Strategic Programme Management: Key to “Giga” Programme Delivery  

Across many markets, we are seeing dramatic growth in the scale and complexity of capital construction programmes. Like all programmes, these consist of a series of discrete but closely coupled projects that, when taken in their entirety, enable an owner to meet a set of well-defined strategic objectives.  And just as we saw a set of nonlinear scaling effects come into play as we scaled up from programmes with total installed cost in the 100’s of millions to the low single-digit billion range (so-called mega programmes), so too are we seeing a new set of nonlinear scaling effects come into play as we scale up to programmes in the tens of billions. I have referred to this new scale of programmes as “Giga” programmes to highlight the differences from current-day mega programmes.  

“Giga” programmes bring new challenges in many regards, but like mega programmes, the two principal vectors are those with respect to the management of a step change in scale and a more exponential change in complexity as the number of interfaces and opportunities for impact grows in a decidedly nonlinear way. However, “Giga” programmes also bring new opportunities, with the principal ones being associated with the dramatically increased leverage these programmes afford an owner.  

Strategic Programme Management is about understanding the differences between “Giga” and “Mega” programmes and, more importantly, critically understanding the core elements of successful programme delivery, how they may change and how they must relate to each other in the delivery of “Giga” programmes. Most importantly, “Giga” programmes require the owner and his programme manager to re-examine their roles and together make the changes in focus, people, processes and systems require...