The most important element of a successful project is that it delivers its intended outcomes. While minimising cost and delivery time are essential goals, no project that fails to deliver what is planned can ever be considered a success.
Unfortunately, realising outcomes in the form of benefits is often a low priority for project teams, as benefits are typically realised late in a project’s life cycle. The review process, providing independent assessments at key stages, is well-positioned to help project teams develop their approach to benefits management from start to finish.
Why Do We Need Reviews?
– Independent and Focused Assurance: Reviews provide independent and focused assurance for projects and programs. This process is proven to lead to more effective delivery of projects with more predictable performance against time, cost, and quality.
– Continuous Learning: It is vital that we constantly challenge ourselves to learn from experience when things go right and, perhaps even more importantly, when things go wrong.
Review Benefits
– Objective Assessment: An independent, objective view of a project’s strengths and areas for improvement.
– Clear Recommendations: Clear recommendations for future improvement.
– Process Evaluation: An opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of processes and systems.
– Early Problem Identification: Identifying problems not currently recognised by the project or program to allow early mitigation.
– Health Check: Ascertaining the overall health of a project or program and its confidence in successfully delivering the benefits.
When Things Go Wrong
When projects encounter issues, a review is crucial to diagnose problems, reassess strategies, and realign objectives. It serves as a structured approach to uncover the root causes of failures, identify risks, and provide actionable recommendations to steer the project back on track.
The Review Approach
Asking different people will give you different answers, but at the heart of it, we should:
– Look, Listen, and Observe: Achieve real-time understanding of progress and issues by integrating with stakeholders and undertaking direct fieldwork.
– Analyse: Identify areas of strategic importance to test and challenge.
– Test, Challenge, and Provide Independent Scrutiny: Triangulate findings and draw together evidence from a range of sources. Question inconsistencies and anomalies; acting as a ‘critical friend’ is imperative.
– Integrate, Interpret, and Report: Synthesise feedback from the analysis, test, and challenge activities; evaluate risks; and report openly.
– Communicate: Deliver difficult messages based on evidence while operating in a ‘no surprises’ environment. Communicate clearly so sponsors understand the implications of risks or issues materialising and the necessary decisions required.
Nichols’ Commitment
Nichols has been a trusted friend and partner to our clients doing just this.
We deploy a high-calibre team of experts with extensive experience across a range of industries, providing valuable insights to enable immediate and lasting benefits. Drawing on our experience working across all sectors, we share best practices and learn from comparable programs.
Our tailored approach, clear and open communication style, and focused recommendations have supported our clients in enabling the successful delivery of major programs for half a century.
Visit Reviews | Nichols
Temporary spaces in London aren’t being used effectively.
We can revitalise London’s high streets using data.
Nichols explored this at London Data Week earlier this week.
On the 2 July, we had the privilege of participating in London Data Week’s Data Partnerships event hosted by BusinessLDN. We pondered the following questions:
What does smartness in a smart city look like in London today?
How is data already being used to solve problems and drive inclusive growth?
Joanne Haskins, Innovation Expert at Nichols, took to the stage to discuss how we could use data to improve the temporary uses of vacant spaces on London’s lost high streets.
The discussion revolved around leveraging data to reimagine these spaces for short-term solutions, maximising their potential until permanent transformations can be realised. It was inspiring to see how data-driven insights can pave the way for meaningful urban revitalisation. This is something Nichols understands well from our role in the Towns Fund Programme in 2022.
At Nichols, we are passionate about harnessing data to create actionable solutions that benefit our communities and urban environments. We believe in the power of collaboration and innovation to drive positive change.
Other talks were given by Dr Yijing Li, Senior Lecturer in Urban Informatics at King’s College London on improving air quality with data and Richard Ford, Partner, Planning Environment, Digital Delivery, Energy & Infrastructure, Pinsent Masons who discussed how can data trusts support food supply chain management.
A huge thank you to London Data Week for hosting such a dynamic event, and to everyone who joined us in exploring the future of London. Let’s continue to innovate and build a brighter, more sustainable future together.
Listen to our Organisational Development Director, Ronnie Nganwa, discuss the importance of being different and psychological safety.
Nichols’ Rebecca Collings and Simon Young have had an article published in the May issue of Rail Professional. They detail how the alignment of rail and regeneration programmes lead to successful outcomes.
To read the article, click here and refer to page 77.
Last week, Nichols’ Digital Futures Director, Bernard Fanning, joined a high-profile panel at King’s College London with BusinessLDN to discuss the potential of London becoming a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and implementation.
It was a very insightful discussion led by industry experts and thought leaders, including:
Theo Blackwell MBE (Chief Digital Officer for London, Greater London Authority)
Tariq Khan (Chief Digital and Information Officer, London Borough of Camden)
Professor Sana Khareghani (Professor of Practice, King’s College London)
Stelios Zarras (Senior Data and AI Lead, Microsoft)
Mark Hilton (Membership Director, BusinessLDN)
They delve into a range of topics, from the current state of AI technology and its application in various industries to future collaboration opportunities between businesses, academia, and government.
Bernard raised some thought-provoking, morally-focused points, prompting the question, “what kind of role models do we want to be for AI?”
Nichols is delighted to have been appointed to Thames Water’s Programme Partner Framework to support the organisation in its ambitious plans to safeguard water security for future generations.
The UK water industry is adapting to emerging pressures of climate change, population growth and the need to manage water resources sustainably for future generations. These formidable challenges necessitate a once in generation programme of investment within the sector.
For the Programme Partner framework, Nichols has partnered with Turner & Townsend and Laing O’Rourke to combine our global knowledge in delivering major complex infrastructure programmes, each will bring specific expertise to support Thames Water to realise the programme outcomes.
Nichols has extensive experience of mobilising strategic, specialised and flexible programme partner teams. We deliver exceptional expertise working alongside the client as an extension of their team, we provide a rapid and assured way of substantially increasing their programme management capability and providing a ready source of experienced professionals.
Nichols is committed to supporting the delivery of a sustainable and viable future. We are excited about the opportunity to continue our work with Thames Water to help them to achieve major change for the better.
At Nichols we know that equity, diversity and inclusion are crucial to the success of high performing projects, programmes, businesses and societies.
That is why we created Loving Variety –
Valuing All Regardless of Identity, Experience, Title or Years.
Loving Variety is about authentically embracing difference; being positively
curious and creating environments where people can flourish and deliver their best results. It is also about proudly challenging and standing against all forms of discrimination.
Our Loving Variety mission is to ensure that the diversity of our world is reflected in business and integrated within everything we do. This is core to our Nichols vision ‘creativity to inspire and change the world’.
Our commercial strategy approach helps our clients understand the commercial options available to deliver their specific objectives together with the risks and associated opportunities. We provide advice on the appropriate organisation to have in place to allow our clients to manage their project or programme to a successful commercial conclusion. In complex projects and programmes, disputes can arise despite the best efforts of all parties, and, where this occurs, we can assist as advocates of the client’s case, Expert Witnesses or as informal arbitrators. To learn more about our Commercial Strategy offering, please contact info@nichols.uk.com
To celebrate National Storytelling Week, we thought we would briefly share the story of Nichols.
Mike Nichols founded Nichols in 1975 in order ‘to give himself the perfect job’. Alongside his daughters, Frances and Kathryn Nichols, Mike grew Nichols, the family business and business family, to become the unique company it is today. Sadly, Mike passed away on 3 December 2013.
Mike was an entrepreneur and an exceptional leader, who had humility, kindness and positivity, and set an example to us all. His philosophy was to be absolutely determined from the outset to achieve wholly successful projects every time. Mike’s spirit lives on through the family business and the business family.
Frances and Kathryn have built on the foundations and legacy of Nichols to develop a unique approach to supporting the delivery of world class projects. They bring together teams of experts, with diversity of thought and expertise, in service of helping their clients to succeed.
Through the establishment of the Nichols Award, Frances and Kathryn have brought to life their vision of “creativity to inspire and change the world”; creating an opportunity to identify, showcase and support people and projects focussed on making a real and enduring difference. More information regarding this year’s award will be announced soon.
We support clients in reviewing and improving their operating models across all layers; organisation, process, technology and governance. To find out more about what Nichols can do for you, contact us at info@nichols.uk.com.
