Time for speed!

Sophy Aldridge-Neil, Programme Manager at Network Rail, shares her experience of making project teams bolder, less risk-averse and more innovative to produce some phenomenal results.

The Government wants the UK to have the most efficient, technologically advanced and sustainable construction sector in the world. In June 2020, it set up Project SPEED (Swift, Pragmatic and Efficient Enhancement Delivery) to review every part of the infrastructure project life cycle, and identify where improvements could be made. This reaches across all industries with pathfinder projects across health, housing and the transport sector.

Rail SPEED is the approach led by Network Rail and the Department for Transport to encourage bolder, less risk-averse behaviours, positive challenge and new ways of thinking about and undertaking projects to slash the time and cost of project delivery without compromising safety.

Thinking and acting a bit differently

Fundamentally, we are trying to shift our industry from a command and control culture towards a more innovative one-team approach. To date, we’ve identified more than £3bn and 633 months’ worth of potential savings by empowering people to work more flexibly, challenge more and be less risk-averse, which is phenomenal. We’re asking everyone to think differently – more boldly, less process-driven – and to kick-start this, we’ve created a supporting toolkit to apply key learnings and start those key conversations.

I first came across SPEED when I was asked to apply it as a pilot on my project at the time, Cambridge South Infrastructure Enhancements. I did so with great results, saving millions of pounds and several years off my project by thinking and acting a bit differently. I’m now trusted to develop and roll out the embedment plan for the Eastern region, working alongside senior leadership across the board.

I am naturally curious and creative, and not a massive fan of routine or convoluted process, so to me, it was quite fun to be given the opportunity to push the boundaries a little more. That doesn’t mean it was easy – ultimately, you are reliant on others also doing their bit, and our industry is historically risk-averse and cautious of change; people are time-poor and conditioned to follow process. However, it’s worth remembering that much of this has been driven by the genuine concern for safety and reducing risk of failure that has led to layers of process over time and costly mitigations.

Why now?

The railway industry is a spiderweb of different organisations, legislative and contractual commitments, customers and decision-makers. This makes change very difficult, often time-consuming, and there will always be trade-offs to consider. For example, a project could be vastly cheaper if it could have whatever access it liked (this needs permission first), but this would impact on what train services could run (which needs consultation) and ultimately disrupt the passenger. It’s a question of priorities.

The reason for any change needs to be justified and the end goal clear. Seeking efficiencies has always been important, but more transformative measures are required when there is so much pressure on the public purse. In May 2021, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps shared that, “the taxpayer has plugged a hole of £12bn during the coronavirus to keep our railway afloat”. That level of expenditure is no longer sustainable and it’s right that the rail industry shows it can adapt and continue to be a strong, justifiable investment for the future using Rail SPEED. We have the backing and we’re making it happen.

Key initiatives that made a difference

Network Rail is a devolved business and each area has tackled SPEED embedment differently, with local leaders and champions working out how best to message, innovate and drive things forward. They have been supported by central functions that coordinate organisation-wide initiatives across key themes.

Initiatives need to cover the full range of the life cycle to be effective. This means working with our clients to set prioritised outcome-based requirements and clear budgets upfront to our supply chain to innovate, and consider risks differently. In the Eastern region, interventions covered skill set, toolset and mindset – you need all three to be truly successful – and offered tangible changes:

1. SPEED week. A dedicated week of briefings, case studies, guidance and drop-in sessions helped kick‑start the change and build interest.
2. KPIs for unit rates. Clear targets and key performance indicators were useful to track progress and easy to assimilate into reporting.
3. One-team events. These drove collaboration across teams, encouraged challenge and innovation, and helped to build longer-lasting cultural change.
4. Organisational change. By removing duplication with the supply chain and adapting responsibilities to the best person for the job, we have secured long-term investment.
5. Maintaining momentum. We have kept innovating and recently developed Minimum Viable Product guidance and templates to help teams set out and manage cost drivers, and funders make decisions on trade-offs versus cost. This helps stop scope creep and unwarranted costs for ‘nice-to-have’ items without due consideration.

The biggest challenges so far

The hardest challenges are maintaining momentum; bringing people along with you at different stages of understanding and ability, particularly through organisational changes; and creating a long-lasting ingrained will to operate differently. The key to overcoming these is to find the balance between pushing and pulling; driving progress; and giving space and time to embed, which is much easier said than done.

Understandably, everyone is keen to see results quickly. I’ve learnt that it’s vital to not over-monitor people as this stifles progress and willpower, but that for many, reporting and integrating SPEED into objectives drives action. Change can be scary, and people are worried about being blamed for not succeeding more than trying hard and not quite making it. This only changes when people feel supported and safe to try from the top, so we are trying hard to walk the talk and hold each other to account.

So far, my lessons learned are:

• Not everyone will get it. Minds are harder to change than processes.
• Not everyone will do it. Reward those who do.
• Not everything will work. Don’t blame those who tried.
• Do. Adapt. Do. Keep going.

We still have a long way to go to embed SPEED thinking – we need help from the wider industry now and in the future. There is much opportunity to tap into, but it needs everyone to be brave and persistent enough to give it a go. Demonstrating SPEED behaviours is not just for our project teams, but for every one of our employees and our business partners. There is no wrong way to start, although asking ‘but why?’, and ‘what if?’ tends to work! I challenge everyone to be brave enough and motivated enough to try.

The Network Rail Eastern Region will be hosting an online SPEED event on 8 July 2022, which is open to anyone and will be shared via RIA and via Capital Delivery Eastern on LinkedIn (follow us to find out more)

What is MVP?

The minimum viable product (MVP) is the most pared-down proposition that can be delivered to meet the agreed outcomes specified by the client.

MVP is not:

• The minimum, cheapest option or product – it must be viable
• A process to replace requirements/ remits/made design decisions without formal change control

MVP does not:

• Cut scope without consideration of outcomes
• Ignore options that add benefits and/or social value

MVP does:

• Consider whole-life cost
• Set out options for funders
• Encourage the recognition of options and numerous trade-offs

THIS ARTICLE IS BROUGHT TO YOU FROM THE Summer 2022 ISSUE OF PROJECT JOURNAL, WHICH IS FREE FOR APM MEMBERS.