Port of Melbourne Corporation, Infrastructure Projects Division
Port of Melbourne is Australia’s largest container and general cargo port, handling around 37% of the nation’s container trade. More than forty shipping lines, make around 3500 ship calls a year to Melbourne, providing services to ports in all major parts of the world. The port is at the north of Port Phillip Bay. It is serviced by more than 100 nautical miles of shipping channels and fairways between the Port Phillip Heads and the berths on the Yarra River, at Williamstown and Station Pier, Port Melbourne.
In response to the rapid rise in the shipping activities the Port has embarked on a range of infrastructure investments to expand its capacity and meet the current and future challenges faced. The investment portfolio will be realised through a range of new projects and programs on top of an already significant project volume, and the Corporation is anxious to strengthen its project management capabilities accordingly. APIC has been engaged by the Corporation to assist with the assessment of competencies of PM cadre as well as development and implementation of tailored training solutions to address the priority areas.
The assessment utilises the APIC’s competency assessment tool (CAT) in which the competencies of each manager is assessed against 156 elements (within 57 units of competencies) that embrace behavioural, project, program, portfolio and organisation management competencies. The Corporation has an impressive team of highly skilled and experienced professional project managers who seek to identify and capitalise on their strengths. The goal is to build up the Corporation’s PM capabilities in readiness for the impending rise in the volume of projects.
The participants utilise APIC’s Learning and Development Planning tool (L&D Planner) to develop their own personal learning and development plan. APIC will then review all of the L&D Plans with a view in order to design an appropriate and tailored training program which can be delivered flexibly. The PM cadre has access to all APIC resources, tools and facilities. This is an ongoing partnership and a model for industry-academic cooperation. At some point in time when the current capabilities within the Infrastructure Division is properly mapped the whole portfolio will be reviewed vis-à -vis the anticipated work volume and associated challenges. Â
Professional Project Management Training ProgramIn August 2008 APIC commenced the delivery of a professional project management training course for senior and middle managers of a major company that is engaged in an ambitious expansion program of building € 30 billion worth of new petroleum refineries and distribution network. The scope of the training course includes competency assessment of key managers followed by the development and implementation of a tailored training program to address the competency deficiency of key managers in the program. APIC faculty deliver the intensive workshops on the location that lay the foundation for the competency development of the managers. Participants study in teams and follow the APIC’s project-based clinical learning process while receiving mentoring and support. The whole process is run through APIC’s innovative online learning system. This project is very rewarding as the results of study are directly applied to improve workplace practices thus leading to significant innovation and performance improvements of the case projects used as the site of learning.
Aviation Terminal Expansion Project (2008)APIC conducted a major study of the management of the a number of projects grouped together as a program of $330 million in a major airport in Australia. APIC utilised the Project Health Check tool as the basis of this consulting/research assignment and gathered a range of data from all sides involved in the planning, design, procurement and construction of this major program. The projects were designed to expand this national airport’s capacity to cater for continuing passenger and freight growth.
APIC team determined that a 360° study was needed and accordingly gathered information from the client team and their advisors, the project management team and the managing contractor team. These results were analysed and compared to shed light on the complexities of this program. Following a detailed analysis of the data, APIC submitted its first report to the client. At the request of the client, APIC provided a host of strategic recommendations for improving the management of the subject projects.
Subsequently at the request of the client APIC delivered a number of workshops to explain the project findings and suggest additional measures to improve the team’s performance. APIC was then asked to conduct the project health check every 3 months to monitor the project of the project and the effectiveness of the improvements already implemented. This cooperation demonstrates the value of research-based consulting to industry and it also proves the utility of Project Health Check, particularly in terms of the breadth and depth of assessing managerial performance on a given project/program.
Train the Trainers Project (2007)APIC was awarded a major contract to train 30 highly qualified trainers to MBA (Project and Program Management) level as the second phase of an industry wide program that seeks to enhance the competencies of around 5000 managers across the petrochemical industry sector in a Middle Eastern country. This includes Engineering Firms, EPC Contractors, Consultants, Clients, Vendors and Manufacturers. APIC selected 33 talented young professionals from a pool of 500 applicants through a 3 stage screening process. They have already completed their training programs. The trainers have become leaders and act as agents of change within their own training and educational organisations.
As part of this scheme, it was proposed to set up a National Project Management Training and Certification Centre (PMTCC) as an independent qualifying and certifying body which will rigorously assess and certify managers’ competencies for 5 roles. The PMTCC will accredit and monitor the quality of training programs as well as apply competency assessment protocols. Under these protocols, a panel of experts will assess objectively and systematically the application by individual managers. All qualified managers will be registered and required to undertake continuous professional development and periodic re-certification. Rules of tendering and pre-qualification will be modified so as to enable companies to have certified managers in their team in the near future. All the expenses incurred in implementing industry wide training and development programs will be paid for by the government to encourage maximum industry participation.
Shaping National PM Standards (2006)APIC was engaged by the petrochemical industry sector in 2006 to conduct research and develop a National Project Management Competency Standard and Associated Training System for the Petrochemical Projects Sector. This project is the most comprehensive of its kind in the world as it sought to define and apply an integrated system to raise the capabilities of the entire industry sector.
The field research was completed by the end of July 2006. It field studies of a sample of major petrochemical projects as well as the assessment of managerial competencies of 40 managers in five different roles, comprising Senior Projects Executive, Project Director, Project Manager, Project Line Manager and Project Engineer or equivalent positions in all sides of the industry, i.e. Clients, Engineering and Procurement (EP) companies, Management Contracting organisations, Construction contractors (C) and Suppliers (S). APIC mapped and benchmarked the existing competencies of these roles as well as the results of the project field studies to ascertain the maturity of industry sector in general in terms of project conceptualisation, development, design and documentation as well as procurement and construction management performance.
Subsequently APIC applied the findings of the field research to define a PM Standard covering the competencies needed for the roles and developed this into a National Standard for Competency in PM for Petrochemical Projects. At the request of the client APIC developed a 10-year master plan to be applied in 3 stages that entailed training up to 4,500 project management professionals in this sector. This project is a component of a major program to raise the overall industry capabilities, including assessment and further development of project-based management capabilities across industry. The system APIC researched and developed is the most comprehensive of its kind in the world and one that is virtually assured of raising the capabilities and productivity of this industry sector. APIC’s competency-based system of training and education has been adopted for training of the managers in this sector.
Online Diagnostics for ProjectsOne of major research and development projects completed by APIC is the Project Health Check tool. It is an online system used to diagnose the health of a project or program at any point in its life applying 18 criteria and 67 indicators. Performance of a given project/program can be assessed applying the metrics that are included in the respective assessment matrices in the PH-Check. There is one matrix per criterion and or indicator. This work is the culmination of more than 15 years of research on management of complex projects. It has enlarged the field of project and program management in terms of the underlying concepts, framework and focus. The online interactive PH-Check is available to both students and practitioners.
The system can be used by casual and regular users who wish to measure their managerial performance from business and strategic perspectives through to leadership and team management, implementation management and so on. To date, it has been applied effectively to assess several large projects. The findings may surprise even the most seasoned professionals in terms of shedding light on managerial shortcomings. Frequent users will be able to build a history of managerial performance on a given project and view the trends in terms of individual functions or associated enabling factors.
Competency Assessment Tool (CAT)
CAT is an interactive online tool enable any practitioner in the field of project, program, portfolio, general and organisation management to assess his/her competencies systematically, and receive own scorecard. The user can select a range of competency units or elements, conduct self assessment or peer assessments, set targets for development and obtain different types of report. CAT is an effective tool for assessment of competencies and for maintaining and improving them over time. CAT enables the professional person to select the competencies that he/she needs for a particular assignment or select these with reference to the functions being performed. He/she can then conduct self assessment either at unit or element level, obtain a report and save the results into a secure online database for future reference. Users can analyse the before and after training results, record a portfolio of competencies and obtain historical trends of their competency development. They can manage their competency portfolio online. CAT can also assist an individual to view the development areas that need attention from the metrics incorporated into the assessment matrices. CAT’s assessment is based on the APIC’s Chart of Competencies that are among the most comprehensive of any competency model in the world.
Research and development of CAT has been a major endeavour for APIC. The metrics incorporated into the various assessment matrices for each unit or element of competency reflect higher level professional and intellectual capabilities as seen from Figure.
Â
L&D Planner is an online tool that guides the users through a process to develop a personal learning and development plan. It is integrated with CAT so as to enable the users to import their latest competency profiles from CAT for inclusion into their L&D plan. The L&D Plan applies a 11 step process as follows:
- Self introduction
- The big Picture
- Mega trends and challenges
- Goals
- Ethics and professional values
- Competency assessment: Socio-cultural and personal competence
- Managerial and technical competencies
- Competencies needed
- Proposed study program
- SWOT analysis
- Preferred plan