Teams don't have to have the skills to deliver, project leaders tell new survey 22-05-09

Almost half the leaders of the UK's largest projects and programmes say their teams don't have the sufficient skills required to do their jobs successfully, a new survey has revealed.

The senior responsible owners (SROs) interviewed also admitted they lacked clarity around what they were accountable for and required more support in their roles; indeed, only 10% felt there was an adequate understanding of the benefits these high-profile, costly programmes would bring.

This new information comes from a survey commissioned by programme management specialists Moorhouse, who along with sponsors BT, the Home Office, Association of Project Management (APM) and The APM Group, interviewed over eighty SROs in the UK - who together are accountable for the delivery of programmes across the private and public sectors worth a collective £24BN.

“The survey highlights the fact that SROs are in an incredibly difficult position right now,” said Paul Mansell of Moorhouse. “Many are new to their roles and feel they are not getting the right training and support needed to do the job, and there is a clear question mark over whether their respective programme teams have the required capability to deliver. Add in to the mix that it is the most difficult economic and political climate that many of us have known and it is little wonder that the majority of SROs predict that their roles will get even tougher over the next twelve months.”

The survey, conducted to help SROs identify common problem areas and mutual support mechanisms, also looked at their general attitudes to programme leadership, governance, and stakeholder engagement.

It revealed concerns in relation to major programme governance (specifically, in terms of getting this optimally designed into corporate governance constructs) and a lack of understanding generally, from multiple programme stakeholders, as to the role of the SRO.

It was agreed that there was often insufficient clarity on accountabilities and authorities to ensure that organisations knew 'where the buck stops' when things get difficult and clear leadership and decisions are required. It was also acknowledged that this aspect becomes increasingly critical to UK PLC when these mega-programmes are such a key means of driving out from the current economic gloom.

Following the survey's completion, Moorhouse gathered over forty SROs from the private and public sector at BT Tower, London for a 'live' debate to discover how they could better collectively support one another, build their capability and learn 'best practice' tools and techniques. Leaders from the Department for Transport, the 2012 Olympics Delivery Authority, Siemens and the Metropolitan Police Service were among those who contributed and heard keynote speakers from the Home Office and Office of Government Commerce.

Paul said: “Many SROs are caught between a 'rock and a hard place' – new to the job, criticised for not having the vision, leadership or experience for the role, but in reality not truly enabled by their organisations due to wider systemic misunderstanding of programme governance and immature delivery capability. The survey results and presentations led to some thought provoking debate and important cross fertilisation of ideas between leaders – which is a great starting place for helping SROs perform better in the future.”