ORKNEY'S ENERGY FUTURE
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
At the project definition stage, a project scope was defined to ensure as best as possible that workstreams fit with the overall project aims and that time was not wasted on work that would add no value. However, it was recognised that this was a learning experience as well as a technical project and therefore there was likely to be evolution in thinking as the project matured. A timeline for work items required to deliver the project was created and responsible group members assigned to high level topics.
Risks associated with six project objectives (Table 1) were assigned a severity and likelihood and mitigating actions identified. The objective of this was that the group would think ahead and have contingencies in place for unfortunate eventualities that could impact the delivery and quality of the project.
Table 1. Project objectives.
The group used the ‘Agile’ style of project management. An action tracker was used to assign short term tasks of a few days to a week duration to group members which would be required to move the project forward. Weighted decision matrices were used to avoid subjective decision making. The matrices were used for key project decisions such as selecting the proposed technology to decarbonise the focus sectors.
The project was carried out online in a group of 5 people. The nature of this meant that effective communication between group members was critical to avoid working in silo. The group set up a Microsoft Teams site that was used to share ideas and information and had meetings by video call three times a week: Monday 9.15 am, Wednesday 9.30 am and Friday 9.30 am.
The project timeline and risk management spreadsheet is available to download here: