Managing the Millennium Dome project
Project Management Whitepaper
Managing the Millennium Dome project:
How it was doomed and how it could have been delivered
By Aurora Brown
Abstract
The Millennium Dome project is an example of one project team getting distracted from its
primary purpose of c reating a compelling exhibition to celebrate mankind's achievements ,
by instead focusing on c onstructing a grandiose building. This whitepaper examines the key
failings of the project before eval uating a series of project management models that could
have been used to identi fy, plan for and prevent these faults.
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Managing the Millennium Dome project
Project Management Whitepaper
Contents
1.
Introduc tion
4
2.
Key failings of the Dome project
4
2.1
Defining the s olution is as important as defining the problem
4
2.2
Omitting SMART objecti ves is not smart
4
2.3
Knowl edge is power, so trust the experts
5
2.4
Uncertainty equals risk, so make contingency plans
5
2.5
Poor management struc ture increases costs
6
3.
The models that could have made a difference
7
3.1
Identifying mistakes
7
3.2
Planning for mis takes
8
3.3
Preventi ng mistakes
9
Bibliography
11
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Managing the Millennium Dome project
Project Management Whitepaper
1. Introduction
The Millennium Dome project is an example of one project team getting distracted from its
primary purpose of c reating a compelling exhibition to celebrate mankind's achievements ,
by instead focusing on c onstructing a grandiose building. This whitepaper e xamines the key
failings of the project before eval uating a series of project management models that could
have been used to identi fy, plan for and prevent these faults.
2. Key failings of the Dome project
2.1 Defining the solution is as important as defining t he problem
According to McKee (2012), a business case should explain how a project will cos t effectively add value to the organisation by considering various options for improving the
organisation's current state and then choosing the most suitable course of action. In this
case, the situation was broadly defi ned in the business case for the Millennium Exhibition ,
but the nature and content of the exhibition had not yet been decided . This caused the
project to run over budget, as there were no specific deli verables and the attention of
management was focused on developing the Dome building.
As the Commission's aim was to create an exhibition of a "scale and stature of the Great
Exhibition of 1851, and the Festival of Britain of 1951" (The Comptroller and Auditor
General, 2000), it is surprising that so little thought went into the actual product, i.e. the
content of the exhi bition , and that the previous successful exhibitions had not been used
for inspiration as exampl es of good practice.
2.2 Omitting SMART obj ectives is not smart
The objectiv es set i n the business plan did not follow the SMAR T guidelines of being
specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time -bound, as the business plan was not
detailed about the contents of the exhibition, the sponsors to be approached or how success
would be quantified .
Later surveys indicate that the publicity campaign did not meet the marketing objectives of
informing the public of the Dome's content or how to buy tickets (most survey respondents
did not know that tickets had to be booked in advance ). The campaign was also not
persuasive that a trip t o the Dome would be good value for money. A more effective
marketing plan might have been devised if the Marketing Director knew exactly what
he was marketing , i.e. i f the content of the Dome had been finalised at that time. Similarly,
the sponsors would hav e felt more secure in sponsoring if the Company had been able to
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Managing the Millennium Dome project
Project Management Whitepaper
give them a better idea of the desig n and content of the exhibition . Public perception was
that it was a "risky purchase", because no information about the Experience was forthcoming
from the Company, whic h was relying on word of mouth and the press, but did nothing to
stimulate posi tive conversation.
2.3 Knowledge is power, so trust the experts
No research was done to gauge the demand, but if detailed opinion polls had been carried
out, the Company mi ght have had a better indication of the likely visitor numbers , the public
sensitivity to ticket prici ng, and the need for onsite parking.
A combinati on of statistical projections and judgemental forecasting seems to have been
used. Firstly, projected visitor numbers had been based on the number of visitors other pay to-visit attractions in the UK had received. Secondly, these numbers had then been inflated
for the projections bas ed on the di rectors' assumptions of how popular the Millennium
Experience would be. Expert opinions were sought in the form of the Deloitte & Touche
Consulting Group, but their warnings to make more prudent estimates were ignored .
When developing a busi ness case , the project owners may remember who the audience is
and tailor the argument to address the needs and interests of those reading it (Martin and
Tate, 2001). The target market in this case was the Millennium Commission, which was the
primary financier of t he project using money from the National Lottery. Evidently, the
Company did not take the Commission's interests into account when developing the business
plan, because the Commission expressed concern that the plan lacked any substantiv e
information on the content of the Dome ( the key business driver ), and that there was no
detail on commercial, operational and pricing strategies.
2.4 Uncertainty equals ri sk, so make contingency plans
The project team underestimated the uncertainty of the project, which is one of the main
problems with statistical projec tions that McKee (2012) points out. T hey did not know how
popular the Millennium Experience would be with visitors, there was no supporting
evidence for the income p rojections in the business case as no sponsors had yet been
approached , and it was uncertain how many advance tickets would be sold. The content of
the Dome, ticket prices, transport li nks and car access had not been confirmed. The cost
projections also hinged on a lot of uncertainty, as t he design and content of the exhibition
was undefined . There had been no future plans or suggested uses for the Millennium Dome
site and struc ture, which was the most expensive cost item in the budget, and no prospective
buyers or functions had been propos ed for after the Millennium Experience had ended.
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Managing the Millennium Dome project
Project Management Whitepaper
There is no evi dence that research was conducted into alternative solutions to the
Millennium Dome. The Dome was an expensive and impractical structure to build, in a
location perceived to be difficul t and time-consuming to reach. If a less costly building had
been designed, there would have been more money in the original budget to dedicate to
marketing and to improv ing the transport links to the Dome, which would have resulted in
more visitors, more spons ors and more positive word of mouth. A more versatile building
that was suitable for vari ous uses would also have made it easier to find a buyer for the site
after the Millennium Ex perience.
2.5 Poor management s tructure increases costs
The dual status of the New Mi llennium Experience Company as both a limited liabili ty
company and a non -departmental public body resulted in a complex hierarchy of monitoring
and accountability relati onships. The more complex such a hierarchy is the more difficult it
becomes to manage the project, as there are too many stakeholders all working to
different agendas (McKee, 2012) . In this project too many managers had authority, but
none wanted to take responsibility or participate in the day to day operations, and not
enough people were held accountable for their decisions. This caused a decentralised
overspending that went unnot iced and was untraceable, making it easy for the various
parties to blame each other, as nobody kept track of the costs.
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Managing the Millennium Dome project
Project Management Whitepaper
3. The models that could have made a difference
3.1 Identifying mis takes
As Chapman and Ward (2003) point out, all projects contain some level of risk, which coul d
increase the return on investment if managed appropriately. McKee (2012) specifies various
factors associated wi th high risk projects, the following of which were present in the
Millennium Dome projec t: undefined responsibilities in the management structure, a lack of
expertise in the team composition, inadequate resources, a limited timescale and the
complex nature of the project which itself carried inherent political and social risks, as th e
Government and National Lottery were key stakeholders.
The Company could hav e used the 6Ws framework (Chapman and Ward, 2003) as a starting
point to identify these potential risks. Using this model effectively would have eliminated
many of the mistakes that the Company made in developing its objectives and preparing i ts
business plan and budget, as it woul d have been forced to consider who the stakeholders
were, what their interests were, what resources we re required and available , what the
stakeholders were hopi ng to achieve, how it could best be done and the timeline available.
Who
• Government
• Sponsors
What
When
• Reputation
• Publicity
• 2000 and
beyond
Which way
Wherewithal
• Exhibition
content
• Local tourism
• Marketing and
operational
expertise
Why
• Historical
celebration
• Community
regeneration
Figure 3.1: Chapman and Ward (2003) 6Ws framework for the Millennium Dome project.
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Managing the Millennium Dome project
Project Management Whitepaper
A PESTEL analysis woul d have enabled the Company to identify external risks to the projec t
by examining the economic, social, legal, environmental, technological and political
settings, including the need to invest in transport links and park ing. Although the Company's
revised budget at January 2000 shows that it saved costs on infrastructure and transport,
as well as on operations and marketing, this proved detrimental as there was nothing
physically or motiv ationally driving visitors to the Dome. Had the public perception been
sought at the s tart, t he Company would have known that more outbound marketing was
required to generate the high demand it was expecting. Its reliance on free media exposure
meant that the Company was not in control of what was being said about it, re sulting in an
abundance of negative press coverage. If the Company had shared more information about
the exhibition and its content early on, there would have been a legacy of positive coverage
to temper the negative. The Di gital UK (DUK) "Leave no -one behind" switchover campaign
is a good example of a government project researching the public's opinions to understand
and overcome their objections. The DUK worked in collaboration with the public to promote
and spread the word of switching from analogue to d igital television nationwide (Thoren,
Fox, Baker, Reeve, and Morrison, 2012).
3.2 Planning for mistakes
The Ishikawa fishbone diagram (Ishikawa, 1986) might have assisted the Company in
understanding the poss ible causes for the risks identified, thus enabling it to plan for
minimising the caus es of risk. As McKee (2012) points out, however, this model is often only
used to evaluate proje c t output retrospectively , rather than pre -emptively isolating and
managing the c auses to prevent mishaps. An event tree analysis would therefore be an
alternative model, as it s tarts with the certainties of the current situation and traces a logical
progression forward through a range of alternative reactions and results (You and Tonon,
2012). For example, choosing to build a less costly building than the Dome would have
lowered the income needed from ticket sales, thus reducing the risk of not attracting enough
visitors.
A risk assessment matrix would have been ideal for developing contingency plans, as it
rates each risk according to its potential impact and the likelihood of it occurring. Based on
the risk rating, the Company would have identified which risks could be accepted and which
needed to be avoided, while hi ghly probable risks with serious impacts could have been
planned for timeously. Not finding a buyer for the Dome's continued usage was a probable
risk with high impac t, as it is a unique struc ture in a remote area and the project's main
expense. The process of finding potential buyers should therefore have begun before
building even commenced.
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Managing the Millennium Dome project
Project Management Whitepaper
Another probabl e risk t hat could have been avoided is the shortfall in sponsorship income,
which would have been better forecast if the content of the Experience and various
exhibition sections had been conceptualised in the original business plan. The Company
would then hav e been able to put out contracts and secure sponsors from the outset.
Impact
Probability
Low 1
1
Low
1
o
Building not complete on
time
Medium
2
Insufficient transport links
3
High
3
o
High 3
2
3
o
Negative publicity
4
2
o
Medium 2
o
management structure
o
expertise
o
Insufficient marketing
6
Inadequate operational
6
Overly complex
o
Not finding a buyer for
the Dome
9
Shortfall in sponsorship
o
Overspending
income
o
Shortfall in visitor income
Figure 3.2: McKee (2012) r isk assessment matrix for the Millennium Dome project.
3.3 Preventing mistakes
Using a work breakdown structure (WBS) to set tasks into smaller, manageable size
chunks would have assis ted the Company in achieving the objectives that it struggled with,
such as acquiri ng s ponsors in time and developing a feasible pricing strategy . The WBS
would have highlighted the Company's lack of commercial focus, which would have ensured
a customer orientation to the marketing and sales plans. Purchasing tickets in advance
required additional planning from prospective visitors, instead of permitting them to go to
the Dome at their own c onvenience and purchase tickets at the door.
The challenge in attempting multiple jobs at a time is that some tasks, known as successor
tasks, cannot be started until other tasks (predecessor tasks) have been completed (Bolles
and Hubbard, 2006) . It is thus essential when developing the WBS to consider the sequence
in which tasks must be done.
To establish the c ritical path, i .e. the longest sequenc e of consecutive activities to complete
the project , a network analysis that considers the working dependencies could have been
used (McKee, 2012) . A delay in any activity on the critical path would have caused the whole
project to be del ayed. Identifying the critical path would have enabled the Company to
shorten the timespan needed by highlighting which activities could be eliminated, shortened
or done simultaneously , thus avoiding the risk of not securing a buyer or sponsors on time .
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Managing the Millennium Dome project
Project Management Whitepaper
The progress of the cri ti cal path could then have been tracked using a Gantt chart , which
allows each task to be tracked according to the time allocated for it as well as the actual
time taken to compl ete i t. By identi fying the resources required for the project, t he Gantt
chart would have prevented the lack of operational expert ise that added to the negative
press coverage and bad word of mouth, as there was a high incidence of broken exhibits,
long queues at the Body Zone and a poor signage system when the Dome first opened.
With all tasks and resources so clearly identified, t he WBS and Gantt chart would have
assisted the Company i n developi ng a realistic and comprehensive budget with tighter
controls on expendi ture , thus preventing it from continuously overspending and requiring
additional grants. Both Arthur Ande rsen and PricewaterhouseCoopers, who audited the
Company's affairs at different stages , expressed concern at its continual practice of
forecasting the cash flow bas ed on the project's a p p r o v e d budget rather than realistic
expectations of actual i ncome and expenditure through to completion (The Comptroller and
Auditor General, 2000) .
Traffic light reports would have made the progress tracked by the Gantt chart easy to
follow, by representi ng i tems that were on target in green, recoverable problems in yellow
and problem areas in red. By simplifying the project's progress in this way, management
might have had a clearer view of what needed to be done, thus preventing much of the
overspending.
Task
Progress
Constructing the Dome.
On target.
Confirming the Dome content.
Behind target, but slippage recoverable.
Marketing and publicity.
Behind target, but slippage recoverable.
Developing a feasible pricing strategy.
Behind target, but slippage recoverable.
Securing sponsors.
Behind target and difficult to recover.
Securing a buyer for the Dome.
Behind target and difficult to recover.
Improving transport links.
Behind target and difficult to recover.
Figure 3.3: McKee (2012) traffic light report for the Millennium Dome project.
Finally, the Gantt chart and WBS would include the process, costs and resources involved
in the closure, sal e and handover of the Dome at the e nd of the Millennium Exhibition. This
process could have been started much earlier in the project's lifecycle to prevent building a
structure that nobody wanted, as the Company could have worked in collaboration with the
buyer to design a more practical building fit for both parties' needs .
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Managing the Millennium Dome project
Project Management Whitepaper
Bibliography
Bolles, D.L. and Hubbard, D.G. (2006) The Power of Enterprise -Wide Project Management .
Miadenhead: McGraw -Hi ll Book Co.
Burke, R. (2003) Projec t Management: Planning and Control Techniques, 4 t h edition . New
Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Chapman, C. and Ward, S. (2003) Project Risk Management: Processes, Techniques and
Insights, 2 n d edition . New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons.
Ishikawa, K. (1986) Guide to Quality Control, 2 n d revised edition . Japan: Asian Productivi ty
Organization.
McKee, F. (2012) CIM s tudy text: Professional Diploma in Marketing: Project Mana gement
in Marketing, 1 s t edition. London: BPP Learning Media.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (2000) The Millennium Dome . London: National Audit
Office.
Thoren, B., Fox, R., Bak er, C., Reeve, E. and Morrison, A. (2012) Digital UK: Leaving no one behind. Insti tute of Practiti oners in Advertising . Database: WARC.com.
You, X. and Tonon, F. (2012) Event -Tree Analysis with Imprecise Probabilities. Risk
Analysis: An International Journal . Feb2012, Vol. 32 Issue 2, p330 -344.
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