Each day, project control professionals apply a combination of technical skills to complete tasks. For example, tools like Primavera P6, Excel, and Power BI can be a part of our daily workflows to prepare a report. However, it’s rare to be equally proficient in all areas.

Most of us are stronger in some areas and weaker in others. These imbalances can significantly impact productivity and performance.

The Flow of Your Skill Pipeline

Think of your daily output as a flow of information through a pipeline. Every time you generate a report, perform delay analysis, or update a schedule, you’re filling that pipeline. Ideally, this flow should be smooth, continuous, and efficient.

But what happens if a specific skill (e.g. Excel) is a weak point? The pipeline slows down. This weakness reduces the overall flow of outputs to completed the task in hand (e.g. completing the report).

Even if you are proficient at delay analysis, a gap in another essential skill can disrupt your overall efficiency.

Identifying Bottlenecks

In project control, it’s common for professionals to have preferences of some areas. Some planners are passionate about delay analysis and excel at claim preparation. Others are deeply proficient in advanced excel or progress presentation. However, those same professionals may struggle with data visualization in Power BI, or integrating different tools. These weaknesses can hinder your productivity and limit your impact on project outcomes.

Here are a few examples of potential bottlenecks:
P6 Expert, But Weak in Reporting: You create an excellent baseline schedule in Primavera but struggle to turn it into a visually engaging presentation or a report.
Great with Data Analysis, Weak in Communication: You generate meaningful insights but have difficulty presenting the outcomes and the required recovery measures in a clear and concise way to non-technical stakeholders (e.g. site team)
Master of Delay Analysis, Slow in Power BI: You can perform complex delay analysis, but preparing dashboards in Power BI takes twice as long as it should.

The Solution: Invest in Your Weaknesses

The key to unblocking your pipeline is to identify and improve your weaker areas.

This doesn’t mean you should stop pursuing your passion for delay analysis. Instead, it’s about prioritizing the skills that impact your overall output.

Here’s how to do it:
1⃣ Perform a Self-Assessment: List the tools and skills you use regularly. Identify where you excel and where you struggle.
2⃣ Review Your Weaknesses Regularly: Skills evolve over time. What you struggled with last year might be easier now, while new challenges may have emerged.
3⃣ Create a Learning Plan: Focus on improving the areas that slow you down. Whether it’s learning advanced Excel functions, Power BI automation, or improving report-writing skills, continuous improvement will unblock your pipeline.
4⃣ Balance Your Learning: Don’t only invest in what you enjoy. While it’s tempting to deepen your knowledge of your favorite topics, remember that addressing weaknesses leads to enhanced productivity.

The Impact of a Smooth Pipeline

By investing in your weaker skills, you’ll:
Reduce Frustration: Tasks that used to take hours will become more manageable.
Increase Productivity: Generate more valuable output in the same amount of time.
Improve Your Career Prospects: A well-rounded professional is more valuable to organizations. Employers look for individuals who can handle various aspects of project controls effectively and offer value.

Regularly review your pipeline for bottlenecks, invest in your weaknesses, and unlock your full potential as a project control professional.

Your pipeline doesn’t need to flow perfectly but the fewer blockages you have, the more valuable your contributions will be to your projects and your team. It is a never ending process because nobody can be perfect. I continue to reflect on my weaknesses and actively work to improve them.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Enroll in our Planning Engineer and Project Control Courses

The post Are Your Weaknesses Creating Bottlenecks in Your Project Control Pipeline? appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

Why Do We Feel Confused?

Confusion is often felt when we face important decisions:

• Which career path should I pursue? (Planning, contracts, QS, site management, or quality control?)
• Which course should I take to advance my career?
• Which country should I live in?

These questions are exhausting because they have no straightforward answers. When you’re unable to decide, you feel drained, unproductive, and stuck in overthinking.

But nothing is wrong with you. It just means that you care deeply.

Without confusion, there is no curiosity. And without curiosity, there is no learning. And without learning, there is no growing.

For example, I’m currently exploring construction law and dispute resolution. I feel unsure about how much time and money I should invest in this area. Should I pursue a prestigious master degree? Should I enroll in a professional certification?

The truth is, I don’t have to decide everything now. Instead, I’m taking small steps to reduce my confusion and explore the subject further. Therefore, I’ve started with this book on construction law (which is so good by the way).

This process of taking small, intentional steps helps me move forward without having the fear of making the “wrong” decision.

The Problem with instant gratification

Modern life has trained us to expect instant outcomes.

• Want a new phone? You can have it delivered in 24 hours.
• Hungry? Order food, and it’ll arrive within an hour.
• Unsure about a topic? Watch a YouTube video or read an article in minutes.

These conveniences are great, but they’ve shaped us to expect quick resolutions for everything. If you’re taking “longer than expected” to figure out your next move, you might feel anxious and frustrated.

But humans aren’t designed to live like this. Meaningful decisions take time, patience to explore without guarantees.

Joy Comes from the Journey, Not the Destination

We often believe that reaching a decision or achieving a goal will bring us happiness.
“If I finalize my career path, I’ll be happy.”
“If I get my expected salary, I’ll feel content.”

But that’s an illusion. True joy comes from the process of showing up every day and doing your best.

Joy comes from:

• Attending a training session while others are staying at home watching Netflix.
• Doing what you hate to shape a better version of yourself.
• Sacrificing what you love for long-term growth.

It’s about embracing the small uncomfortable steps that shape your future.

Navigate the Unknown

Imagine stepping into a pitch-dark room with a torch in your hand. The entire room is already there, but you can only see the limited space illuminated by your torchlight. As you take a few steps forward, more of the room becomes visible.

That’s how life works.

You don’t need to see the entire path ahead. You just need to take small steps with the knowledge you currently have.

Here’s how you can do this in your career:

1. Watch a few tutorials on topics you’re curious about.
2. Talk to a friend or mentor about their experiences.
3. Read a book to dive deeper into your interest.
4. Take a short introductory course.

The most remarkable achievements in human history weren’t made overnight.

• Cities were built through patience.
• Space exploration was achieved through patience.
• Peace agreements were signed after years of negotiation.

Your career and life are no different. It’s a long game and you must learn to embrace confusion and uncertainty without rushing for immediate answers.

Practice gratitude

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is the power of gratitude.

Even when things don’t go as planned, be grateful for the process.

• If you complete a course that doesn’t offer you any benefits, it is okay.
• If a decision doesn’t bring the results you expected, it is ok too.

Confusion motivates you to take small steps and improve your knowledge in multiple directions as life unfolds without committing to a specific path “yet”. That’s how you grow as a human being.

Confusion Is a Blessing

If you’re feeling confused, don’t rush to fix it. Instead, recognize that this is a beautiful state of growth and exploration.

Take small steps in every direction you have confusion about.
Be patient with yourself.
And trust that clarity will come with time.

As for me, I’m still exploring construction law and figuring out how much I want to commit to it. I don’t have all the answers, and that’s perfectly fine. What matters is that I’m moving forward – one small step at a time.

Confusion isn’t a sign of failure. It’s a sign of growth.

Keep going.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Enroll in our Planning Engineer and Project Control Courses

The post Confusion is a blessing in disguise appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

In this article, we’ll explore why focusing only on negative float is insufficient and how time sensitivity and earned value indicators provide a more comprehensive picture of project progress.

1. Understanding Critical Path and Time Sensitivity

In Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling, activities on the critical path have zero total float, meaning any delay to these activities will directly impact the project’s completion date. These activities are highly time-sensitive.

Let’s look at the image below as an example.

• Red activities represent the critical path (zero float).
• Orange activities have high positive float and represent non-critical activities but have significant cost assignments.

Red Activities: The Critical Path

For the activities highlighted in red, any delay will cause a corresponding delay to the project’s completion date. These activities are critical and sensitive to time. As long as the contractor maintains the planned progress on these activities, the project will remain on schedule, with zero float.

However, focusing solely on these red activities doesn’t give a full picture of project performance. There’s another layer to consider – the earned value.

2. Earned Value Metrics

Now, let’s turn our attention to the orange activities. These activities have high positive total float, meaning they are not time-critical and won’t immediately impact the project’s completion date if delayed.

But here’s the key issue:

If the contractor fails to execute these non-critical activities as planned, the earned value cost will be severely impacted – even if the project completion date remains unaffected.

In some cases, you could have zero float (indicating the project is expected to finish on time), but your earned value indicators show a negative variance.

1- To achieve the target cash-in from payment applications and strengthen cash flow health.

2- If these activities continue to be delayed, the total float will be depleted, eventually making them critical.

3. Why Negative Float Alone Is Not Enough

Relying solely on negative float to measure project delays does not account for the cost and performance impact of non-critical activities.

Here’s what happens when Planning Engineers ignore this:

• A project may appear to be on schedule (zero float), but it’s actually suffering from low earned value performance.
• The contractor may be focusing only on critical path activities to avoid schedule delays, while neglecting the progress of high-cost, non-critical activities.
• This results in poor cost efficiency and low earned value outputs.

The slow rate of progress on the orange activities (non-critical) may not turn the float negative, but it will create a significant cost variance.

4. The Role of Earned Value Management (EVM) in Project Control

To avoid this pitfall, Planning Engineers must incorporate Earned Value Management (EVM) into their project control practices. EVM provides crucial performance metrics that complement float analysis. These metrics include Planned Value (PV), Earned Value (EV), Schedule Variance (SV) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI)

These indicators help Planning Engineers measure schedule performance more accurately.

Therefore, the Planning Engineer must utilize both Criticality and Earned Value Analysis to identify:

• Cost overruns on non-critical activities.
• Poor productivity rates that could impact the total float of non-critical and future critical activities.
• The true performance of the project beyond float analysis.

There is also another layer in analyzing the earned value based on both cost and manhours but I wrote a detailed article about it that you can read here.

Conclusion

In project planning and control, focusing solely on negative float provides an incomplete and sometimes misleading view of project status.

By considering time sensitivity and earned value indicators, Planning Engineers can achieve a more comprehensive understanding of project performance, ensuring they balance both schedule and cost efficiency.

The key to successful project control lies in integrating multiple performance metrics and ensuring that both time and cost objectives are met throughout the project lifecycle.

Negative float matters — but it’s not the whole story.

Regards,

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

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Enroll in our Planning Engineer and Project Control Courses

The post Schedule Delays Explained appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

There are three critical scenarios where splitting a BOQ item into multiple activities is essential. Let’s explore these cases in detail and see why applying this best practice can significantly improve your project schedule’s reliability.

1. Different Locations: The “One Size Fits All” Mistake

One of the most common errors is combining work across different locations into a single activity. For example, in an apartment schedule, planners often combine all tiling work that includes the bedroom and the bathroom into one activity.

Why is this a problem? Each area has different dependencies and logic flows. For instance:

• The bedroom tiles can be completed after installing the bedroom ceiling work.

• The bathroom tiles can be completed after installing the bathroom false ceiling.

Moreover, the successors of the tile work in each area are entirely different. If the bathroom tiling is delayed, marking the “tiles” activity as in-progress will give the wrong impression that all tiling work is incomplete. This can cause delays in unrelated activities, such as wardrobe installation in the bedroom, or sanitaryware in the bathroom resulting in misleading forecasts and out-of-sequence work.

Solution: Split Activities by Location

Instead of having one tiling activity for the entire apartment, split it into “Bedroom Tiles” and “Bathroom Tiles” as separate activities. This allows the schedule to reflect the unique dependencies and progress of each area. It reduces out-of-sequence work and improves the accuracy of your forecasts.

Bottom Line: If you have multiple locations with different logic dependencies, split them into separate activities from the start to keep your schedule accurate and realistic.

2. Execution Spans Over Time: The Hidden Delays in Staged Work

Another mistake is failing to account for staged execution when a single activity is spread over a long period. For example, painting a building involves multiple stages:

• Primer & stucco

• First coat

• Second coat

• Final coat

Some planners create a single “Paint” activity with a 14-day duration, representing the combined “net” effort of all stages. However, the actual execution span might take 3 months due to other intermediate activities and dependencies between coats.

Why This Approach Fails

By treating painting as one activity, the schedule doesn’t reflect intermediate progress. If the primer stage is complete, the schedule will still show “Paint” in progress, making it unclear what stage the work is at. Additionally, this creates unnecessary delays and misleading float calculations because the activity has been “in progress” for 3 months while the original duration is only 14 days.

Solution: Split Activities by Stages

Instead of a single painting activity, create separate activities for each stage. This approach provides better visibility into progress, avoids unnecessary delays, and enables more accurate forecasting.

Bottom Line: If an activity spans multiple stages with other activities in between, split it into separate activities to better reflect reality.

3. Different Materials: Tracking Procurement and Dependencies

A single BOQ item can involve different core materials with different procurement timelines. For example, a cladding installation activity might require:

• Metal framing

• Insulation panels

• Exterior cladding sheets

If you combine all these materials under one activity, the schedule won’t capture delays in the procurement or installation of each material. As a result, your project may face unforeseen out-of-sequence work and misleading delay forecasts.

Solution: Split Activities by Material

Break the cladding work into separate activities, such as:

• Metal Frame Installation

• Insulation Installation

• Cladding Installation

This breakdown allows you to track the procurement and installation of each material independently. If one material is delayed, you can adjust the schedule accordingly without impacting unrelated activities.

Bottom Line: If an activity involves different core materials, split it into separate activities to improve procurement tracking and minimize misleading delays.

Conclusion: The Power of a Well-Structured Schedule

You don’t have to split activities for each minor scope item because you don’t want to have 200,000 instead of 5,000 activities into your schedule. You need to keep the same level of details but add few more activities and only as necessary. As a planner, your job is to create a schedule that reflects reality. Misrepresenting BOQ items as single activities can lead to inaccurate progress tracking, out-of-sequence work, and misleading forecasts. By splitting activities in cases of different locations, execution spanning over time, or different materials, you can avoid these pitfalls and ensure your project schedule remains a reliable forecasting tool.

Remember: A detailed, structured schedule may take more time to build, but it saves you time and headaches in the long run by providing accurate, actionable insights.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Enroll in our Planning Engineer and Project Control Courses

The post When Planners Should Split BOQ Items into Multiple Activities in Schedules appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

This gap often leads to well-planned projects that fail during execution because scheduling best practices are ignored. Scheduling is more than just creating a baseline; it’s a specialized field with foundations, principles, and protocols that must be followed to maintain a reliable, realistic schedule.

Why Scheduling Is More Than Just Setting Dates

Too often, planners approach scheduling with the sole goal of producing realistic activity dates. While this is important, it’s only part of the picture. The backend configurations that includes the logic, relationships, and constraints, etc are equally important.

A static schedule quickly becomes irrelevant in a dynamic project environment. The real art of scheduling lies in ensuring that the schedule remains harmonic, flexible, and easy to maintain as the project progresses.

A well-developed schedule isn’t just about baseline creation; it’s about managing the schedule as it moves through time. The goal is to build a schedule that is both Realistic and Update-friendly

If your schedule updates consistently show unrealistic forecasts, the issue may not lie in your plan – but in poor scheduling practices.

7 Key Areas to Watch for in Your Schedule

Here are critical scheduling best practices that planners often overlook:

1- Lags

Excessive lags can cause misleading forecasts if not managed carefully. Replace lags with task dependent activities as necessary.

2- Critical Path Structure

The CPM network behaviour is very sensitive toward the critical path. A weak or inaccurate critical path results in a schedule that doesn’t reflect the true time risks. Ensure your critical path is clear and logical.

3- Total Float

Extremely high or low total float values can indicate poor schedule health. Total float review shou be a a part of your schedule quality checklist – even in the schedule updates to ensure your schedule stays relevant and reflects true project flexibility.

4- Redundant Logic

Unnecessary or redundant relationships between tasks can complicate your schedule and cause misleading forecasts.

5- Out-of-Sequence Progress

When tasks are completed out of sequence, your schedule’s logic can become disrupted. Correct out-of-sequence progress and ensure your updates reflect actual progress.

6- Logic and Resource-Driven Relationships

Many planners focus on the naturalization part of the logic (e.g. the one between block and plaster). However, the relationships that govern resource crew movements should be incorporated in the schedule too. Scheduling provides a strong framework for resource allocation.

7- Task Fragmentation

Breaking tasks into overly small fragments creates unnecessary complexity. Instead, focus on logical, manageable task sizes that make your schedule easier to track and update.

From Static to Dynamic: The Art of Scheduling for Execution

To truly excel as a project control professional, you must shift your mindset from static planning to dynamic scheduling. A dynamic schedule adapts to changes and provides reliable forecasts throughout the project lifecycle. Following scheduling best practices help you achieve this goal effectively.

In the end, scheduling isn’t just about the initial plan or the baseline. It’s about mastering the art of movement through time, ensuring that your project can adapt to reality while staying aligned with its objectives.

Conclusion

The difference between a good planner and a great project controller lies in their ability to maintain the schedule’s integrity over time. Remember, your schedule isn’t just a document — it’s a living tool that can significantly impact your project’s success.

So, take a step back from your baseline, dive deeper into the scheduling fundamentals, and start building schedules that truly work in practice.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Enroll in our Planning Engineer and Project Control Courses

The post Stop ignoring scheduling: Why a good plan isn’t enough appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

Let’s explore why it’s important to minimize lags and when to replace them with task-dependent activities to enhance schedule integrity.

Why Are Lags Problematic?

Lags are time delays applied between activities to represent waiting periods or preparatory work. For example, a planner might add a 7-day lag between two Activities to represent “work preparation.” While this approach seems convenient, it introduces several challenges:

1. Lack of Attributes: Unlike activities, lags do not carry attributes such as descriptions, durations, or percent complete. This makes them untrackable and excludes them from scope definition or progress monitoring.
2. Ambiguity: The meaning of a lag might be clear to the schedule developer but not to reviewers, project stakeholders, or future users. This can result in disputes and misleading forecasts.
3. Impact on Claims: In cases like Extension of Time (EOT) claims or delay analyses, lags can lead to conflicting interpretations. For instance, is a 7-day lag representing site clearance by the client or work preparation by the contractor? Such ambiguity can delay resolutions and escalate disputes.

To avoid this conflict, the contractor can make the purpose of each lag clear in the baseline narrative report but it is not a common or practical approach.

Lags Best Practices

Wherever possible, lags should be replaced by task-dependent activities. For example, instead of inserting a lag for “work preparation”, introduce a task-dependent activity called “Work Preparation” that has its own attributes like a clear description, duration and relationships.

This approach provides several benefits:

• Clarity and Accountability: Activities are fully trackable.
• Transparency: Reviewers and stakeholders can clearly understand the project scope.
• Reduced Disputes: Activities eliminate the ambiguity of lags, reducing the potential for conflicting interpretations.

While replacing lags with activities is often ideal, lags have their role in specific situations. For example, a Start-to-Start (SS) + lag relationship between “Block Work” and “Plaster Work” is convenient. This is acceptable when no intermediate tasks occur during the lag period.

Consequences of Misusing Lags

Lags are frequently used by planning engineers for:

• Material Handling and Storing: Delays in moving or storing materials.
• Work Preparation: Time needed to organize resources before starting a task.
• Curing: Waiting periods for concrete to set.

While these scenarios are common, introducing an activity often provides a better solution, offering greater control and clarity. Moreover, excessive lags can result in significant challenges:

• Void in Scope Definition: Untraceable lags create gaps in the schedule that cannot be monitored.
• Misleading Forecasts: Ambiguity in lag interpretation can impact project timelines.
• Complicated Dispute Resolutions: In delay claims, conflicting interpretations of lag meaning can lead to costly and time-consuming disagreements.

Conclusion

Lags must be used strategically in project scheduling because overuse or misuse of lags compromises the schedule’s clarity and reliability. By replacing critical lags with task-dependent activities and minimizing unnecessary lags, we can create robust schedules that are both reliable and easy to maintain in the future.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Enroll in our Planning Engineer and Project Control Courses

The post Mind The Lag appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

1⃣ “This is a professional environment.”

2⃣ “Business has no emotions.”

3⃣ “Some management theories say this works.”

4⃣ “There is a lot of work so there’s no other way to get the job done.”

But let’s get real for a moment – we’re all humans, doing our best in a challenging field.

Respect and Strength Go Hand in Hand

I’ve seen people who are both respectful and firm which is a proof that you don’t have to be rude to be effective. Construction projects are temporary, and we spend more time with our colleagues than anyone else in our life. Years from now, we’ll remember the lessons and relationships we built, not the power struggles or toxic encounters.

When someone approach others with respect, the whole team thrives. But when someone disrespects others, it often points to deeper personal challenges:

1⃣ Insecurity– If you can’t back your opinions with knowledge or facts, you might try putting others down to protect yourself.

2⃣ Ego– Pride can stop you from acknowledging that someone else might know more. Nobody knows everything so listening can open doors to growth.

3⃣ Life outside work – Tough times outside work might lead to projecting frustrations at work, seeking quick “wins” or control.

Power Comes with Responsibility

If you’re in a position of authority, you’ve been trusted with more than just decision-making. You’re trusted for the emotional wellbeing of others. Use that power wisely to:

Protect your team’s well-being.

Be fair, honest, and compassionate.

Take disciplinary actions only when necessary.

Business Has Emotions

This article isn’t just for managers – it is for everyone. It is for the planner who is toxic toward the site team or the resident engineer toward the contractor or subcontractor. I don’t really believe the idea that emotions have no place at work. Negative and toxic behaviors don’t just harm others; they darken your own soul and isolate you. You can be both effective and empathetic – firm but fair.

Think about how good it feels to help someone in need or stand up for what’s right. That’s who we really are at our core. If we can bring that into our daily work, imagine the difference we could make – not just in the project, but in people’s lives.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Enroll in our Planning Engineer and Project Control Courses

The post 🚧Humanity Over Toxicity In Construction🚧 appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

1. Find a Way to Earn the Title

Your skills might be impressive, but it is challenging to convince potential employers without the right job title on your CV. Hiring managers often look for candidates who already work in relevant roles, making it difficult for beginners to break into the field.

So, how do you earn the title?

Start with Your Current Company
Begin by asking for opportunities to work as a planning engineer within your organization. However, don’t approach this request as a favour; instead, demonstrate your readiness.

Prove You’re Prepared
Learn the basics and demonstrate that you can show some value – Learn how to prepare a baseline schedule, update progress, and generate reports. Show your department managers that you’re capable before asking for the role. When they see your commitment and skills, they’re more likely to give you a chance.

Without the title, applying for external planning positions becomes much harder. So focus on earning the title, even in small steps, before you look elsewhere.

2. Improve Your Skills

Career growth requires delayed gratification. The rewards of hard work in your career don’t come immediately. Here’s the truth that nobody often talks about. You can work tirelessly for years without seeing results, but one job application, one interview, or even one conversation with the right person can change everything.

Stay Consistent
Keep improving your skills in scheduling, progress monitoring, and project controls software. Learn tools like Primavera P6, Power BI, or Excel reporting. The better you are at these, the more you stand out.

Patience Pays Off
Your persistence will pay off. It might take time, but consistent effort always yields results.

3. The Golden Rule: Work Hard Regardless of Circumstances

If there’s one piece of advice that’s never let me down, it’s this:
Work hard on yourself, no matter how you feel or what your circumstances are.

You can’t always predict life, and careers don’t follow a straight path. You might also face setbacks:

• Colleagues may mock your ambition that doesn’t pay off.
• Your efforts might seem unrecognized within your organization.
• You might feel stuck in a role you’ve become overqualified for.

Trust the Process
Imagine stepping into a dark room with a flashlight. You can’t see the whole room, but each step forward reveals more of what’s around you. That’s how your career unfolds. Take small, actionable steps in the right direction and trust that opportunities will come as you move forward.

Key Takeaways

I am still doing my best everyday. I’ve also made mistakes and had setbacks but I don’t have any regrets because I either grow or learn from them. You may not start your planning career today. It might take years, but that’s okay. The journey is part of the process.

Remember, you don’t need all the answers now. Just take the next step, and clarity will come.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Enroll in our Planning Engineer and Project Control Courses

The post How to Start a Career in Planning: A Practical Guide appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

The short answer is: No.

Certifications like PMP, PSP, CCP, or PMI-SP introduce you to foundational concepts and principles, but they don’t teach you the practical skills you need to excel in the workplace.

The limitations of certifications

While certifications add value, they have limitations which include the following as an example:

• Automated Reporting: Certifications won’t teach you how to set up advanced analytics and reporting systems using tools like Power BI.
• Claims Management: They don’t cover practical tasks like submitting Extension of Time (EOT) claims.
• Client Presentations: They don’t address preparing progress presentations tailored to client needs.

A Real-World Perspective

To give you a better idea about the importance of certifications, let’s break it down with two scenarios:

• Planner A: Has valuable practical skills but no certifications.
• Planner B: Has multiple certifications but lacks practical skills.

Who will get hired?
Most companies will choose Planner A because they can deliver results.

Now, imagine a situation where both planners have the same skills and experience, but Planner A also has certifications.

Who stands out now?
Planner A becomes the preferred candidate, as certifications are seen as a bonus that demonstrates commitment to professional growth.

Why Practical Skills Come First

Few companies prioritize certifications over real-world skills but I believe that this is the exception, not the rule. Employers are more interested in what you can do, not the credentials you hold. Certifications are valuable, but only after you’ve built enough skills to get the job done. To put it another way, you should prioritize practical skills. If you’re new or lacking in hands-on experience, focus on developing skills that help you get the job done. Once you’re confident in your practical knowledge, certifications can boost your credibility and career opportunities

Disadvantages of Certifications

Certifications have their downsides:
1- Lack of Practical Application: They focus on theory over hands-on experience.
2- No Templates or Software Training: Certifications rarely include ready-to-use tools or software knowledge.
3- Cost: Certifications are not free. They require a financial upfront investment that may include training, membership and exam fee. Moreover, they require ongoing renewal fees to maintain.

Conclusion

Certifications are not a requirement but can be a great addition to your career when combined with real-world expertise. Focus on learning practical, job-relevant skills first, and use certifications to supplement your professional journey.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Enroll in our Planning Engineer and Project Control Courses

The post Are Project Control Certifications Really Necessary? appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

1. Early Intervention

The consultant’s responsibility begins long before a claim is formally submitted.  Timely and accurate responses to the contractor notices and queries ensure the project remains on track and help prevent disputes. The consultant should also provide adequate responses to the contractor’s delay notices.

• Reviewing Schedule Updates: Regular and timely evaluation of the contractor’s schedule submissions is essential. This also includes verifying baseline schedules, actual progress and schedule changes.
• Reviewing daily, weekly and monthly reports: Review and respond to any sections where the contractor mentioned inaccurate excusable delays. The response should be substantiated with documents.
• Documenting Events: Maintaining a detailed record of project correspondence, schedules, and progress photos allows consultants to establish its own timeline of events.

Timely responses to notices and schedule submissions are critical. If the consultant delays responses, say by a year or more, the contractor may argue that the lack of objection implied consent which makes the delayed response invalid. This can weaken the client’s position, resulting in unfavourable outcomes in disputes.

2. Reviewing Claims

When a contractor submits a claim, consultants conduct the review which typically involves the following:

2.1. Reviewing Submitted Documents

The contractor’s claim often includes a package of supporting documentation such as:

• Correspondences and notices.
• Updated schedules
• Causation and delay analysis
• Narrative Report

The consultant’s first task is to confirm whether these documents align with the contractual requirements. For example, was a notice submitted within the stipulated timeframe after the event occurred?

2.2. Delay Analysis

Every delay analysis method has its own advantages, disadvantages, strengths, weaknesses, uses and limitations. First, ensure that the selected method is appropriate. Otherwise, if the method is not suitable for the project circumstances, the whole claim can be thrown out of the window. For example, in a large complex project, you’d better have a very good reason for why you would choose weak methods such as Impacted-As-Planned in your analysis.

2.3. Counter-arguments

The consultant often reviews the contractor’s claim submission as it is. In other words, the consultant is in the defence mode. However, consultants are recommended to prepare counter-arguments. For example, the consultant can prepare its own delay analysis, identify contractor’s risk events and even create fragnets that evaluate the contractor’s delays. In these cases, it is not uncommon to have a claim response that is bigger than the claim itself.

2.4. Drafting the Outcome

The outcome of the review typically falls into one of three categories:

1. Approved: The contractor’s claim is valid and accepted, either fully or partially.
2. Rejected: The claim lacks merit due to non-compliance of the contract, lack of evidence, misrepresentation of facts, poor delay analysis or unfair data manipulation (very common by the way).
3. Further Clarification Required: The consultant requests additional information from the contractor (e.g. missing some P6 XER files).

3- Timely Responses

If a consultant fails to respond to a schedule update or notice promptly, this could weaken the client’s case. The contractor may argue that the delay implies acceptance of their claims or position. Moreover, regular schedule updates and progress reports are required for a good reason which is to help project parties understand the progress status and take an appropriate action based on what they see in the report. Therefore, if the consultant took one year to respond to a schedule update, the response  doesn’t really help anyone at this stage. As a result, most contracts require notices and claims to be submitted within strict timeframes. Contractors who fail to comply with these requirements risk their claims being rejected entirely. Late submissions – whether by the consultant or the contractor often result in unfavourable outcomes to the responsible party.

Contractors sometimes believe that submitting claims at the end of the project without notices will be just as effective as timely submissions. This approach is Naïve: The lack of timely notices as required by the contract can invalidate claims entirely. In practice, notices are meant to inform all project parties of potentials delays and encourage them to work together and mitigate the impact. Waiting until the end of the project ignores the importance of contemporaneous records and notifications which will make the claim open to significant challenge by the opposition.

Regards,

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

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