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Project 13 Infrastructure Governance Code: engineering great decisions to change society

By Amy Reed-Gibbs, in News,

Click here to download
This cross-industry code provides a structure for good practice that allows for constructive challenge, supporting effective decision-making. This will lead to better project outcomes for stakeholders, society, and the world.
As an industry, we are acutely aware of the significant challenges that face us. Not least the climate crisis, but also the pressures created by a growing global population with expectations of better living standards. We must now act more effectively, and with greater urgency, to address these challenges and deliver positive outcomes not only for those sponsoring and developing projects but also for society and the world. Good governance is critical to enabling such outcomes.
Led by the Project 13 Governance Pillar Development Group, and developed collaboratively by practitioners for practitioners across our industry, the Infrastructure Governance Code is structured around principles organised into six themes, to be used on a ‘comply or explain’ basis, underpinned by supporting provisions. The collaborative approach has been crucial to ensuring the code is fit for purpose and widely applicable.
It provides a structured system of good practice allowing for constructive challenge that creates the right environment for effective decision-making – which, in turn, will lead to better outcomes.
The code has been formally endorsed by:
The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) The Association for Project Management (APM The Major Projects Association (MPA)

Accessing and Mobilising Diverse Talent to Become a True Capable Owner - Watch Here!

By Amy Reed-Gibbs, in News,

Watch the second in the Project 13 Capable Owner Pillar series of events to hear how broadening the talent pool can aid collaborative working at an enterprise level and across individual projects.
Three Project 13 Adopters joined the event to share their experiences and perspectives on how their organisation is mobilising a broader mix of diverse talent to achieve its aims, hosted by Andrew Page, Co-Chair of Project 13 Capable Owner Development Group.
Speakers
·         John Grimm - Smart Motorways Programme (SMP) Alliance Deputy Director at National Highways
·         Stewart Craigie, Technical Director at Sweco on behalf of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS)
·         Jo Theobald, Performance Director at Public Sewer Services for Anglian Water Alliances
You can watch the video of the event here:
“A Capable Owner must identify opportunities.”
John Grimm kicked off the discussion by providing the  background to National Highways and the vastness of the smart motorways project which has an efficiency target of £2.3bn.
“Although we have followed and adopted a lot of the Project 13 ‘thinking’ for many years, we have only recently become an official Project 13 adopter and joined the wider community. One of the key drivers behind this is the scale and scope of the smart motorway delivery targets. To achieve our objectives, we needed to move away from transactional delivery models to improve productivity, and to make the highways sector a more attractive proposition for the supply chain. Through adopting an integrated delivery model and establishing collaborative relationships across our supplier community, we’re able to collectively increase capability and capacity across the wider sector.” 
This SMP Alliance has been created with the sole intention to deliver the government’s smart motorway project over the next 10 years. The vision is to make road networks safer, greener, and more efficient.
“We’ve created a delivery model that is led by National Highways and our six delivery partners. The smart motorways program will be delivered by a single integrated team operating under a single contract with shared outcomes, these outcomes are aligned with all parties under a one, common commercial and performance framework. The fundamental of this approach means that all risks and reward are shared.”
John continued to explore the key attributes that a capable owner must embody:
Recruiting, building, and retaining talent - Understanding the value proposition and the capabilities and skills that are required to support delivery. In addition, recruiting from the supply chain is a valuable strategy particularly on a long-term project like the SMP as there is plenty of opportunity to upskill throughout the project journey.
Value Driven Mindset - A capable owner must support the alliance in its key functions, particularly with governance, defining output and defining operations and the voice of the customer. A capable owner must also work alongside delivery partners as an enabler to support delivery outcomes.
Creating Opportunity - The capable owner must identify products and processes that can be used efficiently across the alliance. It must draw value through logistics and develop new ways of working, it must also develop data use so that intelligence can be garnered and utilised. This ties neatly into digital requirements – this is a skillset that capable owners must nurture and harness to drive organisational value across the enterprise. 
“We need two kilograms of innovation please.”
Up next was Stuart Craigie from BAM / Sweco. Stuart discussed a fascinating project on behalf of the British Antarctic Survey. The project is the construction of an international airport in Antarctica, but the scope of works goes much further. It includes marine works, operations and science buildings, runway enhancements, accommodation buildings and hangars. This diverse portfolio of projects would be challenging under any circumstances, but as the team can only be onsite seasonally for four to five months, there are many other factors at play. Of course, the broad diversity of projects insists on a broad range of skills to support delivery.
“Due to the complexity of the project, we had to open our eyes and welcome a collaborative model and enterprise delivery route. We adopted a four-pronged approach that can be summarised under four simple questions.”
Where do we find our innovation? “The scale and diversity of this project is huge. It is also incredibly unique due to its environment, which means we have to offer continual insight and innovation. Our approach is to steer away from simple ‘asking / telling’ people to do things, and rather inform people of what outcomes we need. This breeds a culture of trust and opens the doors for new ways of working and creating new solutions to old problems.”
How do we engage innovation? “We use a range of tools, including Government Soft Landings which allows us to outline what we’re trying to achieve and how we are going to track it. We also use Information Management tools, yes BIM is integral to this but it’s the project management aspect and process mapping that steers us towards outcome related planning. We also created a Modern Methods of Construction guide that sets out our key drivers and our identified parameters and outcomes.”
How do we create collaboration? “We have created a project directorate to develop strategy and a high-level responsibility matrix that project managers can breakdown and distribute across teams to create engagement. It’s also important to note that innovation isn’t something we can just ask for at any point. Innovation needs to be nurtured through understanding and collaboration and drawn upon at the right times throughout a project. By working together, we can assess capability and create a culture that works for each other, rather than for an organisation.”
“Courage to Challenge.”
Lastly, Jo Theobald drives home the need for ‘people persons’ and looking across sectors for transferrable skills and characteristics.
As Performance Director at Anglian Water Alliance’s Public Sewer Services, Jo started her career in the banking sector and moved on to direct high performing teams. The contrast from banking to the drainage sector is stark, but Jo stressed how certain skills, temperament and character can suit many sectors, no matter how different.
“The core Project 13 principles of innovation, collaboration and transformation are vital in informing how we behave as a business, it informs our culture and impacts our sector. As a wider industry we are all faced with the same challenges – we have a skills gap. However, we must look outside of the box and have the faith and belief that non-industry skills can be of huge benefit to an organisation. The days of blinkered recruitment are over, we must look at those with different experience so that we can learn from each other.
Enabling their leap of faith.
“An example of embracing alternative sectors is reflected in our decision to look at ex-army personnel. We have a gentleman in our business that had a HGV license and safety training. After practical training with our delivery teams, it was clear that he was a natural leader with a keen eye for processes and continuous improvement. Now, he is a senior leader of our Alliance."
“A further example, which may be considered a curveball, is a gentleman from the aviation industry. We recognised that we needed somebody that was used to working in harsh environments, able to remain calm under pressure and possess an unwavering focus on equipment and operational safety. The aviation sector was a natural place for our investigation because the individuals would possess the mindset we required.”
These are just two examples Jo presented, but two that highlight the importance of characteristics and mindset, rather than specific qualifications or experience. Jo expressed the need to look further afield for transferrable skills and have the ‘power not to discount’ any individual when fishing in a different talent pool.
Following the speaker’s presentations further questions were raised about broadening the talent pool, agile leadership and the challenges encountered when moving away from traditional recruitment and operational models.
If you would like to learn more about Project 13 and how we are supporting change in infrastructure, sign up to the Project 13 Network.
You can watch the first event in the series: What does it mean to be a Capable Owner? here.

Governance - developing the environment for successful outcomes

By Miles Ashley, in News,

From the origins of Project 13’s development back in 2017, Governance has been recognised as one of the key Pillars to the creation of the enterprise model that is central to its philosophy.  As Project 13’s adoption has steadily grown, influencing more sophisticated approaches across the infrastructure owner community, both in the UK and internationally, there is increasing recognition of the need to strengthen this area and provide more guidance.   
The Project 13 Governance Group, drawn from across the infrastructure sector’s clients, contractors and consultants as well as government, governance experts and academics has been working over the last few months to explore and build on previous work in this area.  The Group’s aim is to create a better definition of how to use governance to underpin the establishment of an effective enterprise delivery model for infrastructure.
The Group’s discussions regarding governance and the enabling platform for success that it creates, have been many and wide-ranging.  That it does provide such a platform is not disputed, establishing consensus on how it enables that success is more problematic.  The output from our discussions has taken us through a fascinating exploration of personal professional experiences, academic work and case history examples, some of these including examples from the military sphere, fall far outside the boundaries of our sector.  The work has also exposed a plethora of reports as we have attempted to distil learning from recent experience encompassing best practice, including the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s (IPA) Routemap and Construction Playbook, and less edifying analysis from NAO, Department for Transport and Select Committees.  There is also clear data (e.g. aggregated IPA review data) that suggests governance has a very significant role in securing successful outcomes from infrastructure investment.  Perhaps that’s unsurprising.
Attempting to find a useful guiding pattern from this material has been challenging, but we conclude that the themes that commonly recur are both identifiable and useful.  These themes include the quality of definition of the enterprise, its mission and outcomes, behaviours and accountabilities, how data informs decisions, access to the right capabilities at the right level and organisation.   In short, effective governance provides a structured approach to informed and collaborative challenge, underpinning the quality of decision making and creation of the operational arrangements and a culture that optimises outcomes across the enterprise.
Perhaps having found this consensus we might have developed a report, as we had anticipated, but there is another part to our journey of discovery.
In 2010 the Financial Reporting Council launched the first UK Corporate Governance Code and since its introduction, it has provided a series of guiding principles for company boards.  Its origins can perhaps be traced back to the financial scandals of the early 1990s, particularly Maxwell and Bank of Credit and Commerce International, which in turn led to the progressive Cadbury Committee, Turnball Committee and Higgs Review.  The UK Corporate Governance Code (and the Charity Commission Governance Code in the charitable sector) have proved their worth in setting, and progressively developing, expectations regarding the establishment and optimisation of good governance in these areas.
The UK Corporate Governance Code is founded on the establishment of principles, it is not a prescriptive book of rules.  It is succinct; 18 principles over 5 sections and 12 pages and that it is not prescriptive arguably provides its ultimate strength.  The rules-based approach adopted in other countries has proved an open door to litigation and challenge; it is much more difficult perhaps to challenge a principle.   It also adopts an approach of “comply or explain” allowing companies in the UK to meet each principle as anticipated, or to find another way to articulate the adoption of alternative but effective arrangements.
In a changing world, the accelerated creation of large temporary organisations, comprising multiple entities, to deliver infrastructure investment on par with the scale of a FTSE100 company, is an immensely challenging undertaking.  Despite this and the particular challenges of our sector and notwithstanding the available data that suggests governance is central to success, no such governance code has existed in infrastructure.
The Project 13 Governance Group has identified this as an opportunity to leverage the work done to date.  As a result, a draft code has been developed following the approach of principles adopted by the UK Corporate Governance Code.  As a developed draft, it is being used to consult across the wider stakeholder group before we pursue its launch and adoption.
The UK Corporate Governance Code and its original ancestor, The Cadbury Code, has proved a defining factor in establishing reliance in governance over a period of 25 years.  In that time it has changed, most recently in 2018, to reflect emerging best practices and developing expectations.  As we seek to establish a better route to governance in our own sector, recognising its particular demands and a growing move to enterprise adoption, perhaps our own code, and its progressive evolution, will provide for a similar pathway to more successful outcomes.

Does a Project 13 Enterprise model help with the current complex environment?

By Melissa Zanocco, in News,

There are twelve Project 13 Adopters putting the Project 13 Principles into practice and sharing their learning between them. The Project 13 Adopter Community meets regularly to discuss their emerging best practice and barriers as they progress on their journeys. At a workshop earlier this year, they discussed how they have been using their Enterprise and supplier ecosystem relationships to mitigate and manage the risks during the uncertain times over the past three years including dealing with Covid-19, Brexit, shipping issues, inflation and the conflict in Ukraine. The meetings are Chatham House but this article gives some highlights from the discussion.
Accelerating the journey to high performing Enterprises
Project 13 recognises that an organisation will not become a high performing Enterprise immediately, and so the Maturity Matrix identifies three steps from simple collaboration, through integrated functions and relationships to a high performing Enterprise. The Adopter Community has seen an acceleration of that journey recently as the current conditions make it even harder for organisations to continue operating as they have done in the past when they need to deliver the same output for less. It is now clearer to senior leadership that an Enterprise model is a necessity rather than a nice to have.
The benefits of the model include doing things in bulk and in a common fashion across the partners including: shared and optimised capability (drawn from across the enterprise partners), commonly adopted processes and systems, a common data platform and a common behavioural and incentivisation model. Some examples mentioned were:
Having one planning resource across the Enterprise rather than one in each organisation Sharing mechanical plant across all partners - this reduced fuel needs and the need for transportation from place to place Reducing the amount of moves from one site to another – more sequential Having central compounds – not spread across multiple locations Pooling buying resources to get better deals and reduce wastage which also aids with Net Zero targets. In general, it becomes easier to make decisions early on that benefit everyone and the results are obvious to all involved.

Good relationships with the supplier ecosystem
The Enterprise model does not make any of the issues go away but helps with mitigating them. A large part of that is because strong long-term relationships have been built with partners (within the Integrator) and the wider supplier ecosystem. It is therefore easier to have the right ‘mature’ conversations to find solutions that work for everyone.  The Adopters have not seen many examples of suppliers reverting to previous behaviours. Importantly, the current conditions have also increased understanding of suppliers’ suppliers and their issues. Many were not aware of the reach of their global supplier ecosystem. There are trade-offs to be made between finding new providers and increasing the carbon footprint of how far the materials travel. This also led to a discussion about ethics. It was felt that the full pain is not yet being felt as many had enough materials to last them for the next few months but the full implications will hit a bit further down the line. Decisions are being taken earlier and for large orders, even if design is not finalised, in order to give longer lead times to receive materials. Any excess material ordered can then be used across the programme / organisation.

Retaining employees
There is currently huge wage inflation and many people left the industry all together during and after Covid-19. Feedback from the workshop suggested that the positive atmosphere created in an Enterprise helps to retain staff. There was even an example of a higher salary tempting someone away who then came back as realised that culture is more important and better for mental health.
What is the future of the office and co-locating?

Covid-19 has led to a shift in working from home. The Project 13 Enterprise model is based on collaboration and integration so there was an interesting discussion about the impact of homeworking on building the organisation. It was definitely felt that those who had already built relationships in person before Covid-19 found it easier to transition to working on-line, although there were still issues as new people come on board. However, those who started something new during Covid-19 said that they struggled to build integration and high performing teams as quickly.
However, there were also many benefits of homeworking including the fact that there is more access to diverse talent. It was not suggested that things should return to how they were before but that conscious thought should go into the in-person element of building relationships. Office spaces now need to be collaboration spaces and people should be brought together specifically for collaboration purposes, not just for a run-of-the-mill meeting that could be done on-line. This means the nature of office space needs to change – not rows of seats but an environment that people want to travel to. This also means that it could be at a partner's location, not necessarily at the Capable Owner’s offices. There was a fascinating discussion about whether virtual reality will be a solution to team building in the future. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
 
There are always some great quotes that come out of these workshops so I will leave you with three:
“Gang up on the problem, not the people” – people are quick to criticise – it is easier to do that then help. Not offices but “heartbeat places” – need to entice people. “Triviality becomes criticality” – little things seem to escalate online.

Project 13 Capable Owner: Changing the capability mix

By Amy Reed-Gibbs, in News,

Register here to join us at our Project 13 Capable Owner online event on 20th September 2022 at 9am BST.
 
Following the success of our first event, ‘What does it mean to be a Capable Owner?’, the Project 13 Capable Owner Pillar team are now delving deeper into the ideal makeup of a Capable Owner team at their next event on 20th September 2022 at 9am BST. With a wide range of perspectives, we’ll be exploring how an organisation can mobilise a broader mix of diverse talent to achieve its aims based on the matrix of individual capabilities.
 
Join us  to hear some direct experiences from:
·         John Grimm, National Highways Smart Motorways Programme with the Project 13 Enterprise team perspective, will share the journey of the latest Project 13 Adopter to create the enabling environment to attract and retain individuals with the right capabilities.
 
·         Stewart Craigie, part of the British Antarctic Society’s supplier ecosystem, with a supplier’s perspective, including exploring how the supplier can bring innovation earlier in the process.
 
·         Jo Theobald, Public Sewer Services, will bring an individual’s perspective on how curveball talent can make an impact from someone with a non-traditional background.
 
You can find out more about the Project 13 Pillars: Capable Owner, Governance, Organisations, Integration and Digital Transformation in the Project 13 Network - a vibrant, knowledge-sharing community for all those interested in delivering infrastructure differently.
 
Speakers:
Andrew Page (Co-chair)
Lucy Howard (Co-chair)
John Grimm
Stewart Craigie
Joanne Theobald

How are we going to fill the gaps identified by the Digital Benchmarking Survey? Listen here

By Melissa Zanocco, in News,

Listen to the launch of the Digital Benchmarking Survey 2021, powered by the Smart Infrastructure Index, to hear how some of the Infrastructure Client Group (ICG) Digital Transformation Task Group and Project 13 Adopters are improving their digital maturity. 
As well as the cross-cutting themes from the results, the launch event included case studies and reflections from Anglian Water, Environment Agency, UK Power Networks, the Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDo) cross sector digital twin project and Infrastructure & Projects Authority's  Transforming Infrastructure Performance: Roadmap to 2030 (TIP).
Gaps and how to fill them
Melissa Zanocco, Co-Chair Project 13 Adopter Community and Digital Twin Hub Community Council, Andy Moulds and Anna Bowskill, Mott MacDonald, highlighted the key findings of the report and demonstrated how the quantitative data backs up the qualitative data, providing evidence to help with making stronger business cases to Boards.
The report has highlighted two gaps and possible solutions for filling them. They are:
The gap between the amount of data that we now have at our disposal but the fact that it is not reaching the decision makers in a timely fashion so that they can make better decisions. The data points to silos within organisations and poorly organised information as being possible causes of this. The DTTG will therefore be focusing on Common Data Environments and Digital Operating Models to ensure the right data gets to the right people at the right time in order for them to make better decisions leading to better outcomes.  The gap between the senior leadership understanding that there needs to be investment and then actually unlocking that investment. The articulation and quantification of benefits is something that the DTTG members are still struggling with and so it a key area that we will be focusing on as it helps to persuade the Board and unlock that investment. Cross-cutting themes
There were five cross cutting themes that reflect the gaps but also where good progress is being made:
More data not yet translating to better decision-making: While the data available to organisations has increased significantly, 86% think poorly organised information still inhibits full value realisation. A need to focus on digital skills: A better understanding of the digital skills gap is required to ensure current and future capability needs are met to enable successful enterprise-wide implementation of strategies. Currently 54% of organisations simply don’t understand their skills gap. Acknowledging the need for investment: This is now widely recognised with 87% of digital transformation strategies now sponsored by executives. Showcasing visible benefits is a key next step with 70% struggling to demonstrate the value required to unlock this investment. Organisations becoming more resilient: Responses to internal and external hazards – a key priority for the DTTG for 2021 – has significantly improved, with 85% having evaluated the ability of critical assets to operate under adverse conditions and developed contingency plans. Closer alignment to customer outcomes: A customer-centric approach has driven greater alignment of business objectives with customers. 93% now state they have a clear line of sight between business objectives and customer outcomes in their strategy. Outcomes are a focus of the Construction Playbook, Our Vision for the Built Environment and TIP and so this is welcome evidence that the principles are being put into practice. Best practice in action
Mark Enzer, Chair ICG’s Digital Transformation Task Group and Project 13 Digital Transformation Pillar, then led a lively discussion with the panel (pictured), as well as answering questions from the audience.
Matt Edwards offered reflections on Anglian Water’s digital twin journey Matt Webb explained the work of UK Power Networks on their digital operating model Sarah Hayes shared learning from the CReDo digital twin project Karen Alford updated on the digital skills work of the Environment Agency Will Varah rounded off by giving insights on the importance of digital and data to Transforming Infrastructure Performance: Roadmap to 2030. You can read the report here (you will need to be registered on the Project 13 Network to access it)
You can listen to the launch event below. The slides below accompany the update from Andy Moulds and Anna Bowskill, Mott MacDonald, at 12:40 in the recording

1921631057_ICGwebinarpodcast.mp3  
 

ICG Project 13 Digital Benchmarking Report Presentation Slides 15.06.22.pdf

Digital Benchmarking Report 2021 On-line Launch Event 15 June 9:00 BST

By Melissa Zanocco, in News,

You can read the report now by clicking this link (you need to be registered on the Project 13 Network to access the report).
The Project 13 Network invites you to join the Project 13 Digital Transformation Pillar to celebrate the on-line launch of the Digital Benchmarking Report 2021 on 15 June 2022 at 9:00 BST by REGISTERING HERE.
The Report, powered by the Smart Infrastructure Index, surveys members of the Infrastructure Client Group Digital Transformation Task Group, including Project 13 Adopters: Anglian Water, East West Rail, Environment Agency, Heathrow, Network Rail and Sellafield
After Mark Enzer, Chair Project 13 Digital Transformation Pillar, introduces the report, Andy Moulds and Anna Bowskill, Mott MacDonald, will uncover the results of the latest research into the state of the nation for digital adoption and maturity.
This will be followed by a panel of industry thoughts leaders and practitioners sharing their views and best practice case studies including:
Karen Alford, Environment Agency – digital skills Matt Edwards, Anglian Water – digital twins Sarah Hayes, CReDo – Climate Resilience Demonstrator digital twin Neil Picthall, Sellafield – common data environments Matt Webb, UK Power Networks – digital operating models Will Varah, Infrastructure & Projects Authority – Transforming Infrastructure Performance: Roadmap to 2030 REGISTER to find out how much progress has been made at a time when digital transformation is a critical enabler for solving the global, systemic challenges facing the planet. The report will be available on the Project 13 Network immediately after the event in the Library and the recording will also be uploaded as soon as possible (you need to have registered on the Project 13 Network to be able to access this).
Please note: We plan to make a recording of the event available. Please note that third parties, including other delegates may also take pictures or record videos and audio and process the same in a variety of ways, including by posting content across the web and social media platforms.

What does it mean to be a Capable Owner? - Watch here!

By Amy Morrison, in News,

Project 13 has launched a series of events around each of its five pillars: capable ownership, organisation, governance, integration, and digital transformation. The first event: ‘What does it mean to be a capable owner?’ saw industry adopters discuss their experiences and some of the challenges they encountered when implementing the six capable owner principles. From articulating the voice of the customer, and of operations; to being value-driven in mindset, relating to the supply chain, creating complex systems, and finally, recruiting, building, and retaining talent. Each facet is integral to maximise the opportunities of infrastructure projects to effectively deliver better outcomes.
On behalf of the Project 13 development group, Lucy Howard welcomed Andrew Page, Head of Commercial Services at Anglian Water, and co-chair of the Project 13 Capable Owner Group; Richard Lennard, Head of Clients, Programme and Project Partners (PPP) at Sellafield; and Paul Sexton, General Manager of Alliance Management at Scottish Water.
 
A capable owner “develops sustainable enterprises built on long term business to business relationships.” This sentiment was echoed across each of the leaders’ presentations. After 17 years at Anglian Water, Andrew Page stressed the importance of alignment, how commitment must start from the top, and the benefits of choosing the right partners: “Enterprises are made up of large companies and small companies… each business is just as important as the other. When sourcing and scoring tenders, less than 30 per cent of marks were associated with costings. Most marks were based on an organisation’s ability to demonstrate the right approach, i.e., collaboration, having the right people with the right attitude and way of thinking, and finally, the right environment that nurtures possibility.”
 
Anglian Water’s adoption of Project 13 principles has enabled them to delivery differently by creating higher performing teams that have clarity of purpose. This theme of clarity was continued by Richard Lennard as he discussed Sellafield’s six-year journey towards an integrated enterprise model. “We started by looking at how we delivered projects and realised we weren’t where we wanted to be. We had a fragmented supply chain that was very traditional and struggled to leverage the collective value of our portfolio of work.”
 
Richard explained how culture and clarity is at the front and centre of running a successful enterprise: “We had to be honest with ourselves to allow us to do something differently. Led from the very top of the business, this level of humility was important in driving us down a different path to improved behaviours, frameworks, and measurement protocols. To bring the rest of the business along with us, we had to hold a mirror up and acknowledge our faults and commit to driving forward with integrity.”
 
Finally, Paul Sexton discussed Scottish Water’s first year adopting Project 13’s capable owner principles. Resounding Andrew’s and Richard’s focus on culture and behaviours, Paul recognised early on that a widespread change in behaviour would be the biggest impact on improved efficiencies. To do this, Scottish Water developed a behavioural charter and undertook a maturity assessment to review internal practices, and those of their partners and organisations. By undertaking a thorough review, Paul explained how the outcomes were then captured in an alliancing charter to fuel the collective strategy. “We believe in the Project 13 framework and the pivotal role that owners and major clients play. Although Scottish Water has only been involved for the short-term, we have learned a lot and cannot recommend it enough.”
 
Following each leader’s discussion, the Q&A segment commenced. One recurring question from the many viewers was around how internal behaviours are transformed. Andrew Page said: “There is no easy route. It’s not enough to simply do a big splash of communications at the beginning, you will of course get some initial enthusiasm, but it will wane quickly. You’ve got to attack it at all levels, consistently, to change behaviours. We undertook many workshops and created a coaching program. By working closely with teams across our partnership organisations, we ensured that each of the leaders focused on remaining consistent in how they worked and shared information. We consistently reiterated the desired behaviours and reviewed individuals that were not performing or adopting the principles. Through the coaching programme, we were able to support and equip every individual with the tools, skills, and knowledge they needed to thrive.”
 
This was a fascinating discussion from three leaders at various stages of the capable owner journey.  If you would like to learn more about Project 13 and how we’re supporting change in infrastructure, sign up to the Project 13 Network.
 

Capable Ownership unlocks innovation and funding to create a new habitat

By Andrew Page, in News,

This case study illustrates: the Project 13 Capable Owner Principle: 'The Enterprise is set up to deliver clearly articulated customer outcomes'
and the Project 13 Governance Principle: 'The Enterprise is rewarded for Outcome performance'.
 
Anglian Water has worked closely with Norfolk Rivers Trust to create a wetland in Ingoldisthorpe, which will improve the quality of effluent dispersed from a water recycling treatment plant. Using the Project 13 approach, the project was able to challenge traditional practices and focus on outcomes, resulting in significant time and cost savings compared to traditional solutions.
 
One of the core concerns expressed by Norfolk Rivers Trust was the impact such effluent had on the environment and how this affected the local people and surrounding wildlife. It was vital for Anglian Water to provide a solution that would ensure environmental protection and enhancement in the long-term.
 
Anglian Water’s biodiversity strategy addresses such solutions and practices; if a biodiversity net gain is to be achieved, traditional methods need to be reviewed and practicality questioned. This is exactly how this project was handled. By working to an ‘outcomes approach’, Anglian Water funded the creation of a wetland, which was designed, built, and managed by Norfolk Rivers Trust.
 
The new wetland provides natural filtration across the three-hectare site. As well as removing ammonia and phosphate from effluent, this is converted into energy to fuel the surrounding plants and wildlife prior to the water reaching the river.
 
Chris Gerrard, Biodiversity Manager at Anglian Water, said: “The typical approach to this project would have been to construct additional treatment units across the site. Or devise a system to pump the effluent to a larger treatment centre several miles away. This would have had a significantly negative impact as it would not have allowed the surrounding environment to flourish, nor would it have been future proof. By opting for a wetland, the need to pour any concrete was alleviated, which of course also saved time and reduced the overall costs of the project. To minimise the impact on local people, the project was developed and delivered in under three years.
 
“Overall, this solution is excellent for the environmental footprint and carbon reduction, highly preferable to enhance and encourage wildlife, and the quality of water is raised substantially. This has been a win all round.”
 
Anglian Water and Norfolk Rivers Trust’s Ingoldisthorpe project is considered exemplary across industries. To encourage more sustainable practices and to encourage a nation-wide objective of biodiversity net gain, Anglian Water is inviting other water companies and global infrastructure providers to visit Ingoldisthorpe’s new wetland to demonstrate just how beneficial this could be in one of, or each of their regions.
 
For more information on Anglian Water’s Biodiversity Strategy, visit the website here. 
https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/siteassets/household/in-the-community/anglian-water-biodiversity-strategy.pdf
 

What does it mean to be a Capable Owner? - Online event 07/04/2022

By Amy Reed-Gibbs, in News,

7th April 2022 9-10:30am BST
Register here
Join the Project 13 Capable Owner Pillar to explore the key steps and desired individual skillsets to becoming a Capable Owner in your projects. With expert research and industry examples from Project 13 Adopters, you will discover how to adopt Capable Ownership into your organisation to effectively deliver better outcomes.
The Capable Owner pillar is one of five Project 13 Pillar’s that come together to create an enterprise model for infrastructure delivery. This model brings together owners, partners, advisers and suppliers, working in more integrated and collaborative arrangements, underpinned by long term relationships. This is the first of a series of Project 13 Network events around the Project 13 Pillar Groups: Capable Owner, Organisation, Governance, Integration and Digital Transformation.
We will be hearing from Andrew Page on his research into the six key steps to being a capable owner and how Anglian Water are following alternative routes for financing, designing, building, and operating assets that their customers rely on in their daily lives. This will be followed by industry examples from Project 13 adopters, Sellafield and Scottish Water, where we will learn about their journeys in adopting the Project 13 model and how they overcame any challenges whilst doing so.
Background:
As part of its wider role, the Capable Owner develops sustainable enterprises built on long term business to business (b2b) relationships. Traditional hierarchical relationships are replaced with aligned and collaborative b2b relationships, with a collective focus on delivering the outcomes required. The right partners are selected based on capability and behaviours and work within incentivised value-based arrangements.
Enterprises are brought together to deliver the outcomes required (customer and societal) and to enable business performance. The focus on outcomes provides a back-to-back alignment through all parts of the Enterprise. Capable Owners can articulate the required outcomes, with processes in place to ensure these outcomes effectively represent the requirements of customers, community and society. A capable owner will be able to describe the asset performance required to achieve these outcomes and will engage with partners and stakeholders in delivering outcomes and asset performance.
Through best practice assembly and exchange, community engagement through the Project 13 Network , and opportunities to get involved in the debate, the Capable Owner pillar explores the following key areas of capable ownership to maximise the potential of their infrastructure systems:
Articulating the voice of the customer. Being value driven in mindset. Articulating the voice of operations. Relating to the supply chain. Creating complex systems. Recruiting, building and retaining talent. Sign up to the Project 13 Network and the Capable Owner team to find out more.
 
 
Speakers:
@Lucy Howard
@Andrew Page
@Richard Lennard
@Paul Sexton

How to create an organisation that delivers outcomes

By James Crompton, in News,

This case study illustrates the Project 13 Capable Owner Principle: 'The Enterprise is set up to deliver clearly articulated customer outcomes'.
“For an organisation to deliver outcomes, the structural and cultural objective to simply ‘deliver scope’ must be shifted.”
James Crompton, Strategic Pipeline Alliance Director at Anglian Water, discusses the business’s Strategic Pipelines Alliance (SPA) initiative; exploring the principles and process of creating a new enterprise organisation that is equipped to deliver core customer outcomes:
“Integration and collaboration are two words we hear consistently, and particularly when businesses are forming alliancing-type models. Whilst these are critical in creating a successful delivery model, the central component should be alignment. This has consistently maintained its prevalence within basic alliancing through to mature enterprising.
Without alignment, there is no key anchor point that informs the operating model or the organisational structure, which ultimately makes it far more difficult to cement a purpose, form goals and identify the outcomes.
When it came to SPA, we had a very clear purpose that was detailed in our procurement documents. We took the time to articulate our aspirations and the type of organisation we wanted to create, as well how, albeit at a high level, it would operate. We also stated the various capabilities and behaviours that were required to successfully deliver our goals and outcomes.
Integrator
To demonstrate the practicalities of the SPA approach, I want to discuss a specific project and highlight some of the challenges we identified along the way. To begin, we wrote down our purpose: ‘To make the East of England resilient to the risks of drought and to secure water supplies for future generations.’
To bring this vision to life, we created the Integrator with our key partners, this is a high-level operating model that is complimented by a production based operating model, which was backed up by our wider network.
We soon identified how challenging it was to talk solely about outcomes, whilst trying to understand the sheer scale and scope of the project. We discovered that the delivery outcomes were losing impact, particularly when faced with a Water Resources Management Plan that showed over 475km of pipelines.
This was an incredibly valuable lesson to learn; just how easy it is to slip back into that ‘scope and scale’ mindset. Together, we paused and considered two things. Firstly, we stated very specific examples of what an outcome for SPA was: to provide an additional million litres per day from X to Y distribution zones by Z date. This was instead of ‘design and build X length of pipe at Y diameter with Z storage.’ The latter only reemphasised the scope of the project and left little room for innovation.
The second thing we did was to support the above outcome with two mantras: ‘If we don’t lay pipes we will fail. If we just lay pipes we will fail’, and ‘The space that lies between scope and outcomes is where innovation and imagination can thrive.’
We began describing each element of the project as a smart and integrated strategic asset, all consisting of transmission pipes, innovative solutions, and smart technologies. Additionally, we integrated stringent carbon targets into SPA, not only to align with our specific goals and outcomes, but to ensure we continued to support Anglian Water’s ambitions to achieve Net Zero Carbon by 2030.
As we progressed with this project we retained a keen focus on capabilities, behaviours and the value required to deliver our outcomes; this meant we put very little focus on the commercials. In fact, fee only accounted for 12 per cent of the overall scores and no work was priced in the process. This really shifted the goal posts as reward mechanisms were based on out-performance earned from successful delivery, rather than on scope of work.
Production Delivery
By using industry best practice and benchmarking we introduced a production based operating model. This successfully pinpointed the various outcomes and aligned them with our community and environmental pledges.
Throughout this operating model, we made a very deliberate change in language. To truly embody and embrace our outcomes, ‘detailed design’ is now ‘engineering and integration’; ‘construction’ is now ‘production and assembly’, and ‘handover’ is now ‘network integration’. Each phrase has been evolved to provide more specificity and depth, and hones in on the specific roles to drive efficiency.
This process has provided us with an integrated and mutually dependent organisation that is completely aligned to the purpose, goals, and outcomes of the owner. In turn, we have witnessed further alignment across organisational structures and across wider operations.
This is a real-world example of how integrated organisations and an alignment around outcomes, powered by concurrent language and terminology, transformed conversations, and fuelled an inevitable drive towards success."

Anglian Water: How Customer Engagement Shapes its Enterprise Outcomes Definition

By Andrew Page, in News,

This case study illustrates the Project 13 Capable Owner Principle: 'The Enterprise is set up to deliver clearly articulated customer outcomes'.
Anglian Water has successfully engaged with partners in delivering better outcomes from its capital the investment programme. One of the key enablers to this and that made a significant contribution to transforming delivery models was a comprehensive and in-depth customer research project that enabled a clear articulation of the outcomes required. Outcomes that through this consultation process integrated customer views and requirements. By implementing a 38-channel route of engagement and communication process, over 500,000 interactions were made across a vast range of customer segments. The collated results have shaped Anglian Water’s business strategy and fuelled a rich engagement culture across day-to-day operations.
  
 
Some of the key similarities that emerged off the back of the ongoing communications were around a 25-year Strategic Direction Statement and Water Resources Management Plan. This also encompassed further conversations around corporate governance and Anglian Water’s plans for enhancing resilience in the long-term.
As part of this long-term focus, one of the key topics of conversation was around younger people, more specifically what their interests and needs are, and how these are likely to evolve over the next few decades. In addition, all customers expressed a desire for ongoing engagement and to be a part of new solutions that will enable them to manage water use.
Each of these facets have fuelled Anglian Water’s ‘Outcomes for Delivery’ plan; a robust and sustainable proposal fuelled and driven by customers’ priorities. Over the next five years, Anglian Water is committed to delivering performance in the areas that matter most to customers, and to improving overall performance across the board.
The delivery plan is split into three sections: Smart Business, Smart Environment and Smart Communities. Within each are tangible goals that will ensure there are fair charges and fair returns, a commitment to ensuring supply meets demand, and the assurance that safe, clean water will be provided amidst a flourishing environment. Each element of Anglian Water’s plan is practical and will shape the future of the business and how it responds to the evolving needs of its customers.
One core theme that emerged is ‘value’. More than 80 per cent of customers stated that they’re willing to pay higher bills if each outcome delivers real valuable results. In addition, most customers would opt for a natural capital approach to improving environmental outcomes, rather than opting for more traditional routes.
The resulting outcome framework provided an overall context for the investment programme, but crucially this was the level at which partners relationships were formed and against which alliance and partner and alliance contribution was measured. This has enabled more aligned relationships and ensured that partner capability has been leveraged more effectively. The track record of the alliance has gone on to demonstrate the significant contribution partners can make in delivering better outcomes. 
Anglian Water has adopted a unique approach to its business strategy; with people, sustainability, and smart ways of working at the heart of the business, there is a clear route to successful longevity.
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