Project reflections and lessons learnt

 The 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup is behind us; and as we await the statistics and financial indicators that will tell us if this was indeed good for our country, we can already reflect on the early anecdotal evidence and lessons learnt. The massive infrastructure projects paint merely one part of the picture. How each of these overcame the quadruple constraints of time, cost, scope and quality has been well documented, challenged and debated before the event even took place.

 Days after the closing ceremony, economist Dr Adrian Saville addressed an audience in Johannesburg on some of the immediate positive results of South Africa’s hosting of the event and these capital projects. He said an estimated 66 000 jobs had been created in construction alone, and that these jobs earned an average of R10 000 per month. Estimations are that more than R2 billion went to low-income households as a result of this job creation.

 This was permanent skills upliftment, and brought people into the formal sector. Between 2004 and 2007, the buildup period to the World Cup, South Africa experienced economic growth above 5% as a result of investment in infrastructure. Research by Citi showed that South African business confidence rose to its highest level in nine months in June 2010. Audit and advisory firm Grant Thornton says the event made a R93-billion contribution to gross domestic product.

 This all looks rather encouraging so far. What now warrants reflection is the event itself – those non-infrastructure projects undertaken to realise the event, which have delivered all sorts of unexpected lessons that point more to the softer, facilitating knowledge areas of project management such as risk, communication, procurement and human resources management.

 The International Association of Business Communicators hosted a workshop in the week the World Cup ended, and invited representatives from a broad range of companies and consortia to share their lessons learnt. A highlight on the programme was feedback from Brigadier Sally de Beer, one of the police official spokespersons for Fifa, who was responsible for co-ordinating all media liaison and communication from the top-secret national joint security force operational centre (later revealed to have been housed at Swartkops in Pretoria).

 For two months, from 15 May 2010 to the end of the event, 300 representatives of 22 government departments and parastatals, including the security forces, Department of Health, weather services and Eskom, worked around the clock in shifts to ensure the centre was operational, informed and sharing information. The communications component of the preparations began in 2004, at the same time as the broader security preparations required to guarantee all general safety through security measures and personal protection for visitors, airports, routes to stadium, accommodation, fan parks and team security.

 This national centre model was replicated in all nine provinces (even where there was not a stadium), and security teams were present at all major accommodation and fan venues. In a significant and well-coordinated deployment, a team liaison officer and three protection officers were assigned to each team, from the time they arrived until they left the country. With these trained specialists, the teams experienced not one significant incident, though some felt the protection was over-zealous and deterred autograph-seeking fans.

 In addition, there was aircraft surveillance 50 nautical miles over every stadium on every match day to intercept any aircraft in that airspace. Police officers were brought in from the participating countries to work side by side with local police to marshal their countrymen and anticipate trouble-making, and deal with incidents in their language and a manner consistent with their country’s policing.

 De Beer stressed the value of having communication form an integral part of the planning committee, and being supported from the top, saying that the 300 members of the task team responsible for delivering this security project became like a family, pooling their collective experience and using the channels that were created to keep each other informed. One way in which this was done was through two or three briefings a day, during which potential risks were evaluated and mitigation steps discussed.

 Each team member signed a confidentiality agreement and maintained the protocol of having only one approved channel of communication between the task centre and the media and external stakeholders. Internally, a campaign was run prior to the event, during which each member of the South African Police Service was made a Good Ambassador and encouraged to be courteous, and on top form for their role in the event. In her 30-year career, and after being involved with the hosting of 150 major events since 1995, De Beer reports that this was possibly the first time she felt the public accepted the police and that, as a result, major strides have been made in transparency and goodwill.

 Of the major lessons learnt was the value of the years of planning, tireless training and simulation around all potential security scenarios. A key to success was completely integrating the various departments, as barriers were broken down and a team stood united. A lasting legacy is the comprehensive security forces operational handbook distributed countrywide, to be made available to all Southern African Development Community countries, as well as an extensive crisis plan for dealing with any contingency one can imagine in a large event. The police equipment procured for the event can now be put to good use elsewhere, and the task team infrastructure remained operational for a period of time after the event to conduct a series of crime-busting operations around the country.

 Turning their venue into a Fan Park was, not unexpectedly, an unprecedented project for Birchwood Conference Centre and Hotel. Greg Hoffman at Birchwood Sales Support reports that there were various aspects that needed to be covered in order for Birchwood to secure the rights to host a Fan Park.

 One of the advantages in this process was the fact that it was not Fifa affiliated, which allowed the hotel the creativity and freedom to create the environment seen during the World Cup period and reduced the need to meet Fifa’s unique expectations. What was required was a licence, giving them the right to publicly air the live games and highlights.

 Areas of the project that required monitoring were to do with health, safety and security. It was imperative that Birchwood had the necessary facilities to ensure a safe and secure platform that could rectify any severe issues in an efficient and
professional manner. International Football Village (IFV) in essence became a new ‘brand’ for Birchwood. It was completely new and fresh, and with it came a host of strategies.

 Target audiences were larger than usual and the demographic far broader. The communication strategy moved to advertising using radio stations and public environments instead of the offices of their clients. This proved to be an expensive but effective change – one that may be used again in the future. In a true example of “build it and they will come”, Birchwood adapted the entire property (over 50 acres) to reflect colour schemes, branding and setups – effectively an entire new soccer ‘world’.

 The planning of the event was a long process – one that began in June 2009 shortly before the Fifa Confederations Cup. A team was established, comprising about 20 individuals who all were allocated responsibilities and areas to control. These areas ranged from sales to marketing to security and transport. The project was led by Kevin Clarence (Birchwood’s chief executive officer) and Mike De Vries (a German businessman with ample experience in similar events).

 De Vries was very involved with the 2006 Fifa World Cup and many large-scale sporting events before it. Both individuals combined their knowledge of their product to create the concept that was IFV. In early 2010, several students arrived in an exchange programme. Birchwood has always been a place for mentoring and internships for international students, and the IFV was considered the ideal platform for them to be part of.

 A huge benefit to having the students on board was their full-time involvement while other Birchwood staff had
dual responsibilities. The students were extremely dedicated and proved to be a fantastic asset to the team during the period. The Fan Park was intended to be an all-in-one experience, combining true African hospitality with international flavour.

 The hub of the park was the Arena and Fan Mile (an indoor and outdoor viewing experience with bars and food kiosks in very close proximity). Over and above this, there was a Birchwood Shebeen, Brazilian Beach Bar, Dutch House and International Park. This is not to mention the massive shopping market where corporate clients had the opportunity to sell and promote their brand to the local and international guests.

 Catering suited the concept, and there was a massive variety. One could choose from local food such as braais, pap and curry to burgers, hot dogs and prawns. The main focus was easy access and ample options. This above all applied to the R100 Fan Ticket. Corporate clients were able to purchase R500 tickets, which would give them access to a private viewing room complete with food, a private bar and comfortable seating.  

 Lessons learnt were in large supply. The language issue was one they handled as best they could, however, naturally it is almost impossible to accommodate every guest’s preference. Ideally, having many translators would have been perfect, however, to have them there on permanent standby may have ended up an unnecessary expense, as the need was erratic and unplanned. Another lesson was around scope, as the project could have been scaled down to not have been open on every day, rather only those days on which the most popular teams were playing.

 How did Birchwood measure project success? The exposure and overall new feet through doors has proved to be advantageous. The trick was making the park itself work, as the accommodation rooms were always going to be easy to fill. As it strives to be a convention centre of choice, this project gave old and new clients an indication that Birchwood truly is capable of hosting world-class events.

 A venue in Pretoria, the Royal Elephant Hotel, which hosted a delegation from Europe, had to manage challenges posed by misinformation, overstatement of room enquiries and inflated prices by venue marketers. Tales abound about private companies and individuals having renovated their premises at great expense according to Fifa specifications in the hope that their costs would be recovered and a tidy profit realised from hosting visitors, only to receive not a single enquiry.

 In the case of the Royal Elephant, information suggested it should configure its rooms to accommodate more people per room. Changes were made, at some expense, and when the bookings finally came in, the requirement was for single occupancy. A major lesson learnt was to understand the market well and listen to the needs of potential guests, rather than becoming caught up in the hype.

 More than one body marketing South Africa venues, it seems, inflated pricing up to three times what the venues were actually charging, losing much business for these venues in the process. This highlights the importance of knowing what information is being distributed about your product or service at all times. Amid complaints and scepticism nationally about inflated food and beverage prices, dual menus (one for locals and a pricier one for foreigners) at some restaurants, management at the Royal Elephant found that openness and transparency about its pricing structure went some way to protect its reputation.

 The same cannot be said of those venues out to make the biggest buck possible. This short-sighted view has long-term consequences if one of the legacy objectives is to keep foreign tourists coming back to relive their positive experiences in the future. A positive spin-off for the corporate trade environment will be a multitude of good deals and specials in the coming months and, now that their needs are better understood and provided for, possibly similar deals for tourists in the period thereafter.

 The concept of project integration

 Neil Penson, director of Strategic Growth at Babcock International Group, wonders what we have learnt about the integration of logistics if we are to host another major event, such as the Olympics. Having had the opportunity to visit many of the 2010 capital projects, such as stadia, airport terminals and transportation infrastructure, Penson found them to be exemplary and as good as counterparts anywhere in the world. He noted, however, that this was not enough to ensure everyone had a trouble-free experience in the World Cup adventure, citing road congestion, transport logistics, airport capacity and local vendor sterilisation as some of the negatives.

 With the potential to win the right to host the 2020 Olympic Games in one of our cities, how will we take the learning of the successes and failures of 2010 and ensure the roles and expectations of tournament organising committees, local authorities, national government departments, agencies, contractors, service providers, investors and official sponsors come together to define the overall user requirement?

 Of particular interest would be how we define the various commissioning or proving of the full integrated logistic well ahead of the various deadlines set by the International Olympic Committee. The elusive link comes from all other participants’ willingness to subject themselves to the supervening word of the overall project management authority.

 If the entire South African delivery of the 2010 World Cup is viewed as one big project, is Fifa the ultimate project sponsor? If so, the lessons learnt by the City of Tshwane’s 2010 Host City unit may challenge the way we view its authority. Julie Wells, communication manager for the unit, felt it was necessary to remember this event was taking place in our cities, in our country, and that the Fifa delegation was the guest. They will pack up and move on, and the city will remain.

 An early lesson learnt was that Fifa did not always have the answers, and the direction and challenge lay in taking the lead from the people who had done it right in the past, and as such a group of consultants from Germany was on hand to guide the City through and share lessons learnt. There was certainly room for finding solutions that suit our way of doing things and contribute to ongoing goodwill for South Africa and its cities’ inhabitants.

 One of the biggest mistakes made, recalls Wells, was to view the City’s marketing as being about strategic things such as motivating staff, promoting the brand etc. It found out the hard way that the bulk of the project communication and stakeholder needs for information was operational, such as obtaining the GPS co-ordinates of the nearest airport, how to get from A to B, what events are happening where, how to find a taxi, how to find a shebeen – not how great the ambiance was and the unique selling points of each attraction.

 South African Tourism had painted a beautiful picture, but the actual delivery meant the City’s communication team had to get to the coal face of practical information sharing. Due to the nature of the event, timelines and milestones were sometimes out of sync. Before the final draw, the Host City already had to mobilise without knowing which countries would be coming, which languages would be spoken and which international media would show interest. Between the final draw and the tournament itself, the City had to shop for a base camp and close this off within the Fifa deadline.

 Financial management was a further challenge, as the Host City budget was released in January and February and a procurement process had to be followed – leaving three short months for implementation. Future organisers in developing nations should be mindful of the disparity between stakeholder expectations and the local reality. Europe may have sophisticated media channels, for example, whereas in South Africa a rural community may best be served by a community newspaper operated out of a garage.

 Wells says a great tip from the Germans was to have a media centre that was not confined to the stadium. About 20 000 accredited international journalists were given permits, but the smaller local media representatives did not all apply for accreditation, but had equal right to information. A media office was eventually set up at the Host City Fan Fest location for this purpose, where a contingency plan was put in place to manage access and permissions.

 Lesson learnt: apply South African communication solutions for the South African situation. This is a symbol of developing nations and something Brazil will be wise to take note of.

Scope and roles must be clearly defined.

 Communicators across the municipality turned to the Host City unit for assistance with anything 2010-related and it became necessary to draw the line in the sand and ask for senior level support to clarify roles and responsibilities. It made sense to empower them to handle certain tasks and speak on the event by having access to a comprehensive fact file covering details from transport and logistics and road closures to volunteer information.

 The Host City legacy projects have been documented before, and include the positive spin-offs from informal trading at convenient locales which stimulated small business and entrepreneurship. The positive reaction of the international media will foster positive feelings for Tshwane for years to come. A comprehensive public officer’s handbook and fan guide will live on when future events take place in the city.

 Lessons learnt abound across all the knowledge areas and it is encouraging to note how, before and during the event, project management principles became fundamental in environments not typically considered ‘projectised’. Before we become too pleased with ourselves, however, Peter Richards, managing director of DV Project Management, draws our focus back to some important lessons that could easily be overlooked in the euphoria that followed the event.

 Looking at the outcome of projects in which he was involved in 2010 in both the public and private sectors, he concludes that the biggest lessons to learn stemmed from trying to keep the projects aligned in a continuously shifting environment, both internal and external. The time imperative to deliver ‘at all cost’ had a severe impact on decision-making, sometimes with detrimental results.

 Internal constraints related to financial resources where ultimate requirements far exceeded initial estimates, and human resources were frequently stretched beyond required levels of competency.

 By being frank about what it took to deliver, and documenting our mistakes and successes, we can ensure our new national pride and confidence is well founded and our project delivery capability even more robust for the next major event we host. 