The good project management skills that exist in South Africa are unfor- tunately being spread too thinly, resulting in many projects going ahead with weak teams at the owner and con- tractor level.

It is, thus, essential to nurture project management skills in the country, as good project management skills are globally transferable and are easily lost to other parts of the world when the workload in South Africa decreases, says audit, tax and advi- sory services firm KPMG management consulting and major projects advisory director Jeff Shaw.
In addition, while the number of project managers is increasing overall, the required number of project managers who are experienced enough to ensure the successful delivery of megaprojects in the country, such as the many port and power projects identified under the second Strategic Integrated Projects, is decreasing.

The erratic workload in the country is also making it difficult for project management organisations to offer long-term career development, says Shaw.

The importance of sound project management, the required intensity of involvement in a project and the required level of skill and experience are all too often underestimated at the start of major projects, he notes.

The ability of an organisation to provide critical project management skills for a project is also not given enough consideration when projects are approved. As a result, projects start badly and suffer the effects of poor management throughout the life cycle, says Shaw.

The most common reasons for project failure, says KPMG, are poor-quality front-end engineering, which results in ill- defined projects going ahead; a project owner’s team not having the capacity, systems, skills or corporate sponsorship to direct the project; and inappropriate contracting strategies.

Other reasons include poor project selection and a lack of rigour in reviewing project feasibility studies; allowing teams to be overoptimistic; and unreliable reporting, which disguises a project’s status until it is too late for management to meaningfully intervene.

Shaw, therefore, highlights that successful project management from the start requires the application of skills, which are readily learnt through education, training and accreditation. “The loss of experienced resources is a real concern and there is no doubt that the transfer of this experience is essential to supplement formal training in the development of a mature, competent project manager,” he notes.

While many project managers have mastered the core competences of project management, such as general manage- ment, financial management, contract and commercial strategies, risk management, scheduling, estimating and cost engineering, and have a solid understanding of the technical elements of the project being managed, it is important for them to recognise that project management skills need to extend beyond the direct project teams to the C level, or highest-level executives, of the project owner’s organisation.

The C level of an organisation must under- stand the project management process, the risks the project poses to the organisa- tion, the integrity of the project estimates and forecasts and the business case being approved. The highest-level executives must also establish an appropriate control and assurance environment for the project’s success, provide constant project sponsorship and ensure that the project team has the necessary resources to complete the project, explains Shaw.

Using a one-size-fits-all approach to project management or selecting a project strategy because it was successful else- where is definitely not recommended, notes Shaw.

Instead, careful consideration of the many project characteristics impacting on the contract strategy is recommended before selecting a project strategy. “The selection of the correct contracting strategy is one of the most important decisions on any project,” he adds.

Some of these project characteristics include the project risk profile and the developer’s appetite for risk, the nature of the project, past project experience and the capacity of the developer.

The capacity and status of the industry at the time of the project, the level of scope certainty at the time of procurement and the likelihood of significant changes to the scope of the project during project imple- mentation also need to be considered.
Further, Shaw says the correct project delivery strategy can be assured through rigorous analysis of a project’s requirements and matching these with the most appropriate strategy. Alternatively, this strategy can be achieved by recognising the critical importance of the contracting decision and giving the project the appropriate time and resources needed for its completion.

The project teams’ recommendations can also be subjected to an independent review, notes Shaw.