20th century management of 2nd century rubbish

Abstract

The York Archaeological Trust, UK, has experienced a metamorphosis. In the course of 20 years, it has changed from being a small, highly focused, regional organisation with a monopoly to excavate within the city of York to being one of the largest archaeological contractors in the UK, with a broader base, working within a free, competitive archaeological market. The paper outlines where things were going wrong in the 1980s, when there was no system of project management. It describes some early forays into single project management, and then explains a system of project management that was designed to cope with these changes, and how this system was applied to all work. The paper explains how the system allows the trust to control new projects, track existing ones, and maintain the flexibility to react to new work, while not losing sight of established priorities. The paper concludes with the example of the Blake Street Roman pottery publication project, a backlog inherited from early days that had floundered for a number of years as a result of weak and ineffective decision making. The paper shows how the new system enabled this important academic work to be published to the normal exceptional high standards of presentation, several months ahead of schedule, at a saving of 25%.