Infrastructure, Federal Funding, and Project Management Oversight: Maximizing Results, Minimizing Risks

New Federal legislation presents owners and agencies with a generational opportunity to maintain and improve America’s critical infrastructure. Key to maximizing the benefit of this new funding will be making certain detailed, well-planned, and well-executed programs and projects receive the support they require to succeed, and then driving success throughout each project. Project management oversight offers a set of principles and process to guide and improve the delivery of infrastructure funded by this new legislation.

A Safeguard for Compliance, An Advantage for Progress

roject Management Oversight (PMO) helps owners/grantees make certain their projects meet the needs of their agency or organization by establishing standards and processes to monitor grantees for compliance and progress and to capture best practices and lessons learned. PMO reinforces the efforts of the Project Manager by building an environment of support and accountability, with clear guardrails for
all stakeholders and data-backed, risk-based decision-making processes. PMO can also serve as a bridge between the PM team and organizational management, integrating best practices agency-wide and translating PM input into actionable intelligence for organizational leadership.

PMO serves as a safeguard against projects exceeding budget and schedule and can also enhance project delivery by identifying areas for improvement early in the project lifecycle. These areas include management expertise or capacity within the organization, tools and methodologies to improve delivery, and the formal capture and implementation of lessons learned. For agencies seeking to maximize the return on investment of Federally allocated funds, PMO can serve as an invaluable tool for tracking progress, ensuring compliance, and realizing project and program goals.

At the organizational/agency level, PMO entails:

• Verifying the best, most beneficial projects are selected for implementation.
• Supporting organizational portfolio decision making.
• Supporting continuous project management improvement through the capture and dissemination of lessons learned.
• Assessing and elevating the organization’s project management capabilities and capacities.
• Reviewing and reporting on project progress.

At the project level, which may involve direct oversight support of work in the field, PMO involves:

• Reviewing and confirming project objectives.
• Identifying and resolving project challenges.
• Reviewing project management reports for completeness and accuracy.
• Auditing project lessons learned.

The Hill PMO Advantage

Hill International, Inc., a global program, project, and construction management firm, offers Federal and state agencies the management processes, procedures, and tools to drive success on their projects through our groundbreaking and industry leading PMO support. The PMO service was first conceptualized by Hill’s founder, Irvin Richter, in 1985, and Hill continues to specialize in providing PMO services today.

Through our PMO support, Hill can make certain funded projects meet the needs of each organization using standards, procedures, accountability, efficient allocation of resources, and processes that support continuous improvement.

Unlike other PMO providers, Hill is exclusively a construction management firm. We do not provide design or general contracting services, meaning our oversight and management consulting services are delivered with zero conflicts. Similarly, PMO services are a core offering at Hill. This exclusivity means agencies can enjoy increased confidence in our recommendations and advice and have the insights and expertise of true construction professionals to rely upon.

Hill’s PMO Approach: Controlling Funding, Realizing Opportunities, and Driving Agency Success

Our approach to driving success across through the PMO function will follow a detailed and rigorous process:

• Establish a Program Management Office: Staffed with construction industry experts in capital improvement programs and transformational projects, this Office will work side-by-side with the granting agency.
• Plan Capital Spending to Expedite Projects: Our PMO teams will evaluate each potential project for viability and adherence with all applicable regulations and requirements and organize projects by readiness. This will include:
  • Baselining all projects for scope, budget, schedule.
  • Packaging, advertising, and procuring projects to streamline and maximize spend, with an emphasis on state-of-good repair projects.
  • Assessing and building grantee capabilities and expertise.
  • Maximizing small business, diversity, disadvantaged business participation.
• Managing Projects: Capturing program and project data through a variety of business intelligence technologies and management systems, we will track progress on each project and, through our diligent monitoring, verify compliance with budget and schedule goals, regulations, reporting requirements, and other KPIs, including:
  • Jobs created.
  • Funds under construction/milestone progress.
  • Diversity goals.
  • Identifying, capturing, and disseminating best practices and lessons learned from individual funded projects to drive overall success.
• Reporting & Forecasting: We will provide high-level snapshots and dashboards to agency leadership and other key stakeholders to facilitate informed decision making and keep all appropriate parties
  informed and up to date.
• Developing and Maintaining Key Partnerships: Our PMO teams will interface with labor, trade, and community stakeholders to gather input on how to tailor funds to maximize job creation and inclusion.

PMO AREAS OF OVERSIGHT

✔ PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN DEVELOPMENT
✔ PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING
✔ RISK MANAGEMENT
✔ DESIGN MONITORING
✔ DESIGN REVENUE
✔ TECHNICAL CAPACITY AND CAPABILITY
✔ QA/QC MANAGEMENT
✔ CHANGE ORDER REVIEWS
✔ VALUE ENGINEERING
✔ SCHEDULE PROGRESS
✔ BUDGET ADHERENCE
✔ SAFETY MANAGEMENT
✔ INTER-AGENCY COORDINATION
✔ DBE/MBE/SBE PARTICIPATION
✔ COMPLIANCE WITH REGULATIONS
✔ PUBLIC OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATIONS
✔ STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT

PMO support, implemented by an experienced and capable construction team, drives project success at the agency, grantee, project, and community levels. Hill’s PMO teams can establish a formal PMO office to support the implementation of federally funded projects, then create the conditions for sustainable, verified progress. We will do this by leveraging Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission New York State Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery our construction and sector expertise, relying on our experts across the U.S. for their insights and understanding, and deploying customized tools and technologies that deliver real-time reporting and tracking. The result will be a transparent project funding process that drives success from the agency to each funded project.