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

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

• “Where is the shortfall coming from?”
• “Which activities should I have completed by now that caused the payment deficit, and by how much?”

A planning engineer might need to present the breakdown analysis of such negative variance and articulate the contributing factors that account for the shortfall, preferably sorted by impact from highest to lowest. That’s only one example that illustrates the need of conducting a breakdown analysis. Similarly, the planning engineer might need to demonstrate the breakdown of the project earned value cost, budgeted total cost, labor units, etc.

The Problem

Planning Engineers struggle with the breakdown analysis for a variety of reasons. To better explain the complications associated with this type of analysis, here is what a Planning Engineer would typically do to produce a breakdown report in project control.

• Import the P6 XER file that corresponds to the data date on which you would like to prepare the breakdown analysis.
• Assign the Baseline Schedule.
• Apply any necessary filters (e.g. activity codes, activity description, WBS, etc) that help you achieve the desired outcome.
• Copy the data into Excel.
• Apply multiple Excel formulas.
• Review the formulas links and results.
• Format the results in a report.

As you can see, the above cycle is a time-consuming and complicated process. Moreover, a breakdown analysis is required more often than you think. Whether the breakdown is needed as a part of your own analysis or because it is requested by project stakeholders. Planning Engineers don’t have the time, energy and resources to fulfill such deliverables, especially if the analysis is requested several times in a day or a week, as necessary.

The Solution

Planning Engineers need better tools and systems that generate the results in a seamless way; a model that is developed to meet the speed, convenience, reliability, reporting and presentation requirements. Planning Engineers can use Power BI to create an interactive breakdown report with A CLICK OF A BUTTON. They can perform an in-depth breakdown analysis and produce the associated dashboards for any project area within seconds. I am a practical person so let me show you what I mean here in practice. In the below image, I used cost variance as an example. However, you can conduct the analysis for any field of your choice (Earned Value, Budgeted Total Cost, Budgeted Labor Units or whatever you want). Here are some of Power BI benefits for breakdown analysis in project control.

1- The visualization will split into rectangles that are ordered quantitatively based on the relative strength of the value of each area

2- Each area is given a unique color to facilitate your review.

3- Conduct the analysis on any data date of your choice with a click of a button.

4- Hover over any area to see additional information that can help you in your analysis (e.g. the exact figure of Cost variance, Earned Value, Actual Start, Planned Cost, Labor Units or whatever you want).

5- The whole model is interactive. Click on any area and other indicators such as Planned vs Actual %, Variance %, SPI will be automatically updated based on your selection.

Comparison benefits

Not only can you use Power BI to analyze the breakdown on a certain data date but also compare the results of another data date. It allows the planning engineer and project stakeholders to gain valuable insights as a part of the progress analysis. Let me illustrate that with an example.

The below image shows the cost variance breakdown on a specific data date. The “slab reinforced concrete” work ranked fourth as the highest contributing factor to the overall cost variance.

Two weeks after, the same activity ranked first as shown in the below image. This means that the delays associated with “slab reinforced concrete” escalated over two weeks period and compounded enough to promote this work category as the highest contributing factor. How many planning engineers do you know who can perform similar in-depth analyses? Unfortunately, you don’t learn these skills from a book or a certification.

Planning Engineers are expected to provide this kind of value to help their project move forward and make a remarkable contribution to its success. Planning Engineers fall into the trap of believing that advanced excel will solve all problems in project control. This might have worked 20 years ago. However, as projects have become more complex, planning engineers need to learn data analytics and use technology leverage tools such as Power BI to manage their projects. This is a tough red pill to swallow because this is not the norm “yet”. Finally, planning engineers who innovate better systems and develop unique methods to fulfill the project requirements will have better career prospects as a reward for getting outside their comfort zone.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

The post Breakdown Analysis with Power BI appeared first on Smart PM Blog.

• Open the XER file and add any relevant columns to your layout.
• Apply P6 filters
• Copy data into Excel, apply formulas and continue the analysis further.
• Prepare a variance report for all project areas.
• Determine the areas that require your attention.
• Refine and prioritize your selections based on certain metrics (e.g. cost, manhours, etc).
• Open the Baseline XER file to extract any necessary data (e.g. planned weekly cost or manhours for specific project areas).
• Make sure that the excel formulas are properly configured in the different sections of the report.
• Format the report.
• You receive feedback from your management.
• Repeat many tasks to incorporate this feedback.

Before you know it, your dream of performing an effective progress analysis has turned into a nightmare.

Don’t blame your systems or your management because the human brain doesn’t know what it is looking for until it sees “triggers”.

You prepare a report that shows an overall variance of -5%. As the project is in delay, you are motivated to investigate further. After some analysis, you found that concrete is the dominant cause of delay in the project. You analyzed further and determined that the formwork activities take longer than planned. However, you wouldn’t have looked at the formwork activities if you didn’t see a “trigger” in the concrete activities. Similarly, you decided to analyze the concrete performance when you saw a “trigger” related to the overall project delays.

An interactive report or dashboard allows you to review the progress status and act on “triggers” with a click of a button and within seconds. It is not really a science. The idea is to find a way to code the process of performing the above 11 steps that I mentioned. Although the steps may vary but you got the idea. You basically set up a report template, present your indicators and create your charts. You also develop systems that use technology leverage to perform certain steps or loops and add them to your workflow.

This will allow any planning engineers to dig deeper and analyze any area in the project quickly and effectively. Planning Engineers can then deal with “triggers” in a better way because they can perform their analysis, recall information and receive feedback from the system instantly. This is only possible if the analysis is performed in a dynamic way using technology leverage, not humans.

That’s why interactive dashboards are so important because it gives planning engineers the flexibility, motion and freedom to explore analysis opportunities that aren’t possible to get with the traditional static reports.

Static reports might present the triggers but don’t help you a lot in the next step.

Moreover, interactive dashboards are not popular among planning engineers. If you can create interactive dashboards for your projects, you will impress all stakeholders, help your company save money and unlock better career opportunities.

Power BI allows you to create interactive reports and dashboards in a seamless way. The software is also free for the most part.

Regards,

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

Learn More!

Check out our comprehensive courses

The post Interactive dashboards in project control appeared first on Smart PM Blog.