Category Archives: Lessons

Lesson 11: Maintain focus

focusDevelop a project road map – project plan – as soon as possible. It needn’t be a fully developed project schedule, but it must capture the immediate, identified tasks and/or deliverables.

Make sure the project team knows what to do and when they need to do it. You and your team should issue periodic progress reports. Know where you are and where you are going. Do not allow the project to ‘flounder’. Your project must have direction, purpose, and incentive.

Everyone must understand what they need to do and when they must do it – get buy-in and feedback. You must know who has problems, and what they are doing to address those problems.

Remember, management by walking around. Spend as much unstructured (outside of meetings) time with your team as possible. There is no substitute for one-on-one discussions with project team members. You can sometimes learn as much in the coffee room as in meetings.

Be open to input from any quarter – a good secretary/administrative assistant can be worth far more than their salary, so choose wisely.

Identify the critical items and track them as soon as possible. A handful of project elements – contracts, purchases, crafts, disciplines, key personnel, etc. – will exert a major impact on the successful outcome of your project. Discover them early and watch them closely.

The Prado rule applies here, though the percentages might vary.

 

Lesson 10: No Surprises

supriseGet the best people you can, and treat them right. They will have more impact on the outcome of your project than you will. That said, the project manager is the single most important determinate of project success.

Make sure everyone on the project knows what to do. Once they know, start measuring progress. Remember; you can’t control what you can’t measure. Make sure promises made are promises kept.

Keep your schedule as simple as possible. There is no shame in tracking non-linear, multi-faceted functions off schedule. Use the best tool for the job – spreadsheet/database.

The schedule is indispensable for project management, but a complex, difficult to maintain schedule will be of little use. Large, cumbersome schedules require more effort to develop and maintain, and provide very little return. As a rule of thumb, try to keep the number of activities of the Master Schedule to less than 3000.

Involve your customer in your project as soon as possible, but do not let them control your project. Requirements yes, direction no. Remember, no surprises for you or for your stakeholders.

Lesson 9: Keep it simple

simpleIt’s not likely you will have any say in the reports your project will produce. If you do, keep them simple. If you make the system too difficult to maintain, you won’t get the data you need. You will fight for compliance, which is a distraction and waste of energy.

Keep the coding structure simple. Use existing codes whenever possible. Here novelty is the enemy of compliance.

Do not make your report more detailed than can be supported by the time card system. Control only to the WBS level where you can collect hours.

Insist on an earned value measurement system. Chances are one exists already. If it doesn’t, develop your own. There is no substitute for an earned value measurement system. If your contractor does not use an EVMS, you are in trouble. It should be the basis for all progress payments.

Lesson 8: Work to a budget

budget

The estimate/budget is the base, the foundation for project control. Spend the time and the effort to ensure the estimate is as accurate as possible. If the budget is flawed, you cannot control your project.

Be prepared to revise the estimate/budget, as you discover new facts. Never try to control to unreasonable or unrealistic budgets. You will alienate your people, and likely fail. If management insists, get your objections on record and be prepared for an unpleasant experience.

Estimates come in many forms. They will vary in levels of accuracy depending upon the stage of the project. The estimate can be as simple as the best guess of your leads or superintendents, or as complex as detailed material take-offs.

When the estimate is informal, it’s a good idea to record who provided the data. Be sure to record the ranges given by the leads or superintendents. This will be useful when it comes time to establish cost/schedule contingencies (more on this later).

Lesson 7: Have a plan

planningDevelop an execution plan or project plan. This plan should tell any who read it what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and how you’ll achieve your goal.
The ‘how’ will set the rules of the game. The plan will delineate policies and procedures that govern all aspects of the project. You might be tempted to postpone development of the execution plan – don’t. You must have the plan as soon as you finish the process definition for your project. Do not begin basic design without an execution plan.

Corollary to Lesson 6: Expediting

PushingDo not assume once you placed the order, your problems are through. You must maintain effective communication with your vendor to ensure your equipment is progressing through his shop as promised. Keep after your vendors – push.
There will be times when he may drop your order to work on another. Don’t let this happen. Stay on top of your vendors. This is called expediting.
Make sure you allocate enough money to do effective expediting. It will take three times as much as you think – to do it right. Expediting is good insurance; don’t skimp on it

Lesson 6: Focus on equipment

columnsDrive the equipment and any other long lead items (permits, easements, access, etc.). If there is one focus item, it should be the equipment. Both design and construction depend upon timely output from your vendors.
If you don’t pursue an aggressive campaign of requisitioning, procurement, and expediting, you can count on having problems meeting your deadlines. If you show a sense of urgency early—urgency with purpose—it will stand you in good stead throughout the life of the project.
This is not hurry for the sake of hurrying. It is moving with all deliberate speed in a well thought out direction. It is urgency with purpose.

Lesson 5: Define your project

defineTake the time to define your project. Check with all the project customers or stakeholders. Verify they understand what you’ll give them and when. Make sure their expectations are the same as yours.
This verification applies to the project sponsors or underwriters as well. Only when you’ve defined your project should you begin detailed design.
It’ll be tough to resist both the natural impulse and the external pressure to push your project along, but resist it you must. Spend the time now, so you don’t have to spend much more time later. Think of it as an investment. You’re investing in your future.

Lesson 4: Get the best

medalsThere is more art than science to selecting the best core group members. The core group should be your project engineer(s), project controls manager(s), procurement manager(s), construction manager(s), and the project secretary/assistant.
Personal chemistry, gut feel, or a sense of ease must be part of the selection criteria. Focus on the candidate with the best training and experience, but if you don’t feel comfortable with them, move on to the next candidate.
Try to imagine how the candidate will relate to the other members of the core group. They have to work together. They have to like each other. You have to like them and they you.
If your original assessment is wrong, right that wrong as soon as possible. Don’t let disharmony or acrimony take root on your project. It is essential your team function as a team.
Corollary: Don’t hire a friend just because he/she is a friend. An incompetent team member is as destructive as an angry, hostile, disruptive teammate.
Get the best, but make sure they fit.

Lesson 3: Fair is Fair

I was hoping to have a video for you, but I didn’t finish it in time. Maybe next week, it’s more difficult than I thought.

scales

Know what you want and be prepared to fight for it. In negotiations, the hungriest always loses. Never enter negotiations without a walk away position. If you can’t walk away from the deal, you won’t get a palatable offer.

Fair is fair. No purpose is served by one-sided negotiations. If you squeeze all the profit from your project, you’ll force the contractor to find other means to make money. If the contractor loses money, you could face excessive extra work, claims, delay, staff deterioration, quality erosion, and a strained working relationship. All of those will damage your project. Be forceful, but be fair.

Avoid negotiating alone (I would say never), especially if the other side has two or more negotiators. If they have two, you should have two. As a corollary, whenever more than eight people at the table (or in the room), some of those people are unnecessary. Try to keep the negotiating teams small.
Try to balance power to power. If they bring in VP, you should have a VP. However, try to avoid bringing the final say to your negotiations. Give your company the opportunity to evaluate your decision. If the person with the ultimate authority is in the room, that opportunity for evaluation is lost. The final say should be present at acceptance, but not during negotiations. As always, there are exceptions to these rules.