Project Managers are Great at Starting Capital Projects, But Most PMs are Missing These Frameworks to Finish Projects

Project Managers have frameworks to start capital projects - a framework for project charters, frameworks for cost and schedule estimates, frameworks for risk analysis, etc. But too often Project Managers are missing the project management frameworks to finish projects. It’s not PM’s fault – the PM knowledge base does not include the processes required to complete capital projects. The Project Management Institute is generic by nature to cover all types of projects, but Project Managers are never given the tailored PM processes needed to complete capital projects (this isn’t a secret, PMI tells us that tailored PM processes are required, it’s just that PMs never get them or aren't aware they exist).

PMI knowledge is a great place to start, and shows you how to start projects, but Project Managers that only have this information are going to run into trouble completing capital projects. Most Project Managers learn the CSU Frameworks required to complete capital projects by trial and error, which is why 9 out of 10 projects are late and over-budget. If PMs gets another chance after a failed project, their second project might have a better outcome once they understand these completion frameworks.

This is no different than getting surgery. You want your surgeon to know how to start the procedure, and also how to stitch you up at the end. Imagine if halfway through surgery, your surgeon leans over to the nurse in the operating room and whispers in her ear, “How do I finish this?” It’s too late to look for a different surgeon that understands the entire process while you’re lying on the operating table with a wide-open incision. You expect your surgeon to understand how to start, execute, and finish the procedure. If your surgeon was only trained on how to make the first incision, it is not going to end well for you if they were never trained on how to stitch you back together.

From the book "The Hard Thing About Hard Things": People at McDonald's get trained for their positions, but people with far more complicated roles don't. It makes no sense. Would you want to stand on the line of the untrained person at McDonald's? Would you want to use the software written by an engineer who was never told how the rest of the code worked? A lot of companies think their employees are so smart that they require no training. That's silly."

The tailored project management processes specific to completing capital projects are well understood, but are never taught to Project Managers – PMs are expected to figure this out on their own. A better approach before starting capital projects is to give Project Managers the CSU Frameworks required to manage completions and commissioning through all stages of projects.

The project management frameworks to complete capital projects are defined in the Integrated Completions Methodology – these are the CSU Frameworks for Project Managers to successfully manage capital project completions and commissioning.

ICM is for Project Managers that need the project-specific CSU Frameworks to plan and execute capital project completions and commissioning. If you start a project without these frameworks, your project will be late and over-budget, just like 9 out of 10 projects are. Project Managers are shooting themselves in the foot if they don’t start projects with the end in mind using CSU Frameworks.

The Integrated Completions Methodology includes the following CSU Frameworks:

CSU Frameworks in Contracts – technical and commercial completion requirements must be in engineering, construction, and equipment procurement contracts, specific to your project and industry. Miss any of these, and you’ll have expensive change orders and claims while completing your project.

CSU Frameworks in FEED – commissioning and operational input is required during preliminary and detailed design reviews, especially for control system and HMI user interfaces. When feedback is not provided, there are lots of delays when later groups are seeing design packages for the first time.

CSU Frameworks in Off-Site Testing – since these are the first physical tests of equipment, testing in the factory must align with on-site testing, particularly for control and protection systems. When testing doesn’t align, you get expensive delays while issues are addressed.

Construction Completions – the last 10% of any task is always the hardest, and robust processes are required to ensure systems are 100% complete and that nothing gets missed. Do a half-assed job with this, and the end of your project suffers with expensive delays.

CSU Completion Workflows – commissioning is fast-paced, and you need robust methods to manage all the details and keep pace with testing. Your customized spreadsheets are not getting it done efficiently.

When Project Managers do not include one or more of these project management frameworks in how they manage projects, it’s easy for projects to end up late and over-budget:

• Contracts are missing end-of-project technical and commercial requirements that cost millions of dollars to add later
• Design and procurement activities do not align with the end of the project
• The construction phase dominates, and does not align with what is required to complete projects
• Commissioning gets squeezed into half the time, with missed in-service dates and poor quality systems at the end

Project Managers must be equipped with these tailored CSU Frameworks before starting capital projects if they want to be successful.

Join our next live webinar to learn more about Commissioning Project Management. Get the Zoom link here.