Concerns and risks affecting project performance within the Infrastructure and
Property sectors of Turner and Townsend
Financial
Poor cost management and contol
Late rises in project cost; overcharging for properties;
no inflation included in cost management; optimistic
cost estimations; inappropriate contracting; project
changes; inadequate cost reporting / capture processes.
Changing market conditions
Currency fluctuation, inflation, post-Brexit financial
situation; availability of contractors; cost increases
affecting project feasibility; lack of service demand;
cash flow issues; dips in housing prices.
Scope creep
Interfacing with other projects; inability to provide
project fit for purpose; new scope coming in and
scope gaps; defective work not meeting quality
standards entering scope, and incurring reputational
damage.
Unrealistic scope and cost expecattions on
behalf of client
Project becoming non-viable; extreme cost impacts
(over £5mill.); client contract termination; clients in
new envoronments; resistance to change.
Demonstrating value for money
Not being perceived as providing services that add
value for money to client; lack of trust in working with
client; integrity and reputation.
External influences
Late rises in project cost; overcharging for properties;
no inflation included in cost management; optimistic
cost estimations; inappropriate contracting; project
changes; inadequate cost reporting / capture processes
Customer / Client
Not meeting clients’ requirements
Requirements unclear, unrealistic, or cannot be funded;
issues with consultants’ invoice payments - clients not
seeing the work done, which may lead to loss of
consultants and suppliers.
Reputational losses
Turner and Townsend being blamed for client’s
project being delayed; Turner and Townsend being
tarnieshed in temrs of political credibility and fatality
within the industry; loss of reputation due to not
meeting project benefits.
Clients lacking commercial and health
and safety controls
The company being blamed for not providing
commercial controls, which affects strategy and
specific services provided to client; fatality of member
of staff; damage to client’s or 3rd party infrastructure.
Client satisfaction / retention / attraction
Clients’ expectations not aligned with reality; struggling
to agree on fees; struggling to agree on scope;
competition; demonstrating added value; quality of
service below expectation; being too pushy with client.
Inexperienced, difficult and
cost-driven clients
Foreign client unfamiliar with UK regulations; curren-
cy-related issues for foreign clients; continuous
value-engineering; failure in procurement of consultants,
low standards for products.
Clients unaware of full range of
services that the company provides
Lack of internal knowledge of full range of organisational
services; clients not approaching company; losing work.
Internal Processes
Ineffective risk management processes
Cost, scope and schedule implications for projects due to poor
risk management; having a poor risk management strategy
and processes in place.
Substandard stakeholder engagement and
communication
Lack of internal and external engagement; dissatisfied local
community; incorrect decisions made due to poor engagement;
delays in projects due to poor engagement.
Poor reporting and control processes
Inefffective internal and external communication of current
proceedings; lack of reporting detail; poor grammar and
punctuation in reporting - bad impression on the client.
Staff unaware of difference between
data and information
Production of inadequate reports affecting the work of the
company and the clients; data and reports produced leading to
unsafe decisions (commercial or health and safety related).
Lack of consistent use of tools
Waste of money on “re-inventing the wheel”; reputational
damage as a result of producing inconsistent results;
production of substandard, low quality outputs.
Unclear business offerings from
Turner and Townsend
Inability to produce the service that the client needs; inability to
develop an effective business strategy for offering; inability to
complete promisses to parties due to lack of clarity in offers.
Health and safety
Issues with health and safety resource competency; issues
with contractual obligations; issues with briefing and
communication.
Learning and Growth
Lack of effective communication
and knowledge sharing
SIlo working - poor work relationships; teams located in
remote branches; lack of cultural exposure; lack of
knowledge sharing - “we don’t know what we know”;
people not developing skills and knowledge.
Insufficient processing of lessons
learned
Lack of capturing, saving and implementing data; “ loss
of opportunities; loss of experience and knowledge; lack
of project post-mortem;
Lack of team culture - project team
not working coherently
Miscommunication among staff; negative working
atmosphere; lack of learning and development of young
members; poor diversity and equality; silo working; lack
of innovation and wide thinking in problem solving.
Training and development
Staying current with new techniques; ensuring that the
right people get the right training; developing graduates
into the company’s culture; lack of funding for training;
lack of training plan in place; lack of competency in team;
inconsistent behaviour in approach to client.
Team motivation and dynamics
Lack of adequate leadership for boosting team morale
and motivation; lack of work recognition; lack of
opportunities and new commissions; inadequate
renumeration and benefits; time waste; poor results.
Overexposure of young team members
Negative development of team members due to a lack of
confidence; exposing inexperienced team members to
unnecessary pressure; “missing cogs in the machine” -
negative effects on the output of projects.