The Core Skills of Energy Project Management (CLASSROOM) - CSPM

The Core Skills of Energy Project Management (CLASSROOM) - CSPM

Course Summary

In recent years, project management has become increasingly recognized as a corporate discipline in its own right. Organisations have become 'project focused ' as they realize that the project methodology offers a structured approach to achieving organizational goals and competitive success.

But what exactly is a project? What is project management all about? Project Management is about leading a team of diverse functional specialists towards a defined goal or outcome for which the project exists to deliver. This is however, not as easy as it might sound. Projects must operate within defined parameters, they often reflect a step into the unknown, are subject to a multitude of stakeholder influences and agendas and the environment within which they operate is often rapidly changing. Project management is in itself, therefore a discipline that requires and demands both a vast and varied set of skills for those tasked with the role of Project Manager. This course has been specifically designed to provide the delegate with both a comprehensive and a holistic perspective of project management, to build a solid foundation from which to develop the required core skills to be a successful project manager and ensure delivery within the 'iron triangle ' of cost; time and quality. This course is an immersive experience with a significant emphasis on open dialogue and participant involvement in a variety of exercises and scenarios.

 Learning objectives

Upon completion of this course, delegates will:

• Understand why organisations adopt a project vehicle in order to achieve strategic and operational goals and objectives
• Become familiar with the core vital components of a project and understand how they interact with one another
• Gain an overview of project scheduling and why it is important to projects
• Understand some of the most useful project scheduling techniques such as the Work Breakdown Structure and the role of Work Packages
• Grasp a variety of techniques that are useful for managing resources
• Understand the importance of effective stakeholder identification and management
• Know how to utilize a range of techniques in order to perform an effective due diligence process
• Examine some of the important issues associated with change orders and what they mean to project success
• Become a more effective communicator and be able to demonstrate enhance presentation skills
• Gain a thorough grounding in the key elements essential to the art of commercial negotiations and understand the pivotal impact that these have upon a projects delivery
• Acquire a familiarity with the process of dispute resolution

Course Content

The Project Methodology

• Exploring the project methodology, what is it and why is it used by organisations?
• The advantages and disadvantages of utilizing a project methodology
• Identifying project risks and opportunities
• Examining and understanding project risk
• The project lifecycle
• The project manager, a specialized set of skills
• Scenario 1: Dealing with the Human Element
• Scenario 2: Cross Functional Dealings

Key Components of a Project

• The Project Business Case
• Scenario 3: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
• The Project Sponsor
• Scenario 4: The power dimension
• The Project Scope, critically important
• Scenario 5: Too wide; too narrow; too little; too late
• An overview of Project Interfaces
• Managing a Project Budget

Project Scheduling

• Overview
• The Concept of Precedence
• The Precedence Table
• A brief overview of Network Diagrams
• The Critical Path Method
• The Gantt Chart
• The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
• The Work Package

Resource Management

• Classifying Resources
• Utilising the Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS)
• Cost/Time/Resources (CTR) and Project Planning
• The Critical Problem of Constraints
• 'Trade-off ' Decision making
• Project 'Crashing ' explained
• Project 'Fast Tracking ' explained
• Lead Time Management
• Managing Remote Teams
• Scenario 6: Time zones and tempers

Stakeholder Mapping and Analysis

• The problem with Stakeholder agendas
• Stakeholder power and influence, a shifting dynamic over a project 's lifecycle?
• Stakeholder Identification and assessment, 'stakeholder mapping '
• Scenario 7: Dealing with Stakeholder Agendas
• Establishing/re-establishing constructive engagement with stakeholder groupings
• Dealing with local content and Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR)

Performing Due Diligence

• What is the purpose of 'Due Diligence? '
• The 'key ' areas of a corporate DD - proprietary technology; access to markets; transparency; corporate image; social and environmental policies; financial strength

Dealing with Change Orders

• Change orders and the Project Scope
• Understanding the reasoning behind a change order, is it applicable or appropriate?
• The 3 common reasons for change orders, client specification changes; poor 'scoping (errors and omissions); ' changes in the environment
• Establishing the audit trail
• Scenario 8: 'The dangers of doing someone a favour '
• The importance of Price Escalation clauses
• Change orders and contractual breach, a significant issue?
• Scenario 9: 'How the hours have flown by '
• Change orders and Liquidated Damage Clauses (LDC 's), a direct relationship?
• Change orders and Force Majeure

Effective Communication

• Overview, what is effective communication?
• The different forms of communication
• Scenario 10: Understanding non-verbal communication
• Factors that impact upon communication
• The '5 Keys ' to being an effective communicator
• Maximising Presentation skills

The essentials of negotiation

• The basic choice in negotiation, compete or co-operate?
• Template: formulating negotiation choice
• Template: 3 key rules for effective negotiation
• Template: Evaluating the negotiation environment
• Template: Setting mission objectives
• Template: The 7 key steps to developing a negotiation plan
• The benefits of planning
• The significance of culture to commercial negotiation
• Technique: The negotiation decision making model
• The cost of conflict in negotiations
• Template: Conflict resolution
• The importance of 'emotional equilibrium '
• Examination of types of power and what they mean to commercial negotiation
• Scenario 11: In whom do we trust?
• Model: The cycle of emotive handling
• The critical importance of emotional control
• Technique: The Art of Questioning
• Template: Establishing a Trade-off Process
• Model: Tuckman 's Team Formation
• Advantages of team negotiations
• Disadvantages of team negotiations
• Template: Keys to effective team based negotiations

Dispute Resolution, an overview of options

• The rationale for dispute resolution methodologies in commercial contracts
• Drafting dispute resolution clauses, what should they contain to be effective?
• The 'ladder ' of dispute resolution, negotiation (formal and informal); mediation; adjudication (expert determination); arbitration
• The 'clash of cultures ', conflicts in goals and objectives of the parties; different management styles; poor communication across stakeholder interfaces
• The uncertainty of change, a breeding ground for disputes?

During the course, delegates get hands on experience of many aspects through team exercises and simulations.