Have you considered the impact a shared project management model can have on project performance? The City of Helsinki’s Urban Environment Division put it to the test and is pleased with the results.
The collaboration originally began with Kumura, which has since become part of IQI.
A tailored project management model for the Urban Environment Division
The Urban Environment Division is one of the City of Helsinki’s four divisions. It is responsible for planning, construction and maintenance across Helsinki, as well as building control and environmental services.
The Urban Environment Division is a large organisation with hundreds of active projects every year. Most are related to construction and urban planning, but the portfolio also includes a significant number of ICT and internal development projects.
A project management model establishes shared principles and practices
The need for common project management principles became clear when the Urban Environment Division set out to create a shared project management model for its development projects.
“Projects require a significant amount of working time and resources. We therefore wanted greater transparency into project plans and the relationship between the resources invested and the outcomes achieved.”
Elsa Paasilinna Head of Development Services
The first step was to create a project management model tailored to the needs of the division’s development projects. The model was then implemented through a comprehensive programme of project management training. This gave project professionals a thorough understanding of the purpose of the project management model and how to apply it in practice.
A systematic approach delivered excellent results
The structured implementation produced impressive results within the first two years.
By autumn 2021, 20 per cent of employees had strengthened their project management capabilities through training. The project management model had also become an established part of day-to-day work, improving the delivery of development projects.
In a survey conducted among project managers and project sponsors, most respondents agreed that the project management model clarified project practices and made projects easier to manage.
Collaboration succeeds with an experienced partner
Paasilinna is pleased with both the results and the collaboration with IQI.
“I can recommend IQI to other organisations looking to develop their project operations. IQI has the experience and expertise to understand what works when designing and implementing a project management model, and what does not.”
Paasilinna found IQI’s training highly professional and appreciated the care taken to understand the participants and their specific circumstances.
“IQI’s tools and methods made the training interactive and encouraged active participation. The programmes were extremely successful.”
Paasilinna believes that an experienced partner such as IQI can provide substantial value:
“IQI has helped numerous organisations introduce a project management model. This gave us an experienced partner that could challenge our thinking and support us throughout the process.”
