Guild Update: 17 September 2014

Dear Planning Planet Members,

Recently, The Guild awarded a Project Controls Fellowship to a person who has contributed much to the formation of your Guild.

This gentleman gave a lot of his free time whilst we were putting together The Guild Offer.

His name is Chris Carson and we thought maybe we should ask Chris some admittedly obvious questions and print his unedited response.

This man knows more about Project Controls and most importantly its' role in Project Delivery than most.

To us he is and will remain a major influence. If we owned Mount Rushmore he'd be there! Here are the questions and Chris' response...

OVER TO CHRIS...

QUESTION: Have you seen a decline in the Project Control workplace over the years?

RESPONSE:

I think that the concept of Project Controls as the receptor for the disciplines of P&S, Cost, Risk, Document Control/Contract Admin, and Forensic Analysis has been constantly improving, rather than a decline.

I do think that the decline has been in the easy availability of software in scheduling and cost disciplines which has allowed anyone to function as a “Scheduler” or “Cost Estimator”, regardless of their knowledge outside of the software.

This has contributed to a lack of understanding of what a real Project Controls expert brings to the project management team, and that did contribute to a decline in the use of Project Controls, but that is a bit of a vague generalisation since each discipline has a different history and evolution of the field. So when we talk about evolution in Project Controls, I think we have to isolate the disciplines and discuss them separately because each has been through a changing history.

Planning & Scheduling (P&S)- I think there was a high point in the early days of computerized scheduling when the work was done on mainframe computers by a small number of experts in CPM Scheduling. But once the personal computers made scheduling software available to everyone, technical scheduling took a nosedive and respect for the professional scheduler fell drastically. If anyone can do it, no one has much respect for the discipline, particularly when the results have been as erratic and poorly executed as we’ve seen so often. But over the past ten or fifteen years, mostly due to people like us who have dedicated time to the industry in an effort to improve it, respect for professional P&S has grown until now, there is much more respect and appreciation for planners and schedulers, in fact more than for project managers in many cases. Unfortunately, there is still a problem with owner and contractor willingness to budget enough money in a project for the in-depth P&S services that projects need.

Cost Management – This discipline has stayed constantly high with strong respect and appreciation for the expertise that makes a good cost manager. Part of the reason is that without accurate and careful cost estimating and management, contractors would lose money. That makes the discipline appreciated, and owners and contractors seem to budget adequately for cost management. Where the improvements have been is the risk component; I believe that we provide better analysis through risk management to determine the need and extent of contingencies and reserves. These make for a better cost model and that evolution is still on-going.

Risk Management –This discipline has seen a significant rise in appreciation and respect, aligned with better practices providing more protection for the project. Most Construction Managers (CM) and Contractors utilise some type of risk assessment process, from gut feeling to formal risk management. I believe the chase for years to provide duration uncertainty protection eroded the perceived value of risk management in the industry, but as professionals are turning away from concern about duration uncertainties toward risk drivers and specific event risk protection, along with better schedule risk workshops and practices, owners and CMs have more appreciation for the value provided. Cost risk management has embraced formal risk assessment to assign contingencies and reserves, and the benefits from a more technical approach have provided savings to encourage acceptance. This was a problem for me in my earlier days since I developed and implemented hundreds of project schedules which had fairly low probabilities of meeting my planned project durations but always finished early or on time. A robust Project Controls effort keeps the pessimistic durations from stacking up on the Critical Path because the analysis identifies the delays and recommends immediate action to resolve.

Document Control –this discipline has evolved along with the software available for document control, and thus is at a high point in appreciation of the importance. Contract administration is simplified by good use of project management information systems, so I believe this discipline is continuing to improve. Enterprise systems helped a lot as real-time data becomes highly valued once the stakeholders are exposed to it.

Forensic Analysis –this discipline is probably the one that has advanced the most in the past ten or fifteen years. Part of it is due to the associations and the debates that have ensued about forensic analysis, and part of it is due specifically to the AACE International’s “Forensic Schedule Analysis” Recommended Practice (FSA RP) which has provided a well thought-out taxonomy and practices that help separate good analysis from poor analysis. The benefits here are less and less support for “hired gun” type claims consultants who take whatever position their clients want, and devise an “analysis” that attempts to support that position. The FSA RP also has made it harder for claims consultants who only have one methodology to prevail in dispute resolution since the RP describes conditions under which any methodology can be implemented in an accurate manner and conditions when not.

QUESTION: Why did you become involved with The Guild?

RESPONSE:

Originally, I became involved with the Guild because I believed the concept would have an incredible impact on global project controls and I wanted to be part of influencing the direction of that impact. This is similar to a volunteer role that I seemed to fill with both the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE) International and the PMI College of Scheduling.

In both of those cases, I wanted to ensure that all industry best practices would have some level of alignment so that there would not be competing philosophies about defining good and bad practices. That drove me into the managing editor position with the Best Practices and Guidelines for CPM Scheduling for Construction developed within the PMI College of Scheduling and then ultimately the PMI Scheduling Community of Practice. It also drove me into participating in the Recommended Practices in AACE International, such as the Forensic Schedule Analysis Recommended Practice. With the Guild, I saw a broader, immediate influence on the global industry than in any of the other associations and I wanted to be part of that, particularly as a leader. I also wanted to help provide a bridge between the Guild and AACE International since I believe the two associations are perfectly compatible, and that’s on my long-term list. I have encouraged AACE members to join and participate in the Guild so we have well known experts to help influence method development direction.

Once I started working with James and you, I saw a huge opportunity to fill a void in the global industry for full Project Controls-wide best practices, more so than any other association. And as we developed the career path, I recognized the power and benefits of developing a system where someone could enter into the program and move both vertically up a discipline as well as across all disciplines. This is rare in the Project Controls world where most people get trapped in one discipline. I was lucky in some ways in that as I was recognising that the place in Construction Management (CM) or Project Management where you can really help drive success is in Project Controls, I had already worked the full range of CM functions. Then as I worked up in the Cost Management (Cost) discipline, I took on Planning & Scheduling (P&S) mostly because it seemed like no one wanted to do the work to achieve a good schedule, at least until I was such a believer that I didn’t want anyone else to take it. And, both P&S and Cost required an understanding of Risk Management, to set contingencies in Cost and to achieve a reasonable and better schedule in P&S.

Since then my natural interest in all things related to Project Controls probably took over, and I was able to study fascinating subjects like Bloom’s Taxonomy for how to train and teach, at least up to the level of understanding that suggested that we don’t know enough to be the subject matter expert to develop the training. It’s been a fascinating ride so far, very exciting to be this close to full operations.

QUESTION: Do you feel the structure and composition of The Guild will ensure a more professional appreciation of Project Controls?

RESPONSE:

Absolutely, because no one in the past recognized that need to allow professional development starting at entry level in all disciplines. While AACE International has had the Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP) certification for quite some time (I think I earned mine in 2006), and has now added a Certified Scheduling Technician (CST) certification and the Certified Estimating Professional (CEP) and Certified Cost Technician (CCT) certifications, those only provide two levels, with pretty large jumps to move from the CCT to the CEP and CST to PSP. With our four levels of certifications from Entry to Expert, and the process designed to ensure competence, this is truly a game changer for professional development.

We have so many true experts in all disciplines in the Guild that will be involved in everything from assessments to writing exam questions to training, that the quality of our certifications will quickly prove the value of the process. Competence in providing Project Controls support for projects always brings respect and appreciation.

QUESTION: Do you feel both individuals and their employers benefit from Guild participation?

RESPONSE:

While it appears that the immediate benefits accrue to the individuals in getting their skills ramped up, offering them opportunities to cross-train and become a true Project Controls professional, the employers reap even more benefits as they can count on well-trained and knowledgeable professionals at all levels.

This is typically a very large problem because Project Controls are generally learned by on-the-job-training, with no mentors, unless someone is astute enough to get involved with AACE or others and embark upon a rare effort of self-study. The level of competence achieved by simple exposure on the site working under Project Managers, who often do not understand the role of Project Controls and more often do not have the expertise, is not that high.

So individuals embark upon a real program, working up step-by-step and across the disciplines one at a time, until they have the expertise to lead a team in their specialty areas, or in full Project Controls. Employers will be able to rely on a high level of competence developed by their staff that are involved with the Guild.

QUESTION: We have taken some time to realise our Guild goals and we thank you for your input Chris, are you pleased with the result?

RESPONSE:

I appreciate that, Theo, and I am honored to be associated with you, James, and the other experts that are supporting planning and managing the Guild. I am very happy with our results to date, particularly the career path and the organisation of the Guild. We are poised to provide world class Project Controls training and certifications on a global level, an incredible value.

End of interview...

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The PP and The Guild Team

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Guild Update: 17 September 2014