Program Management
line
Program Management
1) Beginning
2) The Corporate
Impediments
3) The Industry
Impediments
4) A New Way
of Thinking
5) Elements of
Program Management
6) Why the need for a
new “class” of vendors?
7) A Better Way
Part 7: A Better Wayline
Program Management is a solution to this dilemma that deserves scrutiny. By combining the basic aspects of centralized strategic decision support, proactive integration of knowledge and remote staffing of local tasks, many of the problems with today’s traditional project delivery model can be eliminated. Figure 3 demonstrates how a corporate manager would function to accomplish a project using Program Management.
It is reasonable to question whether Program Management adds administrative cost to the situation. At first blush, we seem to be suggesting an added layer of vendors to the current pile, seemingly requiring additional compensation. Our experience suggests otherwise. By combining multiple formerly distinct functions all within one organization, there is actually a savings created by sharing cost structures, overhead and formerly redundant activities. Instead of vendors having to support and cover the cost of five different accounting systems, five different marketing departments, five different technology installations, etc., Program Management permits the sharing of one comprehensive overhead structure. We believe that the Program Management approach will be implemented along with cost reductions to companies in the form of volume-based fee discounts taking these efficiencies into account. Additionally, the fundamental advantages of a better system of planning and implementing projects will drive down "total facility costs" across the board by at least 25% while also producing 50% time savings. This is not only a more effective solution to complicated facilities projects, but a lower cost solution as well.
Corporations desiring to achieve the benefits of Program Management, better decisions through capturing value in time, costs and improved operational environments, need to demand a better solution and press for innovation and new thinking from their service providers. A new vendor class must emerge either from within the industry or from outside. Whether it is progressive real estate, design or construction companies or some new entrants to the industry, someone must take the steps to provide a more complete combination of talent, more effectively deployed.
Companies must demand the creation of an appropriate process for facility projects, and insist that the process be adhered to. Web-enabled tools should be created and implemented to greatly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire team. Such tools are sorely needed and the technology exists to create them. Without such tools many of the advantages of Program Management will be compromised by the historically paper and fax-based methods of these slow-to-adapt industries.
To date there are few tools available that truly address the information requirements of all team members across the entire spectrum of a project. Instead, various solutions have been offered in individual industry silos and need to be adapted to an integrated delivery approach. Likewise, comprehensive standards must be adopted and agreed to for the selection and oversight of local project team members.
Solving these problems requires a new way of thinking about the issues. There appear to be numerous obstacles to carrying out this change including: non-integrated corporate organizations (i.e., real estate, design and construction as separate departments), segmented planning and budgeting processes that cloud today’s waste, job security issues among those not comprehensively trained, traditional industry paradigms, outdated performance metrics and plain old apathy in an industry historically driven by personal relationships and the “good ole boy” network. But the benefits will be worth the effort for those who truly desire to have real estate become a competitive asset to their business, and not just a dragging anchor of cost.
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