Blog

In the past, disruptions have largely been of a local or regional nature, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest. Previous pandemics or public health emergencies, such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003 and the Ebola virus outbreak in 2013, were also not as threatening as the current COVID-19 outbreak. 

In this special feature, Manage India reaches out to senior practitioners to find out how organizations are leveraging project and program management for an effective plan to tide over the crisis, and what lessons must practitioners draw from this experience.

The domain-agnostic framework of project management, as laid down by PMI, plays a pivotal role in managing global disasters like the current coronavirus pandemic. Key principles of this globally accepted framework are setting up a central project management office (PMO), laying down the objectives of control/recovery, defining the scope of management, executing a comprehensive and practical risk management plan, mentoring and motivating teams, and monitoring progress. Central to the project management framework is effective linking and collaboration of satellite projects and sectors. This helps in sharing resources, forecasting, funding and budgeting, communications, and the procurement of materials and services. 

Healthcare organizations are following these principles to manage the pandemic. 

• The task forces at the government level, and command and control centers at the hospital level, are functioning like a PMO. They are responsible for iterative planning, directing execution, tracking outcomes, course correcting responses, and dissipating authentic information to the stakeholders. The Government of India’s national task force is serving as a central PMO for the entire effort.
• Effective risk management strategies – identifying, qualifying/quantifying, and creating risk response plans with shared goals such as the creation of isolation facilities, closing national and state borders, acquiring testing kits and setting up testing centers, and pooling in additional resources. 
• Financial preparedness – estimates being aggregated to assess funding/budget requirements. This is not only important for funding the ongoing services but also to get the industry and economy back on its feet later.States have released additional funds to cover for expenses towards treatment.
• Monitoring of project alignment to the objective -- the national task force, along with key bodies such as the Indian Council of Medical Research, is continually monitoring the situation and communicating the same to satellite centers for timely action. Research organizations across the world are working toward developing effective treatment and prevention (vaccine for COVID-19).
• Communication and stakeholder engagement – effective, simple, and timely messaging to ensure all stakeholders are aligned toward the overall goal, i.e. curtailing the spread of the virus. Political leaders, the media, and social media influencers are using various channels to spread the word among the general public. Communication also entails collaboration with authorities such as the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control to keep a tab on the global situation.
• Lessons learned and project documentation – documenting key lessons learned and sharing best practices, such as doctors in the forefront of fighting the disease in China sharing their learnings in medical journals for the benefit of doctors in other parts of the world.

The crisis has reinforced the importance of project management practices in healthcare. It shows the importance of defining and managing scope for better preparedness and response. There is also a need to implement business continuity plans in the industry to ensure the protection of critical resources and recovery strategies. Another critical learning has been on effective governance. Effective project governance helps in prioritizing activities at the time of a crisis. Healthcare organizations also need to relook at their existing systems to analyze, curate, and disseminate information to improve reporting and forecasting.

As a practitioner, I’d like to see PMI’s project management framework being leveraged for effective training on disaster management techniques. As a physician, I urge the public to abide by the government directives on prevention. This will ease the burden on the healthcare infrastructure, help treat and prevent the disease, and restore people’s health and the health of the nation.