Most planners often write the following duties:

• Develop a cost and resource-loaded baseline
• Prepare schedule updates
• Prepare progress reports
• Communicate progress issues
• Create progress presentations
• Perform delay analysis and prepare Extension of Time claims
• Develop and follow-up recovery measures

Sounds familiar? Almost everyone writes the above duties. However, It is quite common for companies to receive hundreds, if not thousands, of job applications.

If you want to stand out, you need to back up your claims with evidence. Here’s how you can transform your CV from a generic list of tasks into a compelling showcase of your expertise.

1. Do the Work First—Then List It

It’s easy to write “Developed detailed project schedules” or “Performed delay analysis” in your CV, but have you truly mastered these skills? If you haven’t built a strong portfolio of real-world examples, your CV is just empty words. Instead of just listing duties, take the time to prepare actual reports and develop dashboards that demonstrate your expertise then attach the same to your CV.

To maintain confidentiality, consider anonymizing the data in your reports while preserving the structure, methodology, and key insights.

2. Share Your Power BI Dashboard

A well-structured Power BI dashboard is a game-changer in project controls. If you’ve built dashboards that visualize project progress, risks, or earned value performance, why not showcase them? Include a link to your interactive Power BI dashboard in your CV so potential employers can see the depth of your analysis. This proves your technical capability but also makes your CV stand out.

3. People Pay Attention to Value, Not Just Words

When hiring managers review CVs, they are looking for candidates who can bring immediate value. By attaching sample reports, delay analysis, and claims documents, you provide tangible proof of your expertise. These documents showcase your understanding of construction claims that employers actively seek. Hiring managers are busy. They don’t have time to guess statements or interview everyone. But when they see a well-structured report or a dynamic dashboard, they immediately recognize your value. The more you showcase your actual work, the more credibility you build.

4. Back Up Your Words with Evidence

In project controls, trust is built on facts and data. Your Planning Engineer’s CV should be no different. Every skill or achievement you claim should be supported by evidence:

• Have you developed cost and resource-loaded baseline schedules? Share the XER file as a downloadable link.
• Are you following the best practices of making schedule changes and maintaining the schedule? Attach your master schedule changes log.
• Have you improved reporting processes? Share a sample report that highlights your analytical skills.
• Have you successfully handled claims? Provide a well-structured claim document that demonstrates your forensic delay analysis.
• Have you prepared high-quality progress presentations to your clients? Attach them to your CV.

If you are concerned about confidentiality, anonymize the data in your reports while keeping the structure, methodology, and insights intact. This allows you to present real work without breaching confidentiality agreements. Your CV should not just tell a story—it should show it. In project controls, data-driven decisions are everything so prove that you can walk the talk. Share your dashboards, reports, and real-world examples. Doing so will not only help you land interviews but also establish your reputation as a results-driven planning engineer. Presenting a portfolio instead of a CV is not a new concept – it’s common among artists and architects. However, in a highly analytical field like project controls, having a portfolio has become essential for standing out.

The next time you update your CV, ask yourself: Am I just listing skills, or am I proving them?

Regards,

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

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Enroll in our Planning Engineer and Project Control Courses

The post Your CV Needs More Than Just Words appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

In project control, reports and dashboards play a critical role in decision-making. A well-structured, visually appealing report can make complex project data look simple and intuitive. But here’s the danger: your eye catching dashboard could be a Trojan horse that compromises your project’s success.

Human decision-making is inherently biased, and we often don’t realize how these biases influence our judgment.

The Illusion of Accuracy

When key decision-makers see a well-designed dashboard, they naturally assume that:
It was prepared by a qualified planner who knows what they are doing
The results must be accurate because the presentation is professional
The numbers and insights can be trusted without further scrutiny

This is a cognitive bias known as the aesthetic-usability effect, where people perceive well-designed things as more accurate, reliable, and useful—even when they’re not.

But in project controls, data visualization is just the surface. The real story lies beneath—the calculation models, quality of inputs, assumptions, and methodologies used to generate the numbers.

Question the Report, Not Just the Design

A report is only as good as the data behind it.
Dashboards don’t tell the full story—they summarize it only.
Attractive visuals do not equal accuracy.

Project controls are not about making beautiful reports; they are about making correct and actionable decisions based on solid analysis.

Before relying on a dashboard, we must ask:
How were these numbers calculated?
What assumptions and constraints were used?
Are the forecasts and trends based on reliable data?

If the calculations behind the report are flawed, then even the most well-designed dashboard is dangerous—it will mislead stakeholders into making poor decisions with confidence. It is a responsibility of the technical reviewer (e.g. the consultant’s planner) to validate the configurations of the report.

Engineers vs. Designers

A planner or project controller’s job is not just to present data attractively — it is to analyze, validate, and ensure accuracy.

If you just need an attractive dashboard, hire a graphic designer — not an engineer.
If you need accurate project insights, hire a qualified project controller who understands the methodology behind the numbers.

Final Thoughts

A misleading report is worse than no report at all.

In project controls, decisions should be based on validated analysis, not visual appeal. A well-designed dashboard might look impressive, but always question the data behind it before making critical decisions. We must ensure our reports reflect reality, not just aesthetics.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Enroll in our Planning Engineer and Project Control Courses

The post The Hidden Risk of Beautiful Dashboards: Are We Trusting the Wrong Signals? appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

A planning engineer’s role is often defined by technical responsibilities such as:

Preparing cost and resource-loaded schedules
Collecting progress data
Updating schedules
Preparing progress reports and analyzing progress with Power BI
Developing recovery measures
Drafting correspondences
Coordinating with subcontractors on performance

These skills are essential, but they are not enough to build a truly successful career. Technical expertise alone will not take you to the top. There is another dimension—one that many planners overlook.

What Many Planning Engineers Get Wrong

Many skilled planning engineers struggle to advance in their careers because they don’t know how to deal with people. They speak in technical jargon, expect others to meet their standards, and often take on the role of a judge rather than a collaborator.

This mindset leads to thoughts like:

“I have strong project control knowledge, but they don’t.”
“I make plans for the future, but they don’t get it.”
“Everyone must comply with my requests so I can do my job.”
“Nobody understands me or my work.”

Using words like “I, my, and they” creates an invisible wall and a sense of separation between you and the project team. You might achieve temporary success, but you won’t truly thrive. Your career growth depends on your ability to connect with people.

The Key to Career Growth: People Skills

If you want to excel as a planning engineer, you must go beyond technical skills and develop strong interpersonal abilities. Here’s how:

Recognize the expertise of others. Every team member—whether a site engineer, quality engineer, or foreman—has valuable skills that you may not fully understand. Respect their knowledge and learn from them.

Treat people as individuals, not just job titles. Instead of seeing “the site engineer,” see Ahmed or John, a professional doing their best in a demanding role.

Communicate with empathy and collaboration. Instead of aggressively pointing out progress issues, address them with a solution-oriented mindset. Use compassion and a smile to encourage cooperation.

Give space and build relationships. If someone is busy, respect their time. Instead of demanding immediate responses, find ways to work together. Educate your colleagues about delays and project control and in a way that benefits them, not just yourself.

Be present on-site, not just in meetings. You might not fully understand everything happening on the job site, but your presence matters. When people see you engaging with their work, they will appreciate your effort and offer their support.

The Long-Term Benefits of Strong People Skills

When you shift from a mindset of superiority to one of collaboration, everything changes. You build relationships that go beyond project control. Your colleagues will respect you, support you, and even open doors for you.

They will prioritize your requests—not out of obligation, but because they genuinely want to help.
They will think of you when they move to other companies and new job opportunities arise.
They will vouch for you if you ever need recommendations.

In the end, your ability to work well with people will determine your success far more than your technical skills ever will.

Final Thoughts

As planning engineers, we often focus on logic, data, and efficiency. But projects are not just about schedules and reports—they are about people. The moment you start treating people as partners rather than obstacles, your career will take off in ways you never imagined.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Enroll in our Planning Engineer and Project Control Courses

The post Beyond Project Control: The Missing Skill Planning Engineers Need to Thrive appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 article, I will explore the common pitfalls in submitting delay claims and how to avoid them to strengthen your position.

1. Failing to Issue Timely Notices

Many contractors overlook the importance of issuing notices immediately after a delay-causing event. Most contracts stipulate strict timelines for submitting notices, and failure to comply can lead to losing entitlement or result in disputes. Reviewing the notice provisions in your contract is a key step. Contractors can create a log to track delay events and send notices within the contractual timeframe. This practice should be a part of your delay management system.

2. Incomplete or Poorly Developed Narratives

A narrative should clearly include cause, effect, and entitlement for the delay events. Vague narratives make it difficult for the consultant or client to understand the event nature and evaluate the claim. A clear narrative should explain

• • What happened?
  • Why did it happen?
  • When did it happen
  • The Chronology
  • What is the contractual basis for the claim?

A claim must be rooted in the contract so link the narrative to relevant clauses. A claim means that the Employer/Consultant failed to fulfil a part of its contractual obligations and the contractor is seeking reimbursement (e.g. extension of time, relief from liquidated damages, additional costs incurred, etc) so make sure that you refer to any relevant clauses.

3. Lack of Supporting Evidence

A claim without documentation is like a story without proof. Common missing items include correspondence, daily reports, MOMs, photos, and other documents such as RFIs, WIRs and MIRs that substantiate the claim. Planning engineers live and breathe the project everyday so it is tempting to assume that the reviewer knows what you know. However, it is not uncommon to have mediation, arbitration and litigation in your project so always assume that the reviewer has no prior knowledge or familiarity with the project. Substantiate everything!

4. Inappropriate Delay Analysis Methods

An effective delay analysis starts with a reliable baseline and well-maintained schedule updates long before the claim is submitted. Therefore, take the time to produce high-quality baseline and schedule updates where the actual progress is consistent with the daily report data. Moreover, ensure compliance with the scheduling best practices which includes, reviewing the out-of-sequence, absence of open-ended activities, etc. When you perform a delay analysis, selecting an appropriate delay analysis method is a key step. Each method has advantages, disadvantages, uses, limitations, strengths and weaknesses. If you choose inappropriate method, your whole claim might be thrown out of the window. There are two main references  that cover the delay analysis methods in our industry. These references are: the delay and disruption protocol, 2nd edition published by Society of Construction Law (free for the public) and the RP-29R-03 – Forensic Schedule Analysis published by AACE (free for members only). Although these references are not contractually binding, they are a strong peer review so you can build your case on them. I also recommend that you explain why you selected a specific method and why it is more relevant to your case compared to other methods.

5. Overstating and understating Entitlements

Some claims fail because they overestimate the time or cost impact of the delay. Overstating can lead to disputes, while understating can leave time and money on the table. Delay analysis is both an art and science so take your time to learn it. Ensure that your analysis is based not only on the schedule data but also on logic, facts and common sense.

6. Submitting Claims at the End of the Project

Submitting delay claims long after the delay event has occurred is a common mistake. Delayed submissions reduce the chances of approval and increase the likelihood of disputes because:

• Evidence may no longer be available.
• The claims weren’t submitted promptly after the event, in compliance with the timelines set in the contract.
• One key benefit of submitting claims promptly during the project is keeping the client informed about delay events and their potential impacts. This allows the client sufficient time to evaluate the situation and take any necessary measures. For example, the client may decide to expedite material delivery via air freight and reimburse the contractor for the acceleration because it is a more cost-effective solution than the potential profit loss that will result from the delayed facility operation. On the other hand, submitting claims only at the end of the project doesn’t give the client and consultant the opportunity to deal with the project delays which may lead to greater losses and missed mitigation opportunities.

8. Ignoring Consultant Feedback

Consultants play a key role in the review process and you need to incorporate or respond to their comments – whether on the claim submittals or their interim responses to the schedule updates submissions and correspondences (e.g. official letters).

9. Neglecting Professional Presentation

A poorly organized claim with ambiguous or hard-to-read data can easily frustrate reviewers. Never assume that the reviewer will do the work to decipher unclear information for you. Here’s an overlooked point: reviewers may be fair and experienced practitioners but they are also human. They might give you the benefit of the doubt but low-quality submissions can frustrate them and put them in a bad mood which may influence their decision-making process. A clear, substantiated, structured and well-written claim is not just a courtesy—it’s a key winning strategy. Make sure that you use a professional format with clear sections for narrative, evidence, delay analysis, supporting documents, conclusion and executive page for quick reference.

Conclusion

Submitting a strong delay claim requires more than just identifying a delay. It demands timely notices, supporting documentation, accurate analysis, and compliance with the contract clauses. By avoiding these common pitfalls, you can significantly increase the likelihood of your claim approval, minimize disputes and protect your entitlements.

Regards,

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

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