Case
Clarity and streamlining with new project methodology for the City of Gothenburg
Clearer decision-making, smarter coordination between projects and streamlining through common working methods between the departments. There have been a lot of gains since Semcon helped the City of Gothenburg’s Property Management Office (Stadsfastighetsförvaltningen) implement XLPM project methodology.
CustomerGBG Stad
IndustryPublic sector
CompetencesProject MethodologyProject Management
Background
Semcon’s Project Excellence team has been working since 2015 to improve project operations in the City of Gothenburg’s construction management offices, including the Property Office, the Traffic Office, and others. In 2022, it was the City Property Management Office’s turn to introduce Semcon’s own project methodology, XLPM. The City Property Management Office works, among other things, with new constructions and the management of preschools, schools and senior living facilities, has over 600 employees and can have up to 800 large projects running at the same time.
Portfolio management for increased efficiency
Portfolio management means that all of an organisation’s projects are coordinated by a number of project managers. Thanks to this new approach, the City Property Management Office can move more quickly forward with several projects at the same time and also make smarter procurements because they now have a different holistic view of the needs.
Another problem, which is not unusual in larger and politically controlled organisations, was a lack of clarity about who decides what. XLPM helps make it clearer when in the process decisions should be made, and by which function. This leads, among other things, to a better working environment with less frustration.
‘The City of Gothenburg is now facing a period of more new project ventures than it has seen in a long time,’ says Maria Hagberg, Department Manager, Development and Management at the City Property Management Office. ‘This means more work over organisational borders both within the city but also with parties outside our organisation. It is more important than ever to get the conditions to cooperate well and uniformly with projects, both internally and externally. Semcon has supported many of our city-building management offices in this work and has taken on the assignment with extensive experience from project activities and an understanding of the city’s needs.’
Starting position at the City Property Management Office
Unclear decision structures for projects
Good at running individual projects (but lacking overview)
Lack of common working methods for projects among the departments
Semcon’s delivery
Clarity concerning who decides what
Introduced steering groups
Introduced portfolio management
Clarified non-conformity handling
Common working method with other building management offices
Equipped for new organisation
At the turn of 2022/2023, the City of Gothenburg carried out a major reorganisation and thanks to the implementation of a new way of working with projects, the City Property Management Office is now better equipped for integrating with other parts of the organisation.
