The Financial Management Business Transformation Service has harmonized the use of an integrated Agile and Waterfall projects controls system to maximize project efficiency, adaptability, and delivery excellence. Agile methodologies, renowned for their iterative and flexible approach, offer unparalleled responsiveness to changing requirements and customer needs. Conversely, Waterfall methodologies provide structured processes, ideal for projects with well-defined scopes and sequential phases. By integrating these seemingly divergent approaches within an Integrated Project Controls System, we have been able to capitalize on the strengths of each methodology while mitigating their inherent limitations. The key to successful integration lies in embracing a hybrid model that tailors project management practices to suit the project's unique requirements. Our Project Control System and Processes serve as the nexus, facilitating seamless coordination, communication, and collaboration across the program’s various projects. This integration enables stakeholders to gain a holistic visibility into project progress, resource allocation, and risk management, fostering informed decision-making and proactive course corrections. Additionally, by utilizing the needed features within Microsoft project, we are able to meet the government requirements of providing periodic updates in a manner consistent to the government accountability office best practices. We have found the integration of Agile and Waterfall projects fosters a culture of innovation and continuous improvement. Teams can leverage Agile principles to experiment, adapt, and innovate within the framework of structured Waterfall processes. This hybrid approach promotes cross-functional collaboration, knowledge sharing, and alignment of project objectives, driving organizational agility and competitiveness. The use of both Agile and Waterfall process and controls across the projects has allowed us to transcend the confines of methodology wars, offering a pragmatic approach to project management excellence. By harnessing the complementary strengths of Agile and Waterfall methodologies within a unified control system, organizations can navigate the complexities of modern projects with confidence, agility, and resilience.

This Safran hosted panel discussion we’re going to have “The Talk”. An open and honest comparison of emerging challenger methods that may address some of the weakness of traditional techniques. Exploring their respective advantages, disadvantages, and inherent trade-offs. The panel will place their efforts on drawing out the nuance and transparency between • Marketing Hype vs. Tried, Tested and Recommended Practice. • Potential evolution of practice and • Synergies in multiple practices. It is our aspiration to give attendees transparency and peace of mind in what your wider peer group is experiencing and some tangible next steps in your own professional enquiries.

Join Joel Hutchines of Slate Technologies as he explores AI's groundbreaking impact on construction, efficiency and sustainability. In today's rapidly evolving construction landscape, swift and informed decision-making is crucial. Joel will show how AI serves as a catalyst for change, offering an unbiased perspective beyond human biases. Through AI-driven tools, construction managers can make data-driven decisions, managing risks and optimizing outcomes. By drawing upon concrete examples and industry insights, Joel will illustrate the benefits of AI integration, from cost estimation to design enhancement. Attendees will learn how AI empowers construction professionals, driving growth while addressing industry demands. This session will focus on harnessing AI's potential to revolutionize construction practices and optimize resource allocation and scheduling. By participating, attendees will gain insights into AI's transformative power in construction, navigating towards a more efficient and sustainable future.​ ​

Successfully delivering mega capital infrastructure projects is critical for economic growth and societal benefit, yet they often face challenges like cost overruns and delays. Overcoming these requires effective project controls in key areas.​ Firstly, challenging project uniqueness bias is crucial. While each project is unique, focusing on shared principles and lessons learned improves strategy and avoids past mistakes.​ Secondly, assessing and redesigning the operating model enhances efficiency and collaboration. Integrating project controls within a cohesive framework rather than as isolated components improves performance and reduces inefficiencies.​ Thirdly, establishing a robust Quality Management System (QMS) clarifies roles and responsibilities amidst complex stakeholder and project environments. This systematic approach ensures consistency and accountability, mitigating risks supporting evidence-based decision-making and ensures successful projects are delivered right the first time.​ Lastly, fostering a learning organizational culture promotes continual improvement and resilience. Embracing ongoing learning and adaptation empowers teams to address challenges proactively and refine processes based on collective experience.​ In conclusion, addressing these areas—dismissing project uniqueness bias, optimizing the operating model, implementing a robust QMS, and fostering a learning culture—strengthens the organizations effectiveness to manage and deliver successful mega projects the first time, effectively mitigating cost overruns and delays.​

Traditionally, it has been prohibitively expensive to analyze an organization's data in any deep way on a regular basis. There is too much information for the project team to process. It is common for issues and concerning patterns to escape the project team's attention for long enough that the project becomes unrecoverable, or for recovery to become expensive. Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques can be used to surface issues in projects before recovery becomes expensive or impossible. It can detect issues in projects early in the project's lifecycle and warn the project management team about them. It can also develop recovery plans for specific project and run what-if analyses based on conversations and project history. This paper / presentation will illustrate a pioneering AI engine that reads project history and can answer questions from the project team in a conversational manner. The engine is also able to recommend which project chart is more important to the user than others at every stage of the project. It can apply different filters to different charts to guarantee that the user gets information about problem areas.

This presentation delves into methodologies and best practices for cost estimation and analysis in government and defense sectors, crucial amid the U.S. national debt crisis. It emphasizes effective spending and management, showcasing key guides from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), such as the Cost Estimating and Assessment, Schedule Assessment, Technology Readiness Assessment, and Agile Development Guides. These inform GAO audits, shaping congressional oversight and decision-making. Integration of cost estimating with Earned Value Management (EVM) underscores the need for reliable data. Real-world applications and challenges, like credible estimates, schedule management, technology readiness, and agile practices, are explored through case studies. The goal is to equip participants with practical insights and tools to improve cost estimates and schedules, enhancing fiscal management and accountability in government projects.​

The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread disruption across the construction industry, affecting stakeholders at every level. This paper examines the specific challenges faced by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in post-pandemic capital infrastructure projects and the role of project controls in mitigating these challenges. Emphasizing proactive measures, the MBTA's Project Controls group shifted focus to include planning and design stages, not just construction. By implementing best practices and tools during planning, such as baseline at 30% design, scope management processes, and regular forecasting, the MBTA aims to pre-emptively manage scope, cost, and schedule. This approach has shown promising results in navigating market volatility and resource constraints. The paper underscores the importance of adopting project controls practices during planning for successful project delivery amid post-pandemic challenges, highlighting real-life project examples and outcomes.​ ​

Client organizations now commonly have planning and scheduling functions, yet the complexities of mega projects demand a strategic approach to project scheduling. Scheduling involves creating a robust baseline schedule aligned with project scope and estimates, incorporating change control and risk management processes to drive and report performance accurately. Before committing to mega projects, clients must ascertain project duration, which necessitates developing their own comprehensive project schedule. This schedule should encompass all activities essential for project benefits realization, including those managed by the client organization and multiple contractors if applicable. The presentation emphasizes the following principles for an effective client-owned schedule: aligning the Work Breakdown Structure with project governance, defining project benefits clearly, reflecting all project scope activities, including document production timelines, consulting all internal client departments, identifying and monitoring key milestones, mapping interfaces, developing a schedule management plan, documenting schedule assumptions, and considering schedule contingency. A realistic schedule helps manage stakeholder expectations and ensures timely project delivery, enhancing client satisfaction.

The Agile Methodology emerged in 2001 when Information Technology developers, dissatisfied with traditional approaches, crafted the Agile Manifesto. Initially applied in IT, Agile later found its way into Construction Projects, offering a departure from traditional methods like Critical Path Method (CPM). While CPM with Earned Value Method (EVM) is prevalent in Construction Project Controls, the transition to Agile remains contentious. Some perceive Agile as unsuitable for Construction, while others claim successful implementation. This paper presents a real experiment in executing a mega Construction Project using Agile Project management. It analyses the methodology and Project Controls employed, comparing them with Agile principles. Key questions addressed include reasons for using Agile in Construction, suitable Agile methodologies, methods for Project Controls, and success factors. The paper concludes with insights into Agile Project management in Construction and its effective controls.​

A reliable cost estimate provides the basis for informed program planning, budgeting, and management. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide (Cost Guide) to establish a consistent methodology that is based on best practices and that can be used across the federal government (and industry) for developing, managing, and evaluating capital project cost estimates. By developing reliable cost estimates through the use of best practices identified in the Cost Guide, federal agencies (and other owners) are better able to avoid cost overruns, missed deadlines, and performance shortfalls that often plague capital projects. The session will discuss (1) best practices defined in GAO’s Cost Guide for developing comprehensive, well-documented, accurate, and credible cost estimates and (2) the application of these best practices in evaluating the quality of cost estimates for major construction projects.

Goal and content: While there are numerous articles and publications extoling the techniques and importance of project controls and the value in the context of project environments; there is an opportunity to showcase how project AND program controls frameworks can be applied in practice on complex, transformational capital programs to drive strategic decision-making. Globally and in the US in particular, we are seeing a potentially transformational infrastructure and mega project initiatives largely driven by recent policy regulation such as the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, and various initiatives in private and public sector. The need to elevate the conversation around Project Controls and showcase how through integration with other risk management programs it can support effective decision-making and, in the end, better mitigation of risk exposure on large scale, mega programs and projects. Practical content delivery approach: Using the case-study of one of the US’s most ambitious and complex infrastructure programs, we aim to provide a practical and interactive 60-minute session with real examples on how project controls can be part of the holistic fabric of risk management and how companies and decision-makers can leverage to drive strategic program and portfolio

On this session, the speakers will share with the audience a methodology that they can follow to: 1. Identify the root cause of mismanagement of projects due to lack of appropriate technology (5-Why’s) 2. Observe areas of improvements and where waste is detected 3. Develop scoping requirements for developing or procuring innovative solutions that can enhance the way we manage and deliver projects The session will include 3 sections: A. Theory – showcasing our Digital Transformation Methodology B. Case Study – showcasing how we developed complete scoping requirements for procuring/developing a new PMIS system for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey C. Lessons Learned.

Project delays often lead to disputes over entitlements, exacerbated by inaccurate or missing schedule updates. Contractual requirements for regular updates are sometimes overlooked, resulting in challenges in determining responsibility for delays. A case study illustrates this, where a Request for Equitable Adjustment (REA) claimed nearly $50M and 785 days of compensable time extension due to alleged delays. However, one-third of the scheduled updates were missing over the 32-month period in question. Accurate as-built schedule updates are crucial for delay analysis and entitlement determination. In this case, missing updates prompted a thorough review of project documents and interviews with field staff to reconstruct the schedules. Ultimately, a recommendation of 202 calendar days of time extension was made, with 96 days attributed to owner-caused delays, totaling $6M in compensation. These recommendations were accepted by the client's counsel and formed the basis of their response to the REA.​

Based in the UK, Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) is a £multi-billion program to enhance the 70mile railway corridor between Manchester and York. It involves multiple organizations, stakeholders, and over 400k schedule activities. Communicating complex integrated schedules to diverse stakeholders is an industry wide challenge.​ Leaning on their experience of major program delivery, our program performance and digital technology teams have collaborated to develop a cloud-based platform to support 4D planning without the need for 3D federated models.​ Our approach provides visual representation of schedule data, enhanced with activity narratives for deeper understanding. This solution enables stakeholder engagement, delivery assurance, critical path review, and conflict resolution, improving collaboration and program visualization.​

Once in a lifetime, we experience a generational shift that suddenly opens the window for immense career success. Those who capitalise on this shift can find it life-changing (like Netflix), while those who don't can face destruction (like Blockbuster). We will outline the formula for success (success = ambition x discipline x opportunity) and guide attendees through the journey to career achievement by adopting AI. Project controls have long been overdue for a generational shift, and it has finally arrived. Generative AI is transforming how we work with project data. Never before have risk managers had access to datasets of thousands of projects, enabling them to better predict risks. Never before have project managers been able to access schedule data using everyday language and a chatbot. Never before have schedulers been able to use machine learning to generate more accurate forecasts with a simple click. We are transitioning from the Pre-AI to the Post-AI era in project controls. Transitions are often messy and chaotic, but some emerge stronger, while others falter. Transition periods are ideal for learning and experimentation. That time is now. To achieve success, we need all elements of the formula. The opportunity is the generational shift that has landed in the laps of the project control workforce: AI. If you're ready to embrace success, join this talk to learn how Generative AI is transforming the project workforce. Be at the forefront of change, like Netflix.

In my presentation, I will outline salient challenges megaproject investments face, their underlying causes, and potential cures. I will argue that megaproject complexity becomes so great that no human team can satisfactorily manage it: human megaproject mangers require AI-assistance. I will illustrate the kinds of AI and autonomous intelligences necessary for megaprojects to reap productivity gains for the 21st Century.

The presentation will provide an update on the Univ of Maryland's research on Multidimensional Portfolio Management. https://pm.umd.edu/2024/01/29/umd-research-leads-to-multidimensional-view-of-portfolio-management/ The objective of the research was to expand the use of portfolio-level data, analysis, and visualization of the data across Program Executive Offices (PEOs), Capabilities, and Missions to inform Integrated Acquisitions Portfolio Review (IAPR) and other portfolio decisions. The Department of Defense (DoD) needs more efficient data-driven approaches to improve analytic insights on performance and risk at program and portfolio levels. The presentation will review cover several finding that are usable by any organizaton. - Understand how the multidimensional portfolio approach provides a systematic architecture for breaking down a complex wicked problem environment within an organization into a manageable decision support systems - Understand how a Value Chain linked to strategy can help characterize the optimum approach for an organization's portfolio structure - Understand the need to address the schema for alignment and integration of data from the project level through the portfolio to the enterprise, which enhances the use of digitized models, AI, and other evolving tools The goal will be to provide information from the research and the DAF reoptimization efforts that will be of value to any megaproject effort.

"Value" is a subjective term. This presentation explores how the competing project control approaches of Agile and Earned Value Management attempt to deliver value to stakeholders, and how these two different approaches affect your project control strategy. It also talks about scenarios where both approaches are used together, either by design or because of a customer requirement. Do you ever wonder why your engineers can't seem to tell you their schedule or performance status? Or has your contractor been unable to say with confidence when they will deliver? Do you ever look at the monthly progress report and just feel like you are not getting the true picture of what's going on? Then this presentation may be for you.

What would happen if your project team changes and does not have the historical knowledge learned from the beginning? A chronological tracking of project updates imbedded in the schedule, and consistent communication of these changes will allow project documents to speak for themselves. In this presentation we'll discuss setting up good habits and expectations for update communications outside of, and incorporated into monthly narratives.

In the complex world of refinery operations, managing projects efficiently is crucial for ensuring safety, optimizing production, and maximizing profitability. Project controls play a pivotal role in this process, serving as the framework that guides planning, execution, monitoring, and reporting of projects. However, within the realm of refinery management, distinguishing between maintenance projects and capital projects is essential, as they present unique challenges and require tailored approaches to project controls. Overall, distinguishing between Expense and Capital Expenditures is essential for accurate financial reporting, tax planning, project funding, decision making, and evaluation of the performance of projects in a refinery. It ensures transparency, accountability, and effective resource allocation, ultimately contributing to the success and sustainability of the refinery operation. Effective Project Controls in a refinery requires a nuanced understanding of the differences between Maintenance Projects, Turnarounds, and Capital Projects, as well as tailored approaches to address their unique characteristics and challenges. By implementing robust Project Controls that align with the specific requirements of each project type, refinery operators can ensure safety, reliability, and profitability in their operations.

The consequences and entitlements in case of delay events are a controversial issue because the construction contracts normally do not normally address a specific approach and procedures. The standard forms such as JCT and NEC do not address this either. Therefore, courts adopted different legal analysis approaches including prospective and retrospective approaches. Likewise, the concurrent delay approaches such as dominant cause, first-in line, Malmaison and apportionment approaches. These approaches apply different principles and rules of law. Each one results in different entitlements in terms of an extension of time and compensation. Some provide a full solution while others provide only a partial solution that needs to be coupled with another approach to be complete. This session represents and compares the underlying law principles and doctrines behind the reasoning of each approach and its compliance with the law to determine the appropriate approach. It addresses the identification of the concurrent delay and the parameters to be considered. Then, it continues with the role of the contract and the position of the standard forms regarding the prospective and retrospective delay analysis. It also argues the technical perspective in terms of critical path analysis and float ownership. Finally, it addresses recommendations in order to reach comprehensive reliable results.

Whether for its own sake, compliance requirement, or both, various industries engage in Schedule Risk Assessments (SRA) to proactively test the validity of their project forecast. The US defense industry requires an SRA on many projects, bringing SRA results and best-practices to stakeholders’ attention. While a traditional project schedule is deterministic, with one single outcome, an SRA introduces probabilities, uncertainty, threats, and opportunities, leading to multiple probabilistic outcomes. An analyst exposed to an SRA for the first time may feel overwhelmed by an overflow of new concepts and ideas, while also trying to assure compliance with government requirements. One defense contractor has worked diligently to equip their analysts to gather concise risk information from engineers, process and analyze the information, and report crisp conclusions to management. Additionally, this contractor is establishing a training program to assure that all analysts are on equal footing to meet business strategy requirements and government-mandated SRA guidelines. Attendees will leave this session equipped to take on the challenge of an SRA, whether they are from private industry or government contracting, with the new ability to gather and assess inputs, run the Risk Simulation, and analyze and present the results. We will use the best practices from the Defense Contractor to demonstrate a world class, continuous improvement approach to assessing and addressing Risk.

Organizations continuously need to adapt and respond to ever-present technology advancements. Proactivity is a necessity; only those organizations who can pivot when presented with change gain a competitive edge in their respective industry. The most invaluable strategic weapon organizations will have in the face of change is a method to streamline initiatives, conserve resources, and have seamless communication. The modern benefits of cloud-based project-portfolio management (PPM) tools are the solution. This study identifies a gap in the research and knowledge about these modern tools. Existing literature is focused on what cloud-based PPM tools provide, but there doesn’t exist research on how to diagnose an organization’s specific needs and select the appropriate tool to maximize business value.

In today's dynamic business environment, companies seek competitive advantage through efficient data utilization and effective leadership. This paper explores the integration of Microsoft PowerBI, Forms, and PowerApps to create a comprehensive dashboard promoting technical leadership, professional excellence, consultancy, and talent development. Using a multinational technology company as a case study, the dashboard collects real-time employee insights, feedback, and performance metrics. It focuses on four pillars: Technical Leadership, fostering project milestones tracking and leadership effectiveness; Technical & Professional Excellence, identifying skill gaps and training needs; Technical Consultancy, aggregating solutions to technical challenges and encouraging cross-functional collaboration; and Talent Development, tracking employee progress and creating tailored development plans. The study showcases improved decision-making, enhanced proficiency, consultancy, and talent development, serving as a blueprint for leveraging Microsoft tools. Keywords: Microsoft PowerBI, Forms, PowerApps, technical leadership, excellence, professional development, talent management, data-driven decision-making.​

This session explores the concept of Mini-Projects under the umbrella of AWP, to transform complex construction projects into manageable groups of tasks, breaking down the schedule with the same rationale of AWP. A central 3D model acts as the single source of truth, visualizing phases and keeping everyone aligned. Driven by Construction Work Packages (CWPs), mini-projects simplify schedules (reducing hundreds of thousands of tasks) and enable upfront risk & sustainability analysis. Each mini-project has its own individual analysis, empowering teams to optimize resources and sequence for efficient execution. The 3D model and dashboards further fuel communication and stakeholder engagement​.

Supply chain disruptions pose significant challenges to construction projects, leading to delays and cost escalations. This paper investigates the repercussions of supply chain disruptions, like the recent incident of Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse on construction projects within its vicinity. The collapse of such a pivotal link disrupts the supply chains, planned schedules, triggering delays and cost escalations in ongoing construction projects or soon-to-start construction projects. This paper seeks to introduce a framework based on network analysis to quantify the effects of these disruptions on construction projects. The framework consists of 3 modules: (1) exposure module, (2) network module and (3) cost module. The objective of the framework is to quantify the impacts (typically in terms of increased costs and time-delays) to construction projects when a set of nodes/links in the supply network are down. It is demonstrated that the framework can be extended easily to a group of related infrastructure/construction programs as well. The insights from this investigation, hopefully, will offer valuable guidance to stakeholders in the construction industry and stimulate a discussion on effective risk mitigation strategies.