What is a successful project? And how do you make that happen
How should we define a successful project?
This question may yield different answers depending on the person asked. Engineers, project managers, and architects each have unique perspectives. However, to ensure true success, we should look at it from the client’s point of view, focusing on the ultimate goal of ‘having the facility safely up and running, at the agreed time, at the agreed cost, meeting the functional requirements.’ This article explores the concept of ‘Creating Customer Impact’ and the role of a data-driven approach in achieving project success.
Project success may seem subjective and dependent on one’s role within the project. For an engineer, meeting a drawing deadline or gaining timely design approval may signify success. A project manager may gauge success based on profit margins, while an architect might consider winning an international award as a hallmark of success.
However, these perspectives may not always align with the project’s ultimate goal. For instance, what if all the drawings are issued on time, but the complexity of construction causes delays? Or what if the project is profitable, but numerous change orders and delays cause significant time overruns?
Viewing success from the client’s perspective provides a more holistic understanding. Clients invest in projects with specific business objectives in mind. They intend to operate a facility, produce and sell a product, often already having made agreements with their customers regarding product availability and specifications. If the client fails to meet these expectations, they’re unlikely to consider the project a success, regardless of intermediate milestones met by the project team.
Defining project success from the client’s point of view is known as ‘Creating Customer Impact.’ In our context, this could mean ‘having the facility safely up and running, at the agreed time, at the agreed cost, meeting the functional requirements.’ Simplified, it means ‘the facility starts running as planned.’ Achieving this goal benefits both the client and the project team.
So, how can we accomplish this customer impact?
This requires digging deeper to identify the root cause or main objective that guides daily project execution. The technique, sometimes known as the ‘7 why’s’ or the ‘impact ladder,’ involves asking successively deeper questions to uncover the key factors driving project success.
We start by asking, ‘How can we have a facility up and running at the agreed time, and the agreed cost?’ The answer: ‘By completing successful testing and commissioning of the systems and equipment.’ Then, we further inquire how we achieve that? ‘By successful and efficient completion of construction.’ This prompts the next question, ‘How do we achieve that?’ ‘By providing construction with the right materials and the right design in accordance with a predetermined efficient construction sequence.’ Finally, we ask, ‘How do we achieve that?’ ‘By providing construction with first-time-right IFC design, and the corresponding materials, with zero changes and zero rework.’
But how do we accomplish this?
The solution is by adopting a data-driven mindset and leveraging data-driven insights for informed decision-making during the engineering and procurement phase. This approach can significantly reduce changes and rework, resulting in a more efficient and successful project.
In conclusion, true project success lies not just in meeting intermediate milestones, but in creating a customer impact by having the facility running as planned. Adopting a data-driven mindset and using data insights across all project phases is instrumental in achieving this. Such an approach realigns our focus from individual milestones to the overarching goal, ensuring all actions contribute to the larger objective.
Summary:
A successful project is often viewed differently by engineers, project managers, and architects. However, genuine success should be gauged from the client’s perspective, aiming for the facility to operate safely, on time, within budget, and meeting functional requirements. While individual milestones matter, the ultimate goal is ‘Creating Customer Impact’ or ensuring the facility runs as planned. To attain this, a data-driven approach is essential. By using insights from data in every project phase, the emphasis shifts from individual achievements to the overall project aim, ensuring efficiency, reducing rework, and fulfilling the broader objective.
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