Planning and Implementing Large and Complex Public Programmes

Description

A number of developing countries are embarking upon large and complex reform programmes, extensive infrastructure projects and other development programmes.  Delivery on time and within budget must be at the top of the agenda for these governments and organizations.  Better Programme and Project Management (PPM) will improve the capability and capacity of Ministries, Departments and Agencies to deliver successful programme outcomes.  This course considers all of the key elements that must be taken into account to increase the propensity for success in delivery.

The PPM workshop lays emphasis on the three (3) key areas required for improving Programmes and Project delivery, namely:

1. The Structures and Culture of the delivery organization
2. The Processes and Toolkits available to the delivery organisation
3. The People and Skills of the delivery organisation

In keeping with the United Kingdom Office of Government Commerce recommendations for Programme and Project Management the course addresses methods for assuring that the following are all fully addressed:

• The establishment of clear links between the project and the organisation’s key strategic priorities, including agreed measures of success.
• The establishment of management and institutional ownership and leadership.
• The establishment of effective engagement with all stakeholders and development partners.
• The adoption of a proven approach to project management and risk management.
• Techniques and approaches to breaking programme development and implementation into manageable steps.
• The evaluation of proposals driven by initial price rather than long-term value for money.
• The understanding of and contact with the supply industry at senior levels in the organisation.
• The establishment of effective project team integration between clients, the supplier team and the supply chain

In this workshop, full discussions of all the relevant and pertinent questions that must be asked, and satisfactorily answered for any programme or project to have a likelihood of delivering successful results will take place.

Objective

The principal professional workshop objective is to provide participants with the skills to effectively plan and implement large and complex programmes.   In particular, participants will be provided with management guidelines for the full scope of activities under Programme and Project Management and a complete appreciation of the critical success factors necessary for delivering on large and complex programmes within schedule and budget, and of an acceptable quality level.

Audience

The target audience includes officials responsible for implementing programmes who have had some exposure to Programme and Project Management.   Officials managing or coordinating reform programmes and computerization projects will benefit from this course.  Specifically these would include programme and project managers, project component leads, public sector and public finance management reform managers, sector leads, and public sector institutional executives.

Pre-requisites

The pre-requisites for this course are exposure, experience or knowledge of practical or formal programme and project management methods, human resource management experience and management accounting and project finance exposure or experience.  Alternatively participants should have completed an introductory course in Programme and Project Management such as Foundations of Programme and Project Management (P1-SSM-001).

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course participants will:

• Know what management structures need to be in place, to assure successful project and programme delivery outcomes
• Build an awareness of the capacity development required for persons involved in project and programme management, in order to ensure effective delivery.   In essence participants will have the requisite information for facilitating training needs analysis, thereby allowing for better targeted training and development plans
• Have a view of the kinds of people skills that are required for improving, and  delivering successful Projects and Programmes
• Become cognisant of the importance of Structure and Culture in executing an effective and Programme and Project Management delivery outcome
• Have insight into the necessary risk management strategies for assuring a successful outcome
• Appreciate the requirement for safety and environmental protection
• Have a clear appreciation of the Critical Success Factors for Project and Programme Management

Learning methods

The learning methods will include the following

• Introduction to key concepts through the “teaching and discussion” methods
• The use of original source material of key writers/thinkers in this area  
• The use of extensive group work exercises from many different countries with different experiences to illustrate the points put across
• The use of exercises (in particular short "buzz-group" sessions) to provoke and consolidate certain points raised
• The use of major case studies –to illustrate in more detail some of the key points of the course.