Finance, Procurement, Contracts and the PMO, Can It Be Love? How We Have Worked across Barriers to Thrive Together

In every utility, there is a natural tension between the 'back office' staff that manages budgets, contracts, project controls, and procurement processes and the project managers whose job is to complete the capital projects. By their very nature, utilities must operate under strict - and sometimes onerous - procurement regulations, and they must be transparent and accountable to their leaders, boards, communities, and ratepayers in how they spend their money. This can often mean that a utility has elaborate processes with multiple approval levels to plan for, procure, and approve contracts, purchase orders, and pay applications for contractors. They are motivated to avoid the risk of audit findings, lawsuits, and public criticism that can accompany large capital projects. On the other hand, the capital projects project managers (PMs) are responsible for executing multiple complex construction projects as quickly and safely as possible to respond to the needs of the operations staff. The PMs must juggle consultant task orders, construction contracts, change orders, supply chain disruptions, inflation, contractor turnover, easements, permits, and many other variables that can stall or stop a capital project dead in its tracks. So how can the leaders of these essential utility departments with different - and often seemingly conflicting - missions not only work together but work FOR each other so that their staff, projects, utility, and community thrive? This presentation will be co-presented by the Director of Management and Budget and the Director of the Project Management Office at the Prince William County Service Authority (the Service Authority) - a large, combined utility in Northern Virginia. At the Service Authority the Director of Management and Budget oversees the capital and operations budgets and the Contracts, Project Controls, and Procurement Departments. The Director of the Project Management Office (PMO) manages a team of seven project managers that handle about 70 capital projects at any given time with a yearly spend of approximately 75 million dollars. Over the last two years - since the inception of the PMO at the Service Authority - the two Directors have collaborated on various challenging issue. Together they have come to better understand the motivations and pain points of the other's department, have created new tools and programs that benefit the utility, and have moved their staff in the same instead of opposite directions. Some of the challenging issues they have collaborated on include: Addressing supply chain disruptions by early ordering equipment. (Departments involved: Contracts, Procurement, and the PMO) Developing (from scratch) and implementing for all consultant and capital projects, a Small Women and Minority Business Program. (Departments involved: Contracts, Procurement, and the PMO) Procuring, negotiating, and awarding a multi-year progressive design-build project valued at over 180 million dollars. (Departments involved: Contracts, Procurement, and the PMO) Collaborating on creative contracting incentives. (Departments involved: Contracts and the PMO) Developing a multi-year Capital Improvement Program planning tool. The tool will provide information to various departments, such as Contracts, Procurement, PMO, and Operations so that each department can allocate staff resources effectively. It also will inform major financial decisions over a 5-10-year horizon, such as rate setting and borrowing for capital spending. (Departments involved: Contracts, Procurement, Planning, Operations and Maintenance, and the PMO) Getting our new Project Management Information System (PMIS) software up and running to accelerate the approval of contractor invoices. (Departments involved: Project Controls and the PMO). These two Directors with over 60 years of experience between them will discuss the lessons learned during these endeavors: how to change entrenched company cultural approaches, how to build bridges and increase understanding at the staff level, how to have healthy conflict while trying to meet conflicting objectives, how to pick your battles and keep your focus.