employees find it hard to challenge the manager. This can create an atmosphere of fear and because of this quality of work and production may increase, however, retention rates might increase along with it, as employees may feel threatened and begin to resent their job. Nonetheless, this form of management might be suitable for employees who need close supervision as they need to be told what to do and when, but creative employees will find it hard to work in an autocratic environment.
3. Participative
This type of manager values every member of the team and listens to whatever input employees may have. However, the manager ultimately makes the final decision. This form of management will increase morale as employees make contributions towards the decision-making process and they feel that their opinions matter. With this management style, the employees easily accept changes in the company as they played a role in the process. As morale increases, production will increase along with it, making this a very effective management style.
4. Transactional
This management style is used to give out either rewards or punishments to employees depending on their performance. The manager along with the employees set goals together and agree on rewards or punishments depending on whether or not they reach their goal. The employees then follow direction and instructions set by the managers in order to achieve the goal. The manager has the power to analyze the results of the project and either give out rewards and praise the employees or train the employees depending on the outcome.
5. Transformational
This type of management is used to increase the morale of the employees and is normally used in situations where employees feel discouraged. There are high levels of communication between the manager and the subordinates to reach their goals. These leaders motivate the employees and enhance efficiency and production using communication. These types of managers delegate smaller tasks to smaller teams and focus on the big picture to achieve their overall goals.
Conclusion
There are many different types of managers, and some are used specifically to adapt to certain situations. Some management styles are more effective than others however it depends on the type of employees they are supervising, the task at hand, and the goals that are set.
The Nigerian construction industry is mostly concerned with the development and provision of projects such as roads, bridges, railways, residential and commercial real estates, and the maintenance necessary for the socio-economic developments contributes immensely to the Nigerian economic growth (Bureau of Statistics, 2015). Butcher and demmers (2003) described projects as an idea which begins and ends by filling a need. However, a project fails when its idea ends without meeting the needs and expectations of its stakeholders.
Nigeria Has Become the World’s Junk – Yard of Abandoned and Failed Projects worth Billions of Naira!
Hanachor (2013), revealed that projects form part of the basis for assessing a country’s development. However, a damming report from the Abandoned Projects Audit Commission which was set up by the Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 revealed that 11,886 federal government projects were abandoned in the past 40 years across Nigerian (Abimbola, 2012). This confirmed the assertion by Osemenan (1987) “that Nigeria has become the world’s junk –yard of abandoned and failed projects worth billions of naira”.
Abandoned projects including building and other civil engineering infrastructure development projects now litter the whole of Nigeria.
Physical projects do not only provide the means of making life more meaningful for members of the community where the projects are located, successful projects also result in empowerment and collective action towards self improvement (Hanachor, 2013).
This Issue of Abandonment Has Been Left Without Adequate Attention for Too Long, and Is Now Having a Multiplier Effect on the Construction Industry in Particular and the Nigeria’s National Economy as a Whole. (Kotngora, 1993)
PROJECT FAILURE
Project Failure might mean a different thing to different stakeholders. A project that seemed successful to one stakeholder may be a total failure to another (Toor and Ogunlana, 2008). Some stakeholders, more especially the project users and some private owners, think of failed projects as a situation where a completed building project collapsed, a situation where by a completed dam project stopped working after few days of completion, or a completed road project that broke down after few months of completion. Other experienced stakeholders, such as engineers and architects conform to the iron triangle by Atkinson (1999) which states that the most strategically important measures of project failure are “time overrun”, “cost overrun”, and “poor quality”.
Turner (1993) noted that a project fails when the project specifications are not delivered within budget and on time;the project fails to achieve its stated business purpose; the project did not meet the pre-stated objectives; the project fails to satisfy the needs of the project team and supporters; and the project fails to satisfy the need of the users and other stakeholders. Lim and Mohamed (1999) cited in Toor and Ogunlana (2009) clarified that there are two possible view points to project failure namely; the macro-level and the micro-level. They further explained that the macro view point reviews if the original objectives and concepts of the project was met. Usually the end users and the project beneficiaries are the ones looking at the project failure from the macro view point, where as the project design team, the consultants, contractors, and suppliers review projects from a micro view point focusing on time of delivery, budget, and poor quality.
In the early 1990s, the failure as well as the success of any project was determined by the project duration, monetary cost, and the performance of the project (Idrus, Sodangi, and Husin, 2011). Belout and Gauvrean (2004), also confirmed that the project management triangle based on schedule, cost, and technical performance is the most useful in determining the failure of a project. Moreover, a project is considered as an achievement of specific objectives, which involves series of activities and tasks which consume resources, are completed within specifications, and have a definite start and end time (Muns and Bjeirmi 1996, cited in Toor and Ogunlana, 2009). Reiss (1993) in his suggestion stated that a project is a human activity that achieves a clear objective against a time scale. Wright (1997) taking the view of clients, suggested that time and budget are the only two important parameters of a project which determines if a project is successful or failed. Nevertheless, many other writers such as Turner, Morris and Hough, wateridge, dewit, McCoy, Pinto and Slevin, saarinen and Ballantine all cited in Atkinson (1999), agreed that cost, time, and quality are all success as well as failure criteria of a project, and are not to be usedexclusively.
FACTORS OF PROJECT FAILURE
Cookie-Davies (2002) stated the difference between the success criteria and the failure factors. Hestated that failure factors are those which contributed towards the failure of a project while success criteria are the measures by which the failure of a project will be judged. The factors constituting the failure criteria are commonly referred to as the key performance indicators (KPIs).
Timeand Cost Overrun
The time factor of project failure cannot be discussed without mentioning cost. This is because the time spent on construction projects has a cost attached to it. Al-Khali and Al-Ghafly, (1999); Aibinu and Jagboro, (2002) confirmed that time overrun in construction projects do not only result in cost overrun and poor quality but also result in greater disputes, abandonment and protracted litigation by the project parties. Therefore, focus on reducing the Time overrun helps to reduce resource spent on heavy litigation processes in the construction industry (Phua and Rowlinson, 2003). Most times, the time overrun of a project does not allow resultant system and benefits of the project to be taking into consideration (Atkinson, 1999). Once a project exceeds the contract time, it does not matter anymore if the project was finally abandoned or completed at the same cost and quality specified on the original contract document, the project has failed. Furthermore, Assaf and Al-Hejji, (2006) noted that time overrun means loss of owner’s revenue due to unavailability of the commercial facilities on time, and contractors may also suffers from higher over heads, material and labour costs.
Poor quality/Technical Performance
The word “Performance” has a different meaning which depends on the context it is being used and it can also be referred to as quality. Performance can be generally defined as effectiveness (doing the right thing), and efficiency (doing it right) (Idrus and Sodangi, 2010). Based on this definition of performance, at the project level, it simply means that a completed project meets fulfilled the stakeholder requirements in the business case.
CAUSES OF PROJECT FAILURE
A lot of research studies have investigated the reasons for project failures, and why projects continue to be described as failing despite improved management. Odeh and Baltaineh, 2002; Arain andLaw, 2003; Abdul-Rahman et al., 2006; Sambasivan and Soon, 2007; all cited in Toor and Ogunlana, 2008, pointed out the major causes of project failures as Inadequate procurement method; poor funding and availability of resources; descripancies between design and construction; lack of project management practices; and communication lapses
The contract/procurement method
A result obtained from two construction projects which were done by the same contractor but using different procurement methods showed that rework, on the design part which occurs when the activities and materials order are different from those specified on the original contract document, makes it difficult for the project to finish on the expected time (Idrus, Sodangi, and Husin, 2011). This is as a result of non-collaboration and integration between the design team, contractor, and tier suppliers. The rework on the design portion has a huge impact on project failure leading to the time overrun. The traditional method of procurement has inadequate flexibility required to facilitate late changes to the project design once the design phase of the construction project has been concluded.
Nigerian most widely used procurement method is the traditional method of procurement (design-bid-construct) which has been confirmed to be less effective to successfully delivery of a construction project (Dim and Ezeabasili, 2015). And, the world bank country procurement assessment report (2000) cited in Anigbogu and Shwarka, (2011) reported that about 50% of projects in Nigeria are dead even before they commence because they were designed to fail.
The way the construction projects are contracted, in addition to the way the contracts are delivered, contributes to the causes of projects failure. Particularly, among the methods of project contracting is lump-sum or a fixed-price contracting method, in which the contractor agrees to deliver a construction project at a fixed price. The fixed-price contract can be low-bid or not however, once the contract cost has been agreed upon the contract award, it cannot be changed. And, contractors are expected to honor and deliver the contract agreement, failure to do so can result in a breach of contract which can result in the contractor being prosecuted.
Awarding a contract to an unqualified personnel also contributes to project failures. When a contractor places more emphasis on money and the mobilization fee after a construction project has been initiated instead of getting the right workforce and skilled professionals that will execute the project. Instead the workforce chosen will often not be base on competence and required skills rather it will be based on availability. Moreover, poor strategy and planning by contractors who have overloaded with work also contributed to one of the causes of project failure.
Poor funding/Budget Planning
A lot of public projects in the Nigerian construction industry failed as a result inadequate funding, and the difference between the national annual budget and the budget actual released. Most of the Nigerian public projects are signed even before the actual release of the national budget. The difference in budget of the contracted project and the actual budget release can get the contracted company stuck as a result of inflation of prices, scarcity of construction material at the time of the budget release and mobilization to site. Also un-planned scope of work which can be as a result of the contractor working on another contract when he is called back to mobilization to start work. Moreover, poor budget planning is a regular mistake made by some contractors by not undertaking feasibility assessments before starting the design. The construction project should be planned according to the available resources and not according to the unrealistic expectations a client has in mind.
Discrepancies Between the Design and Construction
Limited collaboration between the contractors, engineers, and the architect results in discrepancies between the project designs and construction on site, and further leads to rework. Changes on a project designs, and changing to the scope of work in the middle of construction processes on site can be dangerous, and can lead to time overrun, increase in cost, and most of all can lead to abandonment. Moreover, many cases have been seen where the designs from the architects are not buildable on site, whileIn some cases, most contractors are unable to adequately specify the scope of work for the construction processes on site. Therefore any default on the design by the architect can be an opportunity for the contractor to make more money which might cause the project duration to exceed the time specified on the contract document.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research starts with a general reasoning or theory which says that the major cases of project failure in the Nigerian construction industry are defined based on time overrun and cost overrun. The findings from the data analysis will help on the decision to accept the theory or not. The research data was collected from the progress report for the month ending of October, 2015 published by the Nigeria of Federal Ministry of works on thirty-nine on-going highway construction projects at the South-South geopolitical zone. The table 1 below shows the information on the data collected which comprises of the project title, contract Number, project description, the contractor that was awarded the projects, the date of project commencement, date of completion and the extended date if any. The scheduled time for each project was specified as follows: project commencement date labeled as “a”,project completion date labeled as “b”, and the extended date labeled as “c”.
Table 1: The analyzed data on the highway project at the South-South zone in Nigeria.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data analysis was done with the use of Microsoft excel. The analysis started by obtaining the number of days between the date of commencement of each project and the date of completion to show the duration of each highway project. And, the number of days between the project completion date and the extension date showed the time-overrun. The project duration and the extended days were obtained with the use of NETWORKDAYS function in Microsoft Excel which calculates the number of working days between two dates excluding weekends and any dates identified as holidays.
The standard deviation between the specified project duration for each highway projects and the extended days was calculated to obtain the extent to which each highway project contract failed on its time of delivery. This was denoted as the degree of failure. The table 1 above showed the projects ranking which was done based on the degree of failure of all the highway projects. The highway projects that were ranked from one to sixteen have low degree of failure and are represented with green color, while the rest are those with high degree of failure and are represented with red color.
FINDINGS
The findings made showed that the successfully completed highway projects have no extended days or time overrun, and the successful on-going highway projects are still on schedule and have no extended days unlike the on-going highway projects that have already failed as a result of the extended dates. Other projects have been abandoned because they have exceeded the delivery date as specified on the contract document, and have no extended date of completion. Thus, no work is going on.
Figure 1: Abundance of failed highway projects at south-south zone, Nigeria.
Figure 2: On-going failed highway projects
Figure 2 above showed that 14% of highway projects are still on-going projects because they have not exceeded the original date of completion as specified on the contract document. However, they are heading towards failure because they have been given an extended date of completion which can be as a result of some critical activities running behind schedule, causing delay on the critical path network of the projects. Moreover, the other 86% completely failed because they have exceeded their completion date specified on the contract document.
Figure 3: Successful on-going highway projects
The figure 3 above showed that 63% of the successful highway projects are still on-going because they have not exceed their completion dates, and they are not yet completed. However, those on-going highway projects might end up as failed projects as a result of poor funding, discrepancy between the design and the construction on site, and conflict between the construction parties or stakeholders.
“Say what you will do, and do what you said” or “Say as you will do it, and do it as you said”
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
The idea of knowing what a failed project is, the factors and the causes is very important in project management. Success in project management can neither be achieved nor measured without the knowledge of project failure, its factors, and causes in the Nigerian construction industries. This work has shown that project failure is as a result of exceeded time of delivery, cost overrun, and poor quality. However, the analysis was only done based on exceeded time of project delivery because of the nature of the data collected.
This work suggested a few approaches to help reduce the number of failed projects in the Nigerian construction industry if properly implemented. Firstly, Having good collaboration between the project stakeholders involved in a construction project at the early stage of project conception is most important in order to accomplish the project objectives, and deliver the project on time, within budget, and quality specified on the original contract document (Othman, 2006).
Secondly, Adopting the ISO 9000 technique which is used for quality management will also help in achieving a successful project delivery. This technique states “ say what you will do, and do what you said” or “say as you will do it, and do it as you said”. This technique is not an indication of high quality but it promotes control and consistency which leads to specialization, and improved productivity and quality. Also, adopting the principles of lean construction will help to reduce waste within the construction and stream-line activities in order to improve the on-time delivery of projects.
Thirdly, Learning from the precedent failed projects, how those projects failed, and the reason for their failures. This will help the project manager to plan and mitigate the risks of project failures in the future. And, finally, more seminars and workshops will help to educate and enlighten clients (the federal government representatives), users, contractors, engineers, and architects on what is project failure, the factors that contributes to abundant failed projects, and their causes.
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Aibinu, A.A and Jagboro, G.O. (2002). The Effects of Construction Delays on Project Delivery in Nigeria Construction Industry. International journal of Project management, 20(8), 593- 599.
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Atkinson , R. (1999). Project management: Cost, time, and quality, two best guesses and a Phenomenon, it’s time to accept other success criteria. International Journal of project Management, 17(6), 337-342.
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Butcher, N. and Demmers, L. (2003). Cost Estiumating Simplified. Retrieved from www.librisdesign.org.
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Dim, N.U. and Ezeabasili, A.C.C (2015). Strategic Supply Chain Framework as an Effective Approach to Procurement of Public Construction Projects in Nigeria. International Journal of Management and Susutainability, 4(7), 163-172.
Hanachor, M. E. (2012). Community Development Projects Abandonment in Nigeria: Causes and Effects. Journal of Education and Practice, 3(6), 33-36.
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Compared to people in other industrialized nations, Americans work longer hours, take fewer vacation days, and retire later in life. Busyness, once seen as the curse of the disadvantaged, has become equated with status and importance. Our work increasingly defines who we are.
“Godly rest (distinct from play, relaxation, or sleep) is inextricably tied to our identity as children of God.”
The solution perhaps is to be “Lazy Intelligent”?That sounds like something an unsuccessful, lazy slacker would say, isn’t it? Actually, it’s the opposite. One of America’s most influential and controversial science fiction authors Robert Heinlein uttered these words during his time. Despite his nod to laziness, Heinlein went on to pen hit titles such as Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land.
Productive laziness is not about doing absolutely nothing at all. It’s not about just sitting around and drinking coffee or engaging in idle gossip while watching the non-delivered project milestones disappear into the horizon. In fact, this behavior would lead to a very short-lived project management career.
Laziness Is Not Synonymous with Stupidity
Instead, productive laziness should be viewed as a more focused approach to management. Adopting this mindset means concentrating efforts where it really matters, rather than spreading yourself thing over unimportant, non-critical activities that in some cases don’t need to be addressed at all.
According to the Pareto Principle — Also Known as the “80/20 Rule” — 80 Percent of the Consequences Stem from 20 Percent of the Causes.
While the idea has a rule-of-thumb application, it’s also commonly misused. For example, just because one solution fits 80 percent of cases, that doesn’t mean it only requires 20 percent of the resources needed to solve all cases.
The principle, suggested by management thinker Joseph M. Juran, was named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80 percent of property in Italy was owned by 20 percent of the population. As a result, it was assumed that most of the result in any situation was determined by a small number of causes.
Rest Is at the Center of God’s Design
Every smart but lazy person should consider the 80/20 Rule each day. For managers, the principle is a reminder to concentrate on the 20 percent of work that really matters.
Contrary to belief, 80 percent of success is not just showing up. In fact, only 20 percent of what you do during the day will produce 80 percent of your results. Therefore, it is important to identify and focus on that 20 percent during the working day.
When genius and laziness meet, the results can be magical. Being just the right combination of smart and lazy can bring you to have a real edge over others. Interestingly enough, smart lazy people are generally better suited for leadership roles in organizations. These people make great strategic thinkers and leaders. They do things in a smart way in order to expend the least effort. They don’t rush into things, taking that little bit of extra time to think and find the shortest, best path.
They question, contradict, and show dissent against inefficient methods or unnecessary tasks.
“Whenever There Is a Hard Job to Be Done, I Assign It to a Lazy Man; He Is Sure to Find an Easy Way of Doing It. — Bill Gates”
Bill’s not the only guy, who believes that laziness doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. German Generalfeldmarschall Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke was the chief of staff for the Prussian Army for 30 years. He is regarded as one of the greatest strategists of the latter 1800s among historical scholars and is the creator of the more modern method of directing armies in the field.
Moltke observed his troops and categorized them based on their intelligence, diligence and laziness. If soldiers proved to be both lazy and smart, they were promoted to leadership because they knew how to be successful with efficiency. If soldiers were smart and diligent, they were deployed into a staff function, focusing on the details. Soldiers who were not smart and lazy were left alone in hopes they would come up with a great idea someday. Finally, soldiers who were not smart but diligent were removed from ranks.
Like Moltke’s army, the lazy manager is all about applying these principles in the delivery and management of work. You’re likely not stupid since you’ve landed the management position, but how are your lazy skills? Applying smart-lazy tactics will not only allow your work to be more successful, but you will also be seen as a successful individual and a top candidate for future leadership roles.
Think return on investment (time spent versus money earned ratio) rather than busy work and don’t restrict yourself to a certain way of doing things just for the sake of the status quo.
These people make great strategic thinkers and leaders. They do things in a smart way in order to expend the least effort. They don’t rush into things, taking that little bit of extra time to think and find the shortest, best path.
In the wise words of Bill Gate’s and American automotive industrialist Walter Chrysler, “Whenever there is a hard job to be done, assign it to a lazy man or woman for that matter; as he or she is sure to find an easy way of doing it.”
For an overachieving people-pleaser like me, thinking of rest as an innate part of who we were created to be—not as a discipline or something to be earned—is compelling. It is yet another form of God’s infinite grace, one that’s needed today more than ever.
Co-Author Peter Taylor
Described as “perhaps the most entertaining and inspiring speaker in the project management world today”, Peter Taylor is the author of two best-selling books on ‘Productive Laziness’ – ‘The Lazy Winner’ and ‘The Lazy Project Manager’.
There’s a reason why Mega-projects are simply called “Mega-projects.” Extremely large in scale with significant impacts on communities, environment and budgets, mega-projects attract a lot of public attention and often cost more than 1 billion. Because of its grandiose, a successful mega-project requires a lot of planning, responsibility and work. Likewise, the magnificence of such projects also creates a large margin for failure.
Mega-projects Come with Big Expectations. But a Project’s Success Is Often in the Eye of the Beholder
Despite their socio-economic significance mega-projects – delivering airports, railways, power plants, Olympic parks and other long-lived assets – have a reputation for failure. It is thought that over optimism, over complexity, poor execution, and weakness in organizational design and capabilities are the most common root causes of megaproject failure.
Blinded by enthusiasm for the project, individuals and organizations involved with mega-projects often miscalculate the complexity of the project. When a mega-project is pitched, its common for costs and timelines to be underestimated while the benefits of the project are overestimated. According Danish economist Bent Flyvbjerg, its not unusual for project managers who are competing for funding to massage the data until it is deemed affordable. After all, revealing the real costs up front would make a project unappealing, he said. As a result, these projects are destined for failure.
For example, building new railways spanning multiple countries could prove to be disastrous if plans are overly complex and over-optimized. Such a large-scale project involves national and local governments, various environmental and health standards, a wide range of skills and wages, private contractors, suppliers and consumers; therefore, one issue could put an end to the project. Such was the case when two countries spent nearly a decade working out diplomatic considerations while building a hydroelectric dam.
Complications and complexities of mega-projects must be considered thoroughly before launch. One way to review the ins and outs of a project is through reference-class forecasting. This process forces decision makers to look at past cases that might reflect similar outcomes to their proposed mega-project.
Poor execution is also a cause for failure in mega-projects. Due to the overoptimism and overcomplexity of a project, it’s easy for project managers and decision makers to cut corners trying to maintain cost assumptions and protect profit margins. Project execution is then overwhelmed by problems such as incomplete design, unclear scope, and mathematical errors in risk assessment and scheduling.
Researchers at McKinsey studied 48 struggling mega-projects and found that in 73 percent of the cases, poor execution was responsible for cost and time overruns. The other 27 percent ran into issues with politics such as new governments and laws.
Low productivity is another aspect of poor execution. Even though trends show that manufacturing has nearly doubled its productivity in the last 20 years, construction productivity remains flat and in some instances has even declined. However, wages continue to increase with inflation, leading to higher costs for the same results.
According to McKinsey studies, efficiency in delivering infrastructure can reduce total costs by 15 percent. Efficiency gains in areas like approval, engineering, procurement and construction can lead to as much as 25 percent of savings on new projects without compromising quality outcomes. This proves that planning before execution is worth its weight in gold.
We Tend to Exaggerate the Importance of Contracting Approach to Project Success or Failure
Finally, weaknesses in organizational design and capabilities results in failed megaprojects. For example, organizational setups can have multiple layers and in some cases the project director falls four or five levels below the top leadership. This can lead to problems as the top tier of the organizational chain (for example, subcontractors, contractors and construction managers) tend to focus on more work and more money while the lower levels of the chain (for example, owner’s representative and project sponsors) are focused on delivery schedules and budgets.
Likewise, a lack of capabilities proves to be an issue. Because of the large-scaled, complex nature of mega-projects, there is a steep learning curve involved and the skills needed are scarce. All the problems of megaprojects are compounded by the speed at which projects are started. When starting from scratch, mega-projects may create organizations of thousands of people within 12 months. This scale of work is comparable to the significant operational and managerial challenge a new start-up might face.
In the end, it seems that if organizations take the time to thoroughly prepare and plan for their mega-projects, problems like overcomplexity and overoptimism, poor execution, and weaknesses in organizational design and capabilities could be avoided. After all, mega=projects are too large and too expensive to rush into.
Due to the large scale and outlook attached to them, mega-projects have a large opportunity for failure. Typically, the failure begins at the outset of the project, whether that be due to poor justification for the project, misalignment among stakeholders, insufficient planning, or inability to find and use appropriate capabilities.
Underestimated costs and overestimated benefits often offset the baseline for assessing overall project performance. This is why it is important for organizations to first establish social and economic priorities before even considering what projects will answer their needs. Once social and economic priorities are established, only then can a project be considered. Selecting projects must be fact-based and transparent in order to ensure accountability with stakeholders and the public.
Successful Megaprojects Must Have Robust Risk-analysis or Risk-management Protocols
It’s also important to maintain adequate controls. Successful megaprojects must have robust risk-analysis or risk-management protocols and provide timely reports on progress relative to budgets and deadlines. Typically, progress is measured on the basis of cash flow, which is less than ideal as data could be out of date and payments to contractors do not correlate construction progress. Instead, project managers should deliver real-time data to measure activity in the field. For example, cubic meters of concrete poured relative to work plans and budgets.
Overall, improving project performance requires better planning and preparation in three areas: doing engineering and risk analysis before construction, streamlining permitting and land acquisition, and building a project team with the appropriate mix of abilities.
Project developers and sponsors should put more focus into pre-planning such as engineering and risk analysis before the construction phase. Unfortunately, most organizations and sponsors are reluctant to spend a significant amount of money on early-stage planning because they often lack the necessary funds, they are eager to break ground and they worry the design will be modified after construction is underway, making up-front designs pointless.
However, it’s proven that if developers spend three to five percent of capital cost on early-stage engineering and design, results are far better in terms of delivering the project on-time and on-budget. This is because through the design process, challenges will be addressed and resolved before they occur during the construction phase, saving both time and money.
It’s not unusual for permits and approvals to take longer than the building of a megaproject. However, if developers look to streamline permitting and land acquisition, that would significantly improve project performance. Best practices in issuing permits involve prioritizing projects, defining clear roles and responsibilities and establishing deadlines.
In England and Wales, developers applied these approaches to cut the time needed to approve power-industry infrastructure from 12 months to only nine months. On average, timelines for approval spanned four years throughout the rest of Europe. Likewise, the state of Virginia’s plan to widen Interstate 495 in 2012 was able to cut costs and save hundreds of homes thanks to land acquisition planning by a private design company.
Investors and Owners Must Take an Active Role in Creating the Project Team
When it’s all said and done, projects cannot deliver the best possible return on investment without a well-resourced and qualified network of project managers, advisers and controllers. Investors and owners must take an active role in creating the project team.
It’s not enough to have a vague overview of what the project might look like in the end. Instead, it’s necessary to review risks and costs and draft a detailed, practical approach to tackle various issues. An experienced project manager cannot do it all alone. The project team must include individuals with the appropriate skills, such as legal and technical expertise, contract management, project reporting, stakeholder management, and government and community relations among others.
Failure to Properly Plan for These Projects Could Have a Negative Impact on Society
While mega-projects are important in filling economic and social needs, failure to properly plan for these projects could have a negative impact on society. Take Centro Financiero Confinanzas (Venezuela), the eighth tallest building in Latin America at 45 stories, located in the financial district of Venezuela’s capital, Caracas for example.
To those unaware of its history, the Centro Financiero Confinanzas is actually home to over 700 families, a “vertical slum” that is a truly fascinating example of reappropriation of space in an urban environment. An ironic symbol of financial failure that was intended to represent the unstoppable march of Venezuela’s booming economy.
It’s much more than an unbuilt building, bridge or tunnel, failed mega-projects are a blow to the economic growth and social improvements of communities around the world.
Small projects often embody more innovation than larger more costly or high profile ones.
Innovation is a wide concept that includes improvements in processes, products and services. It involves incorporating new ideas which generate changes that help solve the needs of a company and so increase its competitiveness. That’s hardly big news. But what may be surprising to some is that innovation has itself, well, innovated and it isn’t what it used to be.
New materials and energy, design approaches, as well as advances in digital technology and big data, are creating a wave of innovation within the construction industry. These new ideas are increasingly often tested and proven on smaller and agiler projects. Investing time and money is well spent on these ideas and technical improvements can then be used on large-scale developments.
Here are three exciting small projects:
Vanke Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015 / Daniel Libeskind
Vanke Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015 / Daniel Libeskind
VANKE PAVILION Milan, Italy
1. Vanke Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015
The corporate pavilion for Vanke China explores key issues related to the theme of the Expo Milano 2015, “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”.
Situated on the southeast edge of the Lake Arena, the 800-square meter pavilion appears to rise from the east, forming a dynamic, vertical landscape.
The original tiling pattern would have resulted in thousands of ceramic tiles of different sizes and shapes. The resulting complexity and lack of repetition could have led to high costs and a longer erection time.
Working with Architects Studio Libeskind, Format Engineers (Engineering Designers with backgrounds in structural engineering, coding, mathematics, and architecture) changed the pattern from thousands of different tiles to less than a dozen and simplified the backing structure generating huge cost savings. Format Engineers also proposed ‘slicing’ of the building and then fabrication of the primary structure of steel ribs using low tech flat steel plate elements. These were then used in a series of long span portalised frames reminiscent of the ribs and spars in traditional boat building resulting in a column-free area for the display of Chinese Cultural Heritage.
The frame was built to a budget and without difficulty ahead of the neighboring Expo buildings.
Building Size
12 meters high
740 mq gross floor area (exhibition, service & VIP levels)
130 mq roof terrace
Architect: Studio Libeskind
Engineer: Format Engineers
Oxford Brookes Rain Pavilion
Oxford Brookes Rain Pavilion
Oxford Brookes Rain Pavilion
2. Oxford Brookes Rain Pavilion
The Rain Pavilion is an urban forest sculpture forming the front entrance to Oxford Brookes University’s Architecture Faculty.
“Rain Pavilion artwork is a sensory experience for the community.”
The complex form required extensive wind modeling and comprehensive structural analysis within a generative 3d model. This was allied with Format Engineers in-house code for the self-organization of voids and their subsequent redistribution.
.At each stage of the design process different modeling and analysis techniques were used to exploit the form and to optimise the structure. The considerable challenges posed by the slenderness of the structure and its dynamic behavior under wind were resolved by combining Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) (a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and algorithms to solve and analyze problems that involve fluid flows) with a generative design environment. Conceptual design introduced the ideas of tubular stems and folded steel canopies, both of which were perforated by circular holes arranged to allow the interplay of light and water through the structure. The voids were generated using a self-organizing process.
Grasshopper (a graphical algorithm computer 3-D modeling tool) was used to produce a mesh that could include the voids in both the stems and the petals.
The Rain Pavilion is designed to celebrate the sound of rain, and the noise of water interacting with different sections of the installation is part of the experience of passing through it. The structure has a design life of five years and can be transported to other locations.
Architect: Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
Engineer: Format Engineers
KREOD Pavilion
KREOD Pavilion
KREOD Pavilion
3. KREOD Pavilion
The KREOD pavilions were first erected on the London Greenwich Olympic site in 2012. Easily rearranged, three pod-like pavilions were formed with a wooden structural framework comprised of an open hexagonal composition.
Standing three meters tall, each double-curved wooden shell enclosed a footprint of 20 square meters, totaling 60 square meters. A waterproof tensile membrane sealed the interior from the elements fully portable with demountable joints, the individual components can be stacked for efficient transportation.
Chun Qing Li the architect required a temporary exhibition or function space that could be erected and demounted mostly by hand and by untrained staff. The quality of finish needed to echo that of handmade furniture and had to be low cost and quick to erect. The continuously changing double curved form of the enclosure meant that in theory, every nodal connection was different. A conventional bolted solution would have cost hundreds of pounds per fixing. Format Engineers suggestion of a ‘reciprocal’ jointed timber grid shell required standard bolts which equated to a fraction of the normal cost. It also allowed the structure to be built from simple and light flat timber elements.
The structure used Kebony timber throughout, a sustainable alternative to tropical hardwood. As this material had not previously been used in a structural context Format Engineers undertook load testing of the material and the connections at the University of Cambridge. The timber was fabricated using CNC routing (a computer controlled cutting machine) allowing a highly accurate fit between members and basic erection on site.
Modular homes sometimes referred to as “factory-built construction“, encompass a category of housing built in sections typically at a factory location. These houses must conform to local and regional building codes for the country the buyer plans to situate the dwelling.
Just like site-built housing, construction teams build modular homes tolast and increase in value over time.As the factory finishes building sections of the house, each piece is transported to the homeowners build site on large truck beds.Local building contractors then assemble the house and inspectors ensure the manufacturer has built your residence to code.Most customers find that modular housing is less expensive than site-built homes.
1. Benefits of Construction
One of the benefits of construction is that manufacturers build them indoors in an enclosed factory setting, where the materials used to build the homes are not subject to adverse weather during construction.
Most building contractors can finish erecting a house in as little as 1-2 weeks, though it may take up to 4 weeks or more for local contractors to finish building the dwelling on-site once it has been delivered.
2. Differences Between Modular and Site Built
Modular homes are not the same as site-built homes, which contractors create 100% at the build site.That means the contractor must collect all the materials for a house and built it on-site. Like a modular home, the site-built home must conform to all regional, state and local building codes. Many refer to site-built construction as stick-built homes. Stick built housing is also well-built and designed to last a lifetime.
3. Difference Between Modular and Manufactured
Manufactured housing is another form of factory construction. Many consumers have mistakenly referred to these homes in the past as mobile homes. Others refer to manufactured homes as trailers. Manufacturers do build these houses in a factory like modular homes on a steel chassis.
The manufacturer then transports sections of the home to the building site as completed.These dwellings are usually less expensive than both modular housing and site built housing, in part because they don’t come with a permanent foundation.Trailers and mobile homes are more likely to depreciate than modular or site built homes.
4, Advantages of Modular Construction Over Site Built
Modular homes offer many advantages over traditional site built dwellings. Many consider modular homes a hybrid breed of housing.Not a manufactured house and not a site built house, these homes offer consumers multiple benefits including costs savings, quality and convenience.In many ways modular homes surpasses site built housing in quality and efficiency.
Modulars have grown up. They are more and more becoming a mainstreamselection for first time and secondary homebuyers.Most people now realise they don’t’ have to give up design quality or customization to buy a prefabricated house.One of the biggest misconceptions people have of prefabricated housing is they are look alike.“Boxy” is not a word that can begin to describe prefab dwellings. In fact, more suitable descriptions of these buidlings would include: “Elegant, durable, customised and high-class”.Many people find they can afford to include more specialization and customization when they buy a factory built house over a traditional stick built construction.
5. Cutting-edge Designs
Looking for a building design with a little pizzazz?You need to check out the latest architectural designs associated with prefabricated buildings.Firms are now building more elegant and unique designs to meet the increasing demands of selective customers.People are selecting modular designs over stick built designs to build their dream homes.
6. Customised Design and Modification
There are hundreds of companies that offer modular prefabricated construction kits and plans, and most employ various architects and specialized designers to help customize yourhome.That means you have more choices and a wider selection of designers to choose from.If you don’t find a style you like with one designer you can often move onto another, without even switching manufacturers.
7. Huge Range of Selection
Its always best to select a home that matches your lifestyle and design preferences.
8. Rapid Customisation
These are often the ideal selection for homeowners in need of a speedily designed homes.You simply can’t build a dwelling faster.Site built housing can take months to design and build.A manufacturer can design and place a prefab house in a few short weeks. You can pick from just as many different styles as you would a site built home if not more, but don’t have to wait weeks for contractors to build your custom house.
9. Precise Budgeting and Timing
Yet another benefit of these designs is the lack of guesswork involved.You don’t have to worry about how something will look.You know that everything will arrive to the build site complete and you will know the exact outcome. You also don’t need to worry about unexpected expenses, which is commonly the case with site built homes.With a prefabricated house, you know exactly what your home will cost and can control that cost from the point of buying to final construction.This isn’t the case with stick built housing. With stick built housing you also have to worry about surprises in the middle of construction.It isn’t uncommon for example, for a contractor to quit in the middle of a project.If this happens you have few choices.
Your home will sit partially built until you are able to find a new construction team.This alone may cost you valuable time and money.
10. Improved Energy Efficiency
Many prefab houses also come with what manufacturers call the “Energy Star” certification.This is a national company that promotes energy efficiency.Buildings with this label use 30-40 percent less energy yearly than traditional stick built housing.
This saves you time and money.Some key features of prefabricated housing that help improve energy efficiency include tight installation,high performance and weather resistant windows, controlled air systems and duct systems, upgraded air-conditioning and heating units and use of efficient lighting and heating appliances.As a bonus, these features not only save on annual energy costs but also improve the quality of your indoor air. Think energy efficiency isn’t significant?Think again.Over the lifetime of your house you could save thousands of pounds in energy bills by buying a prefabricated dwelling.
11. Design Modification is Easier
Most prefab homemakers now use computer aided design systems when conducting operations.This adds to the efficiency of construction and improves the appearance and architectureof homes.Prefabricated construction ranges from plain vanilla styling to intricate and complex modern designs.
12. On Time and on Budget
Perhaps the two biggest features or benefits of prefabricated housing that manufacturers hone in on are the speed thatthey can be built with and the competitive pricing they can offer on the final product.This is one reason that modular homes are gaining popularity.
13. Appreciate in Value
These dwellings also appreciate much like sitebuilt housing designs.Most homeowners are interested in building value in their house over time.Prefab housing afford you the opportunity to do this (keep in mind however much appreciation is dependent on real estate location).Select a good build site and your house will gain significant value over time. Other factors may also affect appreciation including landscaping and how well the house is cared for year after year.These factors also affect site built housing.Unlike mobile homes, which depreciate, a modular homeowner can expect to gain value from their home year after year. Study after study suggests that modular homes appreciate just as well as site built homes.They are also just as easily insured and financed.
As far as risk goes, you are no more at risk buying prefabricated housing than site built construction.
Modular Home Facts
Modular homes appraise the same as their on-site built counterparts do.
Modular homes can be more easilly customised.
Most modular home companies have their own in-house engineering departments that utilize CAD (Computer Aided Design).
Modular home designs vary in style and size.
Modular homes are permanent structures – “real property.”
Modular homes are considered a form of “Green Building.”
Modular homes are faster to build than a 100% site-built home.
Home loans for modular are the same as if buying a 100% site-built home.
Insuring your modular home is the same as a 100% site-built home.
Modular homes can be built to withstand 175 mph winds.
Modular homes can be built for accessible living and designed for future conveniences.
Would you consider a modular home for yourself, or are you more of a traditionalist?
The term ‘Modern Methods of Construction’ (MMC) embraces a range of technologies involving various forms of prefabrication and off-site assembly.
MMC is increasingly regarded as a realistic means of improving quality, reducing time spent on-site, improving on-site safety and addressing skills shortages in the construction of UK housing.
Bridge Crossing Modern Design
The variety of systems now available potentially allows the designer enough choice to sidestep problems deriving from constraints posed by the use of any one method. MMC systems, from closed-panel timber framed systems to bathroom pods are a palette from which designers can make choices. They are not necessarily stand-alone solutions that anticipate all the needs of an individual site and can be mixed and matched as appropriate.
These limitations are not obstacles to achieving the good design in MMC-based schemes, but may hinder the incorporation of more complex and innovative types of MMC from which greater overall benefits may be obtained which are considered under the following headings:
1. COST UNCERTAINTY
There is no doubt that, given products of comparable performance the key issue in purchases of MMC construction systems is the price. At present not enough is known about the potential costs of using volumetric and closed panel systems to enable confident specification at an early date. This inhibits designers from exploring the full potential of MMC systems. This is particularly true of the less repetitive, small, one-off scheme, where a smaller margin of benefits is gained from using MMC. The principal barrier to the uptake of MMC, therefore, seems to be the perception of cost uncertainty with respect to using more complex systems. Without doing substantial project-specific research, consultants and their clients simply do not know with enough degree of certainty how much the volumetric or closed panel systems are likely to cost, and what would be the savings to overall project costs produced by potential speed gains to offset against increased capital expenditure.
This is due to the complexity of assessing the ratio of cost of repetitive elements where pricing is relatively straightforward to the cost of adjusting elements or building in another method for the abnormal condition. Decisions to use innovative systems are likely to be made once designs are well progressed to enable teams to be more certain of costs. This can increase the potential for change or result in design compromise as the designer attempts to incorporate the specific limitations of a particular system in their design.
In an attempt to improve this situation, the MMC consultant and or clients could pull together a directory of MMC expanded to include cost comparison data. The huge range of variables involved inevitably makes this difficult, but a database of current construction cost information would be an invaluable resource.
Contemporary Building Facade
2. PLANNING PROCESS AND EARLY COMMITMENT TO A SYSTEM
The time it can take to obtain planning permission has obvious implications both for project cost but also, in some circumstances, for architectural design innovation.
Most of the more complex types of MMC have an impact on dimensioning, the choice of external finish and detailing may have some effect on the buildings mass. Therefore, the construction system should be chosen prior to a planning application to avoid abortive work, redesign or amendment, or even resubmission for planning permission.
However, developers whose money is at risk, frequently hold off deciding on the construction technique until the last practicable moment, in order to get any advantage from fluctuations in material or component pricing.
Given the potential for lengthy duration of planning applications, this means that there is little incentive to prepare initial designs for planning with a prior decision to incorporate MMC firmly embedded. In cases where the developer has a financial or business link with the supplier, this is less likely to be the case. As the majority of commercial or residential developments involve some kind of arrangement with a developer, agreement on construction systems is often left to the stage after planning.
3. TIME INVESTMENT
Another very significant factor is the time investment required at the early stages of projects. This is needed to develop the design when the project is still at risk. There is a direct relationship between the scale and complexity of MMC component and the amount of time required to develop a design at an early stage.
The introduction of advanced or complex MMC techniques into the design process is potentially costly to the design team. A significant amount of research is needed to explore alternative systems, to obtain verification of suppliers’credentials, investigate mortgage and insurance issues, visit previous sites, talk to system suppliers, obtain technical performance guidelines, understand junctions and interfaces, coordinate other consultants, obtain building control input and so on.
For a consultant, the only way of investing in this research is either through timely payment of increased fees by a visionary understanding client or through the anticipation of increased future productivity through repetition when a project is phased, or large enough, or likely to be followed by another similar project.
The potential of learning a system and then being able to repeat lessons learned efficiently is a powerful incentive for both client and consultant. By contrast, HTA’ s project at Basingstoke is an example of a phased project with a three to four-year duration allowed the design team to repeat various elements of the design, and the manufacturer to develop improved solutions to technical and supply problems.
HTA’ s project at Basingstoke
4. INSUFFICIENT COMMUNICATION
Improved dialogue at the outset of the project is vital if design quality is to be maximised. Constraints and opportunities implicit within a particular system are more easily incorporated into design if partners communicate pre-planning. Increased early communication can be fostered through improved long-term partnering relationships.
Clients should also partner with a range of suppliers and architects so that choice and flexibility is not restricted.
5. INEXPERIENCE
Generally, the inexperienced client or design team will have to do more research, with the result that there is likely to be significant design development without a specific system being incorporated.
This is a disincentive to using a more complex system involving a higher proportion of MMC, where early decision making and knowledge of a system’ s capabilities have a decisive influence on the nature of the architecture. However, encouraging the take up of MMC through the use of a dedicated funding mechanism may assist clients in finding time for research into suitable MMC techniques.
Dome Construction Berlin
6. SUPPLIER’S ROLE
Site capacity studies and early stage pre-planning design studies could be undertaken directly by system suppliers on behalf of clients, cutting out the usual procedure of commissioning design work by independent consultants.
7. ASSUMPTIONS
There are a number of assumptions that are generally held about certain types of MMC that may have been valid at one time but are no longer true today. There is a need for reliable and up to date information comparing system criteria, performance data, timescales, lead in times, capacity, construction time, sequencing issues, limitations, and benefits.
Therefore it would be helpful if a forum for discussion and experience exchange was set up.
8. DEMONSTRATING THE BENEFITS OF MMC
There is still a large amount of skepticism about the need to go very far down the line with MMC. This is reflected in the acceptance of the desirability of maintaining or indeed enhancing the pool of traditional craft skills throughout the UK.
A balanced view is that there is a demonstrable need for the wider use of MMC which is recognized by both industry and government. The best way for clients and the public generally to become more confident and knowledgeable about the quality of design achievable through MMC is to see it demonstrated.
9. FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
There is no doubt that spreading the burden of investment through the life of a project helps to ensure a higher standard of specification and hence quality. In the Netherlands, a ‘ Green Financing’system has been developed by the Dutch government that provides favorable loan finance when certain sustainable standards are reached. In the UK, the Gallions HA has pioneered a study of this, based on a scheme in Thamesmead, ‘ the Ecopark project’.
Eco Park is an eco-friendly business park built on the False Bay coast. This business park is at the cutting-edge of sustainable design and offers a unique working environment in a secure, well-managed facility.
Change management is an approach to transition individuals, teams, and organisations to a desired future state. For over three decades, academics, managers, and consultants, realising that transforming organisations is difficult, have avoided the subject.
My Way or the Highway
Major organisational change is profoundly difficult because the structure, culture, and routines of companies often reflect’s persistent and difficult-to-remove ways of working, which are resistant to radical change even as the environment of organisations change.
What started out as a financial buzzword in the early nineties has become fundamental business practice, with executives recognising the need to keep abreast with the competition in a rapidly developing corporate new world.
Navigating change
Globalisation and the constant innovation of technology result in a constantly evolving business environment. There is an ever-increasing need for Change Management Lead’s / Senior Managers who can help organisations successfully navigate change in today’s business environments. The focus of this movement to date has been on how to partner with organisations to define education, training and communication platforms that help to support the change initiatives and concerns of company employees. The critical aspect is a company’s ability to win the buy-in of their organisation’s employees on the change initiative.
While a project team is important for success, a senior level advisor is invaluable and can work with an organisations leadership team to avoid common pitfalls that change management projects often fall into. There are four key areas where an Advisor should act as this resource as follows:
1. Defining A Strategy
Executives should start by asking themselves what exactly needs changing and why? Organisational change directly affects all departments from entry level employees to senior management and must be aligned to a companies strategy. Too many programs are heavy on the jargon and light on the substance. Executives are often sold on an idea only to realise as the change initiative begins that they need a different outcome, tool or process to be successful.
In this situation the strategy for change needs to be re-aligned with the organisation and its goals.
An outside senior advisor with a unique perspective of the organisation will play an important role in helping an executive to explore and shape the strategy they are defining and highlight whether it will truly create the outcomes they desire. This upfront partnership can save money on the back end of a project, by avoiding costly re-scoping of initiatives.This relationship between senior advisor and executive should therefore begin as early as possible in the process.
2. Coalition Building
Its important to give people multiple opportunities to share concerns, ask questions, and offer ideas and to make following up with answers and updates a top priority. Executives must reach out across their functional work streams to build a large cohesive team to support the project once the correct strategy has been set and the urgency for the project has been established. A good senior advisor will be able to guide an executive though these interactions.
As a senior change management professional, it is important that you help leaders of the organisation craft the correct message. While leaders often know what it is they want and see the urgency for themselves, the outside view that a coach provides can support the development of a team around the initiative and help to navigate the strategic and political interests in linking the change to the interest of multiple team members.
The more people are involved in the process, the fewer will be acting as internal saboteurs.
Communication Is Key to Successful Change Management
3. Communication
Don’t confuse process visioning, planning and endless powerpoint presentations with communication.
Change is uncomfortable, and adapting to change is messy. A Gantt chart can not capture the hard side of change management. Why? Because tasks are easy to list, but behaviour and long-held habits are not easy to change. Gather outside information, solicit perspectives, and adapt the approaches for your organisation and group.
The importance of communication within an organisation around the change cannot be underestimated. Executives often fall short on communication in two main areas, not communicating the right message and not communicating it frequently enough across an organisation. It is often thought that everyone else in the organisation is on board and understands the change, however, the reality for an executive is not the reality for another worker who may have lost a job because of a well intended change initiative. A senior advisor can apply consistent pressure to the leader of the change around the need for communication and its messaging.
Quantity Is Fine, but Quality and Consistency Are Crucial
4. Share Relevant Information Quickly
Most CEOs and managers are quoted as saying, “You can’t communicate too much,” Part of the communication will be the support the urgency in messaging. “My way or the highway” is often used, but is not an effective communication strategy. Senior Advisors can work with executives to tailor their message to each area of the organisation in order to define content that is important to them.
A study by Towers Watson shows that “only two-thirds (68%) of senior managers say they are getting the message about the reasons behind major organisational decisions. Below the senior management level, the message dwindles further to (53%) of middle managers and 40% of first-line supervisors understanding reasons behind major organisational change.
The forwarding and cascading of information does not work as consistent communication around the change will be necessary at all levels of the organisation using a variety of communication pathways and vehicles.As a trusted advisor it is important to encourage executives to lead by example in both their messaging and communication of the change agenda.
Only 25% of Change Management Initiatives Are Successful over the Long Term
Maintaining The Change
Many leaders and managers underestimate the length of time required by a change cycle. It is paramount that as the change effort reaches its completion that leaders of the change recognise that the process does not end there. The role of a Senior Advisor will be to guide them to the idea that work must be undertaken to maintain the change over time. Maintaining change does not mean that an executive must own the initiative forever, just that they take the necessary steps to ensure that change has a lasting impact by integrating the change into the corporate culture and measuring the benefits and highlighting areas for future improvements.
The outside unbiased view is that a Change Management Lead is crucial to the success of a change management program.
This article provides food for thought rather than counsel specifically designed to meet the needs of your organisation or situation. Please use it mindfully.
Big Project Failures Claim Their Victims in Spectacular Fashion
You’ve just been assigned a high visibility failing project and you’re working round-the-clock to get the work to the client on time, despite the fact that the job bears barely any resemblance to the project you initially discussed. The scope keeps creeping, the risk and issue alerts are coming in thick and fast, the project is already two months past the original deadline, the clients are getting antsy even though they’re yet to provide you with various key pieces of information in order to baseline the project. Is this your chance to shine and showcase your skills?
If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going, You Will Probably End up Somewhere Else – Laurence J. Peter
If you manage to turn the project around and the project is successful, you will attract many fathers. However, if the project fails, you will probibly be offered up as the sacrificial lamb (scapegoat), there is absolutely no way around it. A high percentage of projects fail to deliver useful results, that’s a fact.
Project managers are regularly blamed for schedule delays and cost overruns for projects they inherit by no fault of there own, however, in most cases, the fault for such issues rarely lies with just one person.
Sufficient data has been gathered to indicate that blockers such as unsupportive management, senior sponsorship or low resource availability are as much to blame for project failure as ineffective stakeholder management or poor communication.
Capture all decisions
The only way to protect yourself is to ensure that you capture all decisions made in the project. In most cases many of these decisions will have been made by people above you. While you can influence decisions made by people under you. Get into the habit of building a dashboard early in the project and updating it each week with actuals. Also consider using a standard repeatable technique to analyse the health of your project.
Constrained resources
If you are in a project where resources are constrained, clearly outline the resources that you require to deliver the project in terms of time, scope, budget, risk and quality. If resources are pulled from your project, clearly articulate the affect of that in delivery terms and measure that to time delayed or cost added.
Risk and issues register
Operate a strong risk and issue register, ensure it is both visible and assessable so your team can actively participate in updating it.
Stop the project
Always remember, cancelling the project is not always a failure. There can be many reasons why the project may no longer be desirable now. If you have done your job well, you can be really successful by ensuring a project does not continue to meander along, wasting time and money when there is no possibility of completing the project.
Organisational change management
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said when there are organisation change management issues. While there are a few project managers who feel their jurisdiction ends at the triple constraint, most now understand the need to achieve the expected benefits from their projects.
So when is it fair to blame a project manager for poor implementation of a project’s deliverables, this is assuming that they were employed at the beginning of the project?
If they didn’t perform good stakeholder analysis during the project initiation stage as well as at regular intervals.
If they turned a blind eye and deaf ear to factors that could impact value achievement
If they didn’t insist on a clear communication strategy and progressive information sharing with relevant stakeholder groups.
If they didn’t engage influencers from key stakeholder groups throughout the project lifecycle.
If the organisation management deliverables were not built into the project’s scope definition and work breakdown structure.
Assuming the project manager was appointed at the start of the project and had undertaken all of the above, what are invalid reasons to blame the project manager if the project failed?
A lack of timely resource availability or commitment by the organisation
Directives to the project manager to not engage certain stakeholder communities
Ignorance by senior sponsors to management risks raised by the project team
A management decision that is too bitter a pill to swallow in spite of how much it has been sugar coated
Have any comments or stories that could help to expand this article?
The world of Procurement is seemingly full of impassioned people absolutely certain about what procurement is all about. Like other great lies, many of these half-truths and misleading ideas sound agreeable to the ears and comepackaged as good advice from influential people.
How many of these popular lies have you fallen victim to?
1. Procurement should have a seat at the C-table
It’s not so much an outright lie as an irritating half-truth – but the damage comes with what Procurement people do with it. The thought behind this is well-intended: Procurement people should be able to speak the language of senior executives as easily as they can talk about FIDIC or demand forecasting. Terms such as EBITDA, ROIC, and economic profit should be part of their everyday parlance. Procurement issues are often the least understood by the board and the CEO and must be explained in their language.
What on earth could be wrong with that?Nothing – if the Procurement people have full cognisance of their own tools and language – and can be persuasive to senior people of the value of Procurement.
Now, that’s where we have, what is kindly referred to, as a skills gap.
In reality, for Procurement with no reputation (outside of that pesky metric of cost) and few business-aligned projects to call upon, it can be incredibly hard to try and catch senior people’s ear – never mind a C-seat (see what I did there?).
2. You must carry out a competitive tender to obtain value for money
I’m trying to distance myself from the public sector here (noting I did co-author the CIPS book on contracting in the public sector) but even in the private sector there’s a desperate need to get three quotes.
Why three quotes?
Not five, not 11?‘Cos the rules say three; that’s why.
And the rules of Procurement policy and procedures, well, they can’t be broken because the CFO or the head of internal audit (all very commercial animals?) will be down on Procurement like a ton of bricks.
When the three quotes are received the following conversation occurs – the highest price is rejected – ‘they’re ripping us off’ followed by – and I love this one about the lowest price quotation – ‘the price is too low, they must have got the specification wrong’ – and the contract is awarded to the middle-priced one”¦.surely there’s a better way to deliver value for money?
Perhaps starting with actually defining it!
3. Procurement is the only source of governance for 3rd party spend
Being the only source would suggest a 100%, right?
I’d be amazed – and delighted – if Procurement governed half of all the 3rd party spend.Words such as ‘influencing’ are sometimes bandied about to shore up this lie. What a surprise that sales people are either trained, or very quickly learn ways, to actually bypass Procurement when selling.
And the reason?
Obviously marketing, IT, auditors fees, construction/property, recruitment (I could go on) is completely different, say the senior people in those departments – echoing the views of the oh so helpful sales people.And Procurement just never gets near, as they can’t articulate (deliver?) the value they can add.
I await the avalanche of people commenting on this telling me I’m wrong.Please be assured you are exceptional in Procurement.
4. Procurement welcome innovation and strategic relationships and anything other than lower price
Few businesses view Procurement as a strategic process. Most often, Procurement staff report to the CFO. This astonishing trend indicates that Procurement is still viewed as a financial / accounting activity and not an operational strategic activity that directly impacts the bottom line.
Suppliers; if you have an innovative product or service, recognise that Procurement’s ‘raison d’être’ is to deliver cost savings.That’s what they are measured on, that’s what the research with CPOs and the C-suite say is the #1 priority.There’s oodles of other priorities such as local sourcing, sustainability, innovation, partnering, risk management – I could go on and on and on.But that’s the one they get measured on. Think that through, next time you’re pitching.
The take-away
Perspectives on Procurement need to change, mature and grow up. Lies like these need to be re-evaluated and abandoned. Procurement needs to change the way they engage and manage suppliers and their internal stakeholders; ‘adding value’ (a dreadful phrase!) means so much more than asking for a discount.
Stephen Ashcroft BEng MSc MCIPS (speaking here, very much in a personal capacity!) is Associate Director, Procurement and Commercial Advisory at AECOM, a Fortune 500 company. He’s a procurement learner stuck in the body of a procurement veteran, and with over 20 years’ experience still sees the glass as half full. Working with leading organisations across diverse industry sectors, Steve helps clients reimagine procurement to drive improved performance. A recognised advisor, speaker, lecturer, and author; the ever-hopeful Kopite shares his bright-eyed/world-weary views on Twitter @ThinkProcure, LinkedIn and his blog.
For the first time, millions of professionals across the globe qualified in ITIL ®, PRINCE2 ® and PRINCE2 Agile┞¢ will be able to track and record their professional development through a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) scheme as part of the new AXELOS Professional Development Programme, which launches today.
The AXELOS Professional Development Programme is an online membership programme aligned to the global best practice frameworks of ITIL, PRINCE2 and PRINCE2 Agile, that provides members with a range of specialised tools. Members will be able to assess their ability against industry benchmarks and gain access to exclusive content and activities designed to develop their skills and knowledge.
The programme will give practitioners the confidence and tools to keep up-to-date and relevant in their field while supporting them in their professional development. By completing the required CPD points, members will earn a digital badge that can be shared via online platforms to demonstrate their relevance and commitment to professional development.
Peter Hepworth, AXELOS Chief Executive, said: “There are millions of practitioners with either ITIL or PRINCE2 qualifications, and we want to champion these professionals by giving them a means to develop their knowledge and skills. This new programme is all about offering additional value for IT service management and project management professionals which goes beyond passing an exam and gaining a qualification.
“Ongoing investment in professional development also benefits organizations as well as individuals. Employers can ensure that their employees are continually developing their skills and the new digital badges will also help employers source the right talent by using them to differentiate against individuals who haven’t kept their skills up to date.
“The scheme will enable ITIL and PRINCE2 practitioners to achieve industry recognition and enhance their own personal brand. In addition, employers who invest time and money in CPD can develop their teams and drive up standards while improving staff loyalty and morale.”
Those wishing to join the scheme must hold an ITIL or PRINCE2 qualification. AXELOS are running a promotion so anyone joining in 2015 can save £100 on annual membership costs, and just pay the initial £25 registration fee.
The Professional Development Programme is the latest addition to the best practice portfolio owned by AXELOS – a joint venture between the UK Government and Capita plc. More information can be found on the AXELOS website: https://www.axelos.com/professional-development
Project Journal staff were not involved in the creation of this content.
