Crossrail Ltd is an £18+ Billion Programme delivering the Elizabeth line – a new railway for London and the South East, running from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through more than 42km of new tunnels under London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. The Elizabeth line will stop at 41 accessible stations and serve around 200 million people each year.

Key stakeholders from within the organisation included The Delivery Director for Stations, Shafts and Portals [SSP], 13 Project Managers, 13 Tier 1 Project Directors and several cross-functional Heads of Department. Sponsored by the CEO of Crossrail and the Programme Controls Director.

The project was to establish new ways of working to mitigate continual slippage in milestones and increasing cost month on month. Project7 facilitated a scan of current ways of working and then worked with key stakeholders to design and implement a Visual Performance Management/PMO along with problem solving tools and techniques to mitigate further slippage. The initial focus area in the construction programme was the Testing and Commissioning of 9 Stations and 11 shafts & portals.

I’d like to take chance to highlight that Project7’s team has been a great benefit to ROP helping to shape IDT reporting and sprint plans covering gaps we have in planning and reporting resource. I hope we can maintain his valuable contribution to ROP through to Handover.

– Kevin Brown | Project Manager Portals

During the scan phase, Project7 quickly identified that the current performance management methods were ineffective and did not always discuss date, the outcome of the existing data and how this impacted cost & schedule performance. Programme reviews occurred periodically, and slow decision making led to inadequate progress in delivering the testing & commissioning phase of construction and ultimately led to missing key milestones and increased cost. It was also clear that the organisation was working in silos, particularly in the cross-functional areas leading to poor communication of targets and alignment of priorities.

Project 7 was engaged in supporting all activities to design and implement a visual performance management system & problem-solving for the Programme and the next level down in 9 stations and 11 Shaft & Portals.

Solution Refinement

Project7 Teams worked directly with Stations, Shafts & Portals Delivery Director & Project Managers to design & implement a Visual Performance Management System [PMO] across 20 elements worth approximately £5 Billion. The solution consisted of 2 levels, with each site having effective daily performance management meetings and weekly Programme Level Performance reviews with Project Managers and Tier 1 Project Directors.

To enhance and augment the visual performance improvements, Project7 realised a problem-solving culture deploying specific Lean tools & techniques, enabling on-time delivery of critical milestones. The solution further addressed key underlying factors affecting project performance by breaking down cross-functional departments, eliminating a siloed working mentality, and creating conditions for open sharing, transparency, and collaboration.

Solution Implementation

Project 7 split the implementation process into five primary focus areas:

Part 1

To create a Pilot Station understanding the current state and create consistent key metrics across all stations and rolled up through the Crossrail organisation. Additionally, to design a performance Management Centre and coach teams in problem-solving tools & techniques.

Part 2

Using the pilot station visual management centre rollout to all locations within SSP and providing leadership coaching and implement the appropriate problem-solving tools & techniques.

Part 3

To design and implement a visual performance management centre (PMO) for Programme wide Performance management. Including all 20 elements with PMs, Tier 1 Project Directors and Cross-functional teams for a weekly performance review.

Part 4

To provide coaching and knowledge transfer to the organisation to enable them to continue developing the system and to start active problem-solving using standardised tools and techniques.

Part 5

To roll up performance across 20 elements to report to the next level up and create robust metrics for board reports & government dashboards weekly rather than periodically.

• Using defined metrics that are reviewed daily / weekly in structured Performance Management Meetings, each element can provide predictive outcomes for milestone dates and communicate this effectively throughout the Crossrail Organisation.
• Data-driven and fast-paced decision making with all the right people attending each Performance Management Meeting, for example, Cross-functional heads, line-wide system teams and routeway construction.
• Visible performance management became Business as Usual and now generates excellent cross-functional practices, and historical silos are now broken down and aligned to critical deliverables/milestone dates.
• The first two portals were handed over to the infrastructure maintainer and operator on time, optimising resource application to other critical areas and supporting subsequent work packages.