The contract management team will have a view on the performance of the project, any positives, any issues, and any lessons learnt that can inform the decision-making process for post end of service arrangements. These views are usually recorded and documented progressively over the life of the project. As part of the due diligence process it is beneficial to conduct an independently-facilitated lessons learnt session.
Lessons learnt should be supported by a range of objective data including:
• extent to which performance measures have been met;
• abatements;
• areas of dispute and resolutions;
• major problems and solutions;
• change events; and
• staffing levels and turnover.
In addition to harnessing the lessons learnt from an in-house perspective, information should also be available from independent reviews of the project undertaken during its life. Such reviews may include:
• post-implementation reviews undertaken as part of the Investment lifecycle guidance;
• gateway reviews17 (specifically related to gate 6: benefits evaluation);
• any reviews jointly-commissioned with the private party; and
• Auditor-General reviews.
Under the Investment lifecycle guidance18, the stage 5 'realise' guideline can assist the government party evaluate the extent to which the planned benefits have been delivered. It also provides an opportunity to assess how well a project has been planned, procured and implemented. When conducting a post-implementation review, sometimes called the 'investment evaluation', it is important to reflect, document and communicate the lessons learned so that future planning and design of similar investments can be informed
A gate 6 gateway review, can be the mechanism for a review and contribute to future service need analysis. The gate 6 gateway review covers a number of issues, including:
• whether the benefits in the business case are being delivered;
• assessing the effectiveness of the ongoing contract and/or service delivery management processes; and
• confirming a business need exists for the investment and assess ongoing requirements.
It is common for the Auditor-General's Office to review most Partnerships Victoria projects, at least once during their contract term given that they generally fall into the high-value high-risk project category.
Collectively, these in-house and independent reviews will contain a significant amount of relevant material that should be used, distilled and harnessed to inform the next steps in the end of term process. They will assist the contract director to develop an accurate understanding of the issues encountered in the project and to determine whether difficulties encountered over the contract term were caused by relationship/management disharmony, the contractual arrangements/structure, external factors, or a mixture of these factors.
More broadly, by effectively capturing and applying lessons learned from existing projects, both Partnerships Victoria and other government departments and agencies are able to improve:
• project planning and selection;
• contractual arrangements and structures;
• project management and outcomes; and
• government department/agency and Partnerships Victoria policies.
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17 DTF website <http://www.dtf.vic.gov.au/Investment-Planning-and-Evaluation/Investment-professionals-toolkit/Gateway-products>
18 DTF website <http://www.dtf.vic.gov.au/Investment-Planning-and-Evaluation/Investment-professionals-toolkit/Investment-lifecycle-and-High-Value-High-Risk-products>