Abu Dhabi Municipality is one of the fastest growing cities in the world and has now about 1,5 million inhabitants. Growing fast implies that there are numerous projects implemented within technical and social infrastructure. A web based executive dashboard to aid the execution and supervision of projects within the Municipal Infrastructure and Assets Sector of Abu Dhabi Municipality is therefore a need.
Challenge
The ADM Municipal Infrastructure & Assets sector (MIAS) is running many projects in parallel.
The day-to-day operation of projects is the responsibility of sector operatives who control consultants and contractors who execute specified tasks according to contract. The operatives report to middle managers who are typically responsible for a cluster of projects within a professional subdivision of the sector.
The Executive Director of MIAS is responsible for the financial and practical execution of the projects, reports to the General Manager who is expected to be able to answer detailed questions on the status of individual projects originating from any government entity, including higher government agencies, departments and ultimately the Executive Council.
Scope of work
In order for the executive director to have an answer ready to meet such questions, and at all times have the knowledge required to effectively manage the sector, he relies on information passing from contractor to consultant to operative to middle-manager to him.
Purpose of the work
ADM is a solid hierarchical organization where the amount of activities increase as you move down the hierarchy and the responsibility accumulates as you move upwards. At the bottom of the hierarchy, it is easy to keep track of activities because each operative is involved in a limited number of activities. The higher up you get, the more activities each individual is expected to have detailed knowledge of, and the greater the responsibility for their financial and technical execution.
Similar to the driver of a car, (hence the analogy dashboard), who only needs to know that car is in good operating condition. Managers cannot, and should not, be bothered with the details about each single activity in each project.
Managers should be able to see “control lamps”, indicators, that tells him whether his projects are on track financially, technically and time wise – and in the event that they are not, why. The main questions an executive dashboard should answer are “do I need to worry?”and “do I need to take action?”
Description of services provided
NORPLAN has designed and implemented as well as given training to staff on the web based “Executive Project Dashboard” application.
This application provide information about the status of projects. It also provides information about the factors that have an impact on the status such as who is the project manager, who are the consultants, who are the contractors, what type of project is it.
The graphics used can be selected from a rich variety of available controls – however, bar charts, pie charts, line-charts and the like are still the best indicators of development over time whereas gauges are only useful to illustrate a single point.
The manager can choose to look at project that are under the responsibility of specific middle managers, project managers, consultants and contractors to see if there are patterns that suggests potential for improvements.
Key concepts
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The challenge of being a manager
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Executive dashboard user interface
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Overall system architecture
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Dashboard training (4)
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Dashboard training (3)
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Dashboard training (2)
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Dashboard training (1)
Project data
| Internal Project Number | 605536 |
|---|---|
| Project Title | Executive Project Dashboard for Abu Dhabi Municipality |
| Project Category | Project management, Web technology |
| Fields of Expertise | Project management, Web technology, IT technology, GIS, design |
| Participating Offices | Arendal, Sandvika, Abu Dhabi |
| Deliverables | Web based application for project management of projects, design, implementation of the application in the municipal IT system, and training of municipal staff. |
| Project Duration | 2015 – 2017 |
| Size of Project Area | Entire Abu Dhabi Municipality |
| Project Location | Abu Dhabi Municipality, United Arab Emirates |
| NORPLAN Contact Person | Mr (Stein) Runar Bergheim |
| Client | Abu Dhabi Municipality |
| Client Contact Person | Eng. Obaid Mohamed Al Qubati, Project Manager, Abu Dhabi Municipality |
| Project Value | USD 150,000 |