The Project Chatter Podcast

In this week’s pod, we welcomed Ines Lopes to discuss The Spiritual Project Manager. Ines fell in love with Project Management at University. So much so that after her Engineering degree she completed an MSc in Strategic Project Management. She spent 9 years working at Transport for London leading complex high-profile highways and sustainability projects such as the Ultra Low Emission Zone to improve air quality in London and the programme to help Transport for London (TfL) become zero carbon by 2030. During that time she also went through an awakening of sorts, embarking on a spiritual holistic journey to be able to heal her body. As a result, she felt in the middle of two worlds. On one side a structured work-life is guided by analysis and organisational skills. On the other side, an intuitive personal life looks into the energy behind everything to continue with her personal growth. In 2020 she left TfL to focus on her spiritual journey. But turns out you can't take the project manager out of her! She felt the pull to join a couple of initiatives as a project manager and decided to do things her way. She combined the two worlds she had been living in. Focusing on deadlines and outputs but also helping the teams involved to let go of limiting beliefs and anything else that was not serving them. And this is how Spiritual Project Management was born. The main topics we discussed on the podcast were as follows:· Spiritual Project Management is the concept that a project can deliver growth for a business as well as personal growth for its contributors The concept does not focus on religion, just personal growth within the project space It aims to create a “safe space” for people to be themselves within a project environment The covid pandemic has helped to dispel the myth of presenteeism “I never knew how strong I was until I had to forgive someone who wasn’t sorry” Focus on what you have and how you will get what you want. Create lists and schedules to identify how you will  achieve your goals Turn chaos to order! Tune in next week when we’re re-joined by Martin Paver to discuss What's been happening at Project Data Analytics Hackathons. For more information, blogs or to support our charities visit www.projectchatterpodcast.com If you'd like to sponsor the podcast get in touch via our website. You can also leave us a voice message via our anchor page and let us know if there's something or someone specific that you would like on the podcast. Proudly sponsored by: JustDo - https://www.justdo.com/ PlanAcademy - https://www.planacademy.com/chatter/ ($75 off any course) InEight - https://ineight.com/ Prosci - https://empower.prosci.com/project-ch... (FREE resource kit)Stay safe, be disruptive and have fun doing it!

In this week’s pod, we welcomed Tim Creasey to discuss Organisational Agility as a Strategic Imperative.Tim Creasey is Prosci’s Chief Innovation Officer and a globally recognized leader in change management. His work forms the foundation of the largest body of knowledge in the world on managing the people side of change to deliver organizational results. The main topics we discussed on the podcast were as follows:Change is hard, change is continuous Organisational agility definitions: Agility is the power of moving quickly, easily, and with nimblenessCapacity to identify and capture opportunities more quickly than rivalsTake advantage of change whether planned or unexpectedAbility to transform information into insight in regard to market movementsResult of integrating alertness to changesSustained ability while maintaining high performanceChange saturation is a function of change capacity and change disruptionBusinesses should always consider the hidden cost of saying yesWhat is the time difference between when the project sponsor said yes and when the project commencedMore organisations are hiring change portfolio managers rather than increasing change capabilityNever allow perfection to get in the way of progressBusinesses were obsessed with the digital revolution but not enough with digital transformationCould businesses have really adapted to remote working if the Covid pandemic did not happen?Paradoxical Humanity Infusion in 2D - The pandemic allowed us to see our colleagues in a different light over Zoom / Teams conversationsForced prioritization – rank what is important to youDe facto resilience – we made it through the pandemic! Workers have inadvertently become more resilient“Answers have a shelf a shelf life, questions can last a lifetime”When and where does the wear actually happen? There needs to be a purpose when we share space.What have we done since 2020 that we thought was impossible prior to this? This proves what is possible?12 conditions shaping the future of work and changeInvoluntary Digital TransformationInstantaneous Remote ExperimentIterative and Adaptive by NecessityShifting Success HorizonsTTWWADI ?!!?Paradoxical Humanity Infusion in 2DPeople's Side Cannot Be UnseenSame Storms; Different BoatsForced PrioritisationDe Facto ResilienceAnd it goes on, and on, and on…From Response to Evolution Here are links to some of the concepts we discussed:o   The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*** - Mark Manson - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Subtle-Art-Not-Giving-Counterintuitive/dp/0062457713Tune in next week when we’re joined by Ines Lopes to discuss The Spiritual Project Manager.For more information, blogs or to support our charities visit www.projectchatterpodcast.comIf you'd like to sponsor the podcast get in touch via our website.You can also leave us a voice message via our anchor page and let us know if there's something or someone specific that you would like on the podcast.Proudly sponsored by:PlanAcademy.com | InEight.com | JustDo.com

In this episode, Dale and Val bring back Dr Dan Patterson to talk about what he has been brewing since their last podcast. Wicked’ problems are problems that cannot be definitely solved – they can only be bettered. Tame problems can be definitively solved e.g. fixing a leaky pipe.  For 70 years, we have been trying to adopt tools to definitively ‘solve’ projects and as such we all too often run into what we think is ‘project failure’. The problem with a project is that there is no definitive ‘this is solved’ – there are too many competing objectives (eg cost vs schedule vs cope) and also too many stakeholders with differing objectives. Instead of striving for a finite outcome, in the context of the fact projects are under a barrage of constant change and influences, perhaps we should treat planning and execution as being bettered (tamed) and not solved? I see this as the science of meta-planning ie better plan the planning process rather than jumping into planning execution itself.  Tame problems can be solved. Wicked problems can only be tamed and that is what meta-planning is all about. Dr. Dan Patterson is a Schedule and Cost Risk Analysis thought leader. He was the CEO and founder of BASIS, a project management company specializing in schedule and risk analytics, which was acquired in 2018 by InEight, Inc. Prior to BASIS, Dan led the highly successful organization Acumen, a project analytics company, and is the inventor of Acumen Fuse, Risk and 360, a project analytics software suite that is used for project planning quality improvement, performance insight, and forensics analysis. Dr. Patterson conducts risk workshops for billion-dollar projects and has subsequently served as an expert witness on many. During the execution of these engagements he leads qualitative and quantitative risk analysis, prepares and presents executive summaries, and leads in-person executive briefings to company executives. Dr. Patterson acts as the primary lead on various company and project internal risk optimization procedures. He specializes in risk workshops, project audits, and strategic project analysis on various capital expenditure projects. With over 20 years of professional experience, Dr. Patterson is recognized as a global thought leader and visionary within the project management industry. Specifically, he is known for his risk and schedule analytics expertise and is frequently utilized on high-profile capital expenditure projects for workshop facilitation, expert witness testimony, advanced analytics, and board-level briefings. Dr. Patterson has an impressive track record with extensive commercial and technical project management experience on projects that in the aggregate are valued at over $200 billion. Today, Patterson continues to push the project management boundaries forward with InEight BASIS, the first AI planning tool for CAPEX projects. Prior to BASIS, Patterson was the founder and CEO of Acumen, and inventor of Acumen Fuse, Risk and 360, a widely-used project metrics analysis and risk management software suite. Acumen was acquired by Deltek in 2013 with the Acumen toolset now used on most major CAPEX projects worldwide. Prior to Acumen, Patterson founded Pertmaster NA. He brought project risk analysis to the masses with the introduction of an integrated Monte Carlo analysis and risk register solution. This led to the successful acquisition of Pertmaster by Primavera (now Oracle) in 2006. Proudly sponsored by: Prosci.com InEight.com PlanAcademy.com JustDo.com  #ProjectManagement #ProjectDelivery #ProjectControls

In this episode we bring you a special broadcast from EVA26. After almost 3 years absence, EVA curated by Steve Wake returns with a bang and the Project Chatter Podcast's Dale Foong was lucky enough to interview the speakers, poets, composers and the one and only Michael Rosen! You'll hear snippets from the various presenters, a poem and the band plays us out in this special edition. Check out the lineup below: Steve Wake - Opening and closing remarks Paul Lyalls - EVA Poet in residence Martin Paver - Performance Enhancing Data Analytics Natalie Moyes, Marco Frisenda, Craig Stansfield, Shakeel Khan, Olli Wade – Industry Fireside Chat on Digital Transformation David Herington - Digital 'Line of Sight', Enabling Project Execution Bas Theelen - NASA’s Orion Spacecraft that will bring humans to the Moon and beyond Stephen Carver - Great Project – Shame about The Steering Committee (Falklands War) Adrian Pyne - Agility Making Projects Thrive Carole Still - Five skills to rule them all! Karen Thompson - Systems Thinking for improved Performance Niall Faris - Pandemic Projects: Delivering the Covid 19 Mega Laboratory Michael Rosen - Many Different Kinds of Love: A story of Life Death and the NHS Jo Lucas - Activating the mycelium James Lea - The psychology of estimating and planning Alex Leppard - Subconscious Biases In Project Management Jack Pinter - EVA Composer in residence The EVA band For more information, blogs or to support our charities visit www.projectchatterpodcast.com If you'd like to sponsor the podcast get in touch via our website. You can also leave us a voice message via our anchor page and let us know if there's something or someone specific that you would like on the podcast. Proudly sponsored by: JustDo - https://www.justdo.com/ PlanAcademy - https://www.planacademy.com/chatter/ ($75 off any course) InEight - https://ineight.com/ Prosci - https://empower.prosci.com/project-chatter (FREE resource kit) Stay safe, be disruptive and have fun doing it! #ProjectManagement #Blockchain #PMO #ProjectControls #Leadership #Culture #ProjectCertifications

In this week’s pod, we welcomed Adam Robinson to talk about the Boston Barrier. Adam has been working on the Boston Barrier scheme since December 2014, a year after the east coast surge which flooded 800 properties and businesses in Boston. He has been an integral part of the Clients delivery team in ensuring the timely submission of the Full Business Case and HMT Green book financial submission as well as the Boston Barrier Transport and Works Act Order 2017 application. He has led on the delivery of the main legal agreements with all key stakeholders and with his communication’s team on local community engagement prior to and during the Public Inquiry which occurred in 2017. Adam has continued to lead the scheme throughout the delivery phase maintaining corporate leadership continuity on the project to ensure that the project, which is an Environment Agency priority scheme, delivered its 5% target towards the last six year corporate target of better protecting 300,000 homes better by March 2021. In 2021 Adam was named as one of 27 civil engineers recognised by the Institution of Civil Engineers as a Carbon Champion for his work leading on reducing carbon emissions on the scheme. The main topics we discussed on the podcast were as follows: The Boston Barrier Tidal Flood Defence Scheme is a £100m project for the Environment Agency, delivered by BMMJV (a joint venture between BAM Nuttall and Mott MacDonald), to reduce the risk of tidal flooding to 14,300 properties and businesses in Boston, Lincolnshire. Boston is located on the east coast of the United Kingdom off The Wash and has a history of tidal surges. The project will reduce the risk of tidal flooding against an event of 1 in 300, or an annual exceedance probability of 0.33% of flooding for the 100 year project lifespan. The Boston Barrier is the first major construction project undertaken by the Environment Agency to map project outcomes against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) Here are some links to the topics we discussed: Case Study – Boston Barrier - https://waterprojectsonline.com/custom_case_study/boston-barrier-2021/ Hyperlink to LinkedIn post showing the timelapse construction: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6717472772433559552/ Institution of Civil Engineers Boston Barrier landing page: Boston Barrier Scheme | Institution of Civil Engineers (ice.org.uk) Open paper on the Boston Barrier re: climate change and social outcomes published last year and not behind a pay wall: Boston tidal barrier, UK: adapting to climate change and delivering social outcomes | Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Civil Engineering (icevirtuallibrary.com) Boston Barrier first closure: https://fb.watch/bH8tlKdc6D/ Boston Barrier installation: https://fb.watch/bH7DarAGbX Boston site flyover: https://twitter.com/BostonBarrierEA/status/1446431284239257613 Tune in next week when we’re joined by the presenters at the EVA26 event led by Steve Wake. For more information, blogs or to support our charities visit www.projectchatterpodcast.com If you'd like to sponsor the podcast get in touch via our website. You can also leave us a voice message via our anchor page and let us know if there's something or someone specific that you would like on the podcast. Proudly sponsored by: JustDo - https://www.justdo.com/ PlanAcademy - https://www.planacademy.com/chatter/ ($75 off any course) InEight - https://ineight.com/ Prosci - https://empower.prosci.com/project-ch... (FREE resource kit) Stay safe, be disruptive and have fun doing it! #ProjectManagement #Blockchain #PMO #ProjectControls #Leadership #Culture #ProjectCertifications linkedin.comlinkedin.com Sign Up | LinkedIn 500 million+ members | Manage your professional identity. Build and engage with your professional network. Access knowledge, insights and opportunities. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Civil EngineeringProceedings of the Institution of Ci

In this week’s pod, we welcomed Michelle Banner and Jonathan Shepherd to talk about enabling early careers in Project Controls. Michelle has more than 20 years of experience in infrastructure, nuclear, utilities, and various other industries. She is recognized as a technical expert in her specialism of Planning and Risk along with having a substantial background in cost and estimating. She is experienced in delivering EPC, R&D and Engineering contracts for infrastructure, utilities and nuclear. She is experienced in all aspects of project delivery from bidding through to commissioning and closeout. As a recognized expert, Michelle has written and delivered training both internally and for external clients on topics such as Earned Value Management, Schedule Management and Resource Management. She has also had a leading involvement in the development of endpoint assessment material for TASC (assessing Project Controls competence up to degree level). Johnny has developed a passion for project controls since embarking on the apprenticeship programme in 2014. Jonathan has a particular speciality in project planning and has recently been promoted to a senior role at an early stage of his career. Throughout his career, Johnny has made a conscious effort to develop a rounded skill set within project controls as he has ambitions to take a leading role in the future. He has recently embarked on the BSc (Hons) Project Controls Professional Degree Apprenticeship, the first of its kind in the UK. In doing so, Johnny aims to develop his critical thinking skills and to begin supporting his projects & programmes in a more strategic way the main topics we discussed on the podcast were as follows: There is not enough emphasis on mentorships. Many relationships are informal which can be to the detriment of introvertsThe UK has had success with STEM representatives going into schools to promote Engineering. This should be the case for Project Management / Controls are both skillsets are required on major projectsThe pandemic has made it more difficult for apprentices to check their work with a colleagueOne of the main barriers to entry is a lack of promotion of what Project Controls actually is and that it is a viable career pathThere needs to be regular feedback and 1:1s  with apprentices]Apprentice programmes offer a structure whilst giving people enough time to experience different scenarios on a project Tune in next week when we’re joined by Adam Robinson. For more information, blogs or to support our charities visit www.projectchatterpodcast.com If you'd like to sponsor the podcast get in touch via our website. You can also leave us a voice message via our anchor page and let us know if there's something or someone specific that you would like on the podcast. Proudly sponsored by:JustDo - https://www.justdo.com/PlanAcademy - https://www.planacademy.com/chatter/ ($75 off any course)InEight - https://ineight.com/Prosci - https://empower.prosci.com/project-ch

In this week’s pod, we welcomed back Steve Wake to discuss the Project Controls & Benefits Management Standard. Steve is at the forefront of the development of national and international standards in Project Controls and Management. A genuine thought-leader. A super-connector. A maven. He is Chairman of the Management Standards committee of the BSi. Currently progressing Project Controls and Benefits Management. He is an internationally acknowledged expert on Earned Value Project Management. Steve works with government, national and international bodies and academia as a subject matter expert as well as on matters of governance. Steve was one of the authors of Agile Portfolios with ABC. He has worked in the automotive, print aerospace, defence, insurance and I.T. industries as a project manager and consultant. He led the Association for Project Management to their award of Royal Charter. He is Chief examiner for EVM and Planning with APMG. He curates and chairs his own highly-regarded EVA conferences - now in its 26th year! He is a visiting lecturer at Warwick WMG, Cranfield and UCL. He has an MA in Manpower specialising in the sociology and psychology of organisations and is a member of the London Mozart Players Development Group. His long passion for all kinds of music is almost matched by his continued appreciation of silence. The main topics we discussed on the podcast were as follows: Benefits Management came about from a British Standard document (BS 6079) Many contracts are adversarial. Law is about consent, not compulsion. The Project Control Implementation Standards guide is still being written Having a common data format across all projects would enable better data analytics Anyone can contribute to the development and elaboration of a Standard It is possible to time phase the benefits over the course of a project. The Project Controls community can assist with the monitoring and measurement Having a British Standard on Benefits Management will help contract practice We should try and incentivise Contractors to think about Benefits Here are links to a some of the concepts we discussed: EVA 26 - Steve Wake's EVA in the UK - Conversation Club - https://evaintheuk.org/ BS 6079 Project Management Principles and Guidance - https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/standards/bs-6079-project-management/ Practice Standard for Earned Value Management: https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/framework/earned-value-management-2nd Projects Leaving the Government Major Project Portfolio: https://www.nao.org.uk/press-release/projects-leaving-the-government-major-projects-portfolio/ Tune in next week when we’re joined by Rupert Taylor to talk about how to kill the Powerpoint and Excel ‘industry’. For more information, blogs or to support our charities visit www.projectchatterpodcast.com If you'd like to sponsor the podcast get in touch via our website. You can also leave us a voice message via our anchor page and let us know if there's something or someone specific that you would like on the podcast. Proudly sponsored by: JustDo - https://www.justdo.com/ PlanAcademy - https://www.planacademy.com/chatter/ ($75 off any course) InEight - https://ineight.com/ Prosci - https://empower.prosci.com/project-ch... (FREE resource kit) Stay safe, be disruptive and have fun doing it! #ProjectManagement #Blockchain #PMO #ProjectControls #Leadership #Culture #ProjectCertifications #EVA25#EVA25 eVa23 – Anticipation The best independent event for the project professionals who like to think about what they do! bsigroup.combsigroup.com BS 6079 Project Management BS 6079 Project Management (457 kB) https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/standards/bs-6079-project-management/ pmi.orgpmi.org Practice Standard for Earned Value Management Earned Value Management (EVM) helps you clearly and objectively see where your project is headed and compare that condition to where it should be regarding scope, schedule and costs

In this week’s pod, we welcomed Gary Lloyd to discuss how to cultivate lasting change in organisations. Gary has been leading change for the last 25 years as an executive and a consultant. His roles have ranged from creating retail banking processing centres to creating an electronic derivatives exchange in Tokyo. Alongside his change leadership work, for the last ten years, he has been an executive coach and a mentor to students and alumni from Warwick Business School. He is also a steering committee member for the school's mentoring programme, which has now helped over 1,000 executives and entrepreneurs. Gary's core philosophy is that the world of work is an ecosystem and not a machine. To make lasting change, therefore, we need to think and act like gardeners, not mechanics. Success depends on recognising and embracing unpredictability, not pretending it doesn't exist or trying to control it. He is the author of two books: Gardeners Not Mechanics: How to cultivate change at work. Business Leadership for IT Projects. He is also the author of numerous articles in professional journals. The main topics we discussed on the podcast were as follows: Change management projects are about delivering value and developing relationships with stakeholders Statistically, many project managers don’t actually have the chance to work on many projects due to their durations There seems to be a tendency to separate the project management and change management communities. They should be the same function Many Project Management qualifications do not put enough emphasis on relationships. Recruiters often focus on the qualifications Machines are complicated, eco-systems are complex Anything that involves people becomes complex. Humans are unpredictable Projects that have lasting value are often delivered incrementally rather than big bang Many IT project can be delivered in multiple “chunks” of lasting value How can we test the key business case assumptions as quickly and cheaply as possible? People have been using Kotter’s theory for over 30 years and it is too top down and machine like “Getting buy-in" is an outdated phrase. It implies the solution has already been developed and being forced upon people rather than a collaborative approach Businesses need to understand the ecosystem of a change rather than trying to shoehorn it into existing processes When joining a change project, hunt down the moaners, they often have a good point! Try to draw the project ecosystem and update as you go along “If you approach a negotiation thinking the other guy thinks like you, you are wrong. That's not empathy, that's a projection” Chris Voss – ex FBI Lead Hostage Negotiator Here are links to a some of the concepts we discussed: Gardeners Not Mechanics: How to cultivate change at work: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gardeners-Not-Mechanics-cultivate-change/dp/B08S2ZXSWM/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Gardeners Not Mechanics Blog: https://www.gardenersnotmechanics.com/ Chris Voss Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26156469-never-split-the-difference Tune in next week when we’re re-joined by Steve Wake. For more information, blogs or to support our charities visit www.projectchatterpodcast.com If you'd like to sponsor the podcast get in touch via our website. You can also leave us a voice message via our anchor page and let us know if there's something or someone specific that you would like on the podcast. Proudly sponsored by: JustDo - https://www.justdo.com/ PlanAcademy - https://www.planacademy.com/chatter/ ($75 off any course) InEight - https://ineight.com/

In this episode, Dale and Val speak to ultra-athlete and risk expert Richard Newey about the parallels of these mentally grueling and extreme endurance events, to projects. Richard takes us through how he copes with endurance talking about mind games, keeping it simple and marginal gains. Preparing for a race or event like this takes a lot of planning and Richard likens this to how we manage projects. Projects need risk as an important part of their ability to complete on time, cost, and quality. Richard has over 30 years of construction experience starting his career as a setting out engineer and now Head of Risk &Controls for AECOM. He has worked on 2 Olympic Games and many other blue-chip projects. In sport, he is one of a handful of UK people to have completed the Race across America riding 3000 miles in 10 days on 18 hours sleep. Additionally, he has been to 8000m on Everest, raced the Ironman World Championships 3 times and last summer raced the Tour de Geants a 330km ultramarathon off only 7 hours sleep in 5 days. Proudly sponsored by: JustDo.com | PlanAcademy.com | InEight.com | Prosci.com FREE resource kit: www.prosci.com/projectchatter $75 off training: www.planacademy.com/chatter Stay safe, be disruptive and have fun doing it!

In this week’s pod, we welcomed Nigel Creaser to discuss Productivity, Prioritisation, and Focus. Nigel is a Project Manager from Shropshire in the UK. He has over 25 years in the industry, delivering multi-million-pound projects across a myriad of sectors.  He is also the host of the Sunday Lunch Project Manager Podcast and author of several books in the Project Management profession, with a couple of them poking fun at the profession. The main topics we discussed on the podcast were as follows:   Productivity is effectively making time to allow you to do the things you want to do rather than have to do Time management skills are often perceived as a soft skill therefore it doesn’t get the same level of attention as more technical tasks It’s assumed you’ll find a way to do it rather than a subject that is taught at school The difference between productivity and efficiency is down to effectiveness. Businesses can be very efficient at producing poor quality outputs If you don’t manage yourself it is easy to get diverted to something more exciting All meetings need to have a clear agenda and attendee list If you choose not to decide, you have still made a choice Calendar management is ultimately your responsibility. There may be consequences to certain decisions but you should own this as it is your time Try to avoid context switching which leads to distractions. Plan time to do the more mundane tasks and do them effectively There is an art to knowing what is important. Be prepared to offer feedback and training when you see other people who are struggling to prioritise Be conscious that other people will prioritise for you if you do not take charge of your prioritise. This may not be the right thing for you  It is useful to measure the amount of time you are interrupted in your day job and assess techniques to alleviate Use technology to stop non-productive distractions e.g. mute button on Whatsapp or rules in Outlook  Here are links to some of the concepts we discussed:  Nigel Creaser – Project Manager Productivity Hacks: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Project-Manager-Productivity-Hacks-2021-ebook/dp/B094DJ9M38Manager Tools Podcast: https://www.manager-tools.com/all-podcastsHow to Create Rules to move email messages to different folders in Outlook Office 365: How to Create Rules to move email messages to different folders in Outlook Office 365  Workplace Jazz: https://workplace-jazz.com/Eddie Obeng – Qube: https://qube.cc/what-is-qube/  Tune in next week when we’re joined by Richard Newey to discuss Risk Management in endurance sports. For more information, blogs or to support our charities visit www.projectchatterpodcast.comIf you'd like to sponsor the podcast get in touch via our website.   You can also leave us a voice message via our anchor page and let us know if there's something or someone specific that you would like on the podcas