SOUTHEASTERN RAILWAY – INPUT TO PASSENGER AND TRAIN PERFORMANCE
Interim’s experience
“My own experience has been predominantly in public transportation in different modes across operations and engineering management, business and transport planning and programme management to mention a few. I have worked in a variety of sectors and organisations. Being familiar with the rail industry I quickly was able to understand what Southeastern was setting out to deliver, and from previous roles already recognised a number of individuals within
Having worked in different industries, although often in transportation-related roles, I believe that while the rail industry has its fair share of significant issues, these are not necessarily unique to the rail industry. The solutions might be very industry-specific, but re-inventing wheels is not always the only way forward. It was clear that Karen also recognised the advantages of a good blend of intra and extra-industry experience was essential to meeting her client’s ambitions. It turned out we had complementary skills and experiences, enabling us to quickly set a common agenda.
We worked collaboratively rather than independently, created strong stakeholder relationships and agreed how and what to present at the weekly Executive Committee briefings – to get the support and decisions we required. It is not intended to sound clichéd, but the result was that the Exec made fast, collective decisions, provided real-time feedback and was action-oriented.
As our programmes progressed, we compared our respective spend and delivery schedules and diverted under-spend or available resource to additional schemes that offered the best passenger or performance benefit. Consequently, we delivered our various projects on time and came in 1% under the target budget. We had developed a streamlined approval and governance process recognising small projects did not require the same level of control as major programmes. I could turn a project brief into approval and (financial) authority in as little as 24 hours.
Karen has remained in regular contact not only with me but with the initial client director and subsequently with his successor, which provides all of us with confidence we are delivering what we have agreed.
Southeastern has recently offered me an additional contract to help consolidate the benefits delivered in the earlier programmes. I will also help establish a single PMO that has visibility of project delivery and will then track ongoing benefits realisation. Additionally, some projects where “trials” that have proven very successful and now need to be fused into business as usual operations. There has been a parallel “People” programme and development of improved business metrics for operational managers and their teams. My new role is about tying the various themes into a holistic endeavour to focus on Southeastern’s strategic aim of delivering top drawer passenger satisfaction.”
Mike Zaloga is Interim CRM Senior Customer Project Manager and Stephen Lumb Interim Head of Performance.