National Capital Area Project Management Council

Mandate

As an adjunct to the National Project Management Council, the NCA Project Management Council was established to provide leadership, enhance communications and ensure quality services and consistency of operations in the management and delivery of project management services for the planning, design and construction of federal real property projects. Within NCA, this Council promotes and ensures:

• communication and leadership
• establishment of common objectives, standards and service practices
• availability of a trained and flexible 'core' knowledge base to meet project management objectives
• knowledge management, coordination and sharing of project management experiences and information
• consistency and integrity in project management methodologies, strategies and practices
• achievement of project management objectives, values and mandates in project delivery
• recognition of teamwork, quality, time/cost control, and project management excellence
• 'added value' by achieving client and government objectives through delivery of timely/ affordable real property project management services
• a formalized management structure to identify, communicate/resolve specific and common concerns/issues;
• project management issues such as risk management, claims prevention and management, best practices and construction site safety are addressed considering private sector methodologies, processes, language and procedures
• a high standard of practice and care
• the building of co-operation and excellence within real property teams and client departments, and all NCA real property 'authorities' and industries

Committee Membership

• Chairperson: Director Project Management
• Coordinator: Secretary to the Director Project Management
• Secretary: Business Manager
• Senior Project Manager (SPM) Project Office
• SPM's NCA
• Others: Specialists as required from a wide variety of internal professional, technical, contractual, legal disciplines etc., and industry and client team representatives etc. (at discretion of the Chair)

Scope

Subject matter is 'all inclusive' but NCA-specific with focus on changing 'priorities' within the project management mandate, including but not limited to:

• identifying, communicating and establishing priorities regarding operational principles for the role of project management
• communicating and discussing programs/priorities and their impacts
• enhancing project management knowledge and skills in support of generic and specific client requirements as represented through real property teams
• determining strategies to identify/resolve shared client/unique concerns
• defining and targeting specific core project management skills and resources as required by real property teams
• defining and targeting specific resources to be shared
• determining issues of mutual concern and establishing strategies for resolution
• optimizing project management skills and resources where demanded by real property teams including potential client sharing of resources
• establishing delivery of training in relationship to the competency base assessments in support of initiatives
• understanding/supporting major initiatives e.g., government office accommodation strategy
• facilitating intelligence sharing on lessons learned on project management issues such as claims, contracting, product information, etc.
• establishing a network to ensure improved inter-regional communication
• participating in the development and resolution of specific functional initiatives and special projects

Meeting Frequency and Location

• Regular meetings are monthly or at the discretion of the Chair
• Location to be determined by the Chair
• Conference calls for urgent issues provide an alternative to meetings
• Special meetings are at the discretion of the Chair

Roles and Responsibilities

Chairperson (Director Project Management)

• issues agenda and relevant documentation for Manager/SPM input prior to the meeting
• finalizes the agenda and ensures it is focussed on RPB issues
• re-issues agenda to membership two weeks in advance of the scheduled meeting
• ensures that issues not relevant to the SPM's are raised/addressed through sub-committees or other means
• schedules the meeting
• approves nominated alternates for the meeting
• manages the conduct of meetings
• assigns the role of the Chair to others as required
• nominates specific SPM's to act as facilitator for specific topics of discussion
• adheres to agenda schedule
• may elect to reschedule meetings when more than half of the membership (quorum) is composed of alternates or substitutes
• introduces guests/delegates/alternates at the start of the meeting
• pre-approves presentations by others prior to the setting of the agenda

Senior Project Managers

• are to consider attendance as a 'priority' and make every effort to participate (alternates must be approved by the Director Project Management prior to the meeting and are considered only when the SPM has no other option but not to attend)
• actively and constructively participate in all meetings

Presenters, Delegates, Substitutes and Alternates

• alternates for SPM's will be limited to passive participation during the meeting unless they have specific comments to provide on behalf of their SPM;
• alternates will ensure all discussions at the meeting are reported back to their SPM
• alternates are excluded from meetings when sensitive management issues are discussed
• representatives of other organizations within RPB can be invited to present or attend for specific items of discussion only
• presenters will be invited to join the meeting only for the time period specified in the agenda (at discretion of the Chair when meeting is running early or late)
• delegates from other organizations (for example Technology, Buildings etc.) may join the meeting to discuss particular business issues in the spirit of cooperation and collective resolution
• individuals raising issues at the table for discussion have rebuttal rights

Reports/Minutes

Coordinator

maintains a record of decisions and follow-up as required.

Secretary

prepares and distributes minutes to all committee members and senior management within a one-week period following each meeting.

Committee members

share pertinent information with all staff.

Venue and Protocol

Due to the breadth and scope of issues emanating from NCA's operational and functional roles, it is paramount that meetings incorporate a structured mandatory protocol to ensure that the time allotted for the business of the Council is optimized. The membership of this Council will commit itself to active and constructive participation and respect the following established protocol :

• all items requiring an action/decision (info, approval, follow-up, etc.) from the Council must have a brief synopsis/overview following the title of the item in the agenda
• presenters must clearly state the action requested from the Council prior to the presentation
• only one person may speak at any one time
• each person to have the opportunity to speak and provide comments/opinion at least once on a topic (the Chair may allow SPM's to provide further interventions to bring closure to the discussion)
• issues not easily resolved at one meeting will be assigned to a sub-committee for analysis and further development before reporting back to the next Council meeting for resolution
• members will demonstrate respect for each other
• members will refrain from cynical comments and side conversations during meetings
• all cell phones and pagers will be turned off
• movements in and out of the room are to be limited
• members will restrict their interventions to short, accurate succinct comments and wait until the presenter has finished speaking or until they are prompted by the Chair to speak
• attempts will be made to locate the meeting to a room with adequate lighting/ventilation

Business, Agenda and Follow-up

• a review of the status of previous meetings minutes will be conducted at every meeting
• items of important business will have priority on the agenda
• the business of the Council will be related to issues pertaining to RPB and its clients
• roundtable discussions will be scheduled with sufficient time to complete and not necessarily scheduled at the end of the meeting; issues raised by SPM's should be relevant to the collectivity of members
• chairs or representatives of sub-committees will be expected to report on the status of their functional initiatives or tasks

Informal Senior Project Manager Meetings

• informal meetings of the SPM's will be scheduled immediately following the Project Management Council meetings
• the business of this informal SPM meeting will be related to issues involving SPM's and their real property teams and issues obtained through the SPM network and PMI activities
• when meetings continue over lunch period, monetary contributions will be collected from each SPM to provide lunch; organization of the lunch will be rotated among SPM's on a voluntary basis
• the Director Project Management can participate but will not chair these meetings
• the Chair will be rotated among the SPM's
• minutes will not be recorded but SPM's may take notes
• topics for discussion will relate to concerns and issues from SPM's; specific issues which develop into major concerns relating to PMD or the collectivity of SPM's will be brought to the next Project Management Council meeting for formal discussion

Date modified:

2019-11-06