A case Study of King County Solid Waste Division King County is located in Washington State, covers 2,134 square miles, and is nearly twice as large as the average county in the United States. With more than 1.9 million people, it also ranks as the 14th most populous county in the nation. King County provides a multitude of regional services, including legal services, public health services, records and elections, property tax appraisals, regional parks and facilities, the King County International Airport, public transit, sewage disposal, and solid waste management. The total budget for 2012 is approximately US$5.3 billion. King County has several IAs, which are divided into several departments and divisions. SWD is one of the four divisions that are organizationally placed under the Department of Natural Resources & Parks (DNRP). This case study is primarily focused on the experience of project management improvement for SWD and the lessons learned. Organizational and Business Description of the King County Solid Waste Division SWD provides refuse transfer, disposal, and recycling services for residents and businesses in all of King County, except for the cities of Seattle and Milton. Its overall goal is to conserve natural and reusable resources through readily available services with a continued emphasis on public awareness. The Division's service area has a population of approximately 1.28 million that dispose of more than 800,000 tons of solid waste each year. SWD's customers include commercial haulers, as well as both residential and non-residential self-haulers who use county transfer station facilities. SWD operates eight transfer stations and two drop boxes in King County. These facilities accept municipal solid waste from residents and businesses. SWD also operates the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill (CHRLF), which receives waste collected at the transfer stations and from the direct haulers. In addition, SWD manages eight closed landfills by performing environmental monitoring and reporting necessary to comply with local, state, and federal regulations. In order to operate and maintain the aforementioned facilities, SWD must undertake various projects and programs. Transfer station and CHRLF facilities are constructed by initiating, planning, implementing, and closing CIP projects. These CIP projects are monitored and controlled through a project control program within the SWD. Operation engineering projects are typically small to medium and are managed under the Capital Asset Maintenance Program. Environmental monitoring, system improvements, and reporting activities for the closed landfills are ongoing, and therefore they are considered maintenance and not managed as CIP projects. Project Management Micro-cultures within King County As indicated above, King County has several departments and divisions that are responsible for managing a variety of projects, including public health services, regional parks and facilities, airport, public transit, sewage disposal, and solid waste management. Project parameters such as size, technical complexity, stakeholder's requirements, and risks vary widely. Each division and department has their own project management processes and procedures and follows a varying degree of monitoring and controlling effort. Organizational structures vary from division to division and even within the same department, ranging from functional to strong matrix. As an example, the WTD and the SWD are both within DNRP, but the WTD CIP group is organized as a strong matrix, whereas the SWD CIP group is organized as a weak matrix. Projects are managed by employees with varying degrees of project management knowledge, certifications, skill levels, and job classifications. Each division uses different types of project management software, databases, and reporting systems. Due to the diverse organizational structures, organizational process assets, and enterprise environmental factors within King County, departments and divisions, each agency has its own project management micro-culture. Even within the SWD, there are no uniform standards to managing all projects and programs. Drivers for Formalizing Project Management Processes In 2009, the Washington State Auditor's Office issued an Accountability Audit (SAO Audit) Report for King County focused on construction management, capital project reporting, and information management. In 2010, in response to a SAO Audit, the King County Executive issued Executive Order CIP 8-1 to direct the development of consistent, comprehensive standards for capital project budgeting, reporting, management, and performance measurement (King County Executive, 2010). Executive Order CIP 8-1 formed and empowered CPMWG to develop a standardized table of contents and standard elements to be included in all project management manuals. Each County Implementing Agency is responsible for the development of a project management manual that meets the CPMWG standards and addresses the requirements of the unique and individual capital programs implemented across the County. In 2010, King County Council passed Ordinance 16764, which requires high-risk CIP projects to be subject to greater scrutiny to ensure accountability of government spending (King County Council, 2010). The legislation categorizes capital projects that are determined to be at greater risk of exceeding schedule or budget as high-risk. For example, high-risk projects may include those that have a total cost of over US$10 million and are determined to be high-risk by a joint Council-Executive advisory group. This provision for high-risk projects requires establishing a baseline prior to beginning detailed design and construction. These projects require performance reporting on scope, schedule, and budget by comparing actual expenditures against the baseline. These performance reports are required to communicate project status with all branches of government and taxpayers. Funding for these projects is approved by the King County Council and the Executive in three project phases, including (1) preliminary design, (2) design, and (3) construction. In the past, CIP projects have received an initial appropriation that covered the entire project. As a result of this ordinance, all high-risk projects must follow formal project management processes that are necessary for setting the baseline and reporting performance on scope, schedule, budget, and risks. Project Management Process Improvement Efforts Undertaken by the Solid Waste Division In order to comply with the aforementioned Executive Order and the ordinances, SWD initiated a phased approach toward the improvement of project management processes. The phase-I of the project management improvement included a formation of a task force, a project management needs assessment, training, development of project management manual, review of the current organizational structure, and the implementation of a project information management and reporting database. Phase-I implementation was completed in July 2012, and the following sections provide a brief description and outcomes. In 2011, a consultant was hired to conduct the project management needs assessment by reviewing and analyzing the current policies, processes, protocols, tools, and templates used for SWD projects and programs. The consultant reviewed existing documents and interviewed project teams, project managers, functional managers, and upper management to understand the project management culture, level of application of project management processes, competency and knowledge, and the business processes of the SWD. Based on the results of the project management needs assessment, it was evident that the current practices can be improved by focusing on several project management knowledge areas such as risk management, quality management, and human resources management. The King County SWD 2011 Project Management Needs Assessment Report (Needs Assessment Report) provided a quantitative ranking of the current maturity level and recommended a targeted level for the SWD based on the organization's business needs. The Needs Assessment Report recommended the following measures for the SWD to achieve the recommended project management maturity target (Sauerburn, 2011): The project management manual developed during phase-I meets the CPMWG requirements however, it will require further customization, adaptation, and development to ensure scalability and user acceptance. Early in 2012, SWD started the implementation of a Project Information Management System Database (PRISM) to manage project information, develop budget, and process change control functions. Several training sessions were provided to the user groups to facilitate the implementation of PRISM. User feedback and suggestions are currently being gathered to improve the functionality of PRISM. In order to unify PRISM with the project management processes, the project management manual will integrate PRISM workflow and guidelines. In 2012, the Engineering Services Section (ESS) of SWD conducted an organizational assessment to examine the efficiency of project delivery by analyzing staffing levels, work load, project management processes, and other organizational processes. The outcome of the assessment included recommendations to augment staffing levels with the appropriate skills, job classifications, and a project based organizational structure to effectively meet the strategic objectives of the ESS. Based on the nature of projects and programs performed by the ESS, the organizational assessment report recommended the following measures to improve project delivery processes (Mallory, 2012). Later in 2012, SWD plans to undertake phase-II of the project management process improvement and will update the project management manual, revisit organizational study recommendations, and apply the Lean process to streamline project procurement. During phase-II of the project management manual development, user feedback from the SWD employees will be gathered, analyzed, and incorporated in the updated manual. Lessons Learned In 2006, WTD among all the IAs within King County proactively initiated an effort to improve their project management processes by providing training to their staff and updating their project management manual. As part of the initiative, WTD hired a consultant to conduct a project management needs assessment. In collaboration with the consultant, WTD management developed a detailed plan to improve their project management maturity level. In 2010, other divisions within DNRP such as SWD began to coordinate with WTD to gather information on their experience with the project management process improvement. The vision of the WTD leadership team was instrumental for SWD to initiate the project management process improvement. Executive champions play an important role in an organization to improve project management processes by accelerating its acceptance at the executive levels (Kerzner, 2009, p. 393). Since the WTD management played the role of champion to improve project management, it was helpful for SWD management when they initiated a similar effort. Providing formal project management training to SWD project teams and functional managers was very helpful because they were able to understand the fundamentals of the project management processes. The participants were able to recognize the importance of a systematic project management process within SWD. King County executive orders and ordinances were very helpful in obtaining senior management support with the planning and implementation of the project management process improvements. As a result of the Executive support, the formation of CPMWG was a priority, and the group was staffed properly. Organizational policies required immediate implementation of several new project management processes, such as EVM reporting. Unfortunately, there were no detailed guidelines provided with the policies. In order to facilitate the implementation of new policies, detailed guidelines, training, and necessary resources would be beneficial. The project management needs assessment was an important step to identifying the current level of maturity and to set a benchmark for improvement. The Needs Assessment Report provided an approach to improving project management processes, and the following recommendations are being currently reviewed for systematic implementation: Standardize project classification to size (i.e., small to large dollar value), type (e.g., Engineering, Construction, Operations and Maintenance), and risk level (i.e., low to high risk) Identify classifications for project managers (e.g., Project Leader, Project Manager, Senior Project Manager) to support project management as a career path within SWD Establish project management policies and variance reporting thresholds Provide project management training and mentoring to SWD Project Managers Establish and maintain a Lessons Learned repository to ensure learning from completed project experiences Assist in identification, qualification, and prioritization of risk in a multi-project environment. Development, customization, and implementation of new project management processes require resources and time to gain proficiency. Unfortunately, SWD lacked the necessary resources due to budgetary constraints. In order to offset some of the resource constraints, a phased approach is being applied, where the development and implementation of project management processes are stretched over a longer period of time. Conclusions and Closing LGAs, such as King County, that are seeking to continuously improve project management are realizing the importance of integrating organizational processes to formulate a singular methodology for project management. The King County SWD intends to continue toward excellence in project management by developing a singular methodology, which will include enhanced risk management, quality management, human resource management, and change management processes and other quantitative and qualitative benefits through a continuous improvement process. In order to improve project management processes, LGAs should develop a curriculum rather than just a project management course. A comprehensive process improvement plan should include a policy reaffirming executive commitments, dedicated resources, and a strategic approach to meeting the organizational goals. Organizations should perform both quantitative and qualitative benchmarking by analyzing processes and methodologies, whereas qualitative benchmarking integrates project management applications (Sauerburn, 2011).

QUESTION 3 (25 Marks) A great project manager, must be a strategic business partner fully vested in organisational success and be able to roll with inevitable setbacks. Assess the demands of a project manager by referring to the case study.