Overcoming Delays in Large Infrastructure Construction Projects
Anantha Keerthi, Partner, Vector Consulting Group
In the fast-paced world of infrastructure construction, delays are a common yet costly issue. A staggering 41% of large infrastructure projects are delayed with an average time overrun of 36 months. About 449 Infra projects have been hit by cost overruns of Rs. 5.01 lakh crores.
The Blame Game and Collaboration Failures
Despite the diversity of projects, they share a common narrative of missed deadlines and frustrated stakeholders. The frequent refrain? “The delay is not in our control.” This pervasive blame game highlights a deeper issue. When every stakeholder points fingers elsewhere, it's a clear sign of failed collaboration.
Addressing these internal collaboration inefficiencies could free up valuable time to manage unavoidable uncertainties, significantly enhancing project outcomes.
Why is collaboration difficult in infrastructure projects?
Collaboration becomes increasingly complex as more parties get involved. Key factors contributing to this complexity are:
- Diverse Objectives: Multiple agencies, must work together harmoniously, each with its own objectives.
- Iterative Early Phases: The design and procurement phases require constant interaction across multidisciplinary functions.
- Shared Functions: Common functions like engineering and procurement operate across multiple projects simultaneously.
Current project management approaches, which emphasize stringent deadlines and milestone targets, fail to account for the inherent uncertainties in large infrastructure projects. These uncertainties are guaranteed, and as the number of involved agencies increases, the likelihood of delays by at least one party also rises. Effective collaboration, therefore, requires each agency to compensate for delays caused by others—something that seldom happens. For instance, if there is a delay in releasing drawings from engineering, the civil construction team needs to compensate, followed by structural erection, and so forth.
Driving commitments through rigid project schedules creates silos rather than synchronization, and when agencies operate with ‘conditional commitment’, collaboration collapses.
Criteria for a Robust Solution
To prevent project delays, we need solutions that acknowledge the significant uncertainties within this environment. Traditional project management approaches, which rely on finite capacity and time scheduling, are insufficient. Instead, we should manage large infrastructure projects like a production environment, focusing on the flow of work packets through constraining resources.
Switching from Project Management to Flow Management
Here are three flow rules to ensure seamless collaboration in construction projects:
Rule 1: Token Priority Mechanism
Large infrastructure projects comprise numerous small sub-projects, each with its construction sequence. Prioritize these sub-projects based on their relative path differences, from longest to shortest. Assign unique token numbers to each sub-project and work bundles within them.
All agencies and departments must adhere to this common token-based priority, drastically reducing elapsed time between iterations. For example, improved synchronization between engineering, procurement, and other functions ensures timely inputs to engineering and prevents delays in releasing civil and structural drawings to the site.
Rule 2: Thick Resourcing
Teams should allocate resources optimally based on established token priorities, avoiding under-resourced tasks. This shifts the focus from meeting contractual dates to managing the queue of pending tasks, promoting a cohesive workflow. In construction projects, manpower shortages are common. The thick resourcing rule ensures that the longest path is always protected with available resources.
Rule 3: Preparatory Kit
Following the token-based priority and thick resourcing rules exposes the waiting queue, providing an opportunity to eliminate another type of collaboration-led wastage: interruptions due to inadequate preparation. A dedicated team ensures that all necessary preparations—such as tools, machinery, materials, permissions, and staging—are in place for upcoming tasks as per their sequential priority. This eliminates the conflict between current execution and future task preparation.
Conclusion
The speed of infrastructure projects can be significantly improved by cutting collaboration-induced wastages. Effective collaboration across multiple agencies cannot be achieved through the deadline-driven culture of traditional project management. The key to rapid project speed lies in transitioning from project management to flow management. By implementing token-based prioritization, thick resourcing, and preparatory kits, infrastructure projects can achieve the seamless collaboration necessary for timely and successful completion.
