The Public Works Authority in the State of Qatar, Ashghal, is responsible for the design, construction, delivery and asset management of all infrastructure projects and public buildings of national importance, such as major roads, sanitation works, schools, hospitals, ports and industrial areas.

The stakes are high on such public projects, and their success can contribute to Qatar’s socio-economic growth as envisioned in the Qatar National Vision 2030 strategy. But due to their vast scope and complexity, public projects require business processes of the highest international standards to ensure the health, safety and welfare of everyone concerned.

Process inconsistencies hinder effective public works management

When managing construction schedules, cost performance, worker health, safety and the environment, each project involves hundreds of processes that depend on a common understanding of workflows among Ashghal employees and partners.

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In the past, employees found it difficult to control the many versions of manuals, documents, checklists and forms cataloguing these procedures. Inconsistencies led to instances of outdated or unapproved documents circulating both internally and externally, challenging quality control and project execution.

Instead of haphazard documentation, Ashghal needed a central process repository to deliver a single source of the truth. We developed it using IBM Blueworks Live.

A central repository for managing world-class processes

Available as SaaS from the IBM public cloud, the Blueworks suite is an intuitive collaborative environment accessible to every employee. It helps review and improve existing business processes while setting workflows for change management, approvals and audits. In fact, after training from IBM Services, employees have used the tool to assess, model and transform more than 300 processes, including gaining approvals from every stakeholder.

Blueworks empowers Ashghal to integrate operational elements such as service level agreements (SLAs) into processes without needing separate documents. Processes can now be linked to departmental objectives, and the tool maintains a glossary of Ashghal’s structure and job titles to clarify participants’ roles in every process.

Once processes are published, employees consult them to understand their responsibilities. IT personnel, for instance, collect systems automation requirements along with workflows for managing systems. Business analysts rely on KPIs defined within the processes. Additionally, new team members get a head start from step-by-step process playbacks.

ISO 9001 certification fosters a culture of quality

Quality process design, standardization and management have minimized errors in project execution—critical to deadline-driven work such as World Cup 2022 construction plans. The availability of SaaS has powered process collaboration for remote employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blueworks also played a significant role in a prestigious Ashghal achievement—certification on the ISO 9001:2015 quality management standard. Ashghal achieved this after a comprehensive audit without a single instance of process non-compliance.

ISO 9001, and the ability to continually improve processes, are fundamental to establishing a culture of quality in Qatar’s public works. Ashghal is not just building public infrastructure; it’s helping Qatar build a better future.