The Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s (IPA) Project Routemap is the UK government’s methodology for setting up novel or complex projects for success, providing a collaborative way for stakeholders to work together to address gaps in project capability and ensuring best practice and learning about the most common causes of project failure.
KEY INFORMATION
Location: UK
Date started: 2020
Completion date: ongoing
Client type: infrastructure
Main capabilities: programme advisory, project management
Successful usage
Routemap comprises a handbook and eight modules. The handbook describes what Routemap is and how to use it, while the modules offer guidance on the most common challenges for projects and using good practice to address gaps in capability. It has been successfully applied by some of the UK’s most high-profile projects including HS2 and Crossrail, Geological Disposal Facility, Digital Railway and Heathrow Airport Expansion programmes.
Refreshing the system
Routemap was originally developed with support from us in 2014, and additional modules were added in 2016. While the principles remain sound, it needed an update if it were to remain a core tool in the IPA’s support offer.
We were engaged in 2020 to support the IPA in refreshing the Routemap to enable it to better support users with practical application of the methodology, to reflect recent best practice, and to incorporate wider infrastructure trends.
New themes
During the process, we identified six new themes:
- Benefits and outcomes focus
- Economic, environmental and social value
- Behaviour and culture
- People and skills
- Digital and technology
- Transitions
These themes reflect current and future challenges in project delivery and will help enable projects to be more resilient, financially sustainable and have multiple benefits for people and community.
The refreshed Routemap also helps projects align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals in delivering positive environmental and social impacts.
Nina Ciuffardi, Project Capability Lead, Infrastructure and Projects Authority:
Turner & Townsend is working in partnership with us and academia to refresh Project Routemap, providing insights, capability and the connection to industry best practice needed to effectively set-up major projects and programmes.
"In addition to providing a highly skilled team, I have really appreciated the collaborative relationship we have developed. This exercise could have otherwise been tough going."
Project Routemap Assessment
The hydrogen heating programme forms a key part of the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) 2018 commitment to develop a new long-term policy framework to enable decisions on a national transition to low carbon heating.
We undertook a Project Routemap Assessment in conjunction with the IPA, with a team including trained Routemap Assessors and Subject Matter Experts in project and programme set-up and delivery of complex transformation and infrastructure projects.
The team conducted 17 senior industry stakeholder interviews, undertook cluster analysis of interview outputs, planned and led three workshops and facilitated production of a final report with key recommendations. The team were then able to utilise its industry knowledge to share relevant best practice examples of elements of other major programmes it has worked on with the BEIS team, as well as presenting how these could be adapted and utilised.
