Capital projects are unique to more traditional projects because of the number of different and complex disciplines involved.  Capital project managers deal with vendors, quality, logistics, facilities, program management, IT, operations, and maintenance.  As a CCPM, you will need to clearly identify the deliverables for the project and the roles each of these disciples will play in the project.  It starts with a high level executive summary approved by management.  Then, we define the lead and secondary roles in the project.  After the team has been defined and selected, it is necessary to define the success criteria for the project and the success criteria for the individual team members.  Everyone understands the objectives overall and the part they play in meeting those objectives.  Now, we move into the vendor selection phase of the project.  Again, the team works together to build a model of the ideal partners for the project. ...

The difference between excellence and average is surprisingly small. You make the choice.

Excellence Defined Your Way

I have been part of over 200 million dollars in project implementation. Capital projects are hard and messy, with lots of moving pieces. It is highly desirable to have a project manager that is very collaborative. Click below to find out the top characteristics of an ideal project manager.

Managing Capital Projects - PM Selection

How do you feel after you watch the news?  Do you feel empowered?  Are you excited and enthusiastic about the world you live in?  Or are you discouraged, concerned, and worried about the future? 

Today’s news has a singular purpose and it is not to educate you.  They want you hooked.  They want you on the edge of your chair, awaiting the next tragedy so they can lure you into their advertising lair.  They offer opinions 24/7 with limited unbiased news reporting in between.  Each channel seems to focus on its political agenda.  They pander to their demos to keep them coming back for more.  Many years ago, political campaign managers learned that negativity wins far more elections.  It didn’t take long for the news services to realize that negativity attracts viewers.  Sensationalize everything!  Seriously, you hear “breaking news” five hundred times in 24 hours on every station, but the news is...

Executives Cause Chaos – Management Silent

Yes…I said it.  For some reason, nobody else will.  Is it arrogance or ignorance?  Why does it take so long to approve capital projects?  I have spent the last twenty-four years of my career advising customers on capital projects.  There are three critical responsibilities for a capital project manager.

1.    Manage the Budget – We all understand the key to successful capital investment is Return on Capital.  There are other reasons to invest but the main reason is to generate more cash for the business.  This requires prudence to ensure maximum ROC.

2.    Be on Time – When the capital is late, the ROC is delayed because revenue can’t be generated.  The sooner the capital is in place, the sooner it can begin generating revenue.  In some cases, having it in place allows for ample debug or run time on the equipment, ensuring...

What is my philosophy?  Have you ever asked yourself this question?  If you are like most us, it is likely that you have not.  Yet we all have an underlying philosophy.  This philosophy is present in every decision we make and action we take but the overwhelming majority of us have not taken the time to consider ours.  That is changing today.  We are going to work through an exercise that will help us better understand our underlying philosophy and begin to adjust it if we deem it incongruent with how we want to show up in the world.

If we have not taken the time to consider and develop our philosophy, it means that we have accepted and adopted the philosophy of others.  To me, this is a very scary realization.  If the general platform on which all my decisions are made has not been intentionally built, this means that I have adopted the philosophy of my parents, friends, community, alma mater, the media, and others as my philosophy.  It...

In my involvement of 500 plus capital projects, hitting the budget is rare. The reasons for missing the mark are almost always the same and avoidable. For all companies investing in new capital, meeting budget targets is a critical component of the justification. Investing the company’s funds in new capital projects is similar to our individual investing in a stock. The individual makes the investment expecting a return on the investment. The biggest difference between capital investment and equity investment is that a capital investment can be in the business’s control. This is true only if the person managing the project has an understanding of how to keep the project on track and within budget. The project was justified based on a budget, so to maximize the return on capital it must meet the budget. Here are the major reasons a capital project budget gets busted.

1. Timing – The number one reason without a doubt is a lack of time to properly execute the project....

There are only two types of people in this world.  The first type of people believes in a better future, positive outcome, the potential, finding a way, and hope.  The second type of people are full of doubt, negativity, frustration, blame, anger, and general gloom.  That is it, two types.  Which are you?  In my experience, most pessimists are absolutely clueless about their gloomy outlook.  They fancy themselves as realists.  After all, you can’t just go around fooling yourself into thinking everything is sunshine and rainbows.  These are the folks that make a snarky comment about everything and justify it as just joking when challenged, or maybe they say “Hey, keeping it real.”  They look at the beautiful sunset but can only see the power lines partially obstructing the view.  They can’t help themselves.  If there is an opportunity to cut someone or a situation down, they go for it.  They use their...

As a project manager, one of the highest responsibilities to your organization is minimizing risk and alerting the organization of risks that jeopardize the project objectives.  In my experience, the areas with the greatest risk are as follows:

1.       Vendor selection – Companies focused on price versus competence struggle with every stage of the capital project.  Having a well thought out selection process is imperative for choosing the right vendor.

2.       Funding approval – If your company’s management lacks a sense of urgency in approving your funding request, the timeline gets compressed because of their delay.  Clearly articulating the consequences of their delayed approval is your responsibility.  I have seen too many project managers bear the cross of train wreck management.  This is avoidable by being proactive in communicating consequences in a non-threatening manner....