Seminar 5: Procuring suppliers and managing the delivery stage

‘Seminar 5: Procuring suppliers and managing the delivery stage’ works aimed to raise awareness of what is needed to enable successful the procurement of suppliers and how to manage suppliers post contract award.

In this seminar we covered:

• The importance of investing time and resources in the procurement stage and not rushing it

• Being clear on what your role will be through procurement, delivery, handover (and other key participants)

• Deciding early what you want from your delivery contracts based on your business case and stakeholder requirements

• The need to keep reflecting on your plans and update your risk register because problems and issues will arise

• The value of building and maintaining a collaborative culture with partners and suppliers

• Why you should start planning for handover from the beginning of the project to support a smooth completion

Project Close Out Report

Project closure is often a stage that is neglected as people move onto other assignments and significant energy has been focused on bringing an asset into use. It is however an important time to take stock, assess the successes and failures and most importantly, identify the areas of learning that can be transferred to other projects. This is especially important in a Towns Fund context as many Towns are delivering multiple projects, at different times but with similar challenges to overcome. This Project Close Report template has been produced to provide a straightforward but effective way of capturing useful information from the project team that, if populated correctly will serve well from both traceability and lessons learned perspectives. This report should be endorsed through governance via a final decision gate and although is the responsibility of the Sponsor, will often be produced by the project team who have had the first-hand experience of delivery.

Seminar 4: Delivery stage Planning and Risk Management

‘Seminar 4: Delivery stage Planning and Risk Management’ aimed to help project teams to develop the high level milestone plans defined in their business cases into robust project delivery plans, and augment risk registers prepared to date by raising awareness of risks associated with capital projects.

In this seminar we covered:

• The common drivers for planning and the benefits of robust planning in the Project Initiation stage

• Different ways to communicate the plan to different stakeholders

• Dependencies and ways to elicit these and reflect them on the delivery plan (schedule)

• Risk management and common capital project risks

Seminar 3: Requirements and Change Management

‘Seminar 3: Requirements and Change Management’ aimed to highlight the importance of capturing and agreeing project requirements with stakeholders, along with defining how Requirements will managed throughout the project lifecycle.

In this seminar we covered:

• What requirements are and why they are important

• Requirements management through the lifecycle

• Useful inputs for requirements

• Developing, agreeing and prioritising requirements

• Alignment of objectives, requirements and benefits – the ‘golden thread’

• Common risks and wider considerations

• Benefits management and some Programme-level considerations

• Change Control

Seminar 2: Project organisation, governance and assurance

‘Seminar 2: Project organisation, governance and assurance’ aimed to raise awareness of the organisation, governance and assurance challenges project teams are likely to encounter as they transition into project delivery.

In this seminar we covered:

• The importance of the organisational arrangements to project success​ and the need for a layered approach

• Governance types and who makes decisions for what

• Project assurance and reporting

Seminar 1: Project initiation

‘Seminar 1: Project initiation’ highlights the importance of investing time and effort upfront in the Initiation Stage.

In this seminar we covered:

• The context for projects as they transition from the business case stage into delivery

• The inherent risks associated with capital projects and discussed what project teams should be doing during initiation to set themselves up for success

• Initiation Stage aims: to ensure that the project is established with clear reference terms, appropriate project controls, and has an approved single version of the truth

• How the business case forms the foundation for Project Initiation stage work

• Where the Initiation stage fits into the project lifecycle and various lifecycle methodologies

• What to capture in a Project Initiation Document

Towns Fund Risk Register Template

Risks are a fact of programme delivery, and they have wide-ranging causes, including political, economic, social, technical and operational. Risk management is the process of identifying, assessing and putting in place measures to control threats to project success. Risk registers should be at the heart of your approach to risk management. A risk register provides a framework for you to identify and gain a shared understanding of the risks and what should be done.

To help you to manage risks for the Towns Fund, TFDP have developed a simple risk register, with accompanying instructions, for you to use.  This template can be used at the project- and programme-levels to track and manage risks, and they can support reporting on risk management to your Town Deal Board and across the programme.

Planning your Programme

This recorded event was about looking ahead to initiating your projects and general project management.  It focused on some hints and tips for planning out your projects, focusing on construction for buildings, public realms and refurbishments to take you through the lifecycle of this to help you think about and plan your event.

About the speaker

Alistair Godbold is a Director at the Nichols Group where he manages and advises companies on the set up, operation and governance of projects and programmes.  He has advised on and set up multi-billion-pound programmes and projects and led the transformation of organisations. 

He has over 35 years experience delivering projects ranging from office buildings through IT enabled transformations to high integrity systems.  Alistair has also written blogs, books and lectured on project management around the world.  He has also served as a director of a number of project management not for profit organisations in the UK and internationally.

Project Management Good Practice

This guide is intended to introduce Towns to the basics of project management, and provide high level advice on the different elements of successful project management.

It sets out current best, or good practice that may be appropriate for Towns.

• It can be used in the development of business cases

• It can be used to develop the plans and ways of working

• It will help you get your projects off to the best start

The guide also includes links to additional resources, such as guides, templates and good practice.

If you would benefit from more detailed support on any of the topics covered within this guidance you can book a one-to-one meeting with Alistair Godbold, our Project and Programme Management expert, using the Expert Drop-in Hour service.

Looking ahead to Project Initiation

As Towns develop business cases for their projects, they will need to start thinking about how to deliver these and set up for success to initiate the projects. 

To help you think about this, during this recorded webinar we looked at:

• The basic project lifecyle

• What help and standards are available

• Setting up for success:

  • Governance

  • Project management

  • Sponsorship

  • Commercials and

  • Deliverability

• What a plan for this might contain

About the speaker:

Alistair is a leading professional in project and programme management and brings 35 years of experience in programme management and controls. He is an expert in assurance, intelligent clienting, and capability development and is keen to help you ensure your projects have the right environment to deliver, and the right mechanisms in place to realise their benefits.