MODULE 13. ORGANIZING THE IMPLEMENTATION PROJECT

Objective

This module is dedicated to the implementation project installation. It notably provides insights on the constitution of the project team, and on the organisation of the management function which are key factors to ensure the success of the project, in the defined timeframe and according to the agreed upon budget.

The lack of project management is often a cause of project failure, especially in the public sector where the project culture is quite poor. Regarding the project team, it is obvious that the installation of a consistent and accurate team will dramatically impact the project and its success.

 

Key questions

1. What does project management mean?
2. Why is it useful to the project?
3. Who should be part of the project team?
4. How to build such a team?
5. What are project working patterns, and how is it different from business as usual?
6. How to organize the project governance?
7. Why is the reporting function critical to run the implementation project and how to develop it?
 

Take away message

The notion of project management is particularly important in the case of implementing the national mechanism to deliver the SPFs since the project will require the concerted actions from different actors (notably service providers, local administration, different line ministries). The project team should act as the coordinator and orchestrator of the project, using the project management tools.

The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and objectives while honouring the preconceived constraints. The constraints are usually expressed in terms of scope, time, quality and budget in the project plan. The secondary - and more ambitious - challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and integrate them to meet pre-defined objectives.

According to specialized literature, the project management process can be summarized in eight components following the project life cycle:

1. Agree on precise specification for the project - 'Terms of Reference'
2. Plan the project - time, team, activities, resources, and financials - using suitable project management tools, and notably the concept of project plan as described in the previous module (Module 12).
3. Communicate the project plan to the project team - and to any other interested people and groups.
4. Agree and delegate project actions (make each stakeholder accountable for success).
5. Manage and motivate - inform, encourage, enable the project team.
6. Check, measure, monitor, review project progress - adjust project plans, and inform the project team and governance.
7. Complete the project - review and report on project performance; give praise and thanks to the project team.
8. Project follow-up - support, measure, document and report results and benefits.

In the case of the SWS implementation, the project team should be composed by representatives of the different line ministries and service providers in order to (i) ensure the representation of different points of view, (ii) bring together the different domains of expertise required by the implementation project, and (iii) ease the involvement of the main stakeholders (i.e. those who will delegate someone to work for the project team). Project teams need to have the right combination of skills, abilities and personality types to achieve collaborative tension.

Project governance framework in the case of implementing a national mechanism to coordinate and deliver the SPFs should be based on at least three core principles in order to ensure their effectiveness:

• Principle 1: Ensure a single point of accountability for the success of the project;
• Principle 2: Use the different committees to ensure ownership and commitment of the different stakeholders;
• Principle 3: Benefit from the principle of subsidiarity to lighten the burden on each stakeholder.

Project reporting is the formal presentation of monitoring information. The main reasons for reporting are the following:

• To formally inform management: reporting ensures that management, particularly the project coordinator’s supervisor or project manager, is formally appraised of the progress made in project implementation and the supervisor or project manager is aware at an early stage of actual and potential problems and any remedial action taken;
• To serve as an audit and evaluation trail: reporting maintains a record of all actions taken during project implementation. It therefore constitutes a vital resource for auditors and evaluators in asessing whether a project has been implemented in accordance with the rules and regulations and as efficiently and effectively as possible; and
• To serve as a reference for future projects: reporting serves as a vital resource for ensuring that lessons learned (project successes, failures, best practices) through project implementation are available for consideration when formulating and implementing future projects.

Master Module 13

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