Hi, my name is Christopher Toomey, and I'm the Senior Vice President for Global Programs with AECOM. AECOM is a global firm who seeks to provide innovative solutions for our clients. We were recently rated as the number one engineering and design firm in the world, and we have offices worldwide in over 140 countries. Today, I'd like to discuss with you, scheduling for large programs, often known as the integrated master schedule. I have served as the director or the manager on multiple large programs across the globe, the ability to create, maintain, and then properly use schedules on large programs, is absolutely instrumental for the program manager or the program director. Now, why is this important? Today, we're finding that most programs are incredibly complex, and they have multitude of moving parts. Because they have so many different moving parts and so many factors influencing them, the relationships between those different parts and between the factors must be explored. One tool we use to explore that relationship is through a schedule which arrays them in a time phased manager. The schedule allows for a top level view of all projects in the program to include their critical phases and the overall critical path of the program. And there are some interdependent factors and relationships that need to be known and understood. This includes, but is not limited to, client funding and budget milestones. Often, the budget for a large program is not finalized during the initial start of the program, there are appropriations down the line. The client's funding schedule and various budget points are essential to be known for the effective delivery of the project. There are logistical constraints. Since programs typically involve a large number of projects, there may be competition for scarce logistic such as steel or bitumen. In other cases, there are challenges such as port capacity. The schedule will allow us to see where the logistical constraints are, and where we, as the program management team, need to influence the action to ensure that the right logistics get to the right place at the right time. And then project on project relationships. Much as in a project, certain activities are connected to each other. The same will occur in a program where various projects will be related to each other. Those relationships need to be known and need to be addressed. Many external factors come to bear in the execution of a program, and those external factors need to be shown on a schedule, and they need to be arrayed appropriately. Many of these do not typically impact a construction project, as we'll see is for very limited duration, or defined duration, but they have to be accounted for. Many of them include key stakeholder activities, things associated with the political process, for example. And then risk is complicated. Because there are so many variables, the risk is often very hard to quantify, and therefore makes it very challenging to mitigate it. The more factors that we visualize, the easier it is to account for them, and assess their impact. Now what is a program? From the Project/Program Management Institute, here is the definition. It's a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually. Programs may include elements of related outside scope of the discrete projects in the program. I want to focus on really three pieces of this definition. The first is that the related projects need to be managed. It is not passive, it is not merely a string of projects. Second, that they happen in a coordinated way. That coordination, that synchronization, is part of the role of the program manager, and, or, the program director. And then this issue of obtaining benefits, and control not available for managing them individually. The accrued benefits of a program are much more than the sum of the part of the projects. That accrued benefit is greatly achieved when we have an effective schedule to work with. What are some some key program characteristics? Well, here you can see several of them. First, the deliverables often have a strategic intent. For example, the deliverable maybe the economic well being of the population, or the movement of a population to the middle class, or to the furtherance of trade across a border. They are just not technical in nature. As was eluded to in the last bullet, success criteria is strategic, it includes growth, and perhaps political gain. It accounts for market and business change. Because programs are of such a long duration, and have so many different factors, they are prey to market and business change. Those changes must be accounted for. For example, a large project that has a large program, which would have a great deal of dependence upon oil, would be greatly affected by the change in the oil price. It considers political, social, and economic forces, and it must take them into account. In establishing the program, the social and political aspects, as well as the economic, have a great deal of impact and they must be considered. It includes organizational impacts, not only to the program management team, which will grow and change throughout the life of the program, sometimes markedly. But also the client's organization, as oftentimes programs are asked to deliver knowledge, transfer and training, and capacity building to the various organizations. And it's typically of an extended duration, often open ended. The benefits accrue across the life of the program. And broad risk, which affect all of the above, must be taken in to account. If we're looking to define the program management as it applies to program, it really is this ability to deliver the strategic effect. It is the creation, planning, integration, coordination, and over site of a set of projects that contribute to the achievement of an organization's vision, strategic objectives, and desired results. The purpose of program management is really two fold. It allows for that top down planning, management, and coordination of projects, but it does so in a rational and coherent way. And it ensures that the overarching goals are met, that the value for investment is realized, and risks are minimized, and benefits maximized. So, for example, as we look at a set of projects as they are applied to a program, it is not necessarily getting the projects done in the fastest way, but is how do we achieve the best value for the client's funding, and how do we achieve the best effect given his goals and objectives? What are some typical responsibilities of the program management team? Well, oversight of all aspects of the project and construction management. So therefore, construction management would fall within the remit of the program manager. Program managers, particularly in emerging markets where these don't exist, or even in mature environment with the technology of changing, have to provide standards and guidelines for safety, quality, procurement in other areas. Program costs and schedule, which are a big part of today's discussion, are central to the responsibilities of the program management team. But the program management team is also responsible for assisting the client in terms of public information, this includes broad stakeholder engagement and management. Sometimes this is a very, very dominant feature of program management, and I have been on programs where this has actually been more of a role of the program management than say, the technical oversight. In order to further understand program management, it's important to discern between construction management, project management, and program management. I'll touch on this briefly. They represent a hierarchy in responsibility in management disciplines. At the foundation is construction management. Construction management is really about delivering the construction and close out of a project. It is focused on the work side. Project management is about delivering all phases of a project, from inception through design through construction through close out. However, program management is, as we have said, about delivering multiple projects, but the differences are somewhat more complex. If we take a look at comparing these management disciplines, we can compare them within the framework of really four broad focus areas. First, is in terms of management focus. Construction management is focused on immediate results and very clear deliverables. Where program management, at the other extreme, is focused on broad management and organizational results. In terms of stakeholder engagement, you can see that construction manager is really focused with the owner and perhaps internal stakeholder, such as his own team, and perhaps the project manager. At the other extreme, we have program management. There are varied stakeholders, external stakeholders. Often times, the program manager will find himself serving as the advocate for his client amongst a wide variety of stakeholder. In terms of impact, something we've stated before, the construction manager' s impact, though very important, remains tactical. It is focused on the work at hand and the work in front of him. In terms of a more strategic impact, that is where program management really sits. In terms of risk, construction management normally deals with identifiable factors, which are highly quantifiable, and there are known mechanisms and techniques to mitigate those risks. Program management on the other hand, deals with a multitude of unknown risks, and it tends to be unbounded. An effective program schedule, as we will see, will help us explore and define some of those risks as we take a look at the relationship between various aspects of the program. That will allow us to better quantify that risk and develop more complete mitigating activity.
