Project Managment Guide: The Role of a Project Director in Delivering a Live Project Scenario

In this article, we will introduce a “live project scenario” and then examine what the Project Director will need to be aware of and when to consider taking a lead role in project delivery. This course will discuss these considerations and how information obtained and developed can affect the Project Director’s activities.

This course will use the Live Project Scenario to provide an early assessment of the Projects Key Characteristics with respect to:

·         Scope

·         Time

·         Cost

·         Quality

·         Stakeholders

·         Resources

·         Communication

·         Risk

·         Integration

The Project Director will use this early appreciation and this framework to focus their delivery team’s attention on filling in the gaps and to build the Project delivery Plan.

Fintech is relocating their Brisbane headquarters into a single center location in a 6-star green star skyscraper. They want warm, inviting finishes and an agile, technical environment to enhance and encourage staff collaboration. The result is to be an office environment of exceptional quality which will assist workers to be productive and collaborative in their new work surrounds.

What analysis has taken place:

To develop strategies for the development of the company, an analysis of the present conditions of the company was undertaken by the property lead.

Anticipated Amount of time for the fitout – Over 18 months of planning and execution to get us where we are today.

 

Designer Objectives and Brief:

·         Existing data on the workplace was provided, i.e., existing workplace: the different spaces in the office, their sizes, adjacency, orientations, uses/activities, number of users, cost of operation, frequency of use.

·         The data provided was supported by a space audit. This audit provides stats on how employees utilize their time in the workplace and can determine the company’s utilization and cost of operation for each space in the current workplace including the circulation spaces.

·         Challenging the norm to create an activity-based workplace - taking a more democratic approach to space planning.

·         Providing for integrated teams that can work in stacked neighborhoods distributed across floors and connected by internal stairs, the primary source of circulation.

·         A space needs analysis was undertaken to determine the property’s space needs. This is based on the activities that are performed, and the space’s intended and actual uses.

·         A user needs analysis is used to determine the quality of the space so that the users can perform their activities in the space effectively.

Workshops were conducted to land on themes of what the new workplace should offer.

What came out were:

·         Enable formal and informal collaboration desired, as presently work in silos

·         Support ‘work anywhere’ strategies by removing fixed desks

·         Enhance the transfer of knowledge by freeing up the ability for employees to work besides the people they need to throughout the day

·         More greenery, natural light, whiteboards, alternative collaboration spaces

 

Fitout PM Team Objectives and Brief:

OBJECTIVES:

·         Build of a 14,500m2 of office fitout in an agile/flexible work-setting environment for Fintech employees

·         Build of 1500 m2 specialty facility for IT operations

·         Build of Reception and meeting room floor

·         Build of an internal green wall and internal staircase access throughout the office floors with 3-floor interlinks

·         Build of a Kitchen, a tea point, and breakout spaces per floor

 

THE PROJECT MANAGERS FOR THE FITOUT MUST:

·         Bring their in-depth understanding of the building procedures and tenancy fitout guide

·         Bring their established relationship with the building owner and facilities management, enabling them to deliver a seamless project

 

Gaining a High-Level Understanding of The Project:

What does the Project Director need to know about how the client got here and who is doing what?

·         The Business Case – signed off by the CEO/Board

·         Critical Dates – current leases & obligations

·         Project timeline

·         In and out of scope for the PM Team

 

What is the in and out of scope for the PM team:

·         Project Governance – Client rep/direction/review/approval

·         Detailed Design – does the design team continue or does the Contractor take over?

·         Tendering the work & securing delivery

·         IT installation

·         FF&E

·         Relocation of Staff

·         Change Management/stakeholder Comms

·         Vacating & Make Good Arrangements to 2 x current tenancies

·         Liaison with Building Owner

 

Project Overview:

Fintech Brisbane Accommodation Project

New accommodation facilities are being built to house and service Fintech’s Brisbane business activities, employees, and contractors.

What else?

·         The organization had been reviewing their office strategy for some time and negotiations are underway to consolidate their CBD footprint.

·         The Executive Leadership team has provided endorsement to proceed with the lease negotiations for the new building at 512 Wynyard Street for Fintech’s Brisbane staff.

·         Fintech Existing lease at two fringe CBD locations expires 01 July 2022. There are make good obligations to both existing premises, which is accounted for in the Brisbane property strategy program.

·         The New fintech headquarters in Brisbane, about to start development at 512 Wynyard street, will be consolidated of two city fringe locations to one consolidated premises. This new building will see over 1200 employees call this purpose-built fit out home in 2022.

 

Project Business Needs/Objectives:

The organization made key decisions relating to their property strategy that contributed to sourcing and negotiating a great outcome that meets the imperatives of:

·         Consolidating their CBD footprint

·         Moving to one location

·         Moving to a newly constructed building that features smart technology and environmentally sustainable design

·         Teams will be based on large floors in a single building – opposed to smaller floors across multiple sites

·         Providing greater collaboration between their people

·         Further simplification of their business

·         Moving to a central precinct that offers improved public transport and access to a range of onsite amenities including end of trip and childcare facilities

 

Project Design Objectives:

High Level Requirements the Project Must Achieve

The high-level requirements are the set of capabilities which the project must achieve.

·         Improved transparency and movement empowering the employees to socialize, leverage informal networks and be curious about what other teams are doing. A more connected workforce will be the result – a workplace that offers choice and trust in where and when people want to work. A workplace that encourages connections with customers and staff and builds a sense of community.

·         The workplace will provide complete flexibility and will not be divided into strict departments. Rather, there are ‘neighborhoods’, in which various teams collaborate. A variety of workstation options provide the staff choice – high work settings, low settings, dynamic non-standard settings, sit/stand desks, and booths.

·         The contiguous floor plate allows neighborhoods to expand and contract as needed. Each neighborhood is supported by centrally shared and hackable spaces. These spaces flex and adapt to an evolving calendar of workshops, training and social events.

·         The workplace will support wellbeing across physical, social, environmental and intellectual, and a workplace that supports an up-take of activity.

·         The workplace will offer flexibility across height-adjustable work surfaces to encourage non-sedentary behavior and changes in posture throughout the day.

 

Project Success Criteria:

Review each of the identified risks and consider:

Success criteria are the standards/levels by which to judge whether an objective/goal/ target/outcome has been achieved/successful.  

The move to consolidate the business under one roof is the first step toward fostering greater strategic alignment and collaboration across the board for the Fintech business. On completion of the project, the Brisbane office will be a vertically integrated workplace for ideation and problem-solving without silos and barriers to working.

·         A Unique opportunity for the client organization to bring together staff across various locations and co-locating them in a newly constructed fit out or building that features smart technology and environmentally sustainable design.

·         The Efficiencies of being in a single building, compared to the situation of smaller spread across multiple sites.

·         Co-locating can support a ‘one client organization’ culture.

·         Greater collaboration between all employees

·         Further simplification of the client organization business

·         Employees using workspaces suitable for their day, with a sharing ratio of 10 people to nine desks.

·         Neighborhoods promoting soft boundaries and behaviors to support new ways of working

 

Project Constraints, Assumptions, and Risks:

PROJECT CONSTRAINTS

Project budget of $50,000,000 + GST (excluding exiting buildings hand back activities and exit works)

Project Timing – That the fitout and staff relocation can be completed before the end of current tenancy dates

 

PROJECT ASSUMPTIONS

·         Agile/flexible worksetting environment will be provided

·         That the staff understand what they are getting

 

PROJECT RISKS

·         The Project Director has created risk profiles across Service Provider Risks, Technology Risks, Business Integration Risks, Business Interruptions Risks, Project/New Initiative Management Risks, and Employee Risks. All of these risks will be reviewed in later courses.

·         There will be a review of up to 18 significant risks encompassing risk profiles on the project schedule aligning with the lease expiry, political risks and dependencies to name a few. Further risk brainstorming will be completed with the project team at the project kick-off meeting.

 

Project Schedule:

The Project Director worked through the high-level deliverables and defined them in a hierarchy. Each deliverable and the tasks needed to create it were broken into more and more detail until it reached the point where individual work packages could be identified.

See the milestones that LCETED will work through throughout your course.

What does MODULE 2 & 3 look like? - Understanding the Property Strategy and Project Initiation - Approvals, Program and Launch

What does MODULE 4 - Stakeholder Requirements - Developing the Change & Comms Program look like?

What does MODULE 6 - Statutory Authority Approvals look like?

What does MODULE 7 - Fitout Tender Works look like?

What does MODULE 8 – Fitout Construction Works look like?

What does MODULE 10 - TRANSITION PLANNING - Relocation Program look like?

What does MODULE 11 & 12 - Project Closeout and Exit Strategy look like?

 

For a Full Ghantt Chart Sample PDF Kindly Click the Link below

Project Budget:

Budget is another important consideration in accommodation projects. Every project operates on a set budget. This budget may be fixed, or may have set tolerances to accommodate price fluctuations, additions, rectifications, etc. Whatever the method the client organization applies, there needs to be visibility of the budget dollars available and the basis upon which that budget was determined which can often occur earlier than the Project Director/Project Manager has been engaged. The project budget should include cost for the project’s management, design, construction, and transition/occupation costs.

·         Project budget of $50,000,000 + GST (excluding exiting premises hand back activities and exit works)

·         Project budget must allow for unforeseen costs - budget adjustment or additions brought about by potential problems or changes during the project life cycle. The project budget should include a design contingency to accommodate fluctuations in cost due to the process of resolving the design and a construction contingency to accommodate additional costs that emerge during the physical construction process – both these allowances are a normal and essential part of project management and should not be considered as extravagant or superfluous. Failure to make provision for the budget to accommodate these types of change will usually result in unwanted compromise or deletion of essential scope.

 

Summary from your Project Director:

Developing an appreciation for a project is a learned skill that an experienced Project Director will form almost without thinking the moment a new project is pointed in their direction. The appreciation picks up on all the early and freely available facts and evidence that exist surrounding a project and synthesizes a notional format and character which the project assumes/develops as it progresses. The Director’s appreciation will change as the project’s characteristics get better known but it's this appreciation that sets the first actions in train and provides initial focus for the project team.