In Step 2, the outcomes from Step 1 were used as the foundation for identifying new sub-issues and treatments as well as new relationships between partnership, risk and performance management disciplines. These were identified by manually scanning the reorganised content. Excerpts 8.3 to 8.5 provide examples of the process used for identifying components for inclusion in the second iteration of the IMM. Further consideration was given as to whether or not potential treatments should become actual treatments in the second iteration of the IMM.
Excerpt 8.3 Example Partnership Management Treatment Considerations.
Subject matter knowledge and applicability |
Researcher: What about knowledge management - clearly people come and go on projects. You might be able to keep quality staff for a certain period of time... PT10: This is one of the things that government doesn't do well and I think there's a lack of recognition in government around the value of capturing corporate knowledge in a systematic way. In the projects that we've delivered, we have done the best we can with the resources that we're provided with to ensure that we don't just have documented, but sensible strategies around transfer and retention of the knowledge. That starts at a high level with continuous involvement with personnel from procurement through to design and ultimately to commissioning and service commencement. That can be on a single project in that phase or follow project-to-project in the same cycle. You can do simple things like creating and maintaining a proper document library from when you start planning. There was 10 years advanced planning on this project before it was procured. We've got a complete collection that has been converted to a very user-friendly searchable format of documents that are available in a single online repository. The current versions are available to anyone involved in this project and this is the first time we've really done that in a systematic way. It's critical - I don't know how many times whether on this side of the fence or the other, or on both sides, you go looking for something that someone did three years ago, and you start by going back to a file archive electronically or in the worst case, go back to the transaction documents to dig it out. You shouldn't have to do that. [Policies /principles / actions: Documentation of corporate and project knowledge] |
Excerpt 8.4 Example Risk Management Treatment Considerations.
Exposure to new risks |
Researcher: What about in terms of, for example, statutory authority changes that they may undergo through periods of internal re-structuring? RK05: Do you mean like machinery of government changes? Researcher: Yes, that's a good way to put it. The things that jump out at me are continuity of knowledge and experience that's lost through these changes. Does this have a big impact on projects? RK05: Yes, it can. If you look at CityLink, it originally was a stand-alone authority and then it got converted into an office in the Department of Infrastructure and then that office got wound up and the people there managing the contract got moved into VicRoads. Through that process, from Treasury's perspective, they put a lot of effort into making sure there was going to be adequate continuity of personnel and retention of knowledge. It was viewed as a significant risk. Similarly when the Southern Cross Station Authority was wound up, management of the contract went back into the Department of Transport. Treasury went through a process with steering committee oversight to ensure knowledge was being captured and was effectively handed-over. I'm sure there are things that have fallen between the cracks - it's inevitable, just as it is with personnel changes. There is potentially quite a lot of risk with these processes. [Policies/ principles / actions: Succession plans; Documentation of corporate and project knowledge] |
Excerpt 8.5 Example Performance Management Treatment Considerations.
Performance evaluation |
Researcher: Is the collection and analysis of operational data the only real way of determining whether value for money outcomes have been achieved? PF12: You should include social outcomes in the data analysis such as customer satisfaction. If it's a school PPP, for example, you should link operational data where possible to educational outcomes -using data that's available directly from schools. You should take into account non-contractual outcomes such as any extra things you get. Researcher: What about reviewing the business case objectives against current progress? PF12: Yes, this should be done. You should also undertake post-occupancy reviews, if applicable; post-delivery reviews with a follow-up 12 months later; conduct a review of operational objectives; milestone reviews; periodic reviews every five years; as well as feedback from key stakeholders. [Policies / principles / actions: Service user experience surveys; Reviewing business case objectives against current performance (including post-delivery and milestone reviews); Performance audits; Key stakeholder feedback] |
The findings derived from this process are supplemented by the wider PPP experiences of participants which are presented in sections 8.5 to 8.8, below.