The event was well organised and involved substantial opportunity for networking with others working in our space, as well as a number of presentations and workshops on relevant topics.It never ceases to amaze me how such a clearly focused theme can have so many different aspects to cover and different solutions to problems you never knew you had. Presentations at events like this tend to be a case of ‘preaching to the converted’ – by virtue of the fact that they are attending most people agree with the central tenet that investment in doing Project Controls right leads to better outcomes. However, there is a definite benefit from Project Controls becoming more widely recognised as an area of opportunity for individuals and organisations.

Congratulations to Anil Godhawale and his team on another successful event.

My credit and appreciation goes out to Anil Godhawale and his team who have turned this into a must go to Project Control event, on the world stage. It is now in its 5th year! Yes the event had software providers, sales consultants and recruiters. You could be excused for being slightly cynical about the high level of salesman ship that always talks place at Expos. But for me this Expo offered so much more!

Networking : - I spoke with an apprentice at BAE systems, who was very switched on to business psychology and the importance of team work to deliver successful projects. I also met with a client relationship manager from a Training company who is taking the world of e-learning by storm. You can now get results from a Prince Practitioner course immediately! ….no more waiting around for your result and getting tense. Later on in the day I was with members of the ACostE council, discussing how project control professionals can add to the UK’s knowledge base. What a great mix!

The App : - I came to the event armed with an Expo App on my iphone which enabled me to view other delegates’ details and form connections on line. Also I could view the upcoming agenda. The delegate can select classes of interest and with one tap of the App; it sets up your own personal schedule. Wouldn’t it be good if this kind of forward thinking could be brought in to the work place? After all we are in 2015.

Key Note Speech : - The event kicked off with a Key note speech from Steven Norris of Driver Group and an ex Minister of Transport. The speech was entitled “Is Infrastructure back?” Steven engaged with the mixed audience and gave us all room for thought, with an answer “Yes Infrastructure is back!” He was very upbeat about the investment going in to UK infrastructure over the next 5 years. Highways England was presented and CP5 and CP6 investment to 2029. The icing on the cake for the UK is the set up of the National Infrastructure Commission to look at what we need and when we need to do it. Steven laced his presentation with facts such as the UK having the fastest economic growth rate in the G7. It was fascinating to listen to his message that connectivity (via infrastructure) leads to productivity in society. In simple terms investment in the UK’s roads and transport links, to quote Steven “lets people without jobs get to jobs without people”. This came with a warning, nonetheless, that the UK does have a worrying skill gap in engineering and manufacturing that needs addressing. A clear message was for vocational training to be part of a national skills plan to ensure jobs are for life and transferable around the world. Project control plays a big part in the future through training and enables projects, such as the Olympics, to be delivered early and on budget.

Knowledge Share : - For those readers that could not attend the venue at the venue at the Emirates Stadium (London) was set out in 4 zones, depending on the delegates interests: Master Class Zone ; Technology Zone ; Workshop Zone ; Back to Basics Zone, I attended 4 classes and networked with over 30 people, snapping up a handful of business cards. The areas for discussion from the day are vast and I recommend for people to look up the event on the web and twitter for lots of people’s thoughts. There is one class that I must reference in more detail before I go as it resonated with me greatly. The class was in the Technology Zone and was entitled “Data Driven Decision Making” by Russell Berkeley of Darbus Ltd. I hope you enjoy my reflection below…your decision.

Data Driven Decision Making : - Russell challenged the belief that exists in the world of project management that we create data to analyse, understand and then make a decision. He questioned the audience as to whether this actually happens? Does all the information we produce (you know plans, risk logs, financial information) actually aid our decision making? Or do we just get bombarded with data. Russell spoke of how the word “data” can even be interpreted differently, depending on whether you are making a tactical or strategic decision. For example an engineer will create data, such as spreadsheets, programmes and numbers to support opinion. This is tactical decision making with complex data. In a strategic setting, i.e. an MD who asks for “more data to make a decision”; the data means options. The real insightful part was when Russell related the 2 types of decision making back to the role of a Project Manager (PM). He stated that the PM’s role is to facilitate “effective” decisions by taking tactical data and presenting options to the board. Always give at least 3 options. The presentation continued by exploring how we make decisions and this is where the fun really began. Ground breaking research by Antonio Damasio, a professor of Neuroscience, has shown that emotions play a central role in decision making. Russell demonstrated how we need emotions to make a decision, using some funny slides. There was one slide showing the thought process of a lady choosing between a £30 next hand bag and a £19,900 Louis Vuitton bag. Emotion must be involved as it can’t just be based on data otherwise Louis Vuitton wouldn’t exist. I thoroughly enjoyed this class and more work is needed on decision making in project control. To conclude it is clear that the seasoned Project control professional could take a first step by identifying the top 10 SV and CV on a project and provide recovery options to the Board, with the PM of course. Then I guess an emotionally driven decision can be made.

The software section was great and felt more of a tutorial than a hard sell. I wonder was this something that happened or did Expo staff impose this on them:-) Either way it was refreshing. The earlier finish led to more people being about for the social which was nice and offered very relaxed evening.

Next year, if given an opportunity I would love to talk about portfolio planning and the need for a robust coding structure.