Consultancy value programme

The consultancy value programme is newish, started up this year. At the government computing exhibition in June, gcexpo, someone from the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) mentioned it.

In the light of the adverse media interest in poor but extensive spending on consultants, suppliers and outsourcers, the NAO produced a report on government use of consultants. This report made a number of recommendations on how to procure consultancy services and to obtain best value from these services, not just value for money, but general value through for example:

• identifying skill gaps,
  
• being smarter clients,
  
• engaging earlier with the market,
  
• providing staff with incentives.

In response to the NAO, the OGC set up the consultancy value programme to influence government spend and address the NAO recommendations. It is focusing on:

• training
• demand management
• category/supplier management
• consultancy performance review

The programme must be making an impact because the Management Consultants Association public sector interest group is having its second session this year with an OGC speaker on the programme.

There's more explanation of it on the OGC site here.

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NAO (2006) Central Government's use of consultants Vol. HC 128 Session 2006-2007 (Ed, National Audit Office) HMSO. 577

Project management skills

I'd remarked to my supervisors that a project manager doesn't need technical skills, but they have queried it.

Gray says that a project manager needs "only rudimentary technical skills" {Gray, 2008} but goes on to remark that he/she also needs orchestrating skills to get people to make the right decisions at the right time. I want to find some public sector literature that remarks on the skills that a project manager needs. There is probably something on the OGC site and probably something in PRINCE2. The OGC site on project manager gives responsibilities, skills and attributes. It also has a concise diagram of where the PM fits in.

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Gray, C. F. and Larson, E. W. (2008) Project management: the managerial process, (4 Edn), McGraw-Hill, NY. 798