It is too much work

Here are some of the tasks that you need to implement in order to prepare a reliable plan.

• Review the scope.
• Add activities and relationships
• Have reasonable assumptions regarding productivity rates.
• Estimate durations.
• Determine manpower requirements.
• Develop a fully cost and resource-loaded schedule.
• Identify and analyze project risks.
• Discuss the work with project stakeholders.

However, the planning department doesn’t often have all the answers.  Planning Engineers will need to discuss many things with the team. Moreover, they may need to discuss certain parts of the plan with suppliers, vendors, subcontractors and other stakeholders and then consider their feedback as inputs to the program.

Employer’s Approval

Many contractors follow the wrong approach regarding baseline approval. They ensure that A) the Baseline covers the whole scope and B) it is fully cost and resource loaded regardless of the fact that the schedule may have many unreasonable assumptions. Many planning engineers aim to produce a superficial schedule that forecasts unrealistic expectations. They include a sufficient level of detail and show beautiful bar charts and eye-catching histograms. However, the plan is simply unrealistic and unreasonable to follow because the objective was to obtain the Employer’s approval. The Employer’s approval should be a means to an end.

Employer’s Expectations

We can now agree that the development of the baseline schedule requires time and effort. However, many modern contracts require the Contractor to submit the Baseline schedule within 14-30 days after the Contract award. This is a really short time frame to prepare a practical plan which will serve as a guide for the whole project over the next, let’s say, 2-3 years. Another issue is that the level of uncertainty in the project tends to be very high at the beginning. However, such uncertainty is reduced throughout the project as more information becomes available. Again, it is hard to know all the answers at such an early stage during the baseline development. For example, Employers may include a provisional sum and nominate a Subcontractor who will carry out a specialized scope of work. After the specialized Subcontractor is nominated, a detailed execution and site clearance plan will be proposed. However, the Subcontractor’s plan will likely be different from the Main Contractor’s plan because the latter included some “assumptions” when the baseline was developed at the beginning of the project. Some of these assumptions are not feasible because a lack of specialized knowledge and the unavailability of sufficient time negatively impacted the quality of such assumptions. Similarly, more vendors, suppliers and Subcontractors will join the project at a later stage after the commercial stage is completed. Hence, incorporating all inputs and developing the overall project plan takes a lot of time.

Serious consequences

A baseline schedule is a product that you will have to live with throughout the project life cycle. You may need to implement changes as necessary to maintain the schedule but regular significant alterations may put the feasibility of your plan into question. Therefore, you must spend the necessary time and effort to create a realistic plan because there will be serious consequences for not doing so. Such consequences include:

• Unrealistic expectations and forecasts.
• Useless progress monitoring because the reference that you measuring against is unreliable.
• Unfavoured responses on your Extension of Time Claims.

Overcome the challenges

In my opinion, here are the possible actions that can help us overcome these challenges and increase our chances of developing a realistic baseline schedule.

A plan

You will need a plan to create a plan. Here is what you can do to facilitate and expedite the plan development.

• Develop project control systems to facilitate such work.
• Develop templates to make the process easier and less time-consuming. For example, you may need forms, templates,tools and methods that you can use to ask questions and receive inputs from stakeholders.
• Conduct meetings with relevant stakeholders and departments.

Change in Contract requirements

We may decide that now is the time to change the way we manage our contracts. It might be effective to impose contractual milestones and give the Contractor sufficient time to prepare the plan (one milestone at a time). Hence, the Contractor can take 30 days to prepare a much more realistic plan for the first project phase instead of the whole project. However, we will need a totally new perspective on the way we manage certain contractual requirements such as baseline development, progress reporting, delay analysis, claims and other project control aspects. We shouldn’t be too worried about changing our order though. It is a part of human nature and that’s what helped us evolve over time. We started to see major developments in modern contracts during the industrialization stage after we wanted to construct more and larger bridges, roads and factories. Thanks to technology and other construction innovations, we now have the knowledge, skills, resources and confidence to complete more mega projects. Hence, we may need to review some of the existing contract frameworks to overcome the challenges associated with baseline development.

Regards,

Osama Saad, MBA, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

Learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

The post Why is your Baseline unrealistic? appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

1- Mindset

2- Qualifications and skills

2.1. Knowledge

2.2. Qualifications

Obtaining industry certifications such as PSP or PMI-SP can be beneficial for your career. These certifications validate your knowledge and skills, and having the certification initials after your name can help you get noticed by potential employers. Preparing for the certification exam may take some time, but once you pass, you will be certified for life, making it a valuable investment in your career. However, you may still need to collect professional development units (PDUs) or continuing education units (CEUs) to maintain your certification, which is typically an easy task.

3- Networking

Regards,

Osama Saad, MBA, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

Learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

The post A practical approach to improve your planning career appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

It is not about what you are good at

Planning Engineers often seek to master Primavera P6, thinking that this is the best way to improve their careers. Nothing is wrong with mastering P6 but it should not be your ultimate focus. P6 training is now easily accessible to everyone. As a result, it is hard to have a competitive advantage in the P6 domain as more planning engineers become proficient in using the software. On the other hand, a proficient P6 user had better career opportunities 10 years ago. There are many knowledge areas in which planning engineers compete. This includes P6, advanced excel, Power BI, delay analysis and core project control knowledge. Some planning engineers are perceived by the market as “qualified” and are hired by top companies worldwide. However, they still get their progress reports barely completed on time. Moreover, they don’t know how to automate tasks, complete reports on autopilot or analyze any area with a click of a button. However, this is the best that the global pool of candidates can offer and therefore, they can get the best jobs and benefits. This will bring us to the conclusion that it is not about what you are good at. It is about what you are RELATIVELY good at compared to others.

Beat the competition

What does it mean to you? Well, you shouldn’t try to compete in the popular and easy-to-have skills (e.g. P6). You need to be different to stand out from the competition. For example, you can use Power BI to complete progress reports in seconds and analyze any area in the project with a click of a button. Show that in your CV and during interviews. Moreover, you can present a highly interactive dashboard in a progress meeting which will impress all stakeholders and make it hard to replace you. Furthermore, you can have outstanding knowledge in delay analysis and claims. Always try to find ways to differentiate yourself and master skills that very few planning engineers currently have.

Humility

Planning Engineers should have an honest discussion with themselves. As human beings, it is very hard to acknowledge that we are incompetent or lack skills. Our subconscious always tells us that we are all right or the situation is not that bad. You are a hero. As a result, you always feel that you deserve the best opportunities, employer, salary, recognition, environment or location. However, before we jump to conclusions, ask yourself the following questions:

1- When was the last time you read a book written by an expert?

2- Are you confident about your advanced excel skills?

3- Are you really good at delay analysis?

4- Can you use Power BI effectively?

5- How are your PowerPoint and presentation skills?

6- Did you develop a strong mindset around project control?

7- Can you prepare comprehensive progress reports as per best practices?

8- In general, do you provide high value to your team? Do you help projects move forward? Are you up to the expectations of everyone around you?

9- Are you satisfied with your command level of English?

10- Do you certify your knowledge? Are you PSP or PMI-SP certified?

When I ask planning engineers these questions, the answers are often shocking. Be honest with yourself because humility and self-awareness are keys to success. Is it fair to expect the best of everything when you don’t do your best On the other hand, if you work on yourself and provide value to humanity and the marketplace, the universe will find a way to reward you. Feel free to blame the market or the economy but playing the victim’s role doesn’t help anyone. I have been there myself and it never worked. Yes, the market is currently tough but it doesn’t matter who you are during the recession but whom you become after the recession is over. I am still putting in the work every day.

Stay motivated. It is a long game. Trust the process.

Conclusion

You will never be perfect in all project control areas. It is ok to have some knowledge gaps in Primavera but you master other tools that account for your weaknesses and help you stand out from the competition.

Regards,

Osama Saad, MBA, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

Learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

The post You should be different appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

After I earned my engineering degree, I found that my knowledge cannot be practically applied in the job market (for the most part). It is a story that we can all resonate with. But I am an engineer so I thought that I can figure everything out on my own. Well, it didn’t really go this way.

I started my career with a series of ambitious but failed attempts to pursue a career that I have always been passionate about – Project Control.

I pursued a postgraduate diploma in project management.

I couldn’t improve my practical skills. It didn’t work.

I earned PMP and PMI-SP certifications.

It didn’t work.

I read books.

It didn’t work.

I improved my P6 and excel skills.

It didn’t work.

The list goes on…

Don’t misunderstand me. I learned something from the above for sure but I wasn’t satisfied with the results. I wanted to achieve more and add value to my projects. I spent a lot of time and money doing the above. I mean, come on, if I spent the same amount of time and money on programming courses and even YouTube videos, I would have become a superior App Developer. This wasn’t the case in my project control career.

Why does this happen? Why do we struggle with improving our project control skills? In this article, I will explain the top three factors that prevent planning engineers from improving their skills.

Limited “practical” training

If I want to become a programmer, I can watch high-quality practical tutorials on YouTube and it won’t take me too long to see results. The majority of the content out there explains theories or concepts only. Moreover, a master’s degree or project management certifications don’t teach the followings:

• Review the contract requirements and prepare a practical baseline program step-by-step.
• Avoid the common “fatal” mistakes in the schedule update.
• Prepare a progress curve or KPIs.
• Prepare comprehensive interactive dashboards/reports using Power BI.
• Prepare a professional practical claim step-by-step along with the concurrency calculations.

The job market needs the above skills. It doesn’t need someone with any skills that don’t add value and get the job DONE. Such skills have become obsolete and irrelevant. They are immediately disregarded by many hiring managers. You must give the market what it wants, not what you want.

Limited Tools

This part is not actually your fault. Unlike banking or healthcare, construction is one of the least technology-dependent industries. To execute your project control tasks effectively, you need to perform certain tasks including but not limited to:

• Collect the progress data for engineering, procurement, construction, etc.
• Identify and report project delays.
• Prepare comprehensive progress reports and dashboards on a regular basis.
• Analyze the delays, send notices and prepare extension of time claims.
• Prepare progress presentations and attend meetings.
• Draft or provide inputs to contractual correspondences.

Similarly, other industries such as banking and healthcare require a huge amount of work too. The challenge of having “too much to do, so little time” exists in many industries. The only difference is that these industries developed many effective user-friendly tools and methods over time to get the job done. In construction, this isn’t the case. When Primavera P6 is introduced to the world, it helped us overcome many of the project management challenges back then. We don’t have many similar tools to make our project control life easier. I don’t claim to be the best but I am aware of this fact. I am still learning and improving. I use tools such as advanced excel and Power BI that have already helped me a lot but the industry needs more tools.

Universal Frameworks

“1 + 1 = 2” is a universally agreed outcome. It is easily accessible to everyone. In project control, there is no universal way on how to EXACTLY perform project control tasks. There are common principles but the execution is different for everyone. It is impossible though and I don’t personally recommend having a universal framework because project control is based on logic and common sense which is hard to make a standard for. I love it this way and that’s the beauty of it. You can innovate unique methods and combine different tools to achieve the desired outcome. The sky is the limit. The better you do that, the more competent you are and the more you stand out from the competition. That said, if project control had standard procedures, the distribution and accessibility of this knowledge would have become quicker and easier for everyone across the globe. Again, this is not the case and I don’t think having a standard framework is convenient.

Conclusion

If you want to master project control, you must continue to innovate and integrate different software tools to account for the technology deficit in the market. Make sure that you consume practical content, educate yourself about data analytics and learn any “relevant” software that helps you create better systems and improve your workflow.

Regards,

Osama Saad, MBA, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

Learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

The post Why do many planning engineers struggle with Project Control? appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

Demonstrating supreme competency in project control is rare. Such skills largely and directly contribute to the success of construction projects worth billions of dollars. Your knowledge can add a huge value and make the world a better place. This article will explain the challenges that prevent engineers from improving their skills and how to overcome such challenges.

Over the years, I met many planning engineers and could see patterns in their behaviour. In my opinion, there are four challenges that prevent planning engineers from acquiring exceptional skills that add value to the marketplace.

1- Laziness

You are probably reading this article because you want to improve your career. However, tens of thousands of engineers will be reading this article too. They are watching the same tutorial that you have just watched. It is a sad reality that the majority will have the short-term motivation or be entertained by the content but will not apply what they learn. The minority are staying up all night putting in the work. You are literally competing with everyone else. If you add laziness on top of that, you have little chance of making a prosperous career.

2- Distractions

Many engineers consume every piece of content out there. This clearly takes time and effort but doesn’t necessarily translate to a positive outcome. It is the quality of the content that matters. You need to consume “practical” content that can be directly applied at the workplace and add value to the team. This will help projects move forward.

3- Arrogance (most popular)

Many engineers don’t want to be perceived as inexperienced or incompetent. As a result, they don’t feel motivated to ask questions or seek knowledge. They always tell themselves: “I can figure this out on my own”. I am not judging anyone because I have been there myself. Our education system has done that to us but real life is really different. In college, we work on our own and we pass exams on our own. Therefore, our success has always been determined based on our individual performances. I am here to tell you that this is not the case in your career. You need people (a lot of them) to grow your career.

It is unlikely that you will keep working for your current Employer forever. You will likely have new colleagues over time. Planning engineers should ask their managers and the site team more questions whenever they have to. You can’t really know everything on your own. Moreover, it also makes sense to know about a common planning mistake from someone who has done it before and try to avoid it – someone who is older, wiser and more knowledgeable than you are. “Learn from the mistakes of others, you can’t live long enough to make them all yourself” – Eleanor Roosevelt.

I don’t mean that you keep asking questions and do nothing. You have to put everything you know into practice and still make mistakes. It is a part of the process. But asking questions and seeking knowledge will get you far better results over time.

4- Lack of reading

Why isn’t reading books popular among planning engineers? We all can agree that reading has benefits. Successful people such as Bill Gates and Elon Musk read a lot. For some reason, planning engineers haven’t developed the habit of reading books. On the other, there are many great books written by practitioners who have a significant amount of experience. They summarize several years of experience in content that you can consume in a few hours only. It is like having a highly experienced and well-paid mentor for an extremely affordable price. However, most of the best books have fewer than 10 reviews on Amazon. This suggests that very few engineers read in our industry.

I have read books that have knowledge that you cannot find in courses or degrees worth tens of thousands of dollars. How amazing is that? And it doesn’t take long before you reap the benefits. You can realize a huge spike in your knowledge and mindset right after you finish your first book. Make reading a habit and you will thank me later. I recommend checking the bio of the writers before you start reading the books. Make sure the content is written by an experienced practitioner. This way, you consume “practical” content that can be directly applied to your work. This will help you provide a higher value. Moreover, you will make sure that you receive a decent ROI by investing the time to read.

Conclusion

To succeed and have a prosperous career in project control, you have to put in the work, consume practical content, learn from others and read a lot of books. You will stack your skills and accumulate great knowledge over time. This way, you can build your most valuable asset – your skills. An asset that is far better than your home or car. Finally, you should learn any relevant software that adds value such as P6, advanced excel or Power BI.

Regards,

Osama Saad, MBA, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

Learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

The post 4 ways to improve your planning skills. appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

There are many ways to add value in the project control profession. However, I would recommend that you start improving yourself in the below areas where most planning engineers really struggle.

• Progress reporting and presentation.
• Progress analysis.
• Project control systems and automation.

Power BI is free software for the most part and a powerful data analytics processor. It helps you overcome the above-mentioned challenges. You have to learn Power BI and its applications in project control if you want to stand out from the competition and improve your career. In this article, I will share how planning engineers can develop a very powerful CV by presenting their Power BI skills.

Your work speaks for itself

You can follow the traditional way of listing your experience and duties but you have just become one of the so many planning engineers who continuously compete with you in the market. In addition to listing your duties, you can also share a link to your Power BI interactive reports in your CV.

Many CVs are sent and reviewed in a digital format. As a result, there is a very high chance that the hiring managers will review your CV on a computer where they can access your dashboard link. The reviewer doesn’t have to install Power BI to see your work which is super convenient because 99% of planning engineers don’t know about Power BI or how to use it. That’s why you shouldn’t expect hiring managers to have Power BI installed on their computers.

Here is an example of a Power BI dashboard shared via a link. That’s how the reviewer will see your work. You can check it and perform interactive analysis even though you don’t have Power BI software installed.

Click here to view my comprehensive interactive report with Power BI

Magical Duties

I have read many CVs for planning engineers and I observed patterns in those CVs. They are all similar. The only difference is the Employer and the number of years of experience. Some of the duties that planning engineers mention in their CVs include:

• Prepare Baseline Program.
• Prepare progress reports.
• Prepare Extension of Time Claims.
• The list goes on but you got the idea.

Remember, you are not alone and tens of thousands are competing with you for a better life and career. I am not saying that you should do something different; rather it should be valuable. Companies shortlist candidates based on the expected potential value that they will bring to the workplace. Therefore, the higher value you can bring to your potential employer and improve its existing conditions, the better career opportunities you will have. As a Power BI user, you can add a significant value and list the below duties in your CV to get shortlisted.

• Prepare progress reports in seconds.
• Analyze any area in the project with a click of a button.
• Develop powerful systems and automation.

How often do you see these duties listed among planning engineers? I am sure you can guess the answer. If I were the hiring manager and read these duties, I will immediately pause, ignore the other “typical” CVs and become interested to know more about this planning engineer. That’s how you add value, become different, get shortlisted and stand out from the competition.

Colours matter

I will always recommend that you present accurate information in your reporting. However, it is extremely important to prepare professional and eye-catching reports too. Humans love colours!

We love rainbows. They are formed through a process called refraction but nothing is really magical about rainbows. It is pure physics. Yet, we don’t care about how they are formed; we just love them. Moreover, between 80 and 90 percent of the information that our brain processes are visual (Source: Udomon, Iboro, Xiong, Chuyee, et al. Visual, Audio, and Kinesthetic Effects on Memory Retention and Recall). In addition, Two-thirds of the brain’s electrical activity is dedicated to vision. In my experience, if you can attach eye-catching, colourful and professional reports with your CV, it can make a huge difference. Refer to the below snapshots as an example of how this works in practice. You can attach similar snapshots with your CV to grab the hiring managers’ attention and impress them.

I am not trying to explain shortcuts here. You have to put in the work and be a planning engineer who can add significant value. I am just trying to help you utilize powerful tools such as Power BI that very few planning engineers have and also help you explore effective ways to improve your career and life.

Regards,

Osama Saad, MBA, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

Learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

The post 3 ways for a killer planning engineer’s CV with Power BI appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

1- Don’t spend all of your time figuring out how you can use P6 in every project control area. The role of P6 is limited. You will need to do a lot of work using other tools such as Excel or Power BI.

2- Don’t try to master every scheduling software out there. It is better to improve your skills with the tools that you use on a daily basis unless it is necessary to add a new tool to your workflow.

3- You can become an expert in software but it doesn’t necessarily mean you are a qualified planning engineer. Softwares are just tools. Your mind controls them.

4- Developing your project control mindset and growing your skills take time. There is no quick fix or an easy shortcut.

5- Working hard doesn’t always mean that it is a good sign. Being productive and able to deliver results matter the most.

6- Experience is the greatest teacher. It is better to put the time into work than to watch tutorials all day long. Consuming knowledge and practicing its applications improve your skills.

7- There is no universal way on how you should implement project control tasks. That’s the beauty of it. Everyone is unique in his/her operations. Most of your decisions should be based on a strong mindset, logic and common sense.

8- A schedule can consist of thousands of activities. Every activity has many attributes (e.g. budgeted total cost, earned value, % complete, etc). Some attributes even change every week. You must learn data analytics and use leverage to manage such huge sets of data. There is no way around it.

learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

Regards,

Osama Saad, MBA, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

The post Career Advice for Planning Engineers appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

After I graduated, I realized that my skills can’t add any value to the marketplace. Yes, it is a broken system but more on that later. During that time, there was no guide or training that teaches fresh graduates the practical application of knowledge. I had an ambition, but I was angry and disappointed. It is funny how time flies so quickly.

I receive many messages from young engineers who share the same frustration. If you are one of them, I just want to tell you that I can exactly resonate with your feelings because I have been there myself. I am going to share what I would do or tell myself if I have to start all over again. I hope this can help someone out there understand the job market and life better.

1- It takes time

We live in a world where you can get whatever you want so quickly with high certainty. Are you hungry? Order your food and it will be there within 30 min. Would you like to change your phone? Make the order and you will receive it tomorrow. You get the idea.

Similar daily behaviors affect our actions, feelings and expectations but career success can’t be achieved that fast. Many young engineers get disappointed because they don’t subconsciously feel a certainty that is similar to the forecasted delivery dates. However, life is not smooth and full of changes. You need to embrace this change and enjoy the process. You need to work hard every day even if you don’t realize any career improvements. You need to keep working until you create enough momentum and your snowball gets bigger before you unlock better opportunities. Rinse and repeat. A plane should have a runway before it takes off. As a planning engineer, your runway is time.

2- Be different

You might have average skills and are applying for online job vacancies but if you do what 99% of people are doing, you get similar results. When you improve your skills over time, these small daily improvements will compound and you will feel more confident. After you improve your skills (it takes time), you can be innovative on how to present your offering. For example, you can share the link to this amazing Power BI dashboard and attach your comprehensive Extension of Time Claim with your CV. Moreover, finding a job is a job. You need to do your best to put yourself in front of the available opportunities, both in-person and online. The bottom line is to be different.

3- Curiosity is punished

Our education system punishes someone who is asking many questions in the classroom. Students don’t feel comfortable asking questions because they fear being seen stupid. Curiosity is a human gift. How is this related to a project control career? I am glad you asked. In my experience, planning engineers often lack execution-related knowledge because they don’t ask their team enough questions. They don’t want to be seen as inexperienced or stupid. On the other hand, modern project management frameworks recommend having open and clear communication. My advice is to go ahead and ask so many questions to improve your knowledge. Your current employer won’t probably be the one that you will work for until your retirement. You will unlikely continue to work with your current colleagues forever too.

4- Postgraduate Education

During your frustration, you might think that a master degree will solve all your problems. I am here to tell you that this is not true. While construction is getting more complicated every day (e.g. Expo, Iconic Towers, High Rise Buildings, whole cities to support urbanizations), the university curriculum hasn’t been updated much to support the practical market requirements. A university degree doesn’t teach you advanced P6 shortcuts, comprehensive progress reports, KPIs, progress curves, Power BI or extension of time claim tips – just to name a few.

If you want another proof, I am sure that we all know someone who is not even an engineer but gets a decent salary. The reason is simple. He offers great value and gets the job done. While a university degree is very expensive and time-consuming, it doesn’t provide an attractive ROI. You should seek knowledge from an experienced practitioner or practical books. Moreover, I believe that pursuing certifications such as PMP or PSP is a good thing to do. However, such certifications should be complementary and not the focus of your career because they won’t entirely solve your problems.

5- Content consumption

There are so many resources on the internet to learn project control from. In my opinion, there is only limited content that provides the desired “practical” benefit. Before you consume any piece of content, ask yourself: will this help me get the job done? I recommend that you improve your P6, advanced excel, Power BI and delay analysis skills because such skills can be directly applied to the workplace. Some theoretical content about management behaviors? Not so much.

Conclusion

You might not have had the best of everything. There are so many uncontrolled variables that happen to you by default(e.g. education, demographics, wealth, etc). However, we need to work hard on the things that we can control. In this article, I shared my own opinion about the common misconceptions in the project control career and explained the importance of doing hard work over the long term.

Learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

Regards,

Osama Saad, MBA, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

The post Planning Engineer’s Career Tips appeared first on Smart PM Blog.