Friday, 1 July 2016
Sunday, 5 June 2016
Tuesday, 23 June 2015
Can Integrated Project Execution Management Approach be a blessing?
In the Real Estate industry, project delays is a common and perhaps an accepted norm. Well.. a recent study has relieved that there six issues in project management -
- Inaccurate assessment of project risk
- Lack of capability to manage project complexity
- Inability to correctly estimate and monitor
- Ineffective utilization of best practices and benchmarks
- Difficulty to involve multiple and diverse stakeholders
- Inability to synchronize project plan and execution
Some real estate companies attempt to get around these issues by using a project scheduling tool - be it tools such as Microsoft Project or Primavera, but still have failed, simply because... in a typical project and I would like to stick to the Indian context - the project execution team is on-site and in most cases the project management team (architects, designers etc.) sits out of a head office or branch office distant from the project execution team and both managed by the Top Management team located perhaps at a third location. So... no synchronization, no looking at the same picture... many a times it ends up more as a case of each blind person looking the elephant and assuming and interpreting what the elephant looks like in their own personal way. Result - project delays, resources utilization issues, cost overruns and depleting profit margins - all the stuff that no CEO or CFO likes.
In fact... it all starts in the very initial phases of a project itself, wherein there is always an hurry to "announce" the project with very little time for detailed planning, time for putting in the necessary supporting infrastructure, identifying and assessing the project related risks and the time taken to augment and do good them - for example, time taken for land acquisition or right of way or alignment or even environment or forest clearance if required. The estimates built in the initial project plan for clearance from various agencies can go wrong leading to delays. At times, there are issues around the scope definition itself.
What is perhaps required is - an integrated project execution managementwherein the project scheduling tool has integrated BIM (Building Information Management) capabilities and is able to create project schedules that are precise and accurate and which allows one to breakdown the plan into tasks and link these tasks together with the ability to be able to test different scenarios and their impact on the end delivery date of the project. What is required is the ability to assess -
- What is the likelihood of completing the project on time and within budget?
- Which tasks are most likely to cause the project to be delayed?
Also, it is common practice in a construction project of having an “internal” or “target” schedule which is less than the “contract” schedule. If not handled properly, this can cause cash flow pressures. Most importantly, the Top Management would like to see the costs built in into the project scheduling tool and also to be able to run multiple scenarios to understand the impacts of these scenarios on the overall costs of the projects thus been able to reflect upon the projects costs.
Another issue is - to be able keep track of the project progress and to be able to built in the progress / delays into the project plan so that an impact analysis is possible and corrective actions can be initiated too. From a Top Management perspective, one needs a project scheduling tool that allows they to see project progress online across multiple devices. This will also enable a much closer working relationships between the Project Management and Project Execution teams.
It is very important to understand that the project plan is as good as the "weakest" link in the entire plan. Effective project execution management is all about identifying the "weakest" link in the project plan and address it. Once the "weakest" link is addressed, then one needs to look at the "next weakest" link and go on and so forth. The project scheduling tool needs to be able to capture this information for historic and learning purposes so that future projects plan are made more effective and efficient.
The project scheduling tool also needs to have the able to connect and take data from and share data to various other systems deployed in an infrastructure company to enhance the value to the business.
Today, there are scheduling tools that facilitate this integrated project execution approach to project management within the scheduling tool itselfand it is time Indian infrastructure companies consider adopting this approach to plan project much more effectively, reduce delays in project delivery and gain repute with the customers for "on-time delivery".
The crux of success for any real estate company is - effective and efficient, timely, on budget, on time project execution.
Friday, 19 June 2015
"Kill 3 Birds in 1 Stone" or "Ghar Wapsi" or both - Maha style
Recently on 16th June 2015, the State Government of Maharashtra unveiled what it called an "Investor-friendly IT and ITeS Policy". The policy aims to attract an investment worth ₹50,000 crore and generate employment for 10 lakh people in state.
The policy, called the "new IT and Enabled Services Policy" offers sops including - an additional FSI upto 200% by charging a premium, subsidy on electricity tariffs, property tax at residential rates, concession on Works Contract Tax for IT and ITeS companies and also reimbursement of property tax for companies which set up their units in rural areas.
So, if one looks at these sops, one wonders is it an attempt by the Maharashtra State Government to try to "kill three birds in one stone"?
Well... the way I look at it, - bird one - IT and ITeS companies, get them to set up shop in Maharashtra; Maharashtra has been losing out on these companies setting up large infrastructure and service centres to others states - Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka; bird two - generate employment for 10 lakhs people in the state (employment generation is always a priority for any government). The bird three seems to be just little hidden away but is significant - a boast to the Infrastructure and Real Estate industry in the state.
Or....
is the new policy is also aimed at facilitating a "Ghar Wapsi" of sorts for the large number of people from Maharashtra currently associated with the information technology (IT) sector who have moved to other states for jobs. Will it bring them back to set up and work for IT and ITeS related businesses in their home state?
or it is both... if so... then "it is four birds in one stone"....
Whatever be the case - all these sops under the new policy will definitely see an increase in activities around commercial real estate and setting up of IT parks which will also follow with an increase need for residential housing as these companies will need the physical infrastructure for their employees to work and also for them to reside. So... I see good times for the Real Estate Industry in Maharashtra, in the commercial and residential space, especially in Navi Mumbai, Pune and Thane.
Tuesday, 9 June 2015
Can "Government Citizen Participation" model work for the Government's Smart City projects?
June 25 2015 - would be a historic day and important day for the urban development sector. It is on this day the Prime Minister of India will formally launch the 48,000 crore Smart City project and unveil the roadmap, which is an attempt to transform the urban infrastructure in India.
Recently, the plan for 100 Smart Cities have been cleared by the Government Of India; out of which 20 cities are likely to be shortlisted for the Smart City project in the first phase, 40 will be selected in the next stage to be followed by 40 more later.
As per governmental official sources, the project will be implemented through an area based approach comprising retrofitting and redevelopment. Each Smart City aspirant will be selected through a ‘City Challenge Competition’ which intends to link financing with the ability of the cities to perform to achieve the objectives. Each state will shortlist a certain number of smart city aspirants as per the norms to be indicated and they will prepare smart city proposals for further evaluation for extending central support (http://computer.financialexpress.com/news/pm-modi-to-unveil-rs-98000-crore-smart-city-amrut-projects-on-june-25/12312/).
The biggest challenge is going to be for the state governments and urban local bodies as to how to effective and efficiently spend the huge proposed investments to be announced by the Centre Government. The key would be to put in place a monitoring mechanism to ensure that the money spend is rightly and appropriately spend and there are no project overruns which are a common and typical problem faced by Government initiated projects in India.
Secondly, if the Smart City project needs to be successful then there needs to an atmosphere to bring in transparency in the functioning of the Government and the urban local bodies and here e-governance initiatives and solutions will help in bringing the same.
Maybe the Government could consider a "Government Citizen participation (GCP)" model rather than the now famous "Public Private Partnership (PPP)" business model for the Smart City project. I believe that the Government should consider and evaluate ways and means to get the Citizen involved. It is important to do so as all that will be done under the Smart City project would be impacting the common citizen and his/ her involvement in how they would like to have their city managed is very critical; decisions on governance of the Smart City and the solutions to be deployed perhaps should not be left to only a "elite" and "smart" few.
For example, the Government could consider announcing the initiatives / changes to be made under the Smart City project and making them known to the common citizen with clear and defined timelines and milestones through public sources and public notices or even on a governmental portal that can be accessed by any common citizen even through yr mobile. The "citizen portal" can accept the point of views on the progress of the initiative awarded to a shortlisted smart city aspirant; should then calculate a "satisfaction" index for the awarded project and then the payments to the shortlisted smart city aspirant could be linked to that "satisfaction" index for the initiative awarded and undertaken them. This will do two things - ensuring active involvement of the common citizens and would act a "check and balance" mechanism for monitoring the project execution status, hence minimizing project cost overruns and actual progress on ground within a stipulated time frame.
I believe the "Government Citizen Participation (GCP)" model definitely needs much more work and thought process if the citizen truly needs to get involved, but then we can now take baby steps to a "citizen-centric" planning approach for ensuring a sustainable urban development in the long-run.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)