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Project Summaries
| State of New Jersey Department of Transportation
Scope of Work:
In the face of rising "soft costs" and significant
delays in moving projects through its construction pipeline, the New Jersey Department of
Transportation (NJDOT) decided to overhaul its Capital Program Management (CPM) to an
extent that no state had ever before attempted. Rather than allowing each project to find
its own way through the functional "stovepipes" of each phase of project
scoping, design, and construction, a new Project Management role, structure, and work
process was created. Each project was assigned to a Project Manager who was responsible
for it from beginning to end, leading teams of specialists from each of the functions as
needed in each phase of the process, and assuring that both quality requirements and
opportunities for expedience were met.
The Project Management approach required many new
skills and new ways of thinking. Unfortunately, there was also the need to overcome stiff
internal resistance to this change. Sterling Institute was chosen to work on a long-term
basis with CPM to develop and implement a comprehensive change management program. The
program addressed the key human factors critical to the success of Project Management,
including resistance to change, the skills required to work on project teams and, overall,
how to achieve desired results in the new "matrix" of authority and
responsibility.
Accomplishments::
Our initial efforts involved: 1) assessing the key
areas of resistance and alignment through focus group interviews throughout CPM and a
customized change readiness survey of all employees; and 2) beginning to build CPM top
management’s understanding and ability to lead the change as an executive team.
Over the ensuing 18 months we also delivered a
series of Managing Change workshops designed to build: 1) alignment through
communication and dialogue about the desired future state; and 2) skills in anticipating
and responding to the human dynamics of change. In addition to these workshops, we
designed and worked closely with CPM’s executives in facilitating an action planning
retreat with the managers who report directly to them. As CPM gained experience in the new
approach, we collected case studies of actual projects that will be used to disseminate
information about how to assure successful projects and avoid pitfalls. We are currently
designing and preparing to deliver a series of Managing in a Matrix workshops based
on CPM’s "lessons learned" and the proven practices of successful Project
Management organizations.
At the end of its first year of Project Management,
the number and dollar amount of construction contracts awarded, which is the key initial
measure of the goal of accelerating projects, had increased dramatically. |
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