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Project Management Institute

Submission: 

Good morning

Please find attached a submission provided on behalf of the Project Management Institute.

Should you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact me by email or on 02 8353 0411.

Kind regards

Liam Nilon

NB: PMI is a registered client of GRACosway and listed on the Commonwealth Lobbyist register

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Mr David Thodey

Chair

Independent Review of the Australian Public Service

Submitted online

Dear Mr Thodey

Independent Review of the Australian Public Service

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the Independent Review of the Australian Public Service.

This submission is intended to provide the Panel with the benefit of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI)
substantial research and experience in the successful delivery of projects and programmes via its diverse

base of members and certified project managers around the world.

PMI is in a position to provide an informed, comprehensive and global perspective on the value and impact of

project management for organisations, including all sectors of business and government.

PMI would welcome the opportunity to appear before the panel in due course.

Yours sincerely

Mark A. Langley

President & Chief Executive Officer

Project Management Institute

CC –
Ms Maile Carnegie, Panel Member

Professor Glynn Davis, Panel Member

Dr Gordon de Brouwer PSM, Panel Member

Ms Belinda Hutchinson, Panel Member

Ms Alison Watkins, Panel Member
Programme Delivery, Leadership and Developing Capability

Submission to the Independent Review of the Australian Public Service

Project Management Institute Background and credentials

The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a not-for-profit professional association founded in 1969. The

organisation represents and supports more than 3 million professionals working in nearly every country in the

world by delivering global thought leadership advocacy, education and research to improve project,
programme and portfolio capability and delivery.

PMI works with industry and governments across the world, and specifically advises the public sector in

various countries on leading practices and global trends.

PMI publishes a wide range of standards for all aspects of project, programme and portfolio management.
The standards are the most recognised across the project management profession and are a model for project

management by business and government.

PMI’s academic research programme is the most extensive in the field, advancing the science, practice and

profession of project management.

The Pulse of the Profession® is an annual research study of industry trends, as well as a series of in-depth

reports on emerging topics of interest to business organisations and government agencies.

PMI Perspective

PMI aims to provide an informed, comprehensive and global perspective on the value and impact of

programme and project management for organisations, including business, government.

PMI is making this submission to the Independent Review of the Australian Public Service as a global

professional peak body and thought leader.

The organisation will not reflect on, judge or make comments in relation to delivery of individual government

projects. It will, however, recommend proven approaches to project delivery while providing insights based

on its networks and relationships across the world.

Terms of Reference

PMI contends the Australian Public Service (APS) could benefit from:

  • Professional development with a focus on project management for project leaders on all levels
    including senior and executive management;
  • Ongoing professional development opportunities for existing project, programme and portfolio
    managers; and
  • A renewed focus on project leadership and delivery.

This submission will focus on the following objectives as outlined in the Scope of Review:

  • “driving innovation and productivity in the economy”
  • “delivering high quality policy advice, regulatory oversight, programmes and services”
  • “acquiring and maintaining the necessary skills and expertise to fulfil its responsibilities”. 1

1
“Terms of Reference”, Independent Review of the APS website, Australian Government, accessed 6 July 2018, link.

2
A call to arms

In August 2015, prominent Australian academic (and former Head of the APS) Professor Peter Shergold AC

completed his review Learning from Failure: why large government policy initiatives have gone so badly wrong

in the past and how the chances of success in the future can be improved. The Report identified a need – for

the Australian Government in general and the Australian Public Service in particular – to improve programme

management capability. 2 Professor Shergold explained:

The APS needs to build a stronger cohort of skilled and experienced programme and project managers
rather than relying on the ‘accidental’ practitioners who are often selected when no-one with greater
ability is available. Some experts already work in the APS, but their experience and qualifications are
still not sufficiently recognised and their professional status and career development rarely receive the
attention they deserve.

Public servants need to value programme management skills. APS recruitment practices should better
recognise the strategic relationships between design, delivery and evaluation in order to promote more
diverse experience among senior executives. Increasing core capability, mobilising expertise and
valuing leadership in programme and project management will strengthen the APS as an effective,
professional and resilient institution that—supported as necessary by outside help—has the capacity
to deliver the agenda of the government of the day. 3

Professor Shergold summarised his findings into four ”conclusions”. He called on the APS to develop

standards of proficiency for project and programme managers working in the APS; ensure each project and

programme in Government has clear frameworks for implementation, delegated authority and accountability;
establish a “Tiger Team” within the APS providing service-wide project management expertise; and prioritise

programme leadership in considering candidates for the APS. 4

PMI believes the Shergold Report provides a roadmap to revolutionise the APS through an increase focus on

programme leadership and delivery, through greater recognition of project management as a professional

skillset, and greater professional development of APS officers around project scoping, planning and

implementation and benefits realisation.

Significantly there has been no follow-up or publicly announced implementation of the Shergold Report’s

findings of which PMI is aware. PMI however recognises that Professor Shergold’s Report makes important

recommendations around the value of project leadership and its criticality for successful project delivery.

In 2018, PMI’s Pulse of the Profession® 5 survey has provided regional data for a set of measures aimed at

assessing the maturity of project management talent, culture and processes. The survey’s regional data for

Australia is presented at Appendix A, together with global data. The report indicates that there is some room

for improvement for Australian project management in general, though it is noted the report provides data from

responses across both public and private sector projects.

The 2018 research also underlined a continuing need for skilled “executive sponsors” and project leaders.
The. Pulse of the Profession® identified the need for leadership to ensure project delivery not only on the level

of the Project Management Office (PMO) but most critically at the executive level. In the context of the APS

this would require developing specific project delivery and project leadership skills within the senior

management levels up to, and including, department and agency CEOs.

2
Peter Shergold, Learning from Failure: why large government policy initiatives have gone so badly wrong in the past and how the chances of

success in the future can be improved, Australian Public Service Commission, 2015, p. vii - viii, link.
3
Ibid, p. vii.
4
Ibid, p. viii.
5
The full report data and analysis, together with regional breakdowns can be found at: https://www.pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/pulse/pulse-of-the-
profession-2018.

3
This requirement has been the focus of the UK’s Infrastructure and Planning Authority (IPA) for the past few

years in the context of transforming the British Civil Service.

The Chief Executive of the IPA, Tony Meggs, has taken a very practical approach to building capability in the

senior ranks of the Civil Service.

The IPA recognises that almost all government policy is delivered through projects or programmes of one

form or another and that it is absolutely vital agencies deliver these projects well. If they don’t, then

government policy objectives cannot be achieved, nor can the benefits of those initiatives be realised and

enjoyed.

The underlying principle is that that project delivery is at the heart of government activity from road building

to creating defence capability.

Based on the recognition that great project leaders deliver great projects and the need to develop senior

project leaders in government - the IPA has partnered with Oxford Said Business School to create the Major

Projects Leadership Academy (MPLA). 6

The MPLA has come to be regarded as the gold standard for project leadership training in the area of
“senior responsible officers (SROs)” or more commonly labelled as “executive sponsorship.”

In other initiatives designed to build capability to effectively deliver government programmes the IPA:

• is currently undertaking a major piece of work considering functional standards and project delivery
frameworks. This is a prelude to a more detailed review of the Government’s training requirements
over the coming months and years.

• has built a broader capability framework setting out the career paths, competencies and
development opportunities for people in the government project delivery profession.

• last year completed the Project Delivery Capability Framework, the culmination of a two-year
process.

• recently appointed a new Head of Learning. One of the early tasks of this role will be to undertake a
review of the current project delivery learning offer.

• is developing a federated academy model under which single government departments will act as
project delivery training hubs for the whole-of-government. The Ministry of Justice is an early leader
in this initiative.

PMI supported many of these initiative by providing advice, assistance and leveraging its networks and links

to the key stakeholders. PMI would welcome the opportunity to discuss these initiatives in greater detail with

the review.

Another model for improved programme leadership can be found the United State Government. In December

2016 the former Obama Administration passed the Project Management Improvement and Accountability Act
(PMIAA). 7 The PMIAA required a process to establish government-wide standards, policies and guidelines for

programme and project management, created entities to oversee project and programme management in

government and required the implementation of a formal career path for project managers in Federal

6 Additional detail regarding program is available in the MPLA handbook, which is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/major-projects-leadership-academy-mpla-handbook

7
Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act, 114th Congress, 14 December 2016, link.

4
Government. Since 2016 the US Federal Government has been developing the scaffold to implement the

PMIAA. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has determined Coordinated Governance will be a key

focus for the first five-year implementation period. To this end the OMB has proposed a coordinated approach

across government which will include dedicated leaders within each agency, agency cluster and whole of

government coordination. 8

The Canadian government is currently in the process of enhancing its project management capabilities as part

of the government’s priority to improve the delivery of projects and large-scale transformation initiatives. This

follows the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's development in 2017-18, of an integrated project

management strategy to enhance project management maturity across departments. As reported in the

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's Departmental Plan for 2018-19, the Secretariat will be developing a

new Directive on the Management of Projects. A key objective of this Directive is to provide a framework to

better support the management of investments, projects and programmes in the Public Service by ensuring

that projects and programmes are effectively planned, implemented, monitored and controlled to enable the

realization of expected benefits. 9

Additionally, as part of this Directive, the Canadian government is looking to strengthen central leadership of

the federal procurement, materiel, real property and project management communities through the evaluation

of the procurement certification program, as well as the development of government-wide competencies. 10

As part of this process, the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) is undertaking a renewal of its core

project management curriculum to align with the Canadian government’s priorities by supporting departments

to build knowledge and key competencies for successful delivery of projects and programmes. This will

include new learning products targeted specifically to senior executives, whose roles could include project and

programme sponsors.

8
Mick Mulvaney, “Memorandum for Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, Executive Office of the President, 25 June 2018, pp. 1 –
2, link.
9 Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat 2018-19 Departmental Plan, pg. 15-16.
10 Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat 2018-19 Departmental Plan, pg. 16.

5
PMI Recommendation to the Review

There is significant potential for the Australian Government to derive substantial additional benefit from a

standardised and mature cross-agency approach to programme delivery.

PMI stands ready and able to provide greater detail around any of the project management improvement

processes and initiatives discussed in this submission; and is happy to assist officials to establish relationships

with key players in other jurisdictions.

PMI proposes a model for reform of the public service in the key competencies of project delivery focused

around three key themes or elements:

  1. Professional development for project leaders at senior and executive management levels;
  2. Formal accreditation and progression processes for project, programme and portfolio managers; and
  3. A renewed focus on project leadership and delivery.

Focused and early implementation would commence in agencies most susceptible to improvements in project

development, planning and implementation, as well as benefits realisation.

The agencies which will provide the most benefit to government and through improved government, to citizens

are likely to be those agencies responsible for project coordination and delivery. Therefore, these agencies

ought to be those where a revitalised approach to project management should be first implemented.

Given the Australian federal system of Government, areas of State responsibility and project delivery will also

benefit from the implementation of mature approaches to project management..

PMI’s research has consistently found that greater project maturity results in better project delivery and

benefits realisation, as well as better financial performance. Improved processes around project capabilities
(talent, culture and processes) have seen improvements in overall project performance metrics.

These areas are within scope of the current review of the APS, and so it presents an excellent opportunity to

make recommendations to improve its project planning and delivery capabilities.

There are significant opportunities for the Australian Government to continue to improve outcomes for the

Australian community. PMI would be pleased to work with the Australian Government and its State

counterparts to implement practices to bring about better outcomes.

6
APPENDIX A

The Pulse of the Profession®

The challenge of improving in project delivery capability is not limited to the APS. Indeed, according to PMI’s

2018 Pulse of the Profession® research, the performance gap across the Australian project management

profession may be widening.

Since 2006 PMI’s Pulse of the Profession® study has charted the major global trends in project delivery

through. The 2018 edition highlights feedback and insights from 4,455 project management practitioners, 447

senior executives, and 800 project management office (PMO) directors from a range of industries, including

government, information technology (IT), telecom, energy, manufacturing, healthcare, and construction.

PMI’s regional breakdown identifies opportunities for improvement in Australia. Considering a comparison of

most metrics of project management organisational maturity, considered by the study, Australia has

identifiable gaps when measured beside global figures. At the highest level, Australian project professionals

reported wastage of 13.9 percent of each dollar spent on projects. Put another way $139 million dollars

wasted, of every $1 billion spent.

Notably Australian projects managers reported a lag behind global averages on measures of talent

development; process and project management capabilities; and culture and organisational capabilities.
Pulse of the Profession® data for Australian respondents has been extracted and compared with global totals

in the table below. The full report data and analysis, together with regional breakdowns can be found at:
https://www.pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/pulse/pulse-of-the-profession-2018.

7
Selected data from the 2018 Pulse of the Profession® is set out in the following table. 11

Measure Global Total (%) Australia (%)
Talent

Percentage of organizations with a process to develop project 45 38
manager competency
Percentage of organizations with ongoing training for staff on 59 51
project management tools and techniques
Percentage of organisations with a defined career path for those 43 33
engaged in project or programme management
Percentage of organisations with a formal knowledge transfer 47 37
process
Percentage of organizations where development of technical 41 32
skills is a high priority
Percentage of organizations where development of leadership 39 31
skills is a high priority
Percentage of organizations where development of business 34 27
skills is a high priority
Processes and Project Management Capabilities

Percentage of organisations that use standardised project 23 16
management practices throughout the organisation
Percentage of organisations with a formal process to mature 45 41
project management practices
Percentage of organisations with high project management 39 33
maturity
Culture and Organisational Capabilities

Percentage of organisations that fully understand the value of 58 57
project management
Percentage of organisations with high organisational agility 28 15

Percentage of organisations where creating a culture that values 37 32
project management is a high priority
Project Performance
Percentage of projects meeting goals and business intent 69 65

Percentage of project budget lost if a project fails 32 39

Dollars Wasted* $99M on $1 B $139M on $1B

*Figures represent a percentage that can be applied to any currency.

11
“Australia Comparison”, Research Highlights by Industry and Region, PMI’s Pulse of the Profession, Project Management Institute, pp. 21 –
22, link.

8

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