Accountability and Mega Projects

by Shaun Murphy

Published on this site: September 24th, 2005 - See more articles from this month

The past few years have seen an increase in the number of petroleum mega projects being proposed and executed. Record oil prices have given rise to increasingly ambitious and complex international alliances in the energy industry. These large, long term and capital intensive projects carry a great deal of cost and schedule risk which is very challenging to mitigate. We have found that some of this risk can be managed through an emphasis on accountability at all levels of the project organization. Results-based accountability strategies create clarity throughout these complex projects; they ensure that everyone from the senior managers to casual labourers are working together for the same organizational goals.

Using a tool called an Accountability Agreement we start with the project's owners or the management team to create a clear understanding of the project deliverables and success factors. An Accountability Agreement is a document which asks each employee to clearly state the specific results that he or she is accountable for bringing about and the support he or she requires to get there. By using this tool, we get public commitment to the kind of working culture that will most likely lead to a successful project. What starts as a complicated combination of interests, skills, and backgrounds is gradually transformed into a unified alliance with a clear sense of purpose.

Committing to organizational alignment makes a noticeable impact on all departments involved in a major project. In addition to operational functions, Accountability Agreements play a part in how people approach their jobs and the satisfaction they expect to receive in return. In a time when companies are in competition for talented people, having a clearly defined project culture can be a strong competitive advantage. Accountability agreements allow for employees to publicly state what they would like to receive in return for achieving their stated goals. Job satisfaction can never be entirely guaranteed, but mutually agreeing upon expectations and positive consequences reassures employees that their efforts will be recognized. This open and reciprocal relationship enhances employee satisfaction and allows more key talent to be retained in the long term.

An Accountability Agreement distinguishes between operational accountabilities and leadership accountabilities. These terms do not exclusively refer to employees working at the operational or leadership level. Rather, we use these terms to emphasize that all employees have accountabilities in their operational activities and their approach to leadership. Operational accountabilities refer to the specific results that an employee is expected to bring about. Some examples of operational accountabilities agreed to at the project management level are:

• "A safe work site" or

• "A workable three-year business plan for construction"

Leadership Accountabilities refer to individual actions which make a direct impact on the organization's culture and working relationships. Every individual involved in a project must be partially accountable for the strength of its business culture. Some examples of accountabilities that lead to the desired climate for a successful project are:

• "A positive image of the company in all the communities where we build."
or

• "Leadership behaviours that contribute to an entrepreneurial, high-performing work environment."

With a commitment to a strong organizational culture, the achievement of specific results, and the promise of recognition in exchange for individual initiative, the people side of the project has been set in motion. Clear results-based accountability at this level creates the `north star' for the rest of the project which makes it possible to orient new people to the project and helps to refocus efforts if and when things go astray. With all accountabilities publicly available for all to see, finger pointing and blaming can finally be set aside. Mega projects often begin with confusion and uncertainty as project managers struggle with an abundance of disparate resources. Through a commitment to results-based accountability, we have been able to transform this uncertainty into an unprecedented level of clarity, cooperation, and long term success.

Shaun Murphy, Ph.D. and Bruce Klatt, M.A. are senior partners in Murphy Klatt Consulting and authors of Aligned Like a Laser (2004) and Accountability: Getting a Grip on Results (1997). They are internationally recognized experts in the field of Organizational Effectiveness whose books have sold over 100,000 copies internationally. For more information please go to http://www.murphyklatt.com or try their online Accountability Alignment tool at http://www.alignonline.com