Project Overview
The London Crossrail Project is an example of a mega-project that faced many obstacles on its way to completion. The ambitious nature of the project made the development and negotiation process longer. Yet, all the disputes were settled in 2009 as the project was approved, and the first piling stages began at the future Canary Wharf station. The Crossrail Project is one of the biggest construction projects in London, yet it is not visible. Its purpose is to eliminate the rush hour pressure from the central stations and provide a better hybrid commute for people from the suburbs. Modern management and organizational strategies were applied as the project took more than a decade to complete and had several complications during these years.
Change Management
Change management is one of the strategies that could be effectively utilized in the London Crossrail Project. Implementing a change plan within the business might present great challenges. To ensure a smooth and easy transition of the needed changes within the company, the management should have a vast knowledge of the employees affected directly or indirectly by the changes and integrate an effective communication system to ensure that they understand the need for change (Buck, 2017). The best way to learn and understand the employees’ opinions is by involving them in the decision-making process. In such a regard, the managers involve the employees in the decision-making process to make them feel part of the change and own the process of change management.
Negotiation and consensus are keys to the effective implementation of the needed change. Through the method, the employees air their views as management offers incentives to the workers as opposed to the required changes. Manipulation and coercion push strategy could work within the organization. However, manipulation sometimes does not yield the needed results in the long term. The management needs to sit down with the employees to formulate the change plan. To achieve such an objective, the management should give out questionnaires to the employees to gain insight into the things they consider important.
Communication is important to ensure the success of change implementation within the organization. When considering organizational change, the business should get input from workers affected by the changes and ensure their satisfaction and understanding of the need for change. Change resistance does not depend on what the management does but rather on how the company explains the changes to the employees.
To ensure effective change within the organization, there is a need for open communication between the employees and top management. Communication might assist in identifying some of the weaknesses in the change process. Therefore, the appropriate communication system is key to ensuring an adequate understanding of the need for change, which in turn enhances acceptability for the recommended changes within the organization.
Communication Strategies
There are different communication strategies. However, an appropriate communication strategy is critical to ensure effective change implementation. The best communication strategy involves communicating the information to the stakeholders. Important communication strategies include active participation, understanding the audience listening to them, and allowing the target audience to ask questions. Employees feel part of the organization when involved in the communication process.
Active participation requires management to include employees in the decision-making process and enable them to make appropriate suggestions on ways to ensure effective implementation of the needed change (Kumar, 2022). Understanding the audience and giving them the opportunity to address their views is important in strengthening the organizational communication system. Listening should come first before communicating the change to the employees. Employees should also have time to ask questions, especially about the things that affect them and concerns regarding the change in question.
Transparency & Accountability
The London Crossrail Project had many delays associated with the need for additional funding and obstacles such as COVID-19 restrictions. As the project cooperates with London’s local government, businesses, and the Ministry of Transport, it is held accountable to all these organizations (Kumar, 2022). Due to the frequent delays of the project, the major of London expressed disappointment in the way the completion was postponed. Therefore, he called for an increase in funding and failure transparency. In response to this, the London Crossrail Project provided a full and transparent explanation of the need for an increased budget.
Lack of Control Mechanism
Numerous delays in the project also correlate with a lack of explanations from the London Crossrail Project’s executives and empty promises of completing milestones by the deadline. The joint sponsor and wider stakeholders were integrated in a way that benefited both parties, as Crossrail had the autonomy to execute all stages of construction within its capacities. Yet, the project was often criticized for its lack of control mechanism.
Effective Control and Monitoring Systems
As one of the largest infrastructure-building projects in London, the Crossrail needed to develop an effective control and monitoring system. The responsibilities and actors were diversified to achieve maximum efficiency. The Crossrail Project Development Agreement elaborates on the roles and rights of various stakeholders, such as intervention points and step-in-rights, funding envelopes and spending rules, sponsor requirements, and roles and responsibilities of the parties and how they will interact (Black, 2016).
Strategic Risk Management
Potential Strategic Risk of the Mega Project
For mega projects such as Crossrail, the risk management strategy should be vast and elaborate on both internal and external risk factors. Therefore, Crossrail identified factors that affect the financial risks, reputational risks, and safety risks as essential for the project. The financial risks may be associated with an increased need for funding and a lack of support from sponsors. External factors that affect the whole economy are also relevant to the project, as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused another delay in project completion (Muruganandan, Davies, Denicol & Whyte, 2022). The execution of the project’s stages should be timely and correspond with quality standards. Failure to meet those standards would lead to a reputation loss. Hence, all the risks are interconnected in big construction projects such as Crossrail.
Project Management and Programme Management
Currently, the London Crossrail Project has been launched and has transported nearly 10 million passengers in two months of functioning. One of the most important aspects of the Crossrail’s functioning is adherence to safety norms. Hence, making safety a top priority makes the process more complex. A potential challenge that the London Crossrail Project may meet includes a decrease in the number of passengers associated with the gradual loss of public transportation use. Events such as quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic caused. The opportunities for the Crossrail Project include the provision of full service, which is possible after the provision of a signaling supplier that is reliable enough to provide a transition between the central section and the surface section. Hence, achieving sustainability is one of the key priorities for the Crossrail Project.
Reference List
Black, M. (Ed.). (2016). Crossrail Project: Infrastructure design and construction. ICE Publishing.
Buck, M. (2017). Crossrail project: finance, funding and value capture for London’s Elizabeth line. In Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Civil Engineering (Vol. 170, No. 6, pp. 15-22). Thomas Telford Ltd.
Kumar, B. R. (2022). Case 8: London Cross Rail Project. In Project Finance (pp. 131-137). Springer, Cham.
Muruganandan, K., Davies, A., Denicol, J., & Whyte, J. (2022). The dynamics of systems integration: Balancing stability and change on London’s Crossrail project. International Journal of Project Management.