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The provision of water related services in Australia is an increasingly complex task as the sector balances climate variability, aging assets and network resilience, and increased quality and service expectations.
Water utilities and entities have long interacted with service providers for the planning, delivery, operation and maintenance of capital infrastructure. These projects, to sustain capital, sustain services or meet growth needs, have historically been contracted in single transactional engagements.
However, there is now a growing trend towards long-term, and more integrated and collaborative, partnering in the sector for flexibility and agility in infrastructure outcomes with high levels of innovation and value for money. This is particularly the case when it comes to planning, refurbishment and renewal of their existing asset base to sustain their capital and sustain the services expected by customers and regulators.
At OzWater 2021, Aurecon hosted a workshop with industry on how the country’s water utilities are seeking to foster closer, more efficient working relationships through partnering.
Seven panellists from industry shared their experiences with partnering, and provided lessons learned for future partnerships. Workshop attendees unpacked the value, opportunities and risks behind the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of partnering, and explored what partnerships must do, should do, and must not do.
This paper presents a summary of the workshop outputs along with reflections from Aurecon on why and how strong partnerships can provide legacy benefits for utilities and their communities.
At the 2021 OzWater conference, Aurecon hosted a panel-led workshop on how water utilities are seeking to foster closer, more efficient working relationships. We know that each of us is just a drop in our water system but together we can generate a ripple, make a wave, and create a better world.
6:11Kate Miles, Head of Systems and Asset Planning at Sydney Water is responsible for leading Sydney Water’s Planning Partnership. Here she discusses the recent trend of moving away from panels towards long-term partnering and what this has meant for Sydney Water and its customers.
5:28Joe Otter, Head of Engineering & Professional Services at Urban Utilities, was instrumental in establishing and now leading Urban Utilities’ integrated engineering services partnerships, providing all pre-market engineering services across Urban Utilities’ capital investment portfolio.
6:04Ryan Leon, Capital Works Partnership Manager at Yarra Valley Water, oversees capital design and construction contracts with a particular focus on the uplift journey for improved capital delivery maturity.
4:39Boris Ninkovic, General Manager South Australia and Queensland at Fulton Hogan Utilities, has been closely involved in setting up partnerships with various utilities in South Australia and Queensland.
4:01Dr Robert Holmes, former Aurecon Technical Lead, People and Change at Aurecon, is a human behavioural expert who has provided advice on change management and enabled the smooth transition and upskilling of workforces as part of long-term water partnerships.
As part of the OzWater ’21 workshop, participants separated into groups to discuss and record their thoughts on the success factors for partnering, and why the industry is shifting to this approach.
The following drivers emerged from general consensus in the room. The shift is being prompted by:
The industry is transitioning out of an era where developing a 20-year planning and asset strategy lifecycle was standard, to focusing more on understanding change triggers and needing the flexibility to explore alternate pathways.
This is not to say that a panel, or a single service transaction, doesn’t have its place. It does. It just depends on the outcome that a utility or entity wants to achieve.
Workshop participants highlighted that panels, or transactions, work best for low risk and well-defined contracts, along with a desire for early certainty and clarity of outcomes.
Partnering on the other hand was described as providing more adaptability and flexibility, applied when there is uncertainty in outcomes or there’s a requirement to potentially take alternate directions in the future.
The most common themes from the interactive session have been grouped in this paper to provide insights into the collective groundswell of support for partnering in the industry, but also the trip hazards to watch out for with the approach.
This video summarises some of the common hazards to avoid as well as the benefits experienced from partnerships between utilities and consultants in the water sector.
Workshop participants explored the critical success factors around the must do’s, should do’s and won’t do’s for how to make partnering successful:
Good leadership and clear accountabilities
Collaborative culture and people management
Frameworks, process, alignment and transparency
Clear definition of values and success
Openness and honesty
Build in innovation
Lessons learned
Pain share / gain share
Incentivise the behaviours you want
Fit-for-purpose governance
Dishonesty
Hoard knowledge
The way things have always been done
Call the lawyers
Undermine trust
Work in silos
Over the course of the workshop, Aurecon observed that the water industry has a general desire to move along the relationship spectrum (Figure 1) to partnering (far right of Figure 1) – where integration is the platform for a ‘one-team’ approach with shared risk and alignment around outcomes.
Figure 1. The relationship spectrum for partners delivering infrastructure capital works.
In this section, we provide a thematic analysis of the drivers and legacy opportunities that long-term partnering may provide the industry, as a reflection of the workshop outputs.
Incentivised partnering contracts should measure performance against the benefits that customers receive, with fit-for-purpose infrastructure addressing their needs today and in the future.
A primary driver of efficiency and value in the water sector is accountability to customers and the community (Figure 2).
Utilities and industry partners are placing customers at the heart of their business; this is driving a focus on value for money and enhancing quality of life for them. To support this, decisions around catchments, water supply, innovation and efficiency are triggered by what impacts they have on customers:
A partnership has to be given the time, passion and energy it needs to flourish so that familiarity is built between parties. This is time dedicated to focusing on the culture, and development of the team, as this is vital given the engagement is no longer transactional.
With an integrated team, management attention must be paid to team health, the adoption of common values, and demonstration of the meaningful and positive behaviours expected in a combined organisation.
True partnering means that all partners can understand the whole system approach to the extent that’s necessary for their specific role, and can invest the time and innovation into how each carries out their part within these broader contexts.
This means a shift from short-term focus on time, cost and quality measured now on this project, to a broader, long-term focus on driving efficiency across the programmes of work, and measurement of outcomes, at a portfolio level. It also means efficiency is gained across the partnership – and the value chain.
Partnering will flourish when there is a sense of empowerment among all parties, transparency in communications, and the motivation to act a certain way – by building a culture of authenticity.
Examples of current partnerships point to the ability to flex resourcing to adapt to scope development and changes, along with driving better outcomes on managing the ebbs and flows of resourcing requirements. This is in comparison to a transactional approach where labour is usually prescribed, and any changes attract variations.
Partnering will flourish when there is a sense of empowerment among all parties, transparency in communications, and the motivation to act a certain way – by building a culture of authenticity.
A key driver for entering into a partnership is to leverage complementary skillsets and diversity of thought as the project or programme scope is co-defined. It requires leadership. Common to the partnering approach is the desire for genuine, honest, open and transparent leadership. It is one of the hardest things to get right. Everyone should be empowered to show personal leadership regardless of their role.
There are two aspects to leaving a legacy that partnering can deliver. The first is the community legacy by contributing to sustainable, liveable and healthy places and spaces. The second is the legacy that partners leave for each other, and the industry, through building and sharing new knowledge, capability and ways of working.
Co-developing a legacy plan and setting the aspects to be achieved through the partnership can be a powerful way to embed the desired future state into day-to-day operations.
By promoting collaboration and focusing diverse skillsets on problem solving, partnering has the power to produce sustainable results with a systematic approach of integrated solutions rather than addressing issues in isolation.
Workshop participants were animated in their discussions around the legacy that partnerships leave, however there was one strong theme – start the way you mean to finish. This includes planning time for managers to invest in the relational aspects, and budgeting for the overheads to drive partnership behaviour.
Our reflection on this is to be open to trying out something entirely different, or implementing an innovative idea, as this will lower the barriers to getting started. Be responsive when things go wrong – partners need to be prepared to jump in and work together under this new framework.
Partnering also doesn’t need to be limited to a client and a service provider. All parties connected to the partnership should be involved in working towards the long-term common goals of the partnership. This is a true reflection of a ‘one-team’ culture.
In creating these environments, the partnering approach delivers on creating value-for-money, a greater customer and community focus, as well as a legacy for the community and the organisations involved.
What we have learned by exploring the benefits and the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of partnering in the water sector is that there is a significant shift taking place in our industry that is leading to service improvements and leaving a lasting legacy for customers.
Thank you to the Australian Water Association for providing the platform at OzWater 21 to explore this industry opportunity further. We invite you to discover more of our Water partnerships – whole of system thinking and to engage with our team on your feedback and ideas.
This is a conversation that the water sector will continue to collaboratively explore as we meet the challenges of population increase and ensuring network resilience.
Contributing authors & reviewers: Robert Holmes and Lisa Currie.
