Project Management requires the establishment of project objectives and the utilisation of systems, people, and other resources, to achieve the desired outcome. On private sector property developments in recent years these objectives were essentially to deliver projects to the desired quality, within budgets and programs, which facilitated commercial returns.
Many projects progressed without a designated Project Manager, but all projects do require Project Management.
On the significant number of now stalled property developments throughout the country the "project" must now be reassessed.The resultant objectives are likely to be significantly different than those originally anticipated. On many (perhaps the majority) of projects the project sponsor may now be the former financial facility provider, and the objective may be to achieve the maximum short, or long term, commercial return to generate profits (or to mitigate losses).
In many such cases, the resolution of the development may be a dramatically different "project" to that originally envisaged with options such as abandonment, completion and sales, or disposal of incomplete developments all being considered.
The role of project management in these circumstances is to assess/reassess the previous project progress and the requirements / impediments to completion. Following this assessment, and report, the viable options and associated constraints must be established in consultation with the existing and/or new project sponsors. New objectives must be clearly identified, and a realistic plan developed to achieve these within the constraints, particularly commercial constraints.
The Project Manager must take a holistic view on all project matters to facilitate a comprehensive assessment with regard to options and potentially successful outcomes. The Project Manager must be empowered by the project sponsor(s) to investigate all project records and physical works and to engage with allcontributors and stakeholders to the original development, relying on his/her own experience and specialist advice as required.
A vigorous assessment will produce realistic options on which the project sponsor(s) can make informed decisions on how best to proceed with the "revised project".
