Dear Members,

Welcome to the latest version of your newsletter from all at Planning Planet. Thank you too for the contributions made by our community. In the Newsletter is a reminder of the business opportunities the Guild gives us all and messages from our various supporters without whom none of this would be possible.

Hope you enjoy it...

The Guild of Project Controls is now Complete with everything in place and working.  

We have people joining as Members, we have people Certifying and we have people being Trained.

Remember the opportunities we can offer :

• Guild Training Partner 
• Guild Consulting Partner 

OR how we can benefit the effectiveness of Project Controls individuals in YOUR CORPORATION.

Contact: admin@guildofprojectcontrols.com FOR MORE INFORMATION

• Career Path Matrix - a career path to allow us to understand where we are now and our options for enhancing our capabilities and our careers 
• Role Descriptors - a simple online tool to help you understand what is expected of you in each / all of the roles described in the Career Path Matrix
• Compendium & Reference - an online, continually updated and improved body of knowledge that has been shaped and developed by us, the practitioners, that explain the tools and techniques we can / should know and understand in regard to the roles shown in the Career Path Matrix and the capability expectations set by the Role Descriptors
• Online Self Assessment - a simple tool to help you understand your strengths and weaknesses in regard to the Role Descriptors
• Capability Validation and SWOT Analysis - any / all practitioners can have their Self Assessment reviewed by senior Subject Matter Experts and be given a Strengths and Weakness and Opportunity Report
• Online Invigilated Examinations - all of our exams are online and can be done at work or at home and are invigilated by a human proctor who ensures we are taking the exams ourselves and not being helped by others
• Post-Examination Competency Assessment Interviews - to supplement our Online Invigilated Examinations we each participate in a video conference with a Subject Matter Expert who provides us with a view of our Strengths and Weaknesses and proposes or rejects our request to be Competency Certified
• 360 Degree Capability References - a simple "5 minute template" for our peers, superiors, clients and subordinates to annotate that help describe our working practices and abilities
• Guild Library - a place where Members place their information and professional "papers" for the use, enjoyment and benefit of other Guild practitioners
• Find a Senior Mentor - the ability to connect with senior practitioners who are willing to help and coach our career progressions;  you put the effort in and they will support and encourage you as you grow
• Competency Certifications - a fully comprehensive suite of certifications, based on the Career Path Matrix, Role Descriptors and Compendium & Reference that suit practitioners from junior to senior levels in all industry sectors but above all that demonstrate that you can do the job
• Independent Certification Body - the "Approval to be Certified" is made by a group of senior practitioners who collectively decide if we should be Competency Certified based on our Experience Profile, Online Invidilated Examinations, Post-Examination Interview, 360 Degree Capability References and Library Articles
• Independent Benchmarking - to supplement this we run internal competency validation and bench-marking as well as being able to compare and contrast you, as a corporation, a team or an individual practitioner against other global companies, teams and individuals
• Training Anywhere in the World - we have a (growing) group of training providers who are offering training in regard to the expectations set by the Role Descriptors to assist companies and practitioners who want or need help in expanding on their current knowledge and capabilities

We, the senior practitioners who support and shape the Guild, believe we have the full package and as we are a true independent, competency based, Project Controls organisation - we are not about passing exams, as what does that prove!

We are about demonstrating our competencies; can I do the job and have I demonstrated to independent senior practitioners that I can do the job?  With us, the answer is YES.

Get in touch with our Administration Team via admin@guildofprojectcontrols.com or Join as a Life Member here

Who Changed My Primavera P6 Schedule?

Do you work in an enterprise environment where so many people have access to the same Primavera P6 database?

Have you ever wanted to find out who made changes to your Primavera P6 schedule without leaving any comments in a Primavera P6 Notebook?

Here is quick tip to help you track users who made changes to your Primavera P6 schedule.  Read the Fill Article...

White Paper: How the Sunk Cost Fallacy Applies to Project Management Investments

PMI UK’s leading event - Synergy 2017

Come and celebrate International Project Management day with us at Synergy 2017 on the 2nd November at Central Hall Westminster, London.

This year’s event will focus on Developing you as an Agile Project Leader plus you can earn 6 PDUs for your Professional Development record.  Come and hear from leading speakers including;

• Mark Dickson, Chair of PMI Global who will be delivering a keynote on Portfolios and the key to success.
• Ed Davey, Programme Director of the Prince’s Trust on Climate Change and Sustainability who will discuss global warming, climate change and the challenges and opportunities it presents to the projects community.
• Stephen Carver, Senior Lecturer at Cranfield School of Management will review the impact of the Grenfell disaster, and the moral and ethical responsibilities and consequences we must consider when doing our job.

Tickets are just £129 for PMI members and £149 for non-members - Book today

BLOG: Driving Project Portfolio Risk & Opportunity Management for Benefit Realization

"Enhance opportunities and reduce threats by aligning sub-portfolios, programs and projects to meet organizational strategic goals"

This article illustrates the high-level components of Portfolio Risk & Opportunity Management where the main goal is to minimize threats and maximize the opportunities for an organization.  This article provides headway to design, plan, and implement a Portfolio Risk management system at an enterprise level.  Read the Full Article...

Artificial Intelligence and it’s Place in Construction CPM Project Controls

Artificial Intelligence has both unlimited potential and limitations in the process of developing complex CPM construction schedules.

Artificial Intelligence will be taught to to generate CPM schedules on its own, but who’s going to teach it the algorithms?

Here are some VERY interesting thoughts.

Read the Full Article...

EcoSys™ 8 Release Offers Industry First for Full Life Cycle Projects Performance

Integration of Portfolio and Contract Management Capabilities with the industry standard for Project Controls enables customers to drive greater returns and profitability.

The integration of newly named EcoSys Portfolios and EcoSys Contracts with its flagship solution, EcoSys Projects, enables real-time data to flow seamlessly between all stages of the life cycle. The result – a holistic, organization-wide perspective for managing the dynamic project ecosystem while maximizing returns and margins.

While EcoSys Projects delivers world-class project controls capabilities for on-time, on budget project delivery, EcoSys Portfolios aligns project selection and resource allocations with organizational goals. It ensures the right projects are approved for execution while balancing organizational capacity with projects already underway and demand from opportunities in development. New benchmarking capabilities automatically capture data so it can be leveraged for future projects – shaping project templates, improving estimating, or fueling predictive analytics.

Highly successful performance demands continued alignment from project bid and award to controls and closeout. Effective contracts management is an integral part of the alignment. EcoSys Contracts enables more efficient data sharing and greater visibility into contracts management. From owners to contractors to subcontractors – integrated communications and tracking of dynamic contractual obligations ensure cost and schedule impacts are understood and agreed to by all parties up front and throughout the life cycle of a project.

WEBINAR - Enterprise Projects Performance: Improving Returns with EcoSys 8

• Wed: 4 October, Time: 14:00 UTC / 10:00am EDT, Duration: 1 hour
• Wed: 4 October, Time: 14:00 EDT / 11:00am PDT, Duration: 1 hour

Which Fields can be imported into Primavera P6 from Excel (XLS) Spreadsheet?

When we look at Excel file exported from Primavera P6, there are some columns have an asterisk (*). What does it mean?

I (Khuong Do) will explain in this article.

All the columns which have the asterisk mean they can not be imported into P6, i.e. we can not change their value and import into P6. There is a reason for this, for example the field may be a calculated field, or may be data rolled up from elsewhere.  Read Full Blog...

ARES PRISM Blog Contract Management with ARES PRISM

PRISM G2 Contracts is a complete contracts administration tool for owners, EPCs and construction management firms.

PRISM G2 Contracts is a core requirement for many of ARES PRISM's clients around the world, including Abu Dhabi Airports (ADAC), Dubai Expo 2020, and many others.

The module, has the capabilities to:

• Record Contract Bids, Perform Bid Analysis, and Award Contracts
• Record and Monitor Contract Invoices and Payments
• Record and Monitor Contract Insurances and Bonds
• Manage Contract Changes (Instructions and Executions)
• Fully integrate with Cost Management
• Record Ownership (e.g. restrict access control of specific contracts to specific users)
• Handle Advanced Payments, Retention and Progress Payments
• Handle Taxes, Deductions, Discounts and Damages/Penalties
• Print customized Payment Certificates and Appendices
• Provide a Set of Standardized and Custom Reports
• Evaluate Contract Performance
• Provide a complete Audit Trail
• And Much More...

Read the Full Blog...