Project management and the private finance initiative

5.4 Barriers, critical success factors
and key skills in PFI
Bridging the gap between PFI-active and non-PFI-active Faculty
members must overcome hurdles which include a resistance to
becoming involved in PFI work, or a lack of awareness of project
management opportunities. For many, as the online survey
showed, their companies do not participate in the PFI market or
their individual specialisations do not relate well to PFI. For these
respondents, the latter reason rules out PFI work for many. Fewer
still feel that they cannot get appropriate skills in their current
working environment (about 17% of non-active respondents),
supported by the result that nearly half of the non-active
respondents do not think they will become involved in PFI
in the next two years.
Figure 5.1 shows that, although important, ‘skills limitations’
alone do not appear to be the only barrier to enabling
non-PFI-active members to become involved in PFI work.
For nearly one third (32%) the inability to acquire PFI-related
skills in their current job is not an issue at all. However, for
at least 24% it is an issue. Indeed, the limited findings from
the follow-up survey (see Section 4) suggest that very few
Figure 5.1 Barriers, critical success factors and key skills for PFI
Non
PFI
Active
Barriers to PFI
involvement:
• Company not involved in PFI
• Employees not specialising in PFI
• Lack of skills in current job
PFI
Active
31 chapter five Conclusions and recommendations Project management and the private finance initiative
non-PFI-active respondents felt they needed additional skills to
work on PFI projects. Fewer still said that the availability of those
skills was not present in their current job (4% of non-active
respondents from the follow-up survey).
Amongst this group there were mixed views about specific skill
requirements. However, risk appreciation, process and political
skills were judged to be more important than understanding
client needs and technical knowledge, although the differences
were slight. There were also mixed views regarding the need for
learning more about PFI for respondents’ career progression.
Some 21% said that PFI would not be important for their future
career and 33% said that it would be very important.
Critical success factors for PFI projects therefore include:
• Well-drafted output specification;
• A robust business case;
• Committed senior management; and
• Full consultation with end users.
This supports findings from recent research carried out for the
Foundation for the Built Environment (Dixon et al, forthcoming).
Critical Success Factors
for PFI:
• Well drafted output
specification
• Robust business case
• Committed senior management
• Consultation
Key Skills for PFI:
• Understanding the client
• Risk appreciation
• Process skills