Pre-Outage Project Controls

Measuring, tracking and close monitoring on project performance, progress and outcomes to prevent costly time and budget overruns are critical to business’ maximizing their value



One key area is the link between the procurement function and finance. All contracts/purchase orders should be issued at least two weeks prior to the beginning of an outage. This will enable the project controller sufficient time to build a tracking system to provide a methodology designed to track and manage the daily cost of all vendors. The master cost report will be used daily to update the project team on progress and forecast costs at completion against budget and previous day’s forecast.


If utilized and communicated to the project manager this discipline will result in savings from tracking schedule shifts and eliminating over-scheduling of manpower, help the treasury management, whether it be foreign currency to domestic interst rates and eliminating superfluous contractor crews when work shifted from one time period to another and risks associated with the project from a cost perspective (weather delays, material delays, extra work, stand by time, etc).

Project planning Haiku: Project is chartered / Yet it needs a plan to grow / For it must have form.

A silly example, I know. What’s more, it is bad poetry. Yet, the message is clear. As you gather the tools in the Initiation phase of the project, in the planning phase, you take those tools and begin to give your project form. All of the tools must be considered and applied – and it is a detailed process. Before a project goes to execution phase, all factors must be considered, and subordinate plans need to be formulated. A good project cannot be executed “on the fly.” As a matter of fact, it is a recipe for disaster.



Think about it. In the planning phase scope must be refined and managed, tasks must be defined and broken down, quality and risk management plans need to be developed, and the project schedule needs to be developed. It sounds daunting, and it can be. However, surrounding yourself with the right team and then collaborating on the process is a recipe for success.



Here’s some tips for planning:



First, don’t reinvent the wheel. As Shakespeare said, “If there be nothing new, but that which is Hath been before…” In other words, there IS nothing new under the sun. The information on how to manage the planning process is already out there. Banging your head against the wall to come up with an ad hoc process, which will likely miss some important details, wastes time for both you, your team, and possibly a client.



Second, focus on the steps for the phase you’re in. In other words, don’t try to execute the Planning Phase while you’re still in the Initiating Phase. If time is at a premium, you can abbreviate a phase, but don’t try and execute both phases simultaneously. In the attempt to do everything at once, nothing may get accomplished. Remember that each phase builds upon the next.



Third, as mentioned above – don’t try to do it all yourself. While it is physically possible to do it all yourself, I submit to you that, especially in a time crunch, you may make errors of omission, typographical errors, and any number of other errors that happen when you burn the candles at both ends. Ideally, you work with your team to develop the key plans, both collaboratively and via “divide and conquer.”



Lastly, remember that the planning phase is not done until your team has come together and integrated the various plans. Each of the various plans generated do not stand alone. They cannot be stove-piped, rather they must be integrated.



What I have written here will not guarantee success. In the end, only you and your team will be the authors of success. However, not following the above advice may very well guarantee failure.



My project it lives / As my planning - it rings true! / Now I execute

Mentors – good leaders have had one and are willing to become one. Are you a mentor?

In the Impossibility Theorem, Thomas Schelling (Nobel Prize, 2005) claimed that, "One thing a person cannot do, no matter how rigorous his analysis or heroic his imagination, is to draw up a list of things that would never occur to him." Why is this important? Have you ever said to yourself I should have thought of that or that is so obvious why didn't I create that? This can happen to us when we are listening to the news, reading an internet article, attending a class or seminar etc. Thomas Schelling's research is important, because we must face the reality that "WE DIDN'T think of it.



Knowledge and understanding of the impossibility theorem is very important to help us eliminate the “ah ha” moment. How do we eliminate these moments? Well first we must be open to new ideas and new technologies. A great avenue for young and old to enhance their creativity and eliminate these moments is to engage in the mentoring process. This provides quality human-to-human interaction to access new ideas validated through the human experience.


Mentors typically have a wide breadth of experience and knowledge that will help the mentee determine and bound a problem that may be either difficult for them to define/wrap their head around or is improperly defined by their supervision. A good mentor will help the mentee appreciate and understand the thinking process and thus help enhance their mentee’s decision processes through the exploration of different approaches to a given situation.


Bottom line: knowledge is powerful. Not power, but powerful. The more you have, the more you can contribute and a mentor can help you get there faster by constantly challenging how you view a given situation – thus increasing the opportunity to invent something.

Scott K. Thompson

Organizational Change Model

When changing an organization, process, or lifestyle, are we really talking about change or… are we actually talking about adopting change as a way of conducting business going forward?

Let’s think about lifestyle change applied to one individual. It stands to reason that he or she
must truly believe that exercise, diet or lifestyle change is important enough to make change permanent. Why do you think so many exercise bikes show up at the landfill two months after New Years?


How do you go about leading organizational change? Do you go out and buy a book and follow the steps? After all, there are countless models that have very elaborate steps, phases and actions you need to do in order ensure that people buy into the new way of doing things. Do you write a memo and make the change an edict? Clearly, just reading a book will not get it done. It is much more than simply following a set of steps. Writing a memo won’t get it done either. You must fundamentally understand that a large proportion of people don’t like nor do they willingly accept change. You must get them to buy into what you are trying to do. At its core, change is hard. Why do you think there are lots of books on the subject, both individually and organizationally. All of these books and topics are talking about making some sort of change and making it a permanent way of doing business going forward.


Many times in the business world we are making change to improve the bottom line of the business. That means the leadership of the company wants to improve productivity and generally they want it, at best, quickly and at worst, now. Is this a realistic expectation? It depends, but expect that significant change will cause a temporary drop in productivity. Why? Because everyone that is affected by the change must learn a new method, procedure, standard or process by which it is to be carried out. That will cause hesitation, uncertainty and simply more time to carry out the new way. How should this be addressed? It starts with the person making the change. Leaders must set expectations at all levels – from the board room to the shop floor - that this drop will occur. And it will drop. That magnitude to which it happens is what is in question.


So, what can a leader expect? They can expect three phases. Not clearly delineated steps, but rather phases the person or organization will go through. The leader must know these will occur and know how to manage or more importantly, lead the organization through each phase. The phases are “Wait and See,” “Constructive Friction,” and “Change State.”


The first phase is called “Wait and See.” It is a phase of constructive friction and change state. During this phase, the majority of the organization will sit back and see if leadership is truly serious about the change. As the leader progresses through change the organization will challenge him either overtly or covertly until they see a level of commitment. As this is occurring, friction will begin to rise.


The second phase is called “Constructive Friction.” To the untrained eye, it could look like the organization is falling apart. It will be less productive at this stage. The friction will increase until you reach a critical mass of 30% or more affected individuals buying into the new way. This is when the constructive friction begins to drop, and productivity is at its lowest. If leadership wavers and does not keep moving ahead as this critical mass is achieved, the chances of success are very slim. In fact, the chance of making another change with the same leadership team is highly unlikely, because that team has lost its credibility within the organization.


This then leads to the third phase, “Change State.” If leadership has led the organization well and has pushed through and exceeded critical mass, then productivity will improve as the constructive friction declines. Assuming that leadership has made constructive choices, productivity will be better than before, yet some friction will continue. This is because the leadership team has set an expectation of execution and the organization will be expecting more things to change going forward. This is a good thing, as it will make the next steps in the improvement effort a little easier to execute.


So, you ask, how do you make change stick? In the most simple of terms, it starts at the top. At its core, change leadership is all about recognizing that it will not be easy and having the willingness to push through the pain to get to the other side. It takes commitment and vision and the energy to stay the course. Can you get this out of a book? Yes you can. Will the book ensure success? Perhaps, but I highly doubt it. The book will not be there when you - the leader - are faced with the organizational and personal challenges that will come your way.

At the end of the day it is all about experience, expectation management, and commitment to change. It is about leadership.

KNOW YOURSELF CONTROL YOURSELF

To master the skills necessary to be an effective leader, you must know yourself and control yourself. This very simple statement captures the essence of growing yourself into a true leader.

Being able to control yourself and your emotions is a fundamental leadership attribute. The ability to control your emotions will allow you to think through difficult situations critically and draw logical conclusions. This skill is especially necessary in our changing economic times. Never forget - your team sees you and draws from your emotions. If you’re not in control of yourself and don’t think through tough situations, it is unrealistic to think your team will behave differently. This behavior will, in turn, cascade throughout your organization.


Fundamentally, a cornerstone of leadership development is knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and then honing your strengths and improving the areas that need work. It also means that you must face the reality that there will be members of your team that possess more expertise than you in many areas. You must be secure with who you are - not only as a person but as a leader.


So how does a leader become more self-reflective and effective? How can he or she become more than a manager? How do you become a leader that people want to follow? First, put team before self. You are in a position of trust, and it isn’t just about you. Second, you must be open to feedback - especially when it doesn’t reflect well on you. You must be willing to work at modifying your behavior if it is ineffective, hurtful, or counter-productive. Third, you must be willing to continuously improve. Constantly scrutinizing what you are doing well and what you are not doing so well is not easy, but who said leadership was easy? Leadership can be lonely and painful, but conversely, it can be very rewarding personally and professionally.


Scott K. Thompson

Outage Management – Safety Success



Continuous improvement is critical to the Power Generation Industry, especially Fossil Power Plants. By focusing on the work process to improve productivity firms, can extract great value both in cost savings and revenue generation. Cost of outages can be trimmed by reducing man-hours and overtime associated with work stoppages and contract labor working over top of each other. Revenue can be enhanced by bringing the plants back on line early so more generation than planned can be sold, rework can be eliminated during start up and opportunity costs from forced outages can be eliminated.

One of the cornerstones to achieve these results is by executing a well run integrated safety plan.

Industrial safety, human performance, and quality work are the most important activities in the management of outages. Integrating the safety team into the planning for outages at least 12 months in advance of the start of an outage will ensure that employees are well trained and procedures, policies, programs are well understood. This must be done with internal employees as well as with external contractors so that accidents are eliminated and work productivity is not slowed down. This is critical to ensuring smooth budget and scheduling success without wasting economic resources.


Partnering with contractors early in the planning process and “laying down the law” will ensure that everyone is on board with the scheduling and safety philosophy so that needless work stoppages are eliminated and employees feel empowered to work safely and efficiently.


Look for contractors that embrace web-based technology to optimize outage performance and environmental safety and health tools that track and manage real time work. These tools save a lot of downtime.

Process Improvement

Productivity Paradigm: A short-term productivity dip is part of a sustainable improvement cycle. It is natural as institutional learning occurs.

Learn more about DuraBante and Process Improvement

Project Management

Building your project upon faulty assumptions is, to coin a phrase attributed to George Washington, “Assuredly resting upon a broken staff.” What is real? What is assumed? Keep it grounded in facts.


Of course, assumptions are necessary. They are those little leaps of faith you need to connects your facts what you are trying to achieve. Historical data says that a canal will be passable 95 percent of the time in a given month. You need to get your construction supplies through the canal. It is a good assumption that the canal will be passable. Work it into your plan as an assumption. However – you also build a risk assessment and risk response plan that addresses “What if?” and “Then what?”

The most dangerous and easily avoided assumptions are those which anticipate what your stakeholders want, how your stakeholders will feel, or how your stakeholders will react. A way to avoid this is to – are you ready for this? – ask them. A little time spent on stakeholder management now can save you hours of rework later. What “they” want is easily clarified by addressing the anonymous “they.” Time spent in front of a face and a name pays enormous dividends. You might even discover a thing or two over and above the question that brought you to “them” in the first place…

Strategic Staffing - Why I like to work for DuraBante by Tom Lynch

There are several reasons I enjoy working for DuraBante as a contracted project manager and client service delivery lead. First, the supplemental income makes retirement more enjoyable for me and my wife. We can spend money on ourselves and family without worrying. Second, I have the ability to select which jobs I accept, so I can work when I want leaving me time to take extended vacations. Finally, working has always been a source of pride for me. I enjoy exercising my mind and using talents gained during an extensive career in the power generation field. It gives me a sense of purpose. I guess I am not ready to be put out to pasture yet!