Project Controls Services

Your Project Coach offers a variety of project controls services, across planning and scheduling, cost control, ands controls leadership. With a strong background in both client and contractor environments, we can supplement your current controls function to boost your current capability and capacity to overcome your project challenges.Our services target a hybrid model, engagement onsite to develop requires, build working relationships and discovery of planning and controls information, and remotely for back office modelling, data analysis, documentation and reporting. Value remains at the heart of our service offering, and is often enhanced by partnering with our training, management materials and coaching services. Ultimately our goal is to empower your practitioners and transition these capabilities to your team.

Find out more about our capabilities

Planning and Programming

Schedule Planning and Documentation

In order to achieve maximum value from the scheduling function, it is critical to invest time in understanding the objectives of the programming excercise and planning the development of the schedule before opening the scheduling software.

Discovery and documentation of the foundational decisions of establishing a project schedule including;

Engagement with stakeholder groups to determine and document purpose and objectives
Strategy session to plan the planning process and development and maintenance of the schedule model
Tactical session to detail the schedule management process and integrations with other stakeholder information and management requirements
Development of a robust Schedule Management Plan and integrations to supporting management plans and processes

Schedule Programming and Modelling

We work with your stakeholders to translate your planning into detailed, robust programming in your scheduling solution. Our approach targets strong engagement of the project team for input and iterative verification of the schedule model as it is developed to ensure maximum buy in.

Guided by best practice we develop schedule models that;

Contain planning that is verified by your project team and stakeholders
Responds dynamically to status and is tested against common quality metrics
Is ready for integration to scope, cost, contract and risk baselines
Ensures horizontal and vertical integration with supporting schedule models and inputs
Is built in accordance with Earned Value concepts for objective progress measurement
Is supported by robust Basis of Schedule and Schedule Management Plan artefacts for handover for ongoing management

Schedule Performance and Improvement

At the centre of strong schedule performance is adapability and proactive replanning. Having robust measures for schedule performance from simple variance to complex and integrated performance measurement the provide early warning of deficiencies in planning that require routine adjustment during updates, or in extreme cases signal the need for a revised plan and baseline, is critical to project success. Not only is it important to measure and manage the performance of the plan and schedule model, but also the performance of the schedule management process.

With value and project performance at the heart, we evaluate and enhance;

Project health, delivery forecast and schedule quality verification
Revision, interation and change control, and records management
Status updates, planning adjustments and stakeholder verification
Schedule analysis, training and practitioner development and coaching
Enterprise system deployment and adminstration, portfolio and project reporting and dashboarding

Are you ready to discuss your scheduling challenges

cost estimation and control

Top down Owners Estimation

Installed unit rate estimation techniques that allow owner / operator organisations to develop early stage asset delivery costs using historical project performance. This technique allows for progressive definiton of the asset configuration through the design and development lifecycle with increasing granulation and accuracy. Eventually this forms a benchmark for delivery performance of the asset highlighting deviations and early warning of compromise to future performance and benefits.

This is a systematic approach to a portfolio estimating and benchmarking capability targeted at owners organizations who typically do not self perform construction and commissioning tasks. This approach establishes;

Common definition of the asset configuration using international or organizational standards
Sourcing of appropriate historical project data
Configuration and escalation of benchmarks and escalated cost
Development of qualitative characteristics to create a reference class for benchmark data and refine estimate ranging
Confidence interval and probablistic range based on reference class and unit rate estimation
Development of robust Basis of Estimate

Cost Control Planning

We work with your stakeholders to understand the unique control and reporting requirements within the performance period cycles of the project and organization. For maximum value, it is imperative to understand the basis for performance measurement and control and this typically requires extensive engagement with finance and sponsors. We utilise and integrated approach to controls, ensuring planning contained in the schedule is reflected in the financial forecast developed for the project.

Guided by standards for earned value and reflecting owners funding considerations we include;

Risk based contingency recommendation, baseline and controls
Work package budget development and control account manager engagement
Cashflow projections and project funding requirements
Effort distributed cost baseline, rules of credit and earned value methdologies
Cost breakdown structures and integration to product breakdown, work breakdown, schedule, contract and project organizational structures
Playbooks for project coding and cost capture and allocation
Cost management plans including considerations for funding and cash control, accruals and cost allocations

Cost Performance and Improvement

Projects run by owners are entirely responsible for managing funding - if the money stops, the project grinds to an immediate halt. Robust, transparent and auditable controls are essential to develop and maintain confidence in stakeholders who finance the outcomes of the project. This confidence is established in the early negotiations of project funding and maintained through demonstratable management of that investment through to final delivery.

To establish confidence in sponsors and robust control on the ground, we incorporate;

Early engagement with finance, treasury, portfolio managers and sponsors to establish control and reporting requirements
Planning to incorporate external and internal portfolio governance and financial management policy
Development of clear processes, cycles and responsibilties for the team, contractors, sponsor and stakeholders
Development of escalation, delegation and responsibility thresholds for transparent governance and approval velocity
Discrete funding, cash, and cost baseline measurement to improve forecasting and provide stakeholders with the unique information they value and need
Integration of asset and project cost benchmarking

Are you ready to discuss your cost management challenges

Controls Management and leadership

Skills and Structure

Project controls functions require tactful and decisive leadership to underpin confident management action. From the early stage of project planning and developing strategy to reconciliation in the closing stages of the project, it is critical to have dedicated controls leadership in the project team. Identifying the right structures, processes and skills to fit the requirements of the project requires a strategic lens that integrates all controls functions and practitioners into a high performing team working in harmony with the project team and stakeholders.

Establishing strong leadership in development of controls practice involves;

Controls strategy, skills development and retention planning, and hiring support
Scope development, planning facilitation and establishment of structures
Sponsor and funding support and baseline negotiations
Project governance, health checks, audits and gate submission and assurance
Reporting and records management, control and archival
Data trending, interpretation, recommendation and reporting

Systems and Processes

An essential part of structuring your project for success is identifying and deploying the right systems and processes. Achieving a good 'fit' for the project should never compromise the quality outcomes of the controls function, it is about sizing the investment and effort for maximum value while maintaining the integrity of the information required by sponsors, stakeholders and the team.

Project system and process deployment includes;

Process development and mapping with project team, sponsors and stakeholders
Project controls RACI development and process documentation integrated with project management plans
Foundation in international standards and best practice
Requirements, selection, deployment and administration of project controls systems
Data structures, integration and management
Reporting and dashboard development and governance
System and process health checks, audits and continuous improvement

Are you ready to discuss your controls leadership challenges?

I am Your Project Coach, a practicing project controls professional with experience in establishing, leading and optimising schedule development, cost engineering and project controls management across transport and energy industries and large scale portfolios.I have experience and capabilities in delivering practical controls outcomes and leadership and understand the challenges of project organizations who struggle to resource inconsistent demand for project controls support. This is why I offer short term hands on controls support to boost your controls team capacity to get over the 'hump' and settle back into the routine of supporting the project.