Fundamentals of Industrial Project Management

Abstract

A question we often ask at our workshops is “Who wanted to be a PM when they were growing up?” The answer is always the same, “No One”. We all become project managers by default. Once we become project managers, we soon realize that the skills we require are not the skills in which we have been trained. That’s what this workshop is about: teaching you your project management survival skills. These are the skills, the knowledge, and the behaviours you require to manage the design and construction of complex, industrial projects in facilities.

This workshop will equip you with the practical tools, skills, behavioral attributes, and competencies needed to manage your complex design and construction projects. Using lectures, facilitated group discussions, and case studies, the course will focus on practical applications and techniques for immediate implementation and project results. You will learn "what" to do, "how" to do it, and "why" you need to do it.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After participating in this course, you will be able to:

  • Maintain project control through an understanding of the project life cycle and the critical project relationship of scope, schedule, budget, and resource.
  • Build a work breakdown structure for project planning and scoping purposes.
  • Develop quickly your project scope for more complete estimates and better cost control.
  • Use the estimate matrix to determine what are the deliverables for the different classes of estimate.
  • Evaluate your project risk issues and how risk affects your project costs.
  • Develop more accurate and complete project authorization documentation, saving you time, effort and better progress monitoring.
  • Analyze your project status using earned value analysis, which is the preferred method of project progress monitoring.
  • Apply the concepts learned to manage changes to the project scope, schedule, budget, and resources.
  • Provide project leadership by accessing project control problems and using your newly acquired knowledge, determine the best course of action for the project.
  • Control your project by understanding and acquiring the information needed for performance monitoring.
  • Improve your confidence and leadership buy using this base of knowledge to build on.

 

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

This course is designed for (and considered a must for) those transitioning from a technical role to a project management role, plant personnel new to project management and others who are involved in managing the design and construction of complex projects in operating facilities (i.e. engineers, technologists and technicians, tradesmen, maintenance personnel, and other personnel from industrial users, utilities, municipalities, educational institutions, commercial facilities, consulting engineering firms and manufacturers). Topics covered in this course are also of great value to managers and other non-technical project personnel.

PREREQUISITE

There is no prerequisite for this course. It functions as a stand-alone course.

MATERIALS

Participants will receive a course binder containing copies of the presentation slides, case studies, handouts, and exercises. They will also receive a copy of Plant Project Engineering Guidebook for Mechanical and Civil Engineers, and a CD containing templates for all the forms discussed, project management material of interest, and solutions to the exercises.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

 

Introduction and The Big Picture

  • General guidelines that apply to all projects
  • The important Scope/Schedule/Budget/Relationship.
  • Project Manager tasks and behaviors

 

The Project Lifecycle
  • The Staged Gate Process
  • The Estimate Matrix
  • Budgeting
  • Decision making and problem solving
  • Activity: Project Life Cycle, Working In Groups

 

Project Planning
  • Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
  • Project Authorization Documentation
  • Developing the scope of work
  • Scope issues
  • Activity: WBS, Unidentified Risk

 

Stakeholder and Risk Analysis
  • Stakeholder identification
  • Evaluating stakeholders
  • Identify risk issues
  • Managing stakeholders and risk issues
  • Activity: Stakeholders discussion, risk case study

 

Estimating
  • How to improve your estimates
  • Hidden contracts
  • Methods of estimating
  • Handling currency fluctuations
  • Incoterms and it’s importance
  • Activity: Escalation, freight

 

Progress Monitoring
  • Earned Value Analysis
  • Cost control
  • Forecasting
  • Managing changes
  • Reporting
  • Activity: Earned Value Analysis

 

Procurement (Works, Goods, Consultants)

  • Procurement terms
  • Procurement methods
  • Common procurement mistakes
  • Types of contracts
  • Tender Document, Bidding Procedures, Bid Evaluations
  • Activity: Bundling contracts, Purchase Orders vs. Contracts
    Handling Bid Questions, Choice of Contracts, Evaluating Unit Prices
    Premium Overtime, Sludge Pond, Never-Ending Scope Creep

 

Construction Management
  • Definitions
  • Construction Manager duties
  • General or Prime Contractor definition and duties
  • Due Diligence
  • Construction Manager and contract signing
  • Activity: Construction Safety

 

Contract Administration
  • Definition and duties of a Contract Administrator
  • Explain Field Work Orders, Change Orders, and Backcharges
  • Construction Inspection
  • Handling project correspondence
  • Punch Lists
  • Equipment checkout and reports
  • Activity: Dealing with claims

 

Commissioning and Start-up
  • Define Commissioning and Start-up
  • Procedure to get from construction to start-up to operations
  • Use of the Turnover Sequence Chart
  • How to setup the project for commissioning and start-up
  • Turnover package contents
  • Commissioning and Start-up Organization

 

Training and Completion
  • Review training methods, sessions, trainers and problems
  • Develop a trainer letter of expectations
  • Define the two points of contract completion
  • Project completion the easy way

 

ABOUT THE CASE STUDY

The incidents described in the case study are typical of the types of things that happen in real-life industrial design and construction projects. In reality, if project sponsors do not start out with an understanding of project management and its processes, the probability of the problems happening are surprisingly high.

The story of the project is set out according to its natural evolution, from concept to close out. The case study has a set of questions organized by project management knowledge area requiring attendees to determine what happened and how they would handle the problem / situation.

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