Here are my top 11 formatting tips to create polished, professional Power BI reports:

1. Use a Theme

Consistency starts with a theme. Apply a Power BI theme (.json file) across your reports to ensure uniform colours, fonts, and visual styles. This not only saves time but also maintains a cohesive design.

2. Align Visuals

Alignment matters. Use the gridlines feature to align your visuals and ensure a clean and professional layout that’s easy to navigate.

3. Stick to a Colour Palette

Choose a complementary colour palette. For example, if red is your main colour, search for “Red Colour Palette” online to find colours that pair well. This helps avoid clashing tones and ensures a professional design.

4. Maintain Consistent Design

Establish a design standard. For example:

• If your chart titles have a violet background with white text, apply this style to all charts.
• Ensure charts of the same type have identical dimensions for a symmetrical look.

5. Avoid Overlapping Visuals

Spacing is key. Crowded visuals create confusion, so always leave enough room between visuals to enhance readability.

6. Clear Labels

Clarity over complexity. Rename fields in each visual to make their purpose clear. Avoid cryptic labels like “Planned%”—instead, use “Planned Progress (%)” for better understanding.

7. Disable Redundant Titles

Less is more. Turn off titles for visuals when the layout already makes their purpose obvious (e.g., data in cards).

8. Keep Interactivity Intuitive

Choose slicer styles that match the context:

• Use a slider slicer for analyzing progress curves.
• Use a dropdown slicer to store data dates.

This approach ensures the report feels intuitive and easy to navigate.

9. Data Formatting

Standardize your formats:

• Use thousand separators for costs and labor units.
• Add currency symbols for costs related fields.
• Maintain consistent decimal places for metrics like SPI or % Complete.
• Use the same date format (e.g., DD/MM/YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY) across all visuals.

10. Navigation Buttons

These buttons are highly recommend and I’ve been using them for a long time now. Add buttons for seamless transitions between report sections. These not only improve usability but also give your report a professional look.

11. Have a Checklist

I am a big fan of checklists. Before finalizing the model, go through your checklist to ensure formatting consistency. This habit will save you time and improve the quality of your reports.

Why Formatting Matters

Well-formatted Power BI reports:

• Make insights more accessible, actionable and understood.
• Enhance communication with the site team, consultant and client.
• Showcase your professionalism and attention to detail.

By applying these tips, you’ll create reports that stand out and drive better decision-making in project control.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Enroll in our Planning Engineer and Project Control Courses

The post Top 11 Power BI Formatting Tips for Project Control appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

1⃣ Understand Your Data

Begin by building separate queries for each main data entry point, such as Baseline, Updates, Activity Codes, or Labor Units Distributions. Segmenting data at this stage reduces the risk of conflicts when combining datasets later.

2⃣ Define a Star Schema

Simplify your data model with a Star Schema:

• Use IDs like Activity IDs, Activity Code IDs, or Resource IDs as primary keys.
• Avoid snowflake schemas that introduce unnecessary complexity.

In other industries, the data analyst often needs to perform multiple steps to establish the primary keys. We are so lucky to have these IDs in project control that work in our favour.

3⃣ Optimize Data Types and Size

These steps might look minor but ignoring them will most likely produce errors and misleading results.

• Assign appropriate data types (e.g., Decimals for costs fields, Percentages for the Activity % complete field).
• Remove blank cells to prevent conflicts during calculations. Power BI will recognize blank cells as values and process them.
• Eliminate redundancy—for instance, keep budgeted total cost in only one query to avoid duplications in calculations or processing errors.

4⃣ Establish Clear Naming Conventions

Clarity is key. Use full, consistent names for tables, columns, and measures.
When deadlines are tight and you are under pressure, clear naming prevents fatal mistakes and ensures that you don’t select other fields by mistake. Instead of abbreviations, descriptive labels can save you.

5⃣ Singularity is King

Stick to these principles for a more efficient model:

• Use a single data source if possible.
• Favor One-to-Many or Many-to-One relationships over Many-to-Many.
• Set your cross-filter direction to Single rather than Both to maintain control over relationships.

6⃣ Use More Measures

Rely on measures instead of calculated columns. Measures are optimized for Power BI’s engine which leads to better and even faster performance .

7⃣ Test and Validate the Model

Test the water. Use a small set of your data (e.g., one small baseline and one update) to prototype and validate your model before scaling up. This approach is particularly helpful for beginners.

8⃣ Build Your Relationships from Scratch

Disable auto-detect relationships and manually configure them.
This extra effort prevents unintended joins and ensures your model reflects the true logic of your schedule’s data.

9⃣ Be Humble

Respect the tool, and it will respect you:

• Work with data sources that you are familiar with to make troubleshooting easier in the future.
• Avoid complex DAX expressions and pre-calculate them using measures where possible.
• Focus on creating a reliable, error-free model rather than becoming obsessed with complex configurations.

Have a checklist

I am big fan of checklists. Don’t forget to have a checklist to review your model to cross-check the above points before finalizing!
By following these principles, you’ll not only enhance your Power BI workflow but also deliver high-value insights that the project team relies on and desperately expects from planning engineers.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Enroll in our Planning Engineer and Project Control Courses

The post My Top 10 Tips for Using Power BI in Project Control appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

In this video, I explain how you can connect your progress photos to your Power BI model.

Here is the script:

let
BinaryToPbiImage = (BinaryContent as binary) as text=>
let
Base64 = “data:image/jpeg;base64, ” & Binary.ToText(BinaryContent, BinaryEncoding.Base64)
in
Base64
in
BinaryToPbiImage

Regards,

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

The post Connect Progress Photos with the Power BI Model appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

The value of your reports will be compromised if the results are not presented in a skilled and polished manner.

Many planners think that the more colours they show in their reports, the better.

But this is far from the truth.

Watch the below video to understand the colour patterns and the best practices of presentations in project control.

In this video, I explain the colour wheel and colour palette. I also demonstrate the associated applications in project control.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

The post Colour patterns and presentation best practices appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

Myth# 01 – I don’t produce accurate results using Power BI

Many planning engineers start using the software but don’t produce the expected results. They struggle to design a dashboard that is similar to what they comfortably do inside Excel. Moreover, it seems very hard to identify what has gone wrong in the configuration setup that produced inaccurate results. While Primavera P6 is a project control tool, Power BI is a data analytics processor that is not designed for project control purposes. Therefore, any Power BI user should first master the data analytics principles which the software is based upon. Such principles include data normalization, cross-filter directions, snowflake schemas, cardinality and primary and foreign keys. Data analytics is a specialization area in which many practitioners pursue a whole career. On the other hand, planning engineers are not expected to be proficient in this area because it is not a part of their daily task routine and is not typically taught in engineering colleges. Hence, planning engineers should educate themselves in the data analytics area before they use the software. Otherwise, they will end up developing interactive “inaccurate” dashboards because they didn’t set up the model correctly. A common mistake planning engineers make is when they start Power BI tutorials before they complete data analytics training.

Myth# 02 -Power BI is really complicated

You have probably been using Excel for many years now and you have become very familiar with it. However, Power BI operates differently than Excel. You should also expect to be uncomfortable when you first use the software. Do you remember how frustrating it was when you used Primavera P6 or Excel for the first time? However, you had to force yourself to go through the process and continue using the tools anyway. After you put in the reps and navigate your way around the software, you have become better, quicker, more efficient and more confident in achieving the results that you expect from the software. Well, Power BI is not any different and it is worth going through the unfamiliarity and discomfort that are associated with the initial learning of this tool because the rewards are much higher than the pain.

Myth# 03 – I don’t have any coding experience to use Power BI

You don’t need any coding or programming experience to start using Power BI in project control. The software is in fact incredibly user-friendly and straightforward. Progress analysis and report preparation typically involve a set of routine tasks and predictable behaviour. In some sense, we attempt to “codify” the process but I don’t refer to the literal javascript kind of coding. By using Power BI, you can capture the required inputs from P6 and develop a model that processes pre-defined mathematical operations to achieve the desired outcome. For example, this model, if developed correctly, can immediately calculate your SPI value and update your progress curve, trend analysis, breakdown analysis and variance analysis with zero effort from your end.

Myth# 04 – Power BI is a paid service

As the software has many amazing benefits, many planners think that it is a paid service but Power BI is free for the most part. There are some additional advantages related to team collaborations if you upgrade to Pro at $10 per month. However, for planning engineers, I found that most users get their work done using the free version. This means that you can prepare interactive dashboards and eye-catching reports using a free service.

Myth# 05 – I don’t need Power BI because I am happy with my tools

First ask yourself: Are you satisfied with the value that you offer in your projects? Do you feel overwhelmed with the workload? Do you feel that you can offer a lot more but you can’t? In my experience, 99% of planning engineers suffer from these problems because they lack the systems, automation, leverage and efficiency that Power BI can offer you. If your existing tools don’t help you achieve the desired results, you need to change what you do. “If you continue to do what you’ve always done, you will continue to get what you’ve always got” – Henry Ford.

Myth# 06 – I don’t need Power BI because I am an advanced Excel user

Both Excel and Power BI are Microsoft products. If Excel is enough to do your work, why did Microsoft introduce Power BI in the first place? Although both tools operate differently, they share some similarities in practice. For example,
you can use Macros inside Power BI without creating them (it is called “Applied Steps” in Power BI). Moreover, you can enjoy the benefits of “Power Pivot” inside Power BI without the challenges that you face inside Excel.

Myth# 07 – I don’t need Power BI because it is not a requirement by Contract or Client

The Contract or Client might specify the project control deliverables such as progress reports, KPIs, etc. However, the tools that should be used to produce these deliverables are not often spelled out in the Contract. The requirements might obligate the Contractor to use a specific scheduling software but it won’t mandate using Excel, Power BI or any other tool to fulfill the project control requirements. However, whether you are on the Contractor’s or Consultant’s side, you can maximize your outputs and offer significant value by using Power BI.

Myth# 08 – learning new software from scratch is not worth it

Using Power BI can help you achieve the following:

• Complete progress reports in seconds.
• Analyze any area in the project with a click of a button.
• Have all planning work in one location under one layout using one tool.
• Not worry about validating excel formulas errors or calculations every single time you prepare a report.
• Connect your drawings with the progress data and present photos.
• Not waste time importing several XER files or browsing reports to find the information that you need.
• Extract data from the model and prepare a complete presentation in seconds.
• Create systems and complete tasks on auto-pilot.
• Create themes that save a lot of time on report formatting.
• Impress stakeholders and build a powerful brand in front of clients.
• Provide massive value to the team toward project success.
• Have all the answers in a progress meeting immediately on the spot.
• Show beautiful dashboards and a link to the interactive report in your CV to get shortlisted for vacancies.
• Avoid preparing progress reports manually.
• Not worry about workload and meeting deadlines.
• Show supreme competencies and skills.
• Gain recognition from your team and stakeholders as a planning engineer who is knowledgeable and expert.
• Acquire superior planning skills.
• Develop a strong data analytics mindset that will help you solve future problems and set you up for success.
• Do all of the above using a FREE software service.

The post 8 Myths of Power BI in Project Control appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

1- Primary and Foreign Keys

Your model will ideally consist of multiple queries for different purposes (e.g. Activity Codes, Progress Data, Cost and labor assignments, etc). Each query should have a primary key which is a unique identifier that all other fields in the same query can correspond to. Here are a few examples.

Baseline Query

This may include

• Activity ID (it is a unique identifier and therefore can be primary).
• Activity Description (Foreign)
• Budgeted Total Cost (Foreign).

Activity Code Query

• Activity Code ID (Primary)
• Activity Code Description (foreign)

You must set the primary and foreign keys properly so that the model can process your requests accurately.

2- Duplication of Fields

This mistake is very common. Engineers who lack data analytics knowledge show the same field in multiple queries. For example, they may populate the “Budgeted Total Cost” as a foreign key in two different queries. This can be disastrous in your model and there will be a high chance that your interactive report is not generating the expected results because the configuration is not set up properly. Avoidance of field duplications is key and aligns with the data normalization principles.

3- It is not Excel

Yes, there is an intersection between Excel and Power BI but they are quite different. For example, Pivot Tables in Excel are similar to the Queries in Power BI. Moreover, the Power Pivot in Excel is similar to the model relationships in Power BI. However, both function in an entirely different way. In Excel, you can deal with individual cells (e.g. sum the values located in two different cells). On the contrary, Power BI doesn’t recognize individual cells and only deals with rows and columns. Many planning engineers don’t understand this concept and even worse, they try to construct the model in a way that will facilitate the return of individual cells because it brings the excel familiar. Hence, this can cause misleading results.

4- Cardinality

Many planners choose to have (many to many) relationships in their model because why not? It feels safe. However, I always construct my model to have “one to many” or “many to one” relationships. It is also a natural outcome when the primary and foreign keys are set properly.

Why do you need data analytics in project control?

Data analytics is a specialization area but you don’t have to master every aspect. You only need to understand the principles so you can get by. The effective implementation of data analytics in project control can help you:

• Complete progress reports in seconds.
• Analyze any area in the project with a click of a button.
• Have all planning work in one layout, one location using one tool.
• Connect your drawings with the progress data and present photos.
• Not waste time importing several XER files or browsing reports to find the information that you need.
• Impress stakeholders and build a powerful brand in front of clients.
• Attach Power BI reports with your CV.
• Do all of the above using a free tool.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

The post 4 common mistakes planners make in Power BI appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

1- Collect progress data.

2- Update the schedule.

3- Prepare the weekly report and dashboards (input data in the same fields, apply the same formula, do the same formatting, etc)

4- Review the outcome.

5- identify project delays.

6- Prepare progress presentations for meetings.

7- Voila! Rinse and repeat.

Boring, right? Well, I am here today to tell you that there is a golden opportunity in this routine.

Here is an example of just one routine step. Every week, you calculate the SPI on Tuesday morning. It is when you’ve just completed the schedule update and started preparing the report. You divide the Earned Value Cost by the Planned Cost. This means that you apply the “same” mathematical operation every week on Tuesday morning. It doesn’t matter if you use excel for calculation purposes. You would still need to copy data from P6 or input a figure manually into your excel report. The same concept will apply when you try to calculate the Actual %, variance %, etc. In other words, you actively participate in the development of your report. Despite the current technology and software tools that we currently have at our disposal, 99.9% of planning engineers perform their duties in such a traditional way which impacts their productivity and limits their potential to add value.

Planning Engineers should find a way to apply technology leverage and code such routine tasks so that most of their work is passively completed; thanks to our boring routine. On the other hand, doctors can’t follow an exact routine every time they diagnose a patient because factors such as gender, age, and health problems must be taken into consideration. Hence, doctors must perform their duties in an active manner on a case-by-case basis. Planning engineers are just so lucky to have a routine whenever a reporting task is requested or completed.

Disadvantages of performing task routine

According to the above, when you “actively” perform your tasks and follow the routine, you will:

1- Feel bored by an overwhelming amount of repetitive work to produce static reports which make your work less enjoyable.

2- Spend more time, effort and energy performing the same tasks on weekly basis.

3- Have high friction in your workflow as you would need to apply numerous steps to prepare your report. Moreover, you will need to constantly review your outcome, apply P6 filters, deal with formula errors, format reports, update the cell range of your excel formula and refer to the baseline schedule as necessary.

4- Follow the “same” steps to prepare your progress presentation manually.

5- Struggle with meeting deadlines.

Advantages of coding your task routine

In this case, it makes far more sense to use data analytics processors such as Power BI to code the task routine which helps planning engineers:

1- Automate tasks and complete interactive reports and presentations on autopilot within seconds.

2- Analyze any area in the project with a click of a button using one tool.

3- Save time and effort by eliminating low-impact activities such as formatting or applying mathematical operations.

4- Not feel bored by doing the exact same work every week.

5- Enjoy less friction as you will need to worry less about excel formulas errors, reviewing your outcome or constantly referring to the baseline schedule, as necessary.

I am not talking about a few routine steps here. I mean the whole process that you follow to complete your reporting tasks such as trend analysis, progress curve, breakdown analysis, variance analysis, etc.

Conclusion

Your biggest enemy is sometimes your best ally. Your “boring” routine that you always complain about could be the reason for you to become more productive, add more value and unlock the best career opportunities. Your routine can be the way to have the time, freedom, clarity, efficiency and energy that you exactly need for a prosperous career. It is also how you stand out from the competition.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

The post Bored from your planning task routine? Think Again! appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

I understand that this statement might be shocking to you but I am a practical person who loves to make conclusions based on logic and practical frameworks so let’s break this down. First, let’s review what “experienced” planning engineers currently do after they complete the schedule update.

• Assign the Baseline Schedule to the Schedule Update inside P6.
• Apply filters as necessary.
• Copy data into a configuration Excel sheet where formulas are established.
• Review the front end (the report itself) and make sure that there are no errors.
• Repeat the same cycle as many times as necessary to complete other report sections and dashboards (e.g. milestones, progress curve, resources, cost, work categories, variance analysis, breakdown analysis, delay highlights, long lead items, performance %’s and other indicators).
• Import historic XER files to analyze the progress further.

Preparing progress reports is a time and effort vampire. Project control is simple because most of the above reporting tasks are repetitive. You probably apply the same steps and perform the same mathematical operations in the same order when you prepare the report every week. While this workflow is perceived by many planning engineers as a lot of boring work, I see a golden opportunity. Power BI allows planning engineers to code the process, automate these tasks and complete the whole report within seconds on autopilot. This means that planning engineers don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time they prepare a progress report.

With every client I do consultations with, project managers expect more contributions and involvement from their planning engineers. However, they don’t want to push their planners further because they can see them work so hard on preparing reports. At the same time, companies don’t want to hire more expensive “qualified” planners because this will compromise their budget. It is an endless loop that got many large projects completed late and over budget. After planning engineers use power BI and have so much time saved up, they can focus on things that matter the most. They can do the followings:

• Identify and communicate project delays to their team.
• Prepare and monitor recovery measures.
• Identify more opportunities for Extension of Time Claims.
• Draft correspondences to Subcontractors that are in default to ensure that the progress is in accordance with the plan.
• Perform more comprehensive interactive analysis, give recommendations, attend meetings and prepare progress presentations for the decision-makers and the client.
• Monitor the progress of engineering and procurement and work closely with the respective departments.
• Review performance trends and highlight the potential delays before they occur to the project.
• Analyze the causes of payment deficits and recommend actions to get back on track with the original cash flow.

Nobody has enough time in a day to “manually” prepare a comprehensive progress report AND carry out the above tasks effectively. Both the decision makers and Planning engineers are fully aware of what is expected to perform effective project control. The number one challenge faced by planning engineers is not the lack of knowledge; it is the lack of time. We need to shift our mindset on progress reports and consider them as input instead of output to deliver the results we need. It is something that project control books or certifications don’t teach. This poor mindset of solely focusing on progress reports has been sold to all planning engineers across the globe and got us nowhere. As a result, planning engineers continue to struggle with delivering what is expected from them.  In other words, the main work of planning engineers should start AFTER the progress report is completed. The quicker you complete the report, the more effective and qualified you become. Finally, not only can Power BI help planning engineers achieve amazing results but also help companies hire fewer planning engineers to do even more work.

Don’t work for your report. Make your reports work for you.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

The post Don’t spend time preparing progress reports appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

I believe that formatting should be the first task that should be automated in your workflow. However, many planning engineers don’t really know how this can be done in a practical way. You might have tried to prepare excel templates that can be updated on weekly basis. However, here are some of the challenges that you typically face when you format your reports inside excel.

• You still need to do formatting for any new reports or dashboards.
• It is challenging to ensure the same colour selection and formatting consistency across the whole report.
• You might need to prepare quick ad-hoc reports for your own analysis where formatting will be required to make the findings clearly and easily readable.
• You might need to report certain data that are requested by stakeholders. High-quality formatting for the final product will still be needed.
• You will be using “format painter” a lot inside excel.
• You will format fonts and tables most of the time too.

Each of the above takes time. When you add up this time, you realize that you wasted many hours that could have otherwise been spent on performing effective analysis that helps the project move forward.

You can incorporate tools such as Power BI in your workflow to automate formatting. Here is what you can do inside Power BI.

1- Create Themes

When you develop your design inside Power BI, you can define your preferences which may include some of the following:

• Font Size and type for chart data, title, labels, etc
• Font colours for chart data, title, labels, etc
• Chart colours and background colours

Not only will this save you a lot of time in formatting new charts but will also ensure consistency across the whole report or presentation because pre-defined characteristics will be automatically applied to each element in the same report. Such characteristics include, for example, the exact colour grade and font colour.

2- Bulk formatting

Unlike excel where you have to format each cell, Power BI allows you to format a whole report, page or chart within seconds. Select the elements that you wish to format and customize the associated font, colours, charts labels and data. All changes will be immediately applied to your selections.

3- Professional looks

Power BI is designed to analyze data and report findings. Therefore, a Power BI report will look way more professional and beautiful than excel. Although you can have great formatting inside excel, you will need extremely good software skills to prepare beautiful dashboards. On the other hand, it is a lot easier to produce the same quality or even much higher using Power BI.

Here are a few examples of progress reports that are developed using Power BI. Pay attention to the consistency in all elements such as font types, colour grades, etc.

In conclusion, planning engineers should find ways to free up their valuable time to focus on high-impact deliverables such as variance analysis, breakdown analysis and activity trends. One of the most time-consuming low-impact activities is formatting. Power BI helps planning engineers automate formatting and prepare professional reports and presentations.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

The post Automate formatting for progress reports and presentations appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

The first area that contributes to a significant workload is progress reporting. Planning engineers are required to plan, monitor and report the progress of different project aspects which include construction, engineering, procurement and authorities. Moreover, the process requires dealing with multiple communication channels that include the site team, head office management, subcontractors and local and international suppliers. That’s a lot of work. I understand the pain and frustration because I have been there myself. Despite these challenges, there are amazing career opportunities. Because the market will naturally filter the huge pool of planning engineers and reward those who have the knowledge and tools to manage such a huge workload and still add significant value. Utilizing your limited time, applying smart leverage and delivering value will help you rise and thrive in today’s highly competitive project control market.

Many planning engineers aim to fulfill such requirements manually which is not a feasible option for the human brain. No planning engineer has enough time and effort in a day to do all of the above. In fact, the best planning engineers will barely get the job done and won’t be able to do any other work. Why? Because there is a huge misconception in the project control industry which made us conditioned to believe that progress report preparation is the ultimate and main deliverable that is expected from planning engineers. However, planning engineers are expected to do a lot more work to deliver value.

Another area that requires more of the planning engineers’ time and is meetings. Not only should planning engineers prepare progress presentations for meetings but also initiate meetings. As planning engineers are the first ones who can identify progress issues, they should plan and manage meetings with relevant stakeholders. However, meetings require a lot of work which includes preparing and formatting the slides. Planning engineers will need to extract and analyze relevant information to clearly present the issue and the associated solutions.

In my opinion, planning engineers should build their machines and design an effective workflow. They should spend most of their time performing analyses inside their operation center. The term “Project Control” implies that you should control the project and not be controlled by the overwhelming amount of its requirements. Planning engineers should come from a place of strength and create their products using multiple control panels that are designed for different purposes. However, planning Engineers have always felt the burden of “reacting” to the project requirements which include:

• Report submission before the deadline.
• Preparing dashboards and presentations for progress meetings.
• Preparing ad-hoc reports and answering questions whenever requested by the team and management.

Most planning engineers are in the “reaction” mode. They should rather be in the “action” mode where they can analyze the progress status quickly, prepare the necessary recovery measures and help the project move forward. The only way to do so is to utilize your limited time towards executing high-impact activities such as progress analysis instead of low-impact activities such as report formatting. The idea is to create systems and automate as many tasks as possible. You are literally competing with thousands of people for the same vacancy. I have realized that hiring managers have become more interested in candidates who have the potential to add value rather than just preparing a report. It is really up to you which tools you can use to create such systems but one of my favourites is Power BI which is of the best data analytics processors.

Power BI helps planning engineers do the following:

• Complete progress reports in seconds.
• Analyze any area in the project with a click of a button.
• Have all planning work in one location under one layout using one tool.
• Ensure the accuracy of progress reports without the constant checking of excel formulas.
• Create systems and complete project control tasks on auto-pilot.
• Create themes that save a lot of time on report formatting.
• Impress stakeholders and build a powerful brand in front of management and clients.
• Provide massive value to the team toward project success.
• Code your reporting tasks and workflow so you don’t reinvent the wheel every time you prepare a report.
• Execute most of the planning work using a free Power BI service.
• Get shortlisted for vacancies by showing unique skills that very few planners have in the market.
• Have all the answers in a progress meeting immediately on the spot.
• Do all of the above using a FREE software service.

To sum up, planning engineers should not spend most of their time preparing reports and meeting deadlines. We need to focus more on analysis, providing feedback, communicating recovery measures, highlighting potential delays before they occur, inviting subcontractors to meetings and discussing the possible recovery actions. At the same time, planning engineers need to find ways to automate delays identification, presentation preparation, report preparation and formatting. This leverage gives you the time, space, clarity and energy that you need to focus on the things that matter the most and add more value.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

The post How to deal with workload and deadlines in project control? appeared first on Smart PM Blog.