PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING

Leader: Genoa
Participants: All partners
Duration: 30 months
The project leader will take care of monitoring and technical-financial management of the project, supported by qualified partners. In the project management team will be dedicated particular attention to distinguish the roles of financial and technical management of the staff. The project manager will be choose in function of its management, problem solving, relational and leadership ability, whereas staff has to have a specific financial and  technical knowledge (environment, sustainable mobility).

Project advancement state monitoring will be competence of the project management team.

1.1. PROJECT COORDINATION AND MANAGEMENT

To guarantee a smooth project coordination and communication two main project boards will be established:

• Steering committee: consisting of one responsible person of each partner who participates in the project meetings; has the right to take decisions for the well conducting of the project and is responsible for involving key actors in the project. Key actors could be invited to take part in the steering committee on an ad-hoc basis if deemed appropriate.
• Work package leaders: for every work package a leader is assigned. He is responsible for achieving the work packages’ outcomes, for the involvement and participation of all partners, for summarising the work package results for interim and final reports. Together with the coordinator the work package leader is responsible for meeting the subject and budget targets and coordinating the production of deliverables of his work package.

For each work package the work package leader as well as the project manager (co-ordinator) ensures that all tasks are realized respecting the project schedule and that information is exchanged among partners.

The project manager is in constant contact with the responsible European managers delivering all project reports in time. The co-ordinator will ensure that all partners will supply information and results concerning tasks accomplished and that partners participate in project meetings. A restricted partner space in the project website (see WP7) as well as email an phone contacts will assure smooth communication between partners.

The coordinator ensures that payments are made on time and according to the achieved outcomes and deliverables.

The co-ordinator is in charge of reporting to EACI in cooperation with work package leaders.

In this context, the co-ordinator:

• submits project reports as well as publishable summary slide and project factsheets;
• coordinates the Result-Oriented Report about Ele.C.Tra final results, that will be realize together with PM assistant at the end of the project.

The project coordination and management will also include a Risk mitigation plan, whose main elements will be discussed by PPs during the kick-off meeting (2nd project month). At a glance, the risk mitigation plan will provide:

• To highlight the main potential issues and problems during the project period, paying particular attention to the start-up activities and involving all the partners from the beginning;
• To quantify risks, if it’s possible, identifying some different levels for the critical tasks (e.g. low, medium or high risk);
• To identify solutions for risks and issues. In this way, it will be to reach easier the project targets and monitor actions closely and continuously.

1.2. MONITORING OF THE PROJECT PROGRESS

The Project management assistant will perform technical and financial monitoring of the project. They will perform their task with the aid of two verification checklists in which the milestones and deliverable products of the project—respectively, technical and financial—will be listed. The technical checklist will include a section dedicated to verification that the expected goals and results have been attained; in other words, verification of the effectiveness of the actions. These checklists will be drawn up at the start of the project and given to the PPs during the start-up Steering Committee meeting.

The project manager and project assistants will verify the project’s state of advancement every two months and whether associated beneficiaries have provided all necessary information for reporting and for technical, administrative and financial monitoring.

The monitoring activities will be especially dedicated to control project progress in order to guarantee the Ele.C.Tra model to be available for each urban areas. The possibility of arriving at the actions in the Implementation phase with the Model ready to use is a progress indicator in the general implementation of the project.

The project assistant will keep associated beneficiaries regularly updated on reporting and monitoring requirements via e-mail and the project management/communication platform.

Methods employed:

Every 6 months, the project management team will prepare a report on the overall progress of the project (Progress Report). Any actual or potential non-conformities resulting from the monitoring activity will be handled respectively with the appropriate corrective or preventive actions. The discovery of actual or potential non-conformities, analysis of their causes, handling and resolution will be recorded on special forms managed by the project management team. Upon completion of the project, the project management team will prepare a final report of project management activities, indicating the strong and weak points of the activity performed by the project team, including lessons to be learned for the future.

1. 3. PROJECT MEETINGS

Project meetings of the steering committee will be organised at month 2, 8, 14, 20, 26 and 30 of the project. They will be organized by the co-ordinator in collaboration with partners.

At the kick-off meeting at month 2 the important phases of the EleCtra will be worked out in a detailed work plan. National particularities to be considered for the adaptation of the model will be discussed. The award criteria for the project will be discussed and elaborated to be presented for acceptance.

The interim meeting 1 will be at month 8 at the end of the model executive planning phase and the beginning of the service planning to ensure a smooth start of the operational phases of the project. In the meeting at month 8 will be realized half a day of training for the non-pilot cities to clarify their involvement in the project and to exchange the first evaluation about their issues.

The midterm meeting will be organised at month 14at the end of service executive planning, realized for every pilot city, and the beginning of the WP5 (implementation work package). Work in progress as well as barriers and problems will be reviewed in order to solve them; the work plan for the next project period will be presented.

The interim meeting 2 will be organised at month 20 during implementation activities, to optimize issues and to present trends of the monitoring regarding the implementation.

Then, the interim meeting 3 is planned at month 26 at the end of the implementation and the beginning of the post-operam activities, to discuss WP results and plan activities for calibration model and non-pilot cities feasibility studies.

The final meeting will be at month 30 of the project with focus on the outcomes of the projects and on strategies to transfer the EleCTra model to non-pilot cities and to maintain electric scooter sharing services and project webpage.

1.4. CONSORTIUM AGREEMENT

Within this work package a consortium agreement will be worked out and signed by all partners spelling out the role of the above mentioned steering committee and its voting procedures, the responsibilities of each partners for the delivery of results and reporting inputs, as well as actions to be taken if a partner defaults on his tasks, intellectually property rights and other administrative arrangements within the consortium