‘A great resource’: Good uptake of free toolkit that supports councils with project management resources and skills

‘A great resource’: Good uptake of free toolkit that supports councils with project management resources and skills

Local councils are taking advantage of a free project management toolkit that provides tools to enhance skills to manage projects from start to end.

The free toolkit was developed by NSW Public Works, Department of Regional NSW (DRNSW) and the Institute of NSW Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) to support the delivery of infrastructure across the state.

“This is a great resource for non-professional project managers to help manage risk and improve knowledge of the steps to develop infrastructure,” said NSW Public Works South Coast Director John Anderson.

“Use of such a toolkit on appropriately sized projects will assist smaller regional councils to deliver infrastructure assets without significant cost or complexity.”

A one-stop-shop

The toolkit is a one-stop shop that includes a guide to project management for local government and generic templates for each stage of the project lifecycle.

The templates can be easily customised for a range of projects such as playgrounds, vital road works, drainage, and water and community facilities.

“The toolkit supports a consistent approach to managing small and medium projects across councils and supports the use of best practices,” said IPWEA Chief Executive Officer Francine Binns.

“Since it was launched on 29 July 2021, more than 13 councils across regional and rural NSW have referred to the toolkit for guidance and direction,” she said.

Forbes Shire Council, in the central west region of NSW, is one of those councils.

“We used the IPWEA toolkit as part of our research into existing frameworks and a basis for some of our core tools developed specific to our environment,” said People and Strategy Manager Carly Jayet.

“We would recommend using the easy-to-interpret toolkit as a foundation for more complex and environmentally specific needs.”

IPWEA Toolkit Summary

Tackling pain points

The NSW Government is investing heavily into infrastructure across regional NSW, creating opportunities and challenges, particularly for regional areas.

“Regional councils lack access to specialist skills, trades, materials and contractors, driving councils to compete for contractors and pay a premium for trades,” said Mr Anderson.

“There are limited opportunities for professional development in many regional areas".

“Councils’ project management capability is being tested by larger scale projects as well as the huge volume of projects,” he said.

These and other pain points were identified in a 2019 study of the challenges and solutions for infrastructure delivery across regional NSW.

Led by the Department of Regional NSW, the study involved more than 30 regional councils and culminated in a workshop with seven councils.

“An online project management toolkit was picked as one of four options to help tackle councils’ challenges, particularly to support project delivery,” said DRNSW Regional Development Executive Director Jonathan Wheaton of the workshop on 27 June 2019.

Following the workshop, NSW Public Works, IPWEA and Regional NSW worked with local councils to develop and pilot the toolkit over two years.

"Digitalisation options for the toolkit are being developed", said Ms Binns. “IPWEA also continues to provide training and deliver webinars to build understanding of how the toolkit adds value.”