Tag Archive for: Best Practices

Front End Planning Process

Do you want to keep on top of your projects? Are you thinking about having greater influence over your projects?

At PTAG, we focus on creating a strong and early link between the business or mission, project strategy, scope, cost, and schedule, and maintaining that link unbroken throughout the project life. A well-performed front-end planning process can reduce costs, lead to less project variability in cost, schedule, and operating characteristics, and increase the chance of meeting a project’s environmental and social goals.

Successful projects execute front end planning (FEP) differently than less successful projects — specifically concerning information flow activities. These differences include more time spent and more resources utilized while planning projects.

The following figure illustrates the three sub-phases of FEP in the context of the typical life cycle of a project.

Steps In Construction Dispute Resolution

How much time do you spend managing conflicts in your projects?

In the construction industry, disputes are common. Identifying the aspects of a project that can lead to disputes early on and the steps required to resolve them is crucial for successful projects.

PTAG has industry specific teams ready to review the causes and administrative costs of such claims, recommend procedures for avoiding claims and investigate alternatives for the early, equitable settlement of claims. Dispute Review Boards (DRB) can be an effective way to facilitate timely on-site resolution of disputes, preventing matters from escalating costs and timelines. 

To create a comprehensive system for dispute prevention and resolution, a project must:

  • Start Right
  • Stay Right
  • Provide for Resolution

Within the bounds of feasibility, PTAG provides the solutions for your project’s requirements.

Principles of Effective Change Management

Change is complicated and understanding what to avoid is just as crucial as understanding what to do. Most capital projects face unexpected changes which can lead to problems and hinder project success if not properly anticipated and addressed. 

PTAG helps clients make better decisions about how to implement a change management program most efficiently. Significant savings in total installed costs of projects are achievable by improving the management of changes. 

 An effective change management process recognizes change as a modification to an agreement between project participants. 

At PTAG, we are familiar with the complexity and depth of our client’s projects. We work alongside our clients to develop and put into action solutions that directly and effectively address the full spectrum of capital project issues. 

Webinar Recap – Mar 30th: Using Technology and Industry Best Practices to Achieve Real-time Progressing

Listen in to this video recap, as Bob Brown, PTAG’s Partner for Project Management Information Systems, delivers this direct and to the point session providing practical and validated examples pertinent to Using Technology and Industry Best Practices to Achieve Real-time Progressing.

This is the recap video recording of the webinar which was originally recorded on March 30, 2021.

For more Session detail, please visit:
www.PTAGinc.com/webinars

Projects across every industry are shifting towards digital data collection to provide real-time information. The global pandemic has increased this need and pushed for rapid adoption.

Careful data analysis is crucial for projects to truly understand performance. But the analysis is only as good as the data that is in the system. If a project is dealing with a two-day delay before paper reports are entered into a system, they are not making informed decisions. When a project manager leverages technology to capture data at the workface, they have the ability to address problems before they arise. This insight is increasingly valuable when coupled with analytical benchmarking, which allows projects to compare themselves with their peers and competitors.

Bob discusses how leveraging technology and best practices lead to faster decision making and project performance improvement. Addressing data collection at the workface, using systems to provide meaningful insights, dealing with multiple shifts data, mitigating COVID-19 impacts, and reducing rework.

Join PTAG to discuss how leveraging technology and best practices lead to faster decision making and project performance improvement.
  • Addressing data collection at the workface
  • Systems to provide meaningful insights
  • Dealing with multiple shifts data
  • Mitigating COVID-19 impacts
  • Reducing rework

Interested in downloading the slide deck? Click here for Direct Download

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Video Recap – Nov 19th encore webinar Force Majeure Management with updated content.

PTAG’s Managing Director, Michael Dubreuil, will present an updated, encore webinar on Force Majeure ManagementDuring COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery.
[originally recorded November 19, 2020]

The New Normal requires “new ways” of operating that requires all parties; Owners, Consultants, Contractors, Engineers, and Equipment Suppliers to find new and innovative ways of optimizing cost and schedule to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and work towards a sustainable recovery.

Excusing a party from its contractual obligations for a force majeure event is the exception. “Contract liability is strict liability. It is an accepted maxim that pacta sunt servanda, contracts are to be kept.

This discussion explores three fundamental methods to help ensure that as projects resume – the threats to safety, quality schedule and cost are minimized and opportunities for improvements in each of these core areas are explored and realized.

These methods are:

Get to know our speakers:

Making Zero Accidents a Reality

Throughout history, the construction industry has been identified as one of the most demanding and dangerous industries in the United States. Due to this both owners and contractors are investing more of their time and money to maintaining a good safety record. 

Video Recap – Nov 17th Webinar – How to Plan and Execute Capital Projects in Volatile and Uncertain times.

November 17th, 2020
10am PST / 11am MST / 12 noon CST / 1pm EST

Join PTAG’s Gulf Coast General Manager Steven K. Hillyard, and principals Feroz Ashraf and Michael Dubreuil for a special 90min webinar on How to plan and execute Capital Projects in volatile and uncertain times. This extended 90min webinar will be direct and to the point providing practical and validated examples pertinent to planning and restarting your capital projects.

Throughout the United States and Canada, most capital project budgets have been cut. With few exceptions, no region has gone untouched by the impact that COVID has had on those of us working on capital projects.

The need to maintain existing facilities still exists. Capital spend is still needed to maintain operability, safety, and capacity. Commodity demand is still increasing.

Project teams have been reduced by 30% or more. Across the board our clients are seeing increases in material and equipment costs due to COVID, with continued commodity price volatility driving new behaviours.

Projects are experiencing significant productivity impacts due to the new normal COVID working conditions, as well as increasing pressure and social license related to climate change.

Our panel of seasoned capital project practitioners will walk through these issues with practical step by step approaches and strategies covering delivery models, best practices in detail for both the Planning and Execution phases of new projects and refurbishments.

Our webinar sessions are part of PTAG’s ongoing webinar series on Best Practises in Project Management & Project Controls. PTAG works with sustaining and capital projects owners around the world and is passionate about ensuring the successful delivery of every project, especially in today’s volatile and uncertain conditions.

Please register for access to post webinar session video and Q&A even if you will not be able to attend on our schedule date.

Get to know our speakers:

Project Objective Setting

In nearly every project, internal teams and parties will work towards an objective to satisfy their stakeholders and the project owner. This objective may be loosely defined by the project owner, but to accomplish the goals will require alignment of the internal teams’ objectives.

Project Team Communications

Effective communication is essential and there are many ways to achieve this, but the hardest part is being able to measure the results.

Project Change Management

Change happens in projects, it is unavoidable. Changes on projects are often perceived as a negative, Scope Creep, Overruns, delays, poor performance, however, not all changes are negative.  Read more on our site.