By Mat Greskie, IPWEA President Elect 

While I thoroughly enjoyed all the sessions I’ve attended today at the International Public Works Conference, and I always appreciate the sessions which really stretch your thinking, I think a strength of the conference is that those sessions are also balanced by on-the-ground public works practitioners sharing their experiences of actual projects.

The session today titled 'Challenges and Triumphs when Implementing a Work Management System' by Alison Saunders was one of those sessions.

Alison detailed the success story of the implementation of a work management system into the City of Greater Dandenong. It was a warts and all account, and Alison spoke frankly at all times. There was no glossing over the things that went wrong or that could have been done better.

As the key person in her organisation to implement the system and to coordinate the various stakeholders, Alison was well placed to highlight the pitfalls of embarking on such a major project. Undertaken on a small and tight budget (circa $100k), with limited human resources dedicated to the implementation, the audience gained practical insights into pitfalls to avoid.

The implementation is currently 12 months in since awarding tender. A recent storm event was a real-life test for the success of the implementation and the system performed really well, with field staff able to carry out their response with the greatest efficiency. This contrasted significantly against a similar event several years ago, prior to the implementation of the new system.

Alison believes that the implementation is approximately 50% complete. If any organisation is contemplating implementing a significant work management system, or any IT project, it would be very beneficial to contact the City of Greater Dandenong.

A great session, and a great example of the challenges we all meet in public works. Well done Alison.

The IPWEA International Public Works Conference is running August 20-23 in Perth. To see pictures from the conference, visit IPWEA's Instagram page, https://www.instagram.com/ipwea/

About Mat Greskie
Mat Greskie is CEO of award-winning Dulverton Waste Management, and is President Elect of IPWEA. 

Image: Alison Saunders, City of Greater Dandenong