Published
A 2019 APM report estimated that project management creates between £150-170bn of economic value annually in the UK[1]. Yet, successful project delivery in terms of effectiveness and efficiency remains stubbornly low.
Analysis by Bent Flyvbjerg and Alexander Budzier on ~12,000 global major projects concluded that the probability of a project being delivery on budget, on time and delivering the full benefits defined in the business case is only 0.5%[2]. That’s only 1 in 200 projects delivering on all their promises, so the scope to improve the initiation and delivery of projects is huge as is the scale of the economic impact.
How can project data analytics help improve project performance? If a project was a manufacturing process it could have hundreds, if not thousands, of sensors generating performance data to be analysed in near real-time with the ability to spot trends, model options, optimise controls and maximise yield. However, the typical project dashboard comprises around 10-20 data items reported a week or two after month end! Indeed, a RICS report[3] claimed that 95% of project data is not even used.
Project professionals therefore need to make the shift from projects being managed as temporary initiatives operating outside of business-as-usual structures (resulting in slow and manual collection and manipulation of data) to being treated more akin to an operational process which routinely collects and uses performance data. The data is there, it’s just that we need to establish the mechanisms and habits to collect and analyse more of it, more often and from the start.
Data analytics can help with project level decisions such as understanding changes in stakeholder sentiment, assessing the productivity of individuals and teams, and understanding supply chain risks. It can also help with portfolio level decisions, such as deciding which projects need the most leadership support. Data analytics can do this by understanding which projects, or which tasks within the project, are predisposed to fail or how many projects are affected by particular socio-economic or environmental trends or risks. Project data permeates all aspects of project management, so the opportunities for project data analytics cover the full spectrum of project activities. The opportunities are endless.
It seems a no-brainer! But, why are projects slow to adopt data analytics compared to other domains? What aspects of projects will data analytics make the greatest impact? How do we get there sooner?
The Project Data Analytics Taskforce
These are questions that the Project Data Analytics Taskforce, supported by the Association, have been working on since they launched their 2020 white paper on how data analytics can transform project performance. The Taskforce worked with the APM and University of Warwick investigate the barriers to using data analytics in projects which was published in 2021.
In 2022 the taskforce produced a Getting Started guide in response to Warwick’s report, aiming to demystify data analytics and sign-post ways in which organisations and project professionals can start to exploit the huge potential open to them.
But many of the barriers remained, which is why throughout 2022 the taskforce developed and tested a draft manifesto for data driven projects which sets out to address some of the systemic issues and generate a groundswell of practitioner momentum and pledges of support.
The manifesto is based on six pledges:
- We use data analytics to bust project management myths and beliefs.
- All projects are data designed and enabled.
- We pool our data to maximise insights.
- We collaborate on opensource data analytics solutions tackling priority challenges.
- We re-skill for a digital and data-enabled world.
- Data Analytics is codified in all aspects of project delivery best practice and culture.
The final manifesto will be launched soon and members will be able to find out more at Project Hack 19 on 19th-20th June at the Etihad Stadium.
We are pleased to announce that the Major Projects Association is once again headlining at Project Hack 19 where many of the challenges will have a major projects theme aligned to our landmark objectives on sustainability, diversity and leadership capability. Members can participate in Project Hack in a number of ways from providing a challenge, joining/forming a hack team, or being a judge. Look out for more info in the coming weeks.
Andy Murray, Executive Director,
Major Projects Association
[1] Association for Project Management (2019). The Golden Thread – A Study of the Contribution of Project Management to the UK’ Economy and Society.
[2] https://www.oxfordglobalprojects.com/portfolio and https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201919/cmselect/cmpubadm/303/303.pdf
[3] https://www.rics.org/globalassets/rics-website/media/news/news–opinion/rics-future-report-2.pdf