Dear Planning Planet Members,
Welcome to the newsletter; did you know that this newsletter goes to the largest community of project controllers on planet Earth? As many of you know we’ve transitioned to a new, faster, and more modern web portal that’s already benefiting our users. We appreciate your ongoing feedback in identifying the bugs or issues we need to fix.
Written something on project controls—an article, a thought piece, or even a rough idea? Get in touch and we’ll include it in future posts. It’s free, and we love collaborating with our community.
SHARE PROJECT XER / MPP NO INSTALLATION, LOGIN, OR REGISTRATION – JUST A SIMPLE LINK
XER Reader — Share Your Schedules Instantly
Share your project schedules in XER and MPP format with anyone — instantly. No installation. No login. No email registration. Just upload and share a simple link.
Why keep your schedule locked away?
You’ve updated your programme. You’ve moved the data date, applied actuals, adjusted milestones, updated progress, checked variances, and calculated earned value. You’ve done all the hard work.
Now make it easy for others to see it.
Share your schedule with:
- Your project team
- Steering groups
- Suppliers
- Sponsors
- Delivery partners
- Clients
- Owners
One link. Zero friction. Full visibility.
Try it now — and get 50% off
Use the Planning Planet discount code: PP50
Take a look...
IAMTECH KNOWLEDGE: TWO PLANNERS. SAME JOB. TWO DIFFERENT ESTIMATES.
IAMTech Knowledge: Two planners. Same job. Two different estimates.
It happens on every shutdown planning team, in every industry. Not because planners don’t know their craft — but because every experienced planner carries their own norms, their own assumptions, their own bias.
AI doesn’t replace the planner’s judgement. It standardises the baseline.
When every work order is estimated against the same decades of industrial maintenance norms, the inconsistency disappears — and the schedule becomes something leadership can actually plan around READ MORE.
Wish your planning team all planned consistently? First look at iPlanSTO AI-Enhanced Planning: WATCH VIDEO — or VIEW BROCHURE. How would this transform planning in your world?
To arrange your demonstration, contact [email protected].
VISUALISING DATA TYPES ACROSS A PROJECT
Raphael announces that he is beginning a major long‑term project with a complex scope and, despite having all the usual project management and controls elements in place, he realised he had never mapped out all the data types required to manage such a project effectively.
To explore this, he spent an afternoon creating a colourful, multi‑dimensional diagram to visualise the data landscape. How helpful was it?
Overall Takeaway - Raphael’s post resonated strongly with the project controls community. His diagram sparked:
- Appreciation for its clarity and design
- Curiosity about the tools behind it
- Suggestions for other visualisation approaches
- Affirmation that visual thinking is essential when dealing with complex project data environments
- The tone across the comments is supportive, collegial, and enthusiastic.
Get involved, have your say...
Source: Raphael, Consultant – Senior Planner and Senior Master Scheduler and Lead Project Controls
SIMPLY SPENDING TIME IN THE ROLE DOES NOT CREATE SENIORITY; GROWTH REQUIRES MORE?
Many planners who claim 5–10 years of experience actually have 1–2 years repeated many times, doing the same weekly cycle of updates, reports, and routines .
Simply spending time in the role does not create seniority; growth requires exposure to diverse and challenging situations such as claims, delay analysis, risk workshops, recovery schedules, negotiations, and complex projects .
The real differentiators between mid‑level and senior planners are judgement, commercial understanding, communication, adaptability, visibility, and decision‑making under pressure — not software knowledge alone .
The author asks whether career growth is driven more by years of experience or diversity of experience, and whether the industry confuses “time served” with “expertise” .
Key Themes from Comments
1. Repetition vs. Real Growth - Several commenters agree that repeating the same tasks does not build true capability; growth comes from varied exposure and continuous learning .
2. Importance of Site Experience - Strong emphasis that planners must understand real construction processes, not just software. Site interaction with engineers, foremen, and craft labour is essential to meaningful planning .
3. Depth vs. Breadth of Experience - Some argue that staying on a megaproject for years can provide as much or more learning than rotating through many smaller projects, due to complexity, shifting risks, and evolving phases .
4. Balance Between Stability and Innovation - Too much routine leads to stagnation, but constant rotation or frequent changes in KPIs and reporting formats undermine stability. Growth requires a balance of routine + innovation and maintaining traceability in processes .
5. Personal Drive Matters Most - Passion, discipline, curiosity, and a commitment to continuous learning are repeatedly cited as the biggest drivers of career progression, regardless of project type or environment .
6. Clarifying What “Experience” Means - One commenter notes that “experience” technically means time spent, but the real differentiator is whether someone has deepened that experience through diverse challenges and skill development .
Overall Takeaway - The discussion strongly reinforces that seniority in project planning is not earned by time alone. It comes from:
- varied and challenging project exposure,
- site‑based understanding,
- commercial and communication skills,
- decision‑making under pressure,
- and a personal commitment to continuous learning.
The community broadly agrees that the industry often overvalues years served and undervalues diversity and depth of experience.
Read the post and community comments.
Source: Virgil Andrei, Senior Planning Engineer
VALUE-ADD and FREE WEBINARS
- June 09 - Templates and P6-Loader - Building a Schedule From Scratch (Emerald Associates) - P6-Loader is not only for cleaning up and maintaining your P6 database. It has some amazing automations, fragnet, and template schedule development automation tools. Taking advantage of 30 years of integration expertise, Emerald Associates has built time-saving automations into P6-Loader, allowing a user to grab a project, fragnet, or template, and make placeholder replacements into activity IDs, names, UDFs, codes, WBS, and more. This feature is fantastic for automating program development, capital project development, turnaround and outage schedule development with different work order types, and also for maintenance program work. This new feature allows you to load and reload multiple times as templates change. It is a game changer on bid schedule development. Want to see it in action. Save your spot...
- June 10 - CAPPS - Visualizations, Auditing, and Snapshots from P6-Reporter (Emerald Associates) - Not all of your project team members are P6 EPPM experts, nor should they have to be! With Emerald’s CAPPS (Capital Projects Progressing System), a secure Primavera P6-EPPM add-on, your team has a simpler, more cost-effective way to provide P6 schedule and resource planning, timely schedule updates, and P6 project and portfolio Gantt and dashboard views - all in one digital, mobile-enabled tool. In this latest version of CAPPS v15, the software has grown from updating only to team collaboration, and really is not just for Capital Programs anymore. As we embed our technologies together, CAPPS is your one stop shop solution for P6 project team collaboration and updating. We have also added new crosstab grids, allowing your team to make lightning fast updates. If that isn’t enough, we have also added brand new Gantt charts, heatmaps, and dashboards for easy visualization of your tasks, priorities, due dates, and bottlenecks. Don't miss out Save your spot...
- June 28-30 AACE’s 70th Anniversary Conference & Expo, Las Vegas, United States (Cleopatra Enterprise) - Join Cleopatra's speaking slot on Monday, 29 June from 11:05–12:05 in Room 124, where we’ll discuss “Cost Data You Can Trust: Calibrating Commercial and Internal Cost Data.” Save a spot...
- Project Controls Awards (Project Controls Expo) - Every year, this industry moves forward because of the people and companies who dare to do things differently — those who take risks, build with intention, and raise the bar for everyone around them. The Global/UK Project Controls Expo Awards exists to celebrate exactly those people. And this year, we are inviting you to make sure they don't go unrecognised. Nominate today!
Contact us to get your event here - [email protected]
THE TYPES OF CONSTRUCTION DELAY: WHAT CAUSES PROJECTS TO RUN LATE
Ask any experienced project manager what keeps them awake at night, and somewhere near the top of the list you will find delay. It is the quiet, almost inevitable companion of construction work, the gap between the programme everyone agreed to at contract signing and the reality of what actually happens on site. Research across the world has reached the same uncomfortable conclusion again and again: delay is not the exception in construction, it is closer to the rule.
In Saudi Arabia, a landmark study found that roughly seventy percent of large construction projects experienced time overruns (Assaf and Al-Hejji, 2006). In Pakistan, surveys of large construction projects suggested that around eighty percent faced delay, with only a fifth completed within the originally scheduled time (Haseeb et al., 2011). The pattern repeats across Nigeria, Malaysia, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, and Somaliland — different economies, different climates, different contract forms, and yet the same recurring story of projects finishing late and budgets stretched thin.
But here is the part that separates professionals from amateurs: not all delay is equal, and not all delay is paid for in the same way. Two projects can both finish three months late, and one contractor may walk away with a fully recovered extension of time and prolongation costs, while the other absorbs liquidated damages and a damaged reputation. The difference is almost never about who worked harder. It is about understanding what kind of delay occurred, who caused it, and whether the records exist to prove it.
This article explains the three fundamental types of construction delay, the real-world causes that drive them according to global research, and — most importantly — what this means for your entitlement to time and money when a project slips.
Source: Mohammad Khalifa Talafha, PMP
ERROR: "UNABLE TO CONNECT TO THE DATABASE. ATTEMPTING LOGIN TO P6 PROFESSIONAL
Error: "Unable to connect to the database. Please run the Database Configuration tool or contact your administrator." Attempting Login To P6 Professional Configured For Cloud Connect (Doc ID 2280504.1)
Applies to: Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management Cloud Service - Version 8.4.0.0 and later
Information in this document applies to any platform.
Symptoms: When attempting to log into P6 Professional configured for Cloud Connect, the following error occurs:
ERROR: Unable to connect to the database. Please run the Database Configuration tool or contact your administrator.
Read the blog for the full solution...
THE GLOBAL / UK PROJECT CONTROLS EXPO AWARDS
Every year, this industry moves forward because of the people and companies who dare to do things differently — those who take risks, build with intention, and raise the bar for everyone around them.
The Global/UK Project Controls Expo Awards exists to celebrate exactly those people. And this year, we are inviting you to make sure they don't go unrecognised.
" Do you know someone who deserves this. Don't let another year pass by without putting them forward for an award".
CONSTRUCTION CPM CONFERENCE 2027
We’re finalizing plans to bring the Construction CPM Conference back in 2027 at the Hilton Palacio del Rio on San Antonio’s River Walk.
Mark your calendar for February 23–25 and get ready to register your team, as we continue building a conference for Constructors, by Constructors.
Our focus will be strengthening Planning to drive Performance—so every attendee leaves with practical takeaways they can use right away. We will be continuing the legacy that Fred has built since 2011.
PROJECT ROADMAP VS DELIVERY SCHEDULE
Project Roadmap vs Delivery Schedule
We must stop applying critical path analysis to roadmaps.
A project roadmap is a high-level view used to communicate progress or intent. It contains limited detail, simplified logic, and no resource modelling. It is a communication tool.
Roadmaps may be known as Program Roadmap, Integrated Timeline, Summary Schedule, Control Schedule, L3 schedule, etc.
A delivery schedule is an execution model. It answers Who? Do? What? When? and Why? questions and reflects existing constraints.
The fundamentals differences are:
- A roadmap may represent a wish plan or a simplified view of a delivery schedule.
- Roadmaps are drawn. Delivery schedules are calculated.
- A project can function without a roadmap. It can’t operate without a delivery schedule.
Source: Alex Lyaschenko, Program & Portfolio Planning & Delivery
CONTRACTORS PROGRESS REPORTS – DOES ANYBODY READ THEM, NEVER MIND UNDERSTAND THEM?
PROCESSES No 11 – Delay and Disruption – Anything new to add?
After discussions on concurrency and float ownership, probably Delay and Disruption is the most discussed PC scheduling topic. Well, I am not joining the vast body of work on Delays and Extension of Time, produced by our esteemed professional bodies and the claims and legal industry, but I have invited veteran Mike Testro to give his introductory overview on Disruption from a main contractor / subcontractor perspective. This is barely mentioned but can affect every aspect of our project work. It is only recently that the 2 terms have been intertwined having been kept separate in most contract forms. Perhaps the SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol should have been issued as two documents!
Mike advises -
- Definition
- Who can claim
- Subcontractors
- How to calculate disruption
- Delay and Disruption
Source: Peter Holroyd
MAKE SCHEDULES CLEARER, UPDATES FASTER, AND GOVERNANCE STRONGER
Introducing CAPPS (Version 15.0).
This new release isn’t just an upgrade — it’s a step forward in how planners and project controllers can think, work, and collaborate.
We’ve added a series of improvements designed to make schedules clearer, updates faster, and governance stronger:
- Update activities and steps directly inside any crosstab - No more jumping between views. You can now analyse and update in the same place, making progress reviews smoother and more intuitive.
- Reschedule work directly in the Gantt chart - Drag, adjust, and immediately see the impact. Perfect for “what‑if” thinking and rapid scenario exploration.
- New heat maps & visualisation profiles - Spot risks, bottlenecks, and workload imbalances at a glance. These visuals help teams understand the story behind the data — not just the numbers.
- Baselines added - Track drift, measure performance, and strengthen governance with proper baseline control.
Behind the scenes, we’ve also introduced:
- Activity cancellation & explicit finalisation - Clearer lifecycle control so teams know exactly what’s active, what’s done, and what’s been removed — improving auditability and reducing noise.
- A two‑stage review and approval workflow - This supports stronger assurance, better accountability, and cleaner separation between “submitted” and “approved” updates.
- Smarter filtering & performance improvements - Faster navigation, cleaner views, and less time wasted hunting for the right information.
And finally:
- Project QA and update auditing - You can now quality‑check your projects and audit every update submission and approval. This is a major step toward transparent, defensible project controls.
Read more...
For more information or to schedule a demo, please reach out to us at [email protected].
GLOBAL CONVERSATION CLUB - BRITISH STANDARD PROJECT CONTROLS SPECIFICATION
Hello Conversation Club
Here is Ben Fitzgerald’ s material for the road test of the new BS202001 Project Controls Specification Standard
The video
The presentation Ben Fitzgerald Applying BS202001 Project Controls in Practice.pdf
The PAPER you must read this 2020522 - BS202001_Paper CAE.pdf
Source: Steve Wake
P6ETL for BI Reporting
Unlock and extract your Primavera P6 or Oracle Primavera Cloud (OPC) data that are hosted at Oracle, Loadspring, or On-Premise and create comprehensive Project Management dashboards and KPI's with Microsoft Power BI then share those dashboards with others in your organization.
P6ETL is a software utility that extracts P6 data and Oracle Primavera Cloud (OPC) data from any hosted environment, such as Oracle Hosting and Loadspring, and then stores the data into an MSSQL DB. Once the data is in the MSSQL DB, users can connect to the MSSQL DB and create an unlimited number of reports using any report development tool including Microsoft Power BI and Tableau. The MSSQL DB (we call it the P6ETL DB) is a reporting DB that simplifies dashboard and report development. P6ETL extracts the P6 and OPC data using Web Services.
SWITCHING TO CLEOPATRA AND PRIMAVERA: NAVIGATE YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS!
Managing shutdowns and turnarounds with outdated or disconnected tools can lead to delays, budget overruns, and missed opportunities for improvement.
This webinar shows you how switching to the combination of Cleopatra and Primavera creates a fully integrated turnaround management solution—combining work package planning with Primavera’s powerful scheduling and resource planning to transform how you plan, execute, and deliver. You’ll gain valuable practical insights, proven workflows, and the lessons learned from end-to-end digital approach.
If you’re looking to modernize your processes, streamline collaboration, and achieve consistent turnaround success, this webinar will show you exactly how to make the transition.
In 50 minutes, you will learn:
- The current state of turnarounds and where the industry is heading
- How to plan work packages using Cleopatra
- Why having an integrated scheduling solution is a key success driver
- How Cleopatra works as an integrated solution with Primavera
- Lessons learned from a high complexity turnaround at a Cleopatra client’s facility
MASTERING OUT OF SEQUENCE ACTIVITIES & OTHER AACE RECOMMENDED PRACTICES
Chris Carson regularly uploads his Cost Engineering papers onto his Linked-In profile so people can download whatever they want. We recommend you checkout his "Featured" post section.
Source: Chris Carson FRICS, FAACE, FGPC, PSP, DRMP, CEP, CCM, PMP
[VIRTUAL EVENT] RECORDING OF TARGETED OPTIMIZATION MODE
This webinar introduces ALICE’s Targeted Optimization, a new optimization mode designed to help teams identify the fastest path to schedule acceleration.
Targeted Optimization is built for everyone on the project team, not just the scheduling experts, who want to identify exactly where a project can be shortened and by how much. With a proprietary task-based algorithm, you can generate actionable insights regardless of where you are in the planning phase.
See how Targeted Optimization allows you to run targeted simulations to determine the tasks that should be optimized based on your specific objectives.
In this recording session, you’ll learn:
- The Logic Behind Targeted Optimization: How the algorithm identifies the critical and near-critical path tasks to surface the activities that actually move the needle
- Rapid Setup: How project teams are leveraging Targeted Optimization to accelerate and recover schedules without resource loading
- Surgical Schedule Crashing: How to look for acceleration opportunities across the entire schedule or within specific milestones or activities.
Don’t leave your schedule to chance. Ready to see which tasks are worth the hustle?
IMPORTANCE OF DEFINING SCOPE, WBS & EXECUTION STRATEGY
Successful planning and scheduling begin with a well-defined project scope.
Yet in many projects, scope, WBS, and execution strategies are either incomplete or misaligned… Leading to delays, inefficiencies, and costly rework.
In this article, I walk through how structured scope definition, detailed WBS development, and aligned execution strategies can transform project outcomes, improve coordination, and reduce both cost and schedule risks.
Read the full article to understand how to build the foundation for successful planning, scheduling, and execution in your projects.
Source: Kareem Khattab, Planning Manager
LET'S OPEN UP OPPORTUNITIES TOGETHER
To support every practitioner, employer, consultant, and recruiter in our network, we’re opening up free job postings for everyone. Whether you’re:
- An employer with a vacancy
- A regular practitioner looking to strengthen your team
- A consultant searching for standout talent
- A recruiter with a role to fill
…you’re invited to share your opportunities with the entire Planning Planet community.
No charge. Simply contact [email protected] and we’ll help you get your role in front of thousands of committed project controls professionals.
Let’s make this a space where opportunities flow freely, careers grow, and our community continues to lift one another. View Jobs... Post Jobs...
- Lead / Head Capex Planner - South Wales - £700 a day / Permanent
- MAX10714: Senior Scheduler / Toronto & Ontario / CAD $95,000 to $120,000 per annum
- Planning Engineer - Plymouth (Hybrid) -:£50-70,000 + car allowance + package
- Senior Planning Engineer - Cardiff (Hybrid) - £70-85,000 + package
- Construction Planner - Asta - Central London - £55-75,000 + package
- Senior Tender Planner - Manchester (Hybrid) - £80-90,000 + car allowance + package
- Planning Manager (MEP) - West Sussex (3 Days Site / 2 Days Remote) - £85-95,000 + car allowance + package
- Senior Planner - Cardiff (3 Days Site / 2 Remote) - £70-90,000 + package
- Project Planner - London
- London – Lead Planner (Main Contractor, Permanent)
- Planning Engineer – Rail (Permanent)
- Senior Planner
- Planning Claims Analyst
SUPERIOR ALTERNATIVE TO THE "MOST POPULAR" SOFTWARE FOR US AS PLANNERS?
A superior alternative to the "most popular" software for us as planners?
Spider Project Team is a group of project management consulting and training companies. With headquarters in Moscow, Russia, we have branches, partners and representatives in other Russian cities, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Romania, USA. We develop professional PM software Spider Project that is the most powerful and functional tool for project, program, and portfolio management.
We develop advanced approaches and methods of project management that are widely used by our customers in 37 countries. We provide training on project management and Spider Project software for our customers around the world.
We manage projects for our customers and implement corporate project management systems in companies of different industries. We believe that good project management can improve our world and are happy to provide the best services and tools to our customers.
We are proud of our achievements. The current version is used in 37 countries. Spider Project offers numerous unique functional features and is the only PM software that optimizes resource, cost, and material constrained schedules and budgets for projects and portfolios.
Spider Project offers numerous unique functional features and is the only PM software that optimizes resource, cost, and material constrained schedules and budgets for projects and portfolios.
Check it out here... Ask questions here...
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THANK YOU FOR READING OUR MESSAGES
If you’d like to lend a hand to the small but enthusiastic team behind this newsletter, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]. We know there’s still a lot of work ahead to make this an informative and eagerly anticipated bi-weekly read, so get in touch and be part of the journey.
Regards...
The Planning Planet Team