Project management and sustainability

Governance and implementation of sustainability in the project ?

DefinitionWhat is sustainability project governance ?

  • Sustainability project management is the ability to an organization to monitor, control, report and forecast the status of it's agreed upon sustainability indicators.

  • Sustainability Key Performance Indicators (SKPIs) are measures of how a project is meeting the sustainability targets set by the organization and for the project itself.

  • Project SKPIs are reported regularly throughout the lifetime of a project.

MethodInformation needs

Once an organization adopts a strategy for sustainability, the information needs to support that strategy must be defined.

Four questions need to be asked :

  1. What information is required ?

  2. How will the information be gathered ?

  3. How will the information be used ?

  4. How will the information benefit the organization ?

These questions measure the adherence to process and the progress towards a target.

Two categories in Information needs:

  • Adherence to process

    1. Legislation,

    2. Environmental,

    3. Cradle to grave responsibilities,

    4. Electronic waste recycling legislation,

    5. Black and Grey lists of chemical composition,

    6. Emission to atmosphere,

    7. Industry standards,

    8. ISO 5001 (Energy management standards),

    9. ISO 14064 Qualification and reporting of Green House Gas (GHG),

    10. ISO 14065/14066 Standards that undertake to validate and verify GHG emissions,

    11. ISO 14000 family - Requirements and standards on environmental management.

  • Progress toward a target

    1. Employee initiatives

    2. Shareholder requirements

    3. Community involvement

    4. Global policies

    5. Water management

    6. Power conservation initiatives

    7. Supply chain management

    8. Recycling Programs

    9. Sustainable material selection of products

MethodOrganizational structure

Organizational structures evolve to meet the changing needs of the organization, its people and its customers. This evolution is shaped both by internal requirements and external influences.

Internal requirements

  • Internal requirements reflect the nature of the organization.

  • That includes the rules and regulation the organization must work within.

External requirements

  • PESTEL model

    • Political

    • Economic

    • Sociological

    • Technological

    • Environment

    • Legal

Fundamental

  • People affect by governance

    • Management

    • Project staff

    • Customers

    • External partners

    • Regulatory groups

    • Project stakeholders

  • Each of each groups has a direct influence on sustainability governance.

FundamentalOversight

Effective governance in an organization provides the basis for proper oversight, process and people. Existing governance systems typically report on both the executive and program level.

Executive level - Iversight and governance are applied to:

  • Financial reports

  • Supply reports

  • Resource levels and plans

  • Forecast adherence

Program level - Iversight and governance are applied to:

  • KPI Reporting

  • Financial reporting

  • Risk review and management

  • Schedule review

MethodStraightforward guidelines for SKPI's identification

  1. Choose SKPI's that matter. Develop an effective metric for each SKPI,

  2. Use the SMART test to validate the SKPI's. Performance indicators that cannot be measured are ultimately useless to the organization,

  3. Measure performance in areas that are subject to evaluation,

  4. Less is more with SKPI's in a project.

ComplementSKPI's can included :

  1. Target for total carbon footprint for a project,

  2. GHG emission targets,

  3. Resources management targets (water, power, waste,...),

  4. Raw material – recycled or bio-based,

  5. Ethical supply chain measures,

  6. Local supply target.

ComplementSustainability project management requires that :

  1. SKPI's must be relevant to the project,

  2. Targets that drive the fulfillment of SKPI's must be established for each project,

  3. Parameters on how information is gathered for each SKPI must be set,

  4. Appropriate reporting processes must be used that facilitate timely updates, decision making and forecasting.

PreviousPreviousNextNext
HomepageHomepagePrintPrint © 2013 IAE Lille Attribution – Non commercial - No Derivative WorkCreated with Scenari (new window)