Decision makers need to have a range of tools and methodologies available to decide which projects to prioritise, particularly when making strategic investment decisions on multibillion-euro capital projects and programmes.
Recently in Ireland there has been much discussion on capital budgeting, cost benefit analysis, the risks inherent in long term projects and how best to put a plan in place to identify and manage these risks. When significant cost increases occur in projects with a knock-on impact of curtailing funding for other approved projects, or during an annual capital budgeting process with differing project classes competing for scarce capital, you need to be able to prioritise projects. This paper illustrates an approach to prioritisation. With high stakes and sometimes political pressure, elaborate financial and economic models are prepared to justify potential projects. But when it comes down to the final decision, especially when hard choices need to be made among multiple opportunities, less rigorous assessment means are dusted down - arbitrarily discounting estimates of expected returns or economic benefit, for example, or applying overly broad risk premiums. There are more transparent ways to bring assessments of risk into investment decisions. In particular, some analytical tools commonly employed in capital-intensive industries can be applied, such as those investing in projects with long lead times or those investing in shorter-term projects that depend on the economic cycle. The result can be a more informed, data-driven discussion on a range of possible outcomes. Of course, even these tools are subject to assumptions that can be speculative. But the insights they provide can still produce a more structured approach to making decisions and a better dialogue about trade-offs. A simple residential real estate investment project is presented as a case study of using the approach which could be used for example by a development company when deciding how best to allocate investment over a portfolio of residential, commercial, retail and industrial project opportunities. The real power of using these tools comes from using them systematically, however, leading to better decisions from a more informed starting point: a standard model for projects; a fact-based depiction of how much an organisation’s current performance is at risk; a consistent assessment of each project’s risks and returns; how those projects compare; and how current and potential projects can be best combined into a single portfolio. Should you wish you find out more about this methodology or how Keogh Consulting can assist in assessment of your project portfolio please contact us at info@keoconsult.com
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High performance team formation using a team canvas workshop delivered with Miro via MS Teams25/1/2022 Recently on a turnaround project we had to develop a way to bring a remotely based existing team together to complete a project in the middle of Lockdown 3.0. With Covid having delayed the project significantly the team needed to relaunch and start to put in place high performing behaviours to complete the project.
Using the team canvas an online workshop was developed and using MS Teams and Miro the workshop was delivered online using the approach (keo_consult_team_canvas_workshop.pdf) outlined above. Project now underway again and the team looking forward to getting boots and hard hats on again onsite. Projects are an iterative process of planning, doing and reviewing. From time to time despite the best intentions projects get into trouble and you have to step in to review what is going wrong and put a new plan in place to deliver a project. With the stop start impact of the Covid pandemic on a range of capital projects it may be necessary to but a new plan in place for a delayed project,
The following outlines a 2-step process to strategically review a project and then once the review is complete to create a turnaround plan to deliver the project. The approach can of course be used as a checklist at the beginning of a project to make sure that all resources are in place to deliver a project and that a robust plan is in place to deliver certainty. projectworkoutv2021.pdf Now that the dust is settling on the launch of the "Housing For All' programme it is interesting to look at some of the key assumptions that underpin the strategy Supply - High Resourcing Growth RequirementDemand - Net Inward Migration Makes Up Majority of DemandSupply - Increased Output Needs Improved Efficiency As Well As Increased Activity Levels |
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Keogh Consulting looks to help individuals and organisations deliver the right projects the right way. Here is some of our knowledge and a few case studies that we hope will help you on your project journey. Categories
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