2024-10-04 09:44:04
Today we invite you to continue our research on the use of project management in the public sector in Switzerland.
After taking the example of the Culture and Digital Transition Department (DCTN) of the City of Geneva, what if we were to look at the federal side, in Bern?
Today we invite you to meet Eric Fragnière, Head of Project Methodology & Portfolio Manager at the Federal Office of Transport (FOT).
Why did we meet him? Because the expression “on time like a train” takes on its full meaning here; another public service that works quite well!
Following our email, our contact person wasted no time in contacting us to first provide us with the following distinction:
- infrastructure projectscivil engineering, in other words the most visible, are not considered as “OFT Projects” since they are carried out by external entities in which the OFT, through its Infrastructure Division, essentially has a role financing and monitoring;
- internal projects at the OFT, conversely, are projects which respond to a political mandate or which aim for organizational added value (change, value creation, improvement of a process, etc.).
These are the latter that Eric Fragnière supervises and which interest us as part of our research on the link between project management and public service efficiency.
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As a reminder: the American organization PMI (Project Management Institute) defines a project as “a temporary enterprise initiated with the aim of providing a unique product, service or result”. This definition implies that a certain number of parameters (cost, resources, planning, quality, risks, etc.) be supervised and carefully monitored to prevent any slippage, with a view to a specific purpose: the product, service or result generated by the project . |
The profile & skills of Eric Fragnière
Eric Fragnière considers himself to have an “atypical profile” since he first turned to the humanities (anthropology and geography) before joining the OFT. For around twenty years, he has held the position of “staff and management support”, of which the methodological support of projects and the management of the project portfolio are only one of the activities among others.
Ten years ago he was tasked with implementing managing a portfolio of projects at the OFT.
State of play of project management within the OFT
Project management is attached to the Risk Management and Management Support Function, within the Policy Division.
Despite this functional connection, projects can be applied transversally and concern all units of the Office, in particular:
- management,
- the five Divisions,
- the different Sections.
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Types of operations managed “in project mode” and their administration
As we recalled in the introduction, in this article we are interested in “internal” projects at the OFT.
There are four main project categories:
- Legislative : preparation or modification of legal bases concerning for example the tariff system, the law on transport of goods, the revision of the navigation ordinance, etc.
- Product : implementation of services, development of a concept, implementation of an action plan or measures,
- Technological/IT : creation of an application for incident risk management, development of software for managing regional passenger traffic control and monitoring subsidies, etc.
- Organizational : partial reorganizations, process optimization work, implementation of Microsoft 365, etc.
Eric Fragnière’s team does not directly manage the projects but ensures their coordination : it ensures the application of methodological standards (costs, risks, duration), manages the project portfolio and monitors it with reporting twice a year to Management.
The projects are managed by managers, drawn internally for their knowledge, skills and availability.. Neither the Project Management Office (PMO, i.e. Eric Fragnière’s team), nor the Management is involved in the operational aspects of the projects. Management is obviously informed about the status of the various projects and possible problems, but it is up to the clients and project managers to find solutions themselves.
In the case of unavailability of internal resources, an external project manager can exceptionally be hired for a mission of limited duration, but this remains very rare.
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Human resources and project work within the OFT
Today, Eric Fragnière estimates approximately a quarter of the OFT’s activities administered in project mode, even if no budgetary breakdown allows this to be formally confirmed.
As for the City of Geneva, interest in working in “project mode” rather than “process mode” (management of current activities) did not happen overnight. It is rather by pragmatism that those in charge saw an interest in moving on to the project, considering that it could make the work easier.
For example, as part of the preliminary work for the introduction of a new law, the project organization makes it possible to delimit a perimeter, a beginning, an end, to specify milestones, to dedicate resources with roles and specific responsibilities, etc.
In terms of certification, none is required to integrate a project into the OFT, because again, it is the experience which takes precedence.
Projects and efficiency of the federal public service
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The benefit of “project mode” for the Federal Office of Transport
The big advantage of operating in project mode is the standardization of methods, tools and vocabulary, which allows for greater efficiency and transparency. And finally, it’s good use of public funds which it is: the work is considered more effective, more efficient since it generates less waste (of time, energy).
It should be noted, however, that there is a great disparity at the level of the different federal offices. We told you in our previous article that we would verify the assumption that HERMES was uniformly adopted by the public bodies of the Confederation. However, we learn from Eric Fragnière that this remains a bit theoretical: in practice, if some offices are very project oriented, this is not the case for all. Likewise, not all projects are necessarily managed using the HERMES method.
According to our interlocutor, the key lies in the adaptation of HERMES tools to the culture, methodologies and work habits of each organization. A strict application could sometimes prove counterproductive, because the Swiss methodology is very focused on technological/IT projects. Conversely, the scope of activity of the OFT is focused on regulation, planning, supervision and financing; the professional profile of employees is therefore mainly composed of engineers and lawyers.
A lot of work was done by Eric Fragnière to adapt HERMES to this context: writing instructions for use, document models, defining roles that best fit the organization’s terminology, setting up workshops, training, formation of a community of project managers…
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We hear a lot about the “Swiss made” project management methodology. HERMES : what if we took a little more interest in it? During our next interviewwe will try to better understand its contours. |
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The current challenges of the OFT PMO
The role of the PMO is to consolidate the use of project management. This involves continuing efforts to:
- standardize the method, tools and terminologies in the particular context of the OFT;
- decentralize the launch of new projects, in order to support the initiatives of both operational staff (from below) and political mandates (from above);
- improve the management process quality (quality management) in a movement of continuous improvement.
The place of project management in the economy of tomorrow?
Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez speaks of the transition “from a production economy to a project economy”; Is this analysis valid for the federal public sector?
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According to this project management specialist, organizations are led to favor project mode, including for the management of current affairs, because this allows for better adaptability and flexibility. |
For the Federal Office of Transport and for federal offices in the broad sense, this analysis seems to be unlikely. In fact, they evolve in a restrictive legislative and political contextwith imposed standards and established processes that leave little room for agility and full autonomy.
For example, we see that the number of projects at the OFT changes relatively little; over the last 10 years, internal projects remain around thirty per year.
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Join us next week to talk more specifically about the project management method “ made in Switzerland » : HERMES !
Article by the same author on “Project management in the public sector”:
Project management in the public sector: Introduction
The case of the Transversal Projects Unit at the DCTN Directorate of the City of Geneva
Photo credit: Eric Fragnière
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#case #DETEC #Federal #Office #Transport #FOT