Project Management View from Rail Transit Programs and Projects

Construction of buildings, building systems, infrastructure assets, and systems  in most industries, including rail transit, follow well established and repeatable means, methods, work sequences, and best practices to predict project cost and schedule outcomes.     In turn, this provides project teams critical input for repeating good practices, avoiding poor execution decisions and creating accurate deliverables containing quality data and metrics to monitor and measure project performance.

Estimators and Schedulers are specialists in using software tools to create deliverables and provide technical observations critical to effective planning, performance monitoring and decision making.   Most typically, they provide services and deliverables through a centralized Project Management Office and are assigned responsibilities to support multiple projects and various project participants.    While accountable to the PMO’s project control managers, they serve the needs and expectations of a much larger group of project participants.  

Their expertise supports:

• Strategic Planners:    Program and project development with estimated order of magnitude budgets, project duration, summary milestones and calendar relationship with other projects.
• Budget Analysts:   Analysis of project costs and operating and maintenance expenses, and financial plan and timelines for securing, allocating and distributing project funding.
• Contract Officers:    Contract bid estimates, change order estimates and contractor schedule review and claim analysis.
• Project Control Managers:  Project budget and schedule baselines, earned value calculation sand proposal for schedule/cost recovery.
• Project Managers:   Cost/schedule performance index reports, analysis to plan, and recommendations for improvement.
• Risk Managers:   Cost and schedule data supporting risk impacts, mitigation activities and response plans.

Developing estimates and schedules for project work, design and construction businesses apply historical data on other projects as well as the successful processes, new materials, and tools and equipment presented by industry leaders and advocates.   This allows the designers and contractors to continuously improve these deliverables using best practices for work execution, selecting the most efficient systems, equipment and materials, and to test, start-up and commission project products. 

There are industry handbooks to assist estimators and schedulers with guidance for creating the most complete and realistic deliverables to support project managers throughout the project life cycle.   However, the application of the handbooks requires a balanced approach that allows PMs, estimators and schedulers to make good judgments backed by results specific to the Owner’s experience. 

The format and content of deliverables is dependent on the Owner’s preferences or as defined by the Owner’s Project Management Office (PMO) for creating deliverables using software tools such as Timberline, MSProject, and Primavera.    Additionally, estimators and schedulers are usually uniquely qualified with working knowledge of estimating and scheduling standards and procedures, training in the Owner’s software tools, and have a work record that is dedicated to the profession of creating high quality estimates and schedules. 

Good Practices for Estimators and Schedulers

• Demonstrate familiarity with projects in the rail transit industry
• Establish processes and logic sequences for construction and system delivery
• Review actual expenses from Owner’s projects similar in scope and magnitude
• Conduct field visits to the project site and to completed project sites
• Chair development meetings with project team
• Review Lessoned Learned documents from successful and problematic projects
• Understand and explain interdependencies of project work
• Provide recommended solutions and alternatives for deliverable results that fall outside project limits

Good Practices for Estimate and Schedule Deliverables

• List all input documents, design level and data dates such as project charter, project management plan, project plans, contract documents.
• Reference and/or append all industry sources of data such as vendor quotes, and labor and productivity rates
• Itemize assumptions for work jurisdiction, contract packaging, procurement method, and contract delivery
• Describe the basis for cost and schedule contingency and risk allocations
• Identify critical interfaces between work packages and project milestones
• Specify typical crew size as reflected in labor agreements
• Provide contact information on the creator, checker and approver

TIP:    Retain working documents, including material take-offs, for future review to substantiate the deliverables.

TIP:    Provide separate line items in estimates and schedules for Contingency and Risk Reserves with responsibility designated to the project manager.

TIP:    Complement contingency and risk reserves with plans in the Project Management Plan for managing and distributing funding allocations at various project milestones or as needed to mitigate or respond to risk events.

TIP:    Create activities for track/power outages or services changes that support construction activities, and tie them with predecessor, successor, and concurrent activities. 

While it may seem obvious, records management is critical for day-to-day project management as well as post-project completion data mining for contract claims and closeout processes, and for post-project Lessons Learned for planning future projects. The content and format for records management and retention is determined by a combination of sources including: A) Organizational internal policies and procedures, including contracting and legal requirements. B) Project management office requirements and processes. C) Funding source and partner requirements. D) Contract requirements. E) Professional Engineering License requirements

Electronic medium for files has all but replaced hard-copy printed on paper documents, which not too long ago. Paper copies of project documents – contracts and correspondence, drawings, specifications, calculations, schedules, estimates and monthly reports, were the standard medium used for program/project central file systems. As noted in PMBOK, records management is a system that provides an organized mechanism for storing and retrieving project documents. It may also be coordinated with a project information system. Whether manual or automated, paper or electronic medium, the system used must capable of integrating several forms of documents and software applications used throughout the project.

Emails continue to be the most used form for receiving or sending project documents. As a result, the records management system must integrate Emails.

Establishing an integrated system for project documents is essential for managing day to day work but it is used across all areas of PMBOK and Construction Extensions. Project documents are used also for accessing and retrieving project records for validating scope, assembling data for progress reports, calculating earned value, verifying and authorizing changes and payments, assessing quality compliance, closing procurements, and resolving claims. Based on my experience, here are the good practices for several types of records on a project.

Project files should be aligned with the topics contained in the Project Management Plan/Charter or the Owner’s Project Plan. Typical topics include scope/project plan, project changes, division of work, contract (s), overall schedule and milestones, budget and expenses, estimate and task breakdown, project invoices, monthly project reports, procurement and materials, public affairs/presentations, risks, quality control and quality assurance, safety/security, and community outreach. Here is a top-level framework of folders:
1. Project Development and Requirements
2. Standards, Regulations, Code Compliance
3. Project Scope/Plan Book
4. General Project File
5. Schedule
6. Budget
7. Progress Reports
8. Contracts
9. Material Procurement
10. Project Invoices
11. Quality
12. Drawings and Specifications
13. Safety/Security
14. Risks

Contract files for each contract should be aligned with the topics and performance indicators in the Monthly Progress Report. Typical topics cited include contract changes, invoices and payments, schedules, progress reports and photographs, correspondence, submittals and deliverables, test and inspections, quality control and quality assurance, safety/security, Request For Information, and contract claims. Here is a top-level framework of folders:
8.1.1 Contract Development
8.1.2 Contract Documents
8.1.3 Invoices
8.1.4 Schedule
8.1.5 Progress Reports/Schedule Updates
8.1.6 General/Request For Information
8.1.7 Submittals
8.1.8 Deliverables
8.1.9 Meetings
8.1.10 QA Manual
8.1.11 Safety Manual
8.1.12 Daily Reports

Email files should be consistent with at least the first level of topics on the Project and Contract files. Here is a framework of folders:
4.0 Project
4.1 General
4.2 Scope/Changes
4.3 Invoices
4.4 Schedule
4.5 Reports
4.6 Contract 1
4.7 Contract 2
4.8 Contract n

Electronic files are the business standard. This enables organizations to eliminate storage of paper files, which can take up significant floor space in the office. While this works well on documents that are needed a minimal number of times, it offers extensive challenges to project teams that need to retrieve numerous documents required to complete internal and external management and quality audits, scope verifications, contract closeouts, contract claims research, and project closeouts or contract claims research.

TIP: Due to the significance, the Project Manager should take an active role in establishing the system before delegating the records management task to other staff.

TIP: Code each document with the file folder number (s).

TIP: The detail and sophistication of records management should be balanced with the manpower required to store and retrieve the records.

TIP: The hierarchy of records is the project files, contract file and Email file.

TIP: To mitigate the risk of computer or network downtime, always be prepared with an alternate source for project records.

TIP: Organizational policies, procedures and corporate IT systems must account equally to storage and retrieval of Emails.

Project communications have evolved with technology at breakneck pace.    But in the process, business communications have been degraded to social media type content.    As a result, managers and team members need to sift through endless Tweeter/Instant Message- like communications, which overwhelm inboxes and challenge recipients to read large numbers of Emails.    Businesses and projects do not need to know every feeling and thought generated by Email recipients nor should recipients simply delete Emails to keep the system from clogging and locking communications.  

Business communications always relied heavily on letters that were delivered by post office and messenger services and expedited with facsimile equipment.   The letters were written and often reviewed several times before being issued to the addressee and copied to appropriate parties.   Gradually, letters were replaced by Emails, which offered the advantage of instant communication with a format that replicated the format and content of standard communications including address, salutation, body, closing and generator name and contact information.

The overarching tenant of measuring the effectiveness of a communication is for the message generator to complete the phrase  -  The purpose is  “_______”, so the reader will “________.”    

With the use of instance messages, the business communications are now competing with numerous Emails and with non-business related dialogue that clogs Email inboxes.    Emails acknowledging “I got it”, “Will Do”, “Will take care of tomorrow”, “When do you need”, ”I can’t meet the date”, “Why did you send this”, “Where did you get the information”, “Let discuss tomorrow”,  “attachment ?” not only create an endless chain, but it multiples the number of Email notifications in each recipient’s internet inbox.    

Another Email multiplier comes from communications reviewed on cellular phones, which have small screens and limited access to attachments.  These messages can be detected  by suffix “Sent  by  I Phone”-  as if a disclaimer to a response by someone in the Email chain that is off-topic or not understandable.   Overall, these exchangers indicate a breakdown in the quality of communications by the generators and recipients.

With the advent of the Internet, non-administrative staff produce most business communications.   Emails and Emails via I Phones need to be treated as a significant product of communications and they should reflect the quality previously measured by the Gregg manuals or numerous other books used for course curriculum in senior high schools and colleges, which were used religiously by administrative personnel in the business world.    As a result, there is a need to reinforce the basic format and content of business communications. 

Good Practices for Emails/Letters:

• Appropriate address and opening and closing salutation

• Subject line matches the message content

• Introduction paragraph includes subject line and action required

• Specificaction expected from the recipient, dates for action completion or for response to sender

• Description of attachments

• Appropriate reference to prior communications and deliverables

• Contact information for reaching the sender

• Verify all listed recipients in address and copy fields necessary and correct

• List distribution of copiesto other interested parties

Lastly, if a recipient is overly compelled to reply to an Email and get the last word – it might be better for everyone to simply pick-up the telephone to say  “I hope to reply by _____” , “You forgot the attachment”, “Send the Email to  ________”, “I can not handle it now, send to _______”. 

TIP:   In Email subject line or top right portion of Letter indicate “Reply Requested”

TIP:  In an Email chain, if you change previous content full disclose the change by crossing out original content and highlighting new text.

TIP:   If replying to an Email with a subject line that does not match the reply content, change the subject line to match the content.

Administrative staff rely on record and knowledge management systems to search large volumes documents for specific content to identify related correspondence and threads of correspondence, including Emails, on specific topics.    Additionally, some Email software limits the amount of send and received Emails that can be retained on computers without affecting performance.   Without proper monitoring of Email volume, the threshold limits can unexpectedly disable the ability to send or receive Emails until active Emails are deleted or archived.   As a result, Emails should be managed through a records management system.

TIP:    Create a personal file directory in Email software and utilize automated archiving Emails.

TIP:    Delete Emails that are superseded by a new reply to the Email string.

TIP:    Be aware of business policies on Emails communications and management of Email content.

One of the most obvious and far reaching arteries in the body of the project Communication Plans are the reports from the project team and contractors. The content of these reports is the life blood of the communication network to provide readers with objective information on the health of the project and individual contracts contributing to project realization.

From my experience on design and construction projects in the rail transit industry, the progress reports issued by the Project Manager (PM) will define current status and identify key performance indicators throughout the project life cycle. In addition to management accountability, the reports become the historical records for future use in planning projects and contracts. The reports provide data that can be used for estimates, schedules, production rates, and durations for design and construction processes as well as other qualitative project management knowledge areas such as risk management, quality, safety, procurement planning and contract administration.

Depending on the targeted audience, the monthly progress reports by the PM can have many formats, varied levels of content detail and different publishing and distribution dates. Reports may be tailored for internal customers, funding partners, executive management and oversight consultants. However, it is imperative that published reports use the same data base so that metrics match from report to report for the same reporting period.

Project Monthly Report content may include categorized topics such as: A) Project Scope/Description of Work/Project Changes. B) Summary Schedule/Project Milestones. C) Project Progress – Planned and Actual, Intermediate (Contractor) Milestones. D) Current Status-Reporting Period. E) History of Completed Work Milestones. F) Financial – Budget and Expenses. G) Other: Contingency Management, Contract Management, Risk Management, Resource Management.

Contractor Monthly Progress Report content may include categorized topics such as: A) Executive Summary, Contractor PM Assessment, and Issues Affecting Progress. B) Contract Scope/Description of Work. C) Summary Schedule/ Contract Milestones. D) Contract Progress – Planned and Actual. E) Subcontractor Milestones. F) Current Status-Reporting Period. G) Status Section – Critical Issues, Correspondence, Submittals, Deliverables, Contract Changes, Invoices. H) Financial Summary – Contract Amount, Payments, Proposed Changes. I) Other: Resource Management, Quality, Safety, Materials Management, Code Compliance. J) Attachments: Progress Photographs, Schedule, Logs, Certifications.

Good Practices for Monthly Reports
• Identify Project report requirements in the Project Management Plan (PMP)-Communication Plan, and in Project Management Office (PMO) procedures
• Specify Contractor report requirements contract documents
• Assure Key Performance Indicators (KPI) complement all type reports and supporting data is available to PMO and PM
• Ensure content, format, and language is consistent across all reports
• List contact information for PM and other primary content contributors

Good Practices for Distribution and Review
• Use a standard list of recipients including all project team members, designated PMO officers, and other targeted audience
• Distribute in a format that is readable across electronic medium such as tablets, and iPhone
• Discuss monthly reports at project/progress meetings
• Transmit reports with cover letter that summarizes PM cursory comments and assessments, items of interest, and items requiring project team action

TIP: KPIs that reflect unfavorably for multiple reporting periods and across significant number of projects in a program should be re-assessed against original assumptions.

TIP: PMO procedure should identify variance thresholds for KPI and planned/actual metrics where reports are required to specify PM project performance assessment and corrective action.

TIP: Photographs should integrated in reports and they should be updated for each reporting period, captioned, and reasonably reflect field conditions - no more than one month earlier.      

NEW TIP:   Report format, content and distribution cycle should be aligned with the client’s unwritten expectations.

NEW TIP:    Distribution cycles should be timed to allow the readers to assess project health, undertake action and initiate decisions with the best data available.    Some reports are published 10 calendar days after the reporting period (Best), while others may be up to 10 weeks after the reporting period (Worst).  

NEW TIP:   Metrics and content should be rigorously tested and validated against leading indicators such as:  A) % Earned Value Remaining VS % Project Duration Remaining.   B) Manpower Headcount Available VS Manpower Headcount Required.    C)  % Budget Remaining VS % Project Duration Remaining. 

By following an established plan, project managers routinely communicate with the team, stakeholders, contractors, consultants, technical contributors, projects sponsors and funding partners. In rail transit projects there is added consideration to the system users/pre-paid customers, system operating personnel, agency oversight, public officials, and communities that are served and impacted by the system.

Most rail transit agencies have a Community Affairs/Government Relations Department or assigned designee that is responsible for dealing with external entities. As part of the communications plan, project managers will be assisted by the in developing letters, press releases, newspaper ads, posters, brochures, and videos that will targeted to specific audiences and timed for issuance with critical milestones of the project. While these communications are normally tied to the project schedule, project managers will also need to respond to complaints or inquiries at any given time.

Public outreach plans and deliverables for project will likely follow the agencies standard format and contents, and include contact information for a designated representative – not necessarily the project manager. The content and purpose of each deliverable will be targeted to the audiences, such as Community, Public officials, Customers, and On –Site visitors. Each deliverable may have unique content. The core topics may consist of project description, overall schedule and milestones, benefits to the community and customers, impacts to customers and the community during work periods, and contact information for corporate spokespersons.

Good Practices for Outreach
• Create a strategic plan for creating and distributing deliverables that allows adequate time for development and issuance that is timed with project milestones
• Ensure project records are collected to support outreach content with photographs
• Collect quotations from project team members, stakeholders, contractors, consultants, technical contributors, projects sponsors, funding partners, Subject Matter Experts and oversight consultants
• Consider other topics such as innovation methods implemented by the project, such as a contracting process, goals/opportunities for minority or disadvantaged business, resiliency feature in the project design, and benefits to the local construction industry
• Coordinate content with other corporate plans and content for marketing and sales
• Assure project team members are trained in effective communications and situational techniques for speaking with the public.

TIP: While mega-projects are most likely to have an extensive outreach even small projects may need outreach.

TIP: Treat your project as a brand for the Client, consultant, contractor and individuals involved.

Good Practices for Deliverables
• Assure content is consistent with other project documents such as Project Charter, Project Management Plan and external project reports
• Ensure deliverables indicate a data date so the content is time scaled
• Cite statements from Subject Matter Experts and oversight consultants
• Have copies of deliverables at work locations for project team designee distribution to visitors.

TIP: Have a one-page sheet of Frequently Asked Questions and Answers available on-site so the project designee is prepared to discuss the project with visitors.

TIP: While mega-projects are most likely to have an extensive outreach even small projects may need a internal/external website to share information with internal customers and interested parties and with external public customers and interested parties, oversight and government officials, transportation advocates and politicians.

TIP: On a daily basis, ensure there is a project representative designated on-site to address visitor comments, questions or complaints.