How to navigate cross-agency projects

by Nicki Carruth | Sep 14, 2021 | Project Assurance

The coordination and management of a project within the public sector has a number of complexities that require project management to be keenly dialled into the scope, resources, budgets and risks in order to deliver this properly. Imagine then, the added complexity when a government initiative takes in multiple ministries or state entities.

This collaboration is happening every day in government, in order to deliver better public services for New Zealand. Agencies like the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) are commonly leading or facilitating partnerships with other state-owned entities, with Treasury offering a framework through which funding for collaborative efforts can be established.

In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the common cross-agency challenges we, as independent quality assurance experts, observe and help clients navigate through every day.

Establish good governance before the project commences

This is a wise rule for any project or programme, but it becomes all the more essential when multiple government departments are involved. Governance put simply, is the structure around a project outside of the delivery itself – this includes reporting practices, escalation points, approval processes, risk identification and outlining of roles and responsibilities. When a programme spans multiple agencies, governance must be kept tight to ensure that each agency fully understands the part they play in the project. The process for approval for work conducted by multiple departments needs to be clearly outlined, with a practical solution to resolving any disputes in place. In many cases a programme of work will be led by one agency, with others providing supporting roles. This can sometimes make governance less complex, with the lead agency ultimately accountable for the delivery of the project.

Risks to projects are greatly increased when adding more agencies to the mix – consider instances where different components of a project are delivered by distinct teams (sometimes working in different locations). Without a good governance function, information and issues can be lost, growing and potentially impacting the success of the project.

Take time with crafting the scope

Project scope. It’s a phrase that makes even the most seasoned steering committee take a deep breath. The scope of a project is the tough job of outlining a plan that both ensures business outcomes are generated, and protects that project from future potential roadblocks – many times coming in the form of a new stakeholder’s desire for direction change or feature addition (in the case of an IT-based project).

The scope of the project should not only set the parameters of each deliverable but make sure that each agency’s role in these is clearly set. Managing scope creeps within a team can be reasonably quick to resolve. With a stakeholder or business unit outside of the team, this becomes a bit more of a challenge. Managing scope creep from another agency is a recipe for conflict and stress without a very well communicated and articulated project scope and agreed approach for considering scope changes when they inevitably arise.

Keep high communication from the beginning

Speaking of communication, our experience has shown us one thing – agencies that communicate with each other well run into fewer issues than those who operate largely in silos. Communication cannot simply manifest at the senior leadership or project leadership level. Delivery teams must be in contact with each other frequently throughout the project. Depending on the project, you may have the opportunity for regular weekly standups with representatives from each agency. In other cases, it’s more appropriate for fortnightly or monthly meetings. Regardless of the cadence agencies meet, it’s crucial that in-person interactions are happening. Far too often we see the breakdown of a project phase due to a reliance on email correspondence. Failing in-person meetings, we suggest video chat or phone calls between delivery teams. Project managers should be in contact with each other and foster a culture of communication within their teams.

Building relationships between agencies aren’t just helpful to delivering better work, it’s a valuable foundation on which to resolve disagreements. While the objective is always to collaborate, we cannot ignore the fact that each department has its own culture and remit – leading to moments where negotiation and compromise may be needed. Good communication starts from the top; if senior leadership involved with cross-agency projects are not connected with each other and aligned, there is a greater chance of project failure at the operational level.

Call issues early

Getting in front of an issue on any project is key to ensuring it doesn’t spiral out of control and derail the entire process. When an issue such as insufficient scope, a new risk, or resourcing surfaces in an inter-agency project, those accountable need to work through ways to address this quickly. Common issues experienced by projects and programmes that include more than one state-owned entity include:

Continual disagreement over who has the final approval.
Certain teams falling behind on agreed delivery dates.
Budget issues.
The loss of key staff involved with the project.
A lack of transparency over the status of the project.
What other agencies are doing in their sprint.

As these issues arise, it’s essential for these to be raised and, depending on who raises them, escalated to the appropriate level as determined in the project management and governance documentation.

Ensure contractors and vendors understand which agency is responsible for what

To acquire the services of specialist expertise or simply deliver on parts of a project’s outcomes, cross-agency initiatives will commonly include contractors and vendors to carry out the work. A vendor may provide part or all of the technical solution, such as the implementation of a new financial management system. A contractor will be engaged to work on a specific part of the project, or perhaps be involved all the way through.

Contractors and vendors all come with costs. Any lack of clarity as to which agency is conducting what parts of a project will create confusion and wasted budget. Remember that a new contractor will not have a grasp on any subtleties of the working relationship between agencies without clear onboarding and support. Neglecting to provide this to a contractor early on can result in wasted work, or even uncomfortable situations such as not consulting the right stakeholders during important decisions.

Reporting practices

The function of reporting is critical to any programme or project’s success. Each government agency involved in a project will need to adhere to the reporting protocols set out in the project management plan, as well as ensuring compliance with reporting requirements at the ministerial or departmental level. Documentation of a project’s progress, analysis, technical and financial information must all be captured.

Have a consistent, active layer of independent quality assurance

Even with the best possible delivery team, and a seemingly well-aligned group of cooperative government agencies, these types of projects are fraught with risk and challenges. It’s for this reason that independent quality assurance is a well-worthwhile investment. Quality assurance provides an external review on each stage of a project, from its initial planning and scope through to the post-delivery retrospective and everything in between.

By having an external provider conduct the QA, all involved agencies can be confident that the findings and recommendations will be impartial and based upon helping the project succeed.

When we conduct reviews on programmes and projects, we’re not simply assessing the project delivery’s work to timelines – we take a broader look at the project in the context of the business’ longer-term objectives, the steering committee, senior leadership’s involvement and of course, the general governance in place to support the project.

Want help planning or reviewing your cross-agency initiative?

Does any of this sound familiar? speak to us about navigating the complexity involved with running a cross-agency project in the public sector. With the right planning and governance, these initiatives can be delivered on time, on budget and to specification.