5 lessons learned

Nick Smallwood, CEO, Infrastructure and Projects Authority

What are the most important leadership lessons that the IPA’s boss and the recipient of APM’s 2022 Outstanding Achievement Award would pass on to project professionals?

1. Be clear on the expected outcomes and get the basics right from the very start of a project – known as ‘front end loading’. This is fundamental in delivering successfully because the success or failure of a project is often determined in the early stages. Spotting and managing risks early on can prevent issues further down the line.

2. Equip people with the tools and capability needed to deliver successful projects. Projects ultimately deliver the public services that allow the UK to thrive and people are at the very heart of this. We are incredibly active in this space and have placed a huge focus on learning and development. New guidance and training products continue to be developed by the IPA and can be accessed through the Project Delivery Hub for civil servants, as competent people deliver great projects.

3. It is crucial to share best practice and leave a learning legacy. This knowledge and insight can inform future projects and programmes to ensure the same mistakes are not made twice and successes are replicated. By utilising data and insight, we can have an even greater impact; a vision that needs to be mutual across government and industry.

4. The world is constantly changing and we have to adapt. This is especially true when it comes to meeting our commitment to net‑zero carbon emissions. Building more sustainable infrastructure is the future. Equally, we must embrace digital technologies and innovation across all of our projects. That is why we developed the Digitalisation in Infrastructure Projects guide to demonstrate the digital opportunities that are available.

5. Projects are critical to the UK’s progression as innovative world leaders – but we need to deliver them more efficiently. By transforming our approach, we can reduce overall costs at a time when it is most important for economic recovery and leverage key skills and technology where we don’t have enough people to deliver our projects.

THIS ARTICLE IS BROUGHT TO YOU FROM THE SPRING 2023 ISSUE OF PROJECT JOURNAL, WHICH IS FREE FOR APM MEMBERS.