During the session “Project Management: How to Avoid Developing Unviable Strategies”, experts spoke about the successful implementation of strategies in the regions, shared experience in the development of strategic plans and also touched upon the new approach to budgeting.

Andrei Slepnev, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Government and Director of the Russian Government’s Project Management Department, noted that surveys from 2016–2017 showed that both business and the public have great demand for establishing development strategies for Russia. This is a key issue and part of the global agenda.

Maxim Oreshkin, Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, addressed the issue of budget compilation. He noted that at present the budget has been adopted for 2017–2019, which remains stable and predictable even under the conservative oil market scenario with oil prices at USD 40 per barrel.

“Our progression has changed somewhat in recent years due to objective circumstances. Initially we battled to adopt a budget and then we said, ‘Let’s adjust the state programme to this budget’. Ultimately, the system didn’t work at all. Nobody was interested in the state programmes. Now the goal is to try to do everything the other way around and flip the script. It’s a situation in which we talk about the goals, the strategy and the methods for achieving it and then the budget as a kind of mould for the overall picture”, Oreshkin said.

He stressed that no major amendments to the budget policy are envisioned “because macroeconomic stability should remain the priority in any case and we can’t disrupt it by any means”.

Selective amendments to the budget are planned in such a way so as to achieve the goals and eliminate the restrictions which exist for economic growth and which are described in the comprehensive action plan for the period until 2025.

Pavel Kadochnikov, President of the Center for Strategic Research Foundation, noted that the major goal should be “reaching a trajectory of economic growth and improving the quality of life”.

“At the Center for Strategic Research, we specifically took a very detailed look at the implementation results of previous strategies. Our government funding programme for the period until 2010 was fulfilled at a rate of 39%. The 2020 strategy has been fulfilled at a rate of 20%. And experts as well as those who implemented it say one of the reasons is that we took on too many areas. This doesn’t mean that the government should focus on one particular thing; it should address the entire sector. But there should only be a few priorities. And that is precisely what we need to focus on”, Kadochnikov stressed.

The expert stated that “the documents that are related to the mobilization of resources in one way or another work best in the Russian reality and the Russian system”. These include national projects and presidential decrees.

Slepnev asked the experts to answer the question of what exactly ‘strategy’ means and whether it is a top-down action when a directive comes down from management or if it is the selection of the best ideas and a lift for them in the form of support.

Evgeny Savchenko, Governor of the Belgorod Region, said that his region has been implementing a strategy for seven years.

“A strategy is a core document for the development of any territory. It’s not some spam that that you can officially prepare, set out and then report on to someone that we did one thing and should expect this result. A strategy is a working document. It is constantly being updated. It’s a social contract between the public and the authorities. It spells out an action plan, the deadlines and mutual obligations”, Savchenko said.

In response to the question about how the strategy should be created – from the top down or the reverse, the expert noted that the process should be bilateral.

“We are all constituent entities of the Russian Federation and for us all the government directives and resolutions, presidential decrees and development instructions that concern the social and economic development of the country as a whole and its individual territories are priorities. This is top-down movement. We utilize it as the basis for building our own strategy. On the other hand, we each live in a specific territory, we understand the regional peculiarities and we see our own reserves, capabilities and scientific, investment and human resources potential. And in developing the activity of the population and the activity of employees who work in the government, we ensure a counter-movement from the bottom up.

And these two types of movement are opposite, synergetic and ultimately help us to reach the proper strategy taking into account the budget possibilities”, Savchenko said.

A project management system has been introduced to successfully implement them.

Alexander Drozdenko, Governor of the Leningrad Region, noted that it’s not only important to form a central office and establish sectoral project offices, but to also develop a system of motivation.

“It’s essential for there to be a carrot and for the people who are in charge of implementing a project to see a bonus. It can be in the form of career enhancement or a bonus”, Drozdenko said.

The speaker noted the role of governors in this process and how they need to personally ask everyone about results.

Evgeny Otnelchenko, Partner for Strategy and Operations Consulting at PwC Russia, suggested how to make strategies more feasible. First of all, it’s essential that one can never lose focus. Secondly, one must try to follow everything through until the very end and do everything possible.

Tan Datuk Christopher, the Director of the Big Fast Results Projects and the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Performance Management & Delivery Unit (PEMANDU), spoke about successes in the Malaysian economy. The foundation for the country’s positive results is a philosophy whereby the only way to achieve good results is to start taking action.

“Over the last nine years, our focus has been to take small steps. But we virtually stopped discussing theory… If you want a country to reach a fundamentally different level of quality, you must be prepared for unpopular actions”, Christopher said.

The expert stressed that changes in behaviour are necessary. Unattainable goals must be set. This provides freedom of action and the ability to think outside the box. Priorities must also be ranked. In this case, situational leadership is a must. The leader must act from the top down at the start of the movement, he said.