One Team, One Vision, One Culture: Capital Program Support Services at
San Francisco International Airport
Written by: Chris Miller, Director of Technical Writing, Hill International, Inc.
Introduction
“This is a different kind of role than a typical program controls assignment,” says Anne Middlebrook, of Hill International, Inc. (Hill), regarding their work for San Francisco International Airport’s (SFO) $7.1 billion Capital Improvement Program (CIP). “Really, our work is about culture and collaboration as much as program and project controls. SFO’s approach is to get ahead of any project issue rather than react and recover. The level of collaboration at SFO could be considered an industry-changing approach.”
Middlebrook joined Hill in March 2018 to lead the Capital Program Support Services (CPSS) engagement. The CIP represents a significant investment in SFO’s assets, with 183 capital projects planned in the coming decade. Key drivers of the CIP include accommodating 7% annual growth in passenger traffic and a 10% increase in annual international flights, enhancing the passenger experience, and developing Net Zero Energy-capable buildings to support SFO’s long-term goal of achieving an entire Net Zero campus.
Within the CIP, SFO is implementing Unifier, a real-time workflow tool for contract management, cost performance, and project delivery. This results in centralized data and real-time reporting for informed operational decision-making. As part of the implementation, the Hill CPSS team has developed and delivered a comprehensive training program, helping to ensure the nearly 700 active Unifier license holders understand how and when to use the system.
“Unifier will certainly help SFO manage its projects,” says Middlebrook. “But Unifier is really just a small piece of what SFO is doing with this program. The bigger picture is what [SFO Chief Development Officer] Geoff Neumayr is doing with the overall program delivery.”
Three Steps to Success
Middlebrook explains the CIP delivery approach is based on three interlocking success factors:
• A Partnering Environment
• Communication and Transparency
• The Right Mix of Resources
“Controls within this atmosphere happen, ideally, almost organically. Yes, SFO has formal and effective processes in place to monitor and track progress at both a macro and granular level, but the big innovation here is the collaboration and trust built among the entire team.”
Program Controls and Collaboration: A Partnering Environment
In July 2018, the CPSS Team moved into the beautiful new Consolidated Administrative Campus building on the airport property, which was completed as part of the CIP. Reflecting SFO’s collaborative culture, the 20-member CPSS Team and SFO Program Management are co-located in an open floorplan setting, keeping communication constant and open.
“The open work space is a big key to our success at SFO,” says Middlebrook. “We continually engage with the people we support throughout the day, whether that’s senior program management, one of the project teams, or another SFO functional group entirely, like Finance. Within CPSS, we have a diverse set of talents and backgrounds, and in this open setting everyone can use their skillsets to the fullest.” Middlebrook specifically cites how the open flow of the office flattens traditional hierarchies and encourages ideas to flow, expediting trouble shooting and helping to facilitate creative solutions.
Like the open workspace, the Unifier implementation has been, and continues to be, extensively collaborative with program leadership, project teams, and decision-makers. A primary goal of the implementation is to put a system in place that aligns with SFO’s processes, preferences, and ways of working. “[Unifier] gives SFO a real-time tool that can be used by any of the management team to check in on project status at any time – during formal status meetings or information discussions, the information is always available,” says Middlebrook.
She adds that the implementation is emblematic of the Hill team’s overall role. “The Hill team acts as an ‘enabling layer’ within the SFO CIP organization. We provide the tools, support user adoption, and verify data integrity from the project teams, who are essentially feeding the system,” says Middlebrook.
“There is a big difference when you go from using email or paper to using an integrated, online workflow tool like Unifier. Success happens when the whole organization gets in the habit of actively using the system as part of the actual process, the actual culture and flow. A large part of the CPSS role is enabling this change.”
Overcoming Challenges with Communication and Transparency
Over the past year, the CPSS team has endeavored to inspire full user adoption of Unifier while the program has ramped up to a peak monthly spend, ranging from $100 million to $150 million. Maintaining system performance and data integrity under these circumstances can be challenging.
“We want to give SFO the best program management tools, as well as help them deliver an exceptional CIP. Our CPSS Team always considers potential impacts to the project teams, so we think a lot about how to help them so they can help us throughout the Unifier implementation,” explains Middlebrook. “Fortunately, the project teams are taking Unifier on board. And SFO’s Director of Program Controls, Julia Katz, has been instrumental in this process.”
Middlebrook and Katz work closely together, offering different strengths to achieve program goals. Middlebrook brings a background in program controls and financial management, and Katz brings years of boots-on-the-ground project management experience and deep SFO knowledge. Their complementary skillsets and similar working styles have resulted in positive, direct relationships with all team members.
“Anne is my right-hand,” says Katz. “We collaborate daily, and even when the solution to a problem isn’t obvious, through an open and honest dialogue we can come up with solutions pretty quickly.” Both Katz and Middlebrook note that the level of the transparency in CPSS, and across the CIP, is exceptional. “We’re all on the same side here,” says Katz.
The Right Mix
“Engagements like this can be tricky,” says Middlebrook. “Controls resources tend to be schedule-centric, and few have worked with multi-billion-dollar programs. Put that together with a Unifier implementation, and this becomes a change management engagement as much as a program controls assignment.”
Added Katz, “With the demands of my role, I need a CPSS Team capable of managing program support services with minimal guidance. The Hill team brings best practices and advice to support the delivery of our CIP – the team has the right mix of professional and personal skills and resources.”
The Hill team continues to support professional growth within the program controls team, as well as with Local Business Enterprises (LBE). With an LBE commitment of 32.5%, Hill is dedicated to providing opportunities for small and diverse businesses, establishing local inclusion goals and encouraging growth through education and long-term professional partnerships.
One such firm, and part of the CPSS Team, is InnoActive Group, a technology advisory company that receives support, guidance and mentorship from Hill.
“Our Team Lead, Anne Middlebrook, has worked with us from day one to develop a strong partnership, committed to the success of SFO while promoting the growth of small LBEs,’” says Sean Wahidi, president of InnoActive. “This mentor-mentee relationship allows us to provide unique opportunities within our community. We are now working with Year Up Bay Area, a non-profit focused on closing the opportunity divide, to employ young individuals from San Francisco and invest in their professional growth.
“Hill’s leadership,” Wahidi concludes, “continues to foster special partnerships with LBEs, helping to empower the local community and deliver effective programs through innovative best practices and lessons learned.”
A Final Thought
SFO’s culture, from the Airport Director throughout the organization, contributes to an inspiring and positive working environment. Says Middlebrook, “I’m proud to be part of the SFO story. Being here, in this environment, at this time, is a special opportunity. I think how this CIP is being delivered is going to have an impact far beyond SFO, maybe even across the industry.”