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Project management The success of every project depends on identifying and managing risk factors. These two case studies illustrate how broad and specific risks can affect your project’s progress.

New year, new school at Culcheth

The requirement was to replace the existing building with a new school for over 1,300 pupils and staff at a cost of £28.5m, making it the largest building project ever undertaken by Warrington Borough Council.

The most obvious risks were not delivering on time and on budget. Less tangible was the risk of lack of focus through trying to meet the needs of so many stakeholders. This was mitigated by good communications and regular contact as well as a rigid process of change management.

Matthew Prendergast of Turner and Townsend Project Management was the project manager (PM) for the redevelopment. He says: “The role consisted of being the vital link between the school, the contractors and the council for all aspects of the development. We were lucky in that all the major players allocated key staff to the project.

“In addition to meetings we had social events to foster teamwork"

“The school seconded their business manager so that I had one point of contact at all times. A team approach was crucial to reducing risks, as were daily face-to-face meetings with contractors to ensure that I was aware of any problems as soon as they arose.”

The team developed a work breakdown structure from which the critical path and Gantt charts were derived using Microsoft Project.

“The Gantt chart was essential for the contractors while we used it more for monitoring the critical path. In terms of reporting tools we used Livelink to share project reports,” says Prendergast.

The most difficult aspect of the project was dealing with utilities and coordinating technology and multimedia installation with the construction. Prendergast says: “In hindsight it might have been preferable to choose a building contractor that incorporates ICT. That is more common now as many builders have alliances with ICT specialists. It makes the integration of ICT easier to coordinate. Having separate contractors increases the risk of missing deadlines.

“We learned that it is essential to take the design to an advanced phase in the planning and we saw the importance of having the same key staff on the project from beginning to end. We were perhaps lucky in that.

“We also had a very robust change control process. The standard joke was to say ‘you need a change control form’ for any activity, but people understood that changes must be approved and carefully considered. This reduced the risk of introducing changes that slow down or complicate a project.”

Good communication was also a key to success. “In addition to meetings we had social events to foster teamwork, which is essential on a project involving so many people,” says Prendergast.

After an 18 month building programme, Culcheth High School opened to pupils and the local community on target and on budget last July. Facilities include a dance studio, recording studio, and technology suites.

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