S7E15625 March 2023

S7E156: Navigating the Project Control Landscape: A Journey Through the Decades and Beyond with Shane Forth

📊 Project Controls 📅 Planning & Scheduling 📈 Data Analytics 🤖 AI & Technology 📄 Reporting 👔 Leadership & Management 💬 Communication ⚖️ Governance & Compliance

S7E156

S7E156: Navigating the Project Control Landscape: A Journey Through the Decades and Beyond with Shane Forth

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In this week’s pod, we were joined by Shane Forth to discuss Navigating the Project Control Landscape: A Journey Through the Decades and Beyond. Shane’s project controls career began on Phillips Petroleum Teesside Oil Terminal, a 1970s mega-project. Aged 20, he learnt the fundamentals of scheduling using manual techniques. Career progression followed with three further mega-projects worth tens of billions of pounds in today’s terms. This was interspersed with UK construction projects for leading mechanical contractors. In 1992, as Planning Manager for a major EPC contractor, he quickly learned two important lessons. His enthusiasm to introduce effective project controls integrating cost and schedule was out of step with senior management and a discovery of a skills gap and shortage of project controls resource. His industry leadership, uniting groups and individuals to create project controls standards, occupational certifications, career paths, competency frameworks, higher professional recognition, and especially apprenticeship programmes, may Shane’s my most enduring legacy. The main topics we discussed on the podcast were as follows: The main evolutions in Project Controls are a realization around the importance of data to major projects and having a dedicated resource pool Ask the right questions, get the right answers When delivering bad news as a Project Controller, always try to de-personalise the updates Project Controllers should aim to engage the experts if they are not sure on a subject New starters to the Project Controls function should try to work on their literacy and presentational skills as these are two key competencies that will be used throughout your career Project Controls is now seen as a core function and not just an optional extra on major projects Here are links to some of the topics we discussed: Human Resource Skills for the Project Manager: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1880410419/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Handbook of People in Project Management: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/140943785X?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_thcv_0&storeType=ebooks&asin=140943785X&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1 Join us next time when we’re joined by Ellen Mellington to discuss Streamlining Operations with Agile Controls: The Key to Business-As-Usual Performance. 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: InEight – https://ineight.com/

Guest

Shane Forth

Principal Consultant at GO FORTH

Shane’s project controls career began on Phillips Petroleum Teesside Oil Terminal, a 1970s mega-project. Aged 20, he learnt the fundamentals of scheduling using manual techniques. Career progression followed with 3 further mega-projects worth tens of billions of pounds in todays terms. This was interspersed with UK construction projects for leading mechanical contractors. In 1992, as Planning Manager for a major EPC contractor, he quickly learned two important lessons: § His enthusiasm to introduce effective project controls integrating cost and schedule was out of step with senior management § He discovered a skills gap and shortage of project controls resource. These challenges have since fuelled his drive to mature the function and grow and its resources. Shane has embraced projects of all shapes, sizes. and lifecycle phases. As a project controls leader across Oil & Gas, Nuclear, Power, Process, Infrastructure, Steel, Pharmaceuticals and Manufacturing sectors, he has consistently taken the lead as an early adopter of new project control techniques. He share his knowledge and experience within and beyond his organisations. His inspirational leadership, enthusiasm, energy and motivational skills, realise benefits for the project controls community and inspires others. Shane’s thought leadership activities are unparalleled. Speaking at prestigious international conferences, he has developed close ties with academia and is consulting editor/author of the _Practitioner Handbook of Project Controls._ A fellow of APM and ACostE, I served two-terms as Vice-President, Shane is past chair of BCECA Project Control Managers Committee. His industry leadership, uniting groups and individuals to create project controls standards, occupational certifications, career paths, competency frameworks, higher professional recognition, and especially apprenticeship programmes, may Shane’s my most enduring legacy. This includes the UK’s 1st project controls apprenticeship in 2007. He was later elected as chair of Project Controls Technician Apprenticeship Trailblazer.

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