Project Value Delivery Updates

Max Wideman reviews ‘Project Soft Power’ and the ‘Pocket Guide for Large Projects’!

Oct 27, 2013PVD adminbooks, Company updates, products

We are very honored that Max Wideman, a well-respected authority in the field of project management (former Chairman of the PMI Board and the coordinator of the first edition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge), has published detailed reviews of our first two books on Project Management.

On Project Soft Power, Max Wideman writes:

“Let us be quite clear – you want to be a great project leader and not just an “ordinary” project manager, right? Well, this book, Learn the Secrets of the Great Project Leaders by Jeremie Averous is firmly advocating the adoption of project “soft power” over project “hard power”. The point is, this is something you should strive for if you want to be a project leader on a higher plane than a mere project manager.”

“Undoubtedly, [the book] contains sound advice though not necessarily the sort of advice that is accepted by some generally extrovert personality types. Nevertheless, the case study alone provides an excellent educational tool when relevant review questions are added to provoke thought and discussion.”

Find his full review here.

On the Pocket Guide for Those Daring Enough to Take Responsibility for Large Projects, by Jean-Pierre Capron, Max Wideman writes:

“This little book of only 120 pages is packed full of practical and pragmatic advice for (as the title says) “those daring enough to take responsibility for large industrial projects”. Actually, it is a valuable read for anyone in the exciting world of construction project management, or any projects for that matter that are framed by, and conducted under, a serious contractual relationship. “

“As one who has had the best part of half a century on one side of the fence or the other in this multi-faceted major project industry, we thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. That’s because it brought back memories of the things we did right, the things we did wrong or should not have done, and the things we could and should have done, but didn’t.”

“For those in the business described, in our opinion this book provides sound advice, timely cautions, and constitutes a realistic and valuable read. Because of Jean-Pierre’s wry sense of humor this pocket guide is enjoyable reading for anyone involved with, or has some experience of, managing contract work on any significant project.”

Find the full review here.

To build on this great start, Project Value Delivery announces that new books are in the works!

Practical Advanced Scheduling Handbook for Project Managers, a Practical Navigation Guide on Large, Complex Projects
Practical Advanced Cost Control Handbook for Project Managers, a Practical Guide to Enable Consistent and Predictable Project Forecasting

Writing is well advanced and the books are being currently reviewed by chosen readers. Publication is expected before Mid-2014. We will update you very soon and share with you some extracts!

Why and How to Increase your Project Schedule Resilience

Oct 13, 2013PVD adminWhite Papers

Beyond a project schedule hides a very important question: how resilient is this schedule to unavoidable events and surprises? For Large, Complex projects this question is critical, because the resilience of the schedule can vary greatly without the management being aware. In our new White Paper 2013-11 we discuss the notion of resilience and offer some principles to make your project’s schedule more resilient.

The question is, is it better to have a schedule with a very neat critical path and other chains of events very subcritical, or is it better to have a schedule with many chains of events competing for criticality?

This paper brings together the teachings of White Paper 2013-09 (crude estimates of project overrun) and 2013-10 (what you should really seek when conducting a schedule statistical analysis). It discusses the importance of schedule resilience and gives tip to increase it. For us, it is clearly important to have a schedule with a very clear and resilient critical path on which everybody can focus.

It is now part of Project Value Delivery’s methodology to examine the resilience of a project schedule. It is often possible to improve significantly the schedule’s resilience at minimum cost by some counter-intuitive actions such as starting subcritical chains earlier. The advantages of this practice are numerous; the most notable arguably is to give the project management team a stable focus on a critical path that will not change except in case of major disruption, hence ensuring appropriate decision-making throughout the project.

Read our latest White Paper 2013-11 to understand the concept of schedule resilience and how to use it.

Exciting developments for Project Value Delivery

Oct 6, 2013PVD adminCompany updates

A quick note to share some exciting news and developments for Project Value Delivery

We have just been awarded Registered Education Provider status by the Project Management Institute. This means that our courses are recognized as ongoing development for certified Project Managers, and we can deliver Professional Development Units

Our advanced courses encounter an increasing success with our clients:

Advanced Project Management,
Advanced Cost Control,
Advanced Project Scheduling for Project Managers,
and Advanced Project Risk management.

We customize these courses for our clients for the maximum effectiveness.

In addition, we have started publishing customized and client-branded Project Planning and Cost Control Handbooks which encounter a great success within our clients’ organizations with several hundred copies on order.

Finally, don’t forget to come for our upcoming public speeches!

At the Project Management Institute annual Symposium in Singapore (9-10 October) on October 10 (here is a link to the list of speakers)

At a Society of Petroleum Engineers Deepwater workshop in Mumbai (18-20 November) on November 20 (in the project management section of the program)

What to Look at When Conducting a Schedule Statistical Analysis

Sep 22, 2013PVD admin2 CommentsWhite Papers

We have observed that Schedule Statistical Analysis, when implemented, is often interpreted wrongly or does not bring the expected value. Beyond the obvious results (finish date) however, such an analysis can bring troves of useful information, through a deeper understanding of the project schedule’s drivers. In particular, Schedule Statistical Analysis can be used to identify improvements that can significantly enhance the robustness of a project schedule. In our new White Paper 2013-10 we explain what you should really look at when conducting a Schedule Statistical Analysis (SSA) – and how such an analysis should be conducted.

Like any model of reality, SSA has a lot of limitations and its results should absolutely not be taken as granted. A lot of real-life effects are not modeled in the simulation.

We believe that the most important result is to understand how robust the critical path of the deterministic schedule really is. The White Paper gives key tips in how to improve the resilience of the project schedule based on the SSA result.

A very large proportion of our clients do not use Schedule Statistical Analysis (SSA) properly, and do not look at the right results. This tends to diminish the value of SSA in the eye of decision-makers.

This latest White Paper 2013-10 shows in detail what is the right approach for SSA and what are the types of results that can be – and cannot be – expected. As with any tool, SSA is a very powerful tool if its limitations are properly understood as well as what type of understanding it can really bring.

PVD on the road in Oct-Nov: upcoming public speeches

Sep 8, 2013PVD adminPublic Speaking

Two upcoming opportunities to hear Jeremie speaking in front of large public audiences about the concept of Project Soft Power!

At the Project Management Institute annual Symposium in Singapore (9-10 October) on October 10 (here is a link to the list of speakers)

At a Society of Petroleum Engineers Deepwater workshop in Mumbai (18-20 November) on November 20 (in the project management section of the program)

Project Soft Power is about the skills that make project leaders successful. Because project execution is not a mechanistic application of processes, but a real human adventure. Here are some links on Project Soft Power in Project Value Delivery’s blog: a general introduction, and the 5 roles: the SPIDER, the KUNG FU MASTER, the ENTREPRENEUR, the TEAM COACH, and the PEOPLE CATALYST.

Discover more in the Project Soft Power book! It is available in softcover or on Kindle:

Crude Estimates of Possible Project Overrun

Sep 1, 2013PVD adminWhite Papers

Project planning is systemically always optimistic. It supposes that tasks are handed over between contributors without any inefficiency, that resources are fully available when they are needed, and even sometimes are not resources loaded so that they are quite unrealistic! What should then be a rule of thumb when it comes to project delays?

In our new White Paper 2013-09 Crude Estimates of Possible Project Overrun we discuss this issue and the fact that we consider that the basic delay that can be expected is generally, on the order of 15 to 20% of the initial project duration.

The White Paper discusses the factors that are favorable and unfavorable for recovery for a particular project.

Unless the project industry makes some efforts to ban competition on the basis of overly optimistic schedules, Owners and Contractors alike must expect significant schedule and cost overruns from their complex projects. The paper gives indications as to what could be done to improve the reliability of project schedules. At Project Value Delivery, we work to explain to Owners and Contractors alike how implementing those good practices at an early stage could avoid so much disappointment and conflicts later. Read our new White Paper 2013-09 Crude Estimates of Possible Project Overrun and join us in this movement seeking to establish less optimistic schedules for large, complex projects!

How to Obtain Actual Cooperation in Construction Contracts (new Expert Corner Paper)

Aug 18, 2013PVD adminExperts' Corner papers

Actual Cooperation between Client and Contractor is a key attribute of successful projects. However, Contracts rarely enforce directly an obligation to cooperate. How is it possible to get to this result indirectly? Our new Expert Corner paper by Thierry Linares, ‘How to Obtain Actual Cooperation in International Construction Contracts‘, gives unique insights into the various methods that can be used contractually to maintain the rights and obligations of the Parties while actually fostering effective Collaboration and thus, project success.

Cooperation is required to ensure project success. The limits of a mere Contract in ensuring the project’s objectives achievement is particularly blatant when looking at situations of non-cooperation: the terms and obligations set in the Contract can be respected to the letter and the project nevertheless ends up a total failure and a source of disputes. The paper explains in detail how Contract provisions can directly, or indirectly, increase the amount of Cooperation between the parties.

Summary of the mechanisms that can be deployed in a Contract to ensure Cooperation

The main contract mechanisms to achieve Cooperation are financial instruments which will affect the balance of profit for the Contractor, and therefore are meant to share the interest in reaching the project objectives, reactively or proactively.

Don’t miss our new Expert Corner paper, ‘How to Obtain Actual Cooperation in International Construction Contracts‘!

Is Your Project Going to Be Late? Well, it Will Be Much Later than you Forecast!

Aug 4, 2013PVD adminWhite Papers

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the famous author of “Black Swan”, makes a strong point in his book about the fallibility of planning when it comes to projects in a complex world. He shows how the probability of the duration of a complex project is nothing but a long tail curve with astonishing practical consequences for the project leader: the more your project is late, the more late you can expect it to be beyond what you think!

Out latest White Paper 2013-08 explains the mathematical background of a surprising truth:

If your project is forecast to be late, it will be finally around twice as late as you expect today!

Indeed, for complex projects, our “intuition” that if we are late, things should sort themselves out and converge is wrong. It will get worse!

You might not believe it. Try it, it works – and it is supported by actual mathematical theories on complex systems.

In complex systems, intuition is not necessarily a good counsel and it is better to expect the worst when a project starts deviating significantly from its expected duration or cost. Cutting losses by stopping before it is too late – or alternatively benefiting from a great contract protection – might be the only way to save your company in these cases.

Read our ground breaking new White Paper 2013-08 ‘Black Swan Schedule Management: Is Your Project Going to Be Late? Well, it Will Be Even Later than you Forecast!’

How to Properly Use Global Claims in Disputes (New Expert Corner Paper)

Jul 21, 2013PVD adminExperts' Corner papers

In the construction industry, Global Claims are the practice of many Contractors that submit an overall evaluation of loss / expense / delay under a number of events, without demonstrating direct causality, but rather inferring a global link.

By their nature, Global Claims are more subjective than objective. They often lead to disputes and can be outright rejected by arbitrators and Courts if they don’t show a minimum of qualities. Our new Expert Corner Paper by Thierry Linares, ‘How to Properly Use Global Claims in Disputes‘, explains the key characteristics that can make Global Claims receivable. In essence, while the estimate of the loss can be considered globally, there still needs to be a very clear causality demonstrated for Global Claims to be considered favorably.

While recognizing that Global Claims often form the basis of a negotiation rather than a full-fledged dispute, Contractors should be wary and follow this paper’s key recommendations whenever considering to raise Global Claims.

“A strong and unspoken point of a Global Claim is that it pushes the parties to settle. A Global Claim is sometimes used as this bargaining tool but one has to be careful not to use a Global Claim as a blackmail or ransom tool: inferred causality is not inexistent causality.”

Don’t miss our new Expert Corner paper by Thierry Linares, ‘How to Properly Use Global Claims in Disputes‘!

How Changing Mindset is the Prerequisite of Any Organizational Change

Jul 7, 2013PVD adminWhite Papers

A constant feedback from organizational change initiatives that are deployed in project organizations is how much the success of the change depends on changing the organization mindset first. What is the mindset that is needed for Large, Complex Projects? What is the best way to introduce this mindset change?

There are the key issues developed in our new White Paper “How Changing Mindset is the Prerequisite of Any Organizational Change” (2013-06).

Too often, organizational change projects are launched without considering that the current mindset of the organization is inappropriate to the new situation. There are several ways to change an organization’s mindset, depending on the context. Both behavioral changes, and processes and systems changes, are needed.

Real organizational change is tough, because it is emotionally tough. Organizational change requires focus, personal investment and a lot of emotional work to achieve the expected transformation.

This is why so many executives and organizations pay lip service to it, choosing to implement some cosmetic changes in processes and systems and hoping that it will create real change. They do not want to see, or they fear to realize that it requires emotional investment. It does not work that way. Organizational change requires focus, personal investment and a lot of emotional work to achieve the expected transformation. It requires considering the organization not as a machine but as a team of individuals that work together to a common purpose.
Assess whether you are really ready to do the emotional work by answering the four questions:

Are you crystal clear on the expected behaviours, can you write them down?
Are you ready to let go of performing people that do not behave as expected?
Are you ready to make these decisions publicly known and communicated?
Are you ready to commit full-time a key member of the executive team to the change?

Understand what it takes to bring change in an organization by reading our new White Paper “How Changing Mindset is the Prerequisite of Any Organizational Change” (2013-06).