Are you sitting comfortably? Let me tell you a story about a road scheme in Cheshire where I live. The A555 road scheme was finally completed about 3 years ago to provide a link between the A6 and Manchester Airport. Unfortunately, it regularly floods and the road is again shut to traffic.
I joked that Wilmslow was ‘becoming an island’ as so many of our routes out of town were shut by flooding.
An investigation suggested the flooding was due to design shortcoming but that is not the full story. Mary (not her real name) told me that – to complete on time and avoid further delay penalties – the contractor cut corners and buried a flood water pump, without connecting it to power or drains. Theoretically, the road was completed: the whole scope of works was provided, and the road could be used as intended… at least most of the time.
The contract was clearly structured to prioritise time over quality. Roads last many decades so a few weeks or months longer in their construction is neither here nor there. However, the lack of working flood water drainage will affect the project for its lifetime.
The contract also focused on inputs (had everything listed been provided?) and not on outputs (did everything perform as required?).
The road needs to allow traffic to move safely in all but the most extreme weathers – it is a performance-based project. There’s no point specifying components and then taking it on trust that they have been installed properly. Performance needs to be tested using objective measures.
What should you do?
You’ll be aware of the need in any task or project to balance time, cost and quality.
In practice, that means you need to choose one objective that takes priority, even if the others are also important. Keep asking questions until you know which one matters most. Once you know, focus on that one when making decisions during the project and ensure your project team know which is critical priority so they can plan for success.
For more on quality, watch my video.
