I recently had a video interview with Jeremie Averous, the founder of Project Value Delivery and author of several books including Practical Project Control Manager Handbook, Project Soft Power, Practical Cost Control Handbook for Project Managers, Advanced Scheduling Handbook for Project Managers, Practical Project Risk Handbook for Project Managers, Practical Project Control Manager Handbook, and Industrial Projects Practical Owner Guide. To check more details about each book and to order your copies, please refer to the Resources section at the bottom of this page.

I encourage you to watch my video interview with Jeremie and learn from some great insights that he shared.

Download the free audio mp3 podcast of this episode on iTunes.

Jeremie has authored several technical books related to Project Controls and Project Management. According to Jeremie, most books in project management and project controls are either too basic or two comprehensive and advanced. He wrote his books with the intent to fill this gap so project professionals could understand and follow at a practical level without the need to be an expert in the subject areas that the books address. Jeremie and his team even customize the books based on the needs of their clients to make them more relevant to their clients’ projects and disciplines.

A good point that Jeremie made was that he was not in favor of pursuing a career. He believes that he is not racing against anything. He just develops himself and his professional life. He goes after what he becomes interested in. That is why he has not followed what normally people traditionally pursue: going to school, getting a degree, finding a job in a large organization, and developing your career by working in your field for many years. As a consultant he enjoys what he does for helping organizations succeed in delivering complex industrial projects..

Following are some of the great insights that JeremieAverous shared during this video interview:

Three Questions to Ask Yourself as a New Project Control Professional

Jeremie compares project controls to navigating a boat in the middle of an ocean. As a newbie in project controls or new navigator of the boat, you should ask yourself three questions when it comes to controlling your projects or navigating your boat:

1. Where are we right now? What is our position?
2. Where are we going?
3. What should we do or change to reach our destination?

Answering the first question helps you know the actual costs and progress of your project. It is surprising that many projects fail to answer the first question. But if you don’t know where your position is, how would you know what to do to get to your destination?

Answering the second question helps you with forecasting. Many projects struggle with forecasting. But if you don’t know where you are heading to, how would you be able to navigate properly to get to your destination?

The answer to the third question becomes easy when you know the answers to the first and second questions.

Get the Basic of Project Controls Right

As Jeremie said, “Don’t think that Project Controls is rocket science, but you need to get your basics right”. For instance, your project needs to have a proper schedule. However, your schedule does not need to be super complicated with thousands of lines because you cannot control it properly.

According to Jeremie, many project professionals believe that the more detailed the project’s schedule, cost, or risk, the better. “That’s not true. What’s important is what’s happening in your project”, Jeremie said. Bottomline, don’t try to make your projects complicated as beyond a certain level of complication you are going to lose control of your projects. Just stick to the basics of schedule and cost in your projects and get them right.

Focus on Your Role

Jeremie thinks that many project controllers spend majority of their time in areas of their expertise and therefore they may forget about their true role as project controller. For instance, if a project controller used to be a scheduler before becoming a project controller or project control manager, he or she may spend majority of his or her time in their comfort zone of scheduling. However, they have to realize that their role as a project controller or project control manager is consistency across all disciplines.

Project controls is not just about scheduling, cost, or risk. It integrates them all with consistency. And a project controller needs to focus on this important role of creating consistency among various disciplines of project controls. If as a project controller or project control manager you have difficulty with focusing on your role, try to get a mentor or coach so you can refocus on what your role is.

Resources

• The Audio version of the interview with Jeremie Averous on Project Controls Mastery Podcast

• Project Soft Power: Learn the Secrets of the Great Project Leaders by Jeremie Averous
• Practical Cost Control Handbook for Project Managers: A Practical Guide to Enable Consistent and Predictable Forecasting for Large, Complex Projects by Jeremie Averous
• Advanced Scheduling Handbook for Project Managers: A Practical Navigation Guide on Large, Complex Projects by Jeremie Averous
• Practical Project Risk Handbook for Project Managers: A Guide to Enhance Opportunities and Manager Risks on Large, Complex Projects by Jeremie Averous
• Practical Project Control Manager Handbook: From Back-Office Manager to Trusted Project Strategist by Jeremie Averous
• Industrial Projects Practical Owner Guide: Securing your Capital Investment by Jeremie Averous
• Project Value Delivery website
• Project Controls Training Programs
• Project Controls Video Tutorials

About Jeremie Averous

About the Interviewer, Dr. Kamran Akbarzadeh

Dr. Kamran Akbarzadeh is co-director of Project Control Academy and founder of Dream Achievers Academy.  With his Amazon best-selling and international award-winning book, Leadership Soup, Kamran is an internationally recognized leadership and success expert. 

With years of experience as a project manager and subject matter expert in big oil and gas companies, and as a successful entrepreneur, Kamran believes that everyone has the potential to achieve what he or she truly wants in life. His desire for adding value to people and helping them grow and achieve their dreams and visions motivated him to establish Dream Achievers Academy and write his second book Get What You Want, which also became an award winner.

Kamran’s vision is to passionately add value to people around the world and inspire them to realize their potential and fulfill their dreams. And his mission is simply to serve.

As an inspiring and motivational speaker, seminar leader, and coach, Kamran equips his audience with profound tools, techniques, and solutions to hone their skills, increase their influence, get what they want, and achieve long-lasting success in their personal and professional lives as a result.

Kamran holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, PMP with Project Management Institute, and Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) with Toastmasters International.