As we begin to dig deeper into the troubled project and work breakdown structure has been established, we begin to interview the stakeholders of the project. One of the general questions one asks, is what do you believe are the issues, what went wrong? Human nature as it is, these stakeholders tend to be cautions and careful with their contributions. Rarely do I hear one volunteer or is his or her organization the source for the incongruities. A cautious approach continues as the interview process progresses further. [Read more…]
MANAGING RISK OF DELAY – Subject Series Summary
June 12, 2011 By
- General – Mr. Pickavance (Part 1)
- Time Management Strategy (Part 2)
- As-Planned Schedule / Accepted Programme (Part 3)
- Schedule Preparation and Maintenance (Part 4)
- Earned Value Management (Part 5)
- Critical Path and Earned Value Management (Part 6)
- Earned Value and Schedule Performance Indicators (Part 7 )
The Context and Challenge (Part 1)
This post addresses the general topic of time management and the relationship to managing the risk of delay.
Keith Pickavance is a prominent leader, speaker, expert and author in the construction industry. His authoritative reference book, Delay and Disruption in Construction Contracts, is noted in our Resource Center.
Mr. Pickavance is President of CIOB. Speaking in this capacity, he delivered an excellent talk entitled: ” Managing the risk of delayed completion in the 21st Century.”
The link to this streaming video is http://www.multichanneltv.com/ciob/cio004/ and is excellent. The discussion by Mr. Pickavance provides an excellent basis for development of this topic. [Read more…]
WORKER PRODUCTIVITY – Watch How the People Work
June 7, 2011 By
This is the eight posting regarding labor productivity and disruption. This contribution provides some practical suggestions for the manager in the field. The Subject Series can be viewed here.
Isn’t it always the obvious that gets us in trouble? It doesn’t seem to make much difference what area of life you talk about, the aspects that are obvious are most often those that we assume will take care of themselves and we skip over as we develop our plans. Considering the area of worker productivity, everyone knows how the work gets done. Right? Well, it is quite obvious. You just pick up the material and put it in place. After all, how can there be anything different about doing the work? Get the material to the job site, hire craft workers, provide drawings and the project will miraculously get built.
When thinking about various construction sites, even in the US, several differences in the manner in which the exact same work is accomplished in various locations are revealed. In order to properly plan and organize construction activities, the way people work in the specific location under consideration must be understood and incorporated. For example, is it better for productivity for each pipefitter welder to have an assigned stand-alone welding machine? Or possibly, the welder should use a welding machine located in an eight-pack of welders. That question could be strictly a planning matter, or it could be related to the site location and area practice. If one approach is better than the other for the project, area practice may need to be addressed and modified in some way for improved productivity to be realized. [Read more…]
SCHEDULE VALIDATIONS AND AUDITS – Timing, Methodology and Conclusions – (Part 3 )
May 28, 2011 By
WHEN SHOULD VALIDATION AND AUDITS BE DONE?
Validation occurs when the initial or revised baseline schedule is submitted prior to the start of any construction field-site work, with the possible exception of mobilization, site preparation, ordering of long-lead time equipment or materials, permits, excavation, and installation of in-ground site utilities.
Validation is an extensive process and can be time consuming both initially and after each re-submittal of the proposed baseline ‘planned’ construction schedule until a valid baseline schedule is accepted by all significant stakeholders: Owner, Contractor, Subcontractors, Suppliers, Financing entities, and Permitting agencies.
Before a complete Validation process is performed an Appraisal is done to determine if the requirements for Validation are in place. [Read more…]
MANAGING RISK OF DELAY – Earned Value and Schedule Performance Indicators (Part 7)
May 22, 2011 By
This post is the seventh in a series of discussions regarding various aspects of time management as it relates to the risk of delay. More specifically, we have titled the series MANAGING RISK OF DELAY [Subject Series], since we focus heavily on the managerial aspects of program / project management. This post addresses some managerial tools relative to the integrated nature of time management using critical path and earned value management.
The challenge associated with managing all (critical and non-critical path) work is common to virtually all projects. This challenge is true for most project management situations. It is intensified in the case of larger and more complex projects. Examples include Lump Sum Turn Key (LSTK), Engineer Procure Construct (EPC) and other similarly executed projects. In addition to the normal issues associated with bulk progress, actions or inactions by the owner can add considerable complexity to this challenge. Over the past seven years, M&M has program/project managed five projects exceeding $100 million (USD) in investment value (total installed cost). Thus, practical/practioner experience is engendered in this discussion/post. [Read more…]
SCHEDULE VALIDATIONS AND AUDITS – Validation and Audit (Part 2)
May 19, 2011 By
WHAT IS SCHEDULE VALIDATION?
Schedule Validation is a process by means of which Owner and Contractor resort to the expertise of a third party to validate the schedule of a certain project in all its features and components.
The Validation is thus an external evaluation to ensure that a foremost contract instrument — the schedule — is correct in scope and assumptions, as well as free from all sorts of pitfalls and booby traps. The validated schedule should represent the model of how the Contractor intends to carry out the work plan’s activities, and how the Owner is supposed to get the project delivered.
It is routine to find investors resorting to second and third evaluations, e.g. due-diligence appraisals by mortgage investors, to gain a level of confidence in the outcome and the return on their investment. This typical validation process, however, is not a common practice in the construction area, but Owners and Contractors can have solid benefits by adopting scheduling validation procedures and periodic audits. [Read more…]
SCHEDULE VALIDATIONS AND AUDITS – Need and Benefit (Part 1)
May 13, 2011 By
ABSTRACT
Construction projects represent investments at risk for Owners and Contractors, who invest massive amounts of money and resources.
Although some investors resort to evaluations (e.g., appraisals by mortgage investors), to gain a level of confidence in the outcome, validation processes are not a common practice in construction.
There are many advantages in engaging Owners and Contractors in performing a realistic, rational, and feasible independent Validation of the work plan and planned schedule, as well as periodic Audits of the performance achieved.
Planning and scheduling practices have become more complex as they have matured and can now produce a greater degree of management and control. However they are also vulnerable to incorrect procedures, illogical logic, abuse, misuse, and outright manipulation.
Schedule Validation and Audit can be used to minimize the impact of conflicts by detecting issues and anticipating problems. Reasons for implementing Schedule Validation and Audits, benefits, methodology, deliverables, and steps towards a standard practice and procedure are presented herein. [Read more…]
MANAGING RISK OF DELAY – Critical Path and Earned Value Management (Part 6)
May 6, 2011 By
This post is the sixth in a series of discussions regarding various aspects of time management as it relates to the risk of delay. More specifically, we have titled the series MANAGING RISK OF DELAY, since we focus heavily on the managerial aspects of program / project management. This post addresses some ideas regarding the integrated nature of time management using critical path and earned value management.
The challenge associated with managing all (critical and non-critical path) work is common to virtually all Lump Sum Turn Key (LSTK), Engineer Procure Construct (EPC) and other similarly executed projects. In addition to the normal issues associated with bulk progress, actions or inactions by the owner can add considerable complexity to this challenge. Over the past seven years, M&M has program/project managed five projects exceeding $100 million (USD) in investment value (total installed cost). Thus, practical/practioner experience is engendered in this discussion/post. [Read more…]
PROGRESS REPORT – TAKING STOCK
April 27, 2011 By
This post is a progress or status report as McLaughlin and McLaughlin (M&M) assesses the status and progress of this Project Professionals blog.
Project Professionals commenced operations in late January 2011. The initial posts were on January 24, 2011. The blog and blogging were new to M&M and there was an expected learning curve. The rate of learning was substantially improved by advice and assistance from several key advisors. We wish to express our sincere thanks to all for the help.
The first full month of blogging was February 2011. As April comes to a close, we find the visitor rate (sometimes referred to as the analytics) to be very encouraging. The analytics for April reveal that visitors and page views have more than doubled since February. Visits have come from over 40 countries. As April draws to a close, we see the visitor activity continuing to increase. [Read more…]
Blog Objectives and Goals
January 24, 2011 By
Welcome to Project Professionals, a blog offered by McLaughlin & McLaughlin for project professionals and those that intend to achieve project professional status. A project professional must always mindful of Objectives and Goals. Thus, we regard this as a starting point for planning, development and ultimately execution. It is essential and appropriate to start with an articulation of these focus point.
Let us formulate the blog objectives as follows: