Insights
Engineering Matters Podcast #81 Zen and the art of programme management
Our experts, Sue Kershaw, Claire Fryer and Pete Mill have teamed up with Gordon Masterton from the University of Edinburgh and Engineering Matters to discuss how project reviews are the cornerstone of any major project for the regular and formal review of performance reporting and decision-making. They have the potential to improve project performance and potentially the performance of our industry.
Understanding the Big Picture to ensure successful project delivery
In this article, Costain's chief systems engineer, Hazel Woodcock explores the types of boundaries and connections for major programmes. Overall, the goal is a ‘one team’ mindset. Know where the boundaries are, know who the stakeholders are, but work in an open 'zero defects attitude' culture.
The role of leadership in risk management
Our head of risk services, Andrew Abu-Bakar, discusses the ways in which project leaders can influence the effectiveness of risk management through active participation, a dose of realism and a collaborative environment.
Engineering Matters Podcast #74 Weaving a new data fabric for infrastructure
Our expert, Tim Embley and has teamed up Neil Robertson from the National Skills Academy for Rail, Stuart Harvey from Transport for London and Engineering Matters to talk about a major programme that is being spearheaded by the UK’s transport sector: The Transport Infrastructure Efficiency Strategy Living Lab (TIES Living Lab, or just ‘the Living Lab’ for short).
Rolling wave planning (part two) - can it break on a fixed year financial funding model?
On all critical national infrastructure and major complex programmes, there is a continuous conflict between the funding cycle and the planning process. While funding is necessary to progress, it is sometimes out of sync with the overall programme.
Rolling wave planning (part one) – the ebb and flow of planning major projects
How far ahead can you reasonably build a detailed plan for a large, complex programme? Six months ahead? Probably. 12 months? Hopefully. Two years? Five years? Probably not. How far ahead should we try to plan in detail? Maybe a much shorter time period.
Improving major project performance through the right culture and leadership behaviour – PART THREE OF THREE
The urgency to build better resilience for our economy, the environment and communities is stronger than ever before. But realising this imperative requires transformation at pace across the lifecycle of infrastructure and one way to encourage this, to date overlooked, is by improving the behaviours of those leading project review meetings.
Improving major project performance through the right culture and leadership behaviour – PART TWO OF THREE
We live in a world where pressure to deliver value for money on high-performing, complex infrastructure projects is relentless and yet there are numerous examples of over budget and over running projects in the UK. According to the Infrastructure and Projects Association, of the major projects identified between 2012-2019, the number of projects classified as “probable of a successful delivery” has fallen from 48% in 2013 to just 17% in 2019. A transformation that delivers faster and more efficient projects is required.
Improving major project performance through the right culture and leadership behaviour – PART ONE OF THREE
At a national level, project reviews play a fundamental role in ensuring the nation’s critical infrastructure gets delivered on time and on budget. When properly run they enable the teams involved, and their leadership, to see through the fog, evaluate a project’s underlying health and make effective decisions on future activity. This all centres on the encouragement of desired behaviours and the discouragement of undesired behaviours through different consequences.