Is there a hierarchy of documents under the ECC?
A common statement was that there was no hierarchy of documents under the ECC form. More precisely, there is no headline statement of the hierarchy, but it is stated within the detail of the clauses. Not knowing about this when preparing tender documentation and bids can cost money! It was published in the July 2008 NEC User’s Newsletter, Issue 46.
Read the full article
ECC programme – 6 levels of use
This article identifies 6 different uses for the programme when using the Engineering & Construction Contract, before giving hints and tips on how to implement at the higher levels for superior performance. It was published in the October 2009 NEC User’s Newsletter, Issue 48.
Read the full article
Incentivisation under the NEC
This article gives a ‘how to’ guide to developing an incentive plan to motivate superior project performance. It was published in the April 2010 NEC User’s Newsletter, Issue 50.
Read the full article
Intelligently setting the Contractor's share ranges and share percentages
Intelligently setting the Contractor's share ranges and share percentages under the target cost options - was posted for comment on the LinkedIn 'BuiltIntelligence NEC People - Managing NEC3 Contracts' discussion forum and improved as a result. It was then submitted to the NEC User's Group Newsletter for publication around June 2013.
Read the full article
Ethical Project Management : how to apply governance, manage the risks and gain the benefits.
This article, published in the Spring 2017 edition of 'Project', discusses the considerable risks that can be avoided, and the opportunities that can be seized, by behaving and adopting policies for procuring and managing supply chains ethically. It was co-written with Philip Reese of Reese Procurement.
Read the full article
How to stop your team ‘Storming’ and get them ‘Performing'
This article – titled ‘How to stop your team ‘Storming’ and get them ‘Performing’ ’ - is about how to quickly and rapidly develop a high performing project team from disparate organisations. While it discusses the topic from Jon’s perspective as a facilitator, much of what it is said can be applied by any project manager. It was published in the November 2008 edition of Project Manager Today.
Read the full article
How to rapidly build a high performing NEC project team.
This blog is developed from the previous blog 'how to rapidly build a high performing project team from diverse organisations' going down a level of detail in terms of tangible things you can do and actions that are specific to the NEC Engineering and Construction Contract.
Read the full article
What’s the Procurement & Management of Contracts got to do with me ? I’m a Project Manager.
The Association for Project Managements's long awaited ‘APM Guide to Contracts and Procurement for project, programme and portfolio managers’’ (or ‘the C&P Guide’ for short) was published in July 2017. In this article, Jon and John Lake, who were co-editors and lead contributors to the Guide, explain why project and programme managers need to be competent on these topics.
Read the full article
What every Project Manager should know about Offer and Acceptance : common pitfalls of the ignorant & how to avoid them.
Whether entering a multi-million pound contract to deliver a substantial
project or buying some off the shelf components, a person involved in projects is increasingly having to be involved in negotiating and entering into contracts. This blog - originally published in a slightly shorter version in 'Project' (1) - identifies the common legal pitfalls and how to avoid them, so that you enter a contract with your ‘eyes wide open’ as opposed to in ignorance, leaving you and your client with a big hole to get out of.
Read the full article
How to have a Dispute and come out as Friends
How to have a Dispute and come out as Friends is the output from a workshop Rob Horne and I led at the 2013 'Linked NEC3 - Planning/Project Management under the NEC forms' Conference in June. Participants came up with ideas to not only have an Adjudication on friendly terms, but explored the pros and cons of different Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods as well as alternatives to and nuances of conventional ADR.
Read the full article
ROCE : what’s that got to do with project, programme or portfolio management ?
In this blog, Jon explores the use of Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) as a measure of success for your project, programme or portfolio. And argues that it should be used much much more if the world of project management wants to be taken seriously by the higher levels of business management.
Read the full article
And that got me thinking : Project Controls ... really ?
In this blog, Jon questions whether Project Controls really does what it says on the tin.
Read the full article
Project Controls ... really ? (part 2)
This blog article picks up on some comments which relate to project controls and is a second part to a previous blog.
Read the full article
Work Winning : ‘Feature-Benefit’ statements to be more persuasive.
Including ‘Feature-Benefit’ statements in your bid responses – whether a general bid or in response to specific questions - is one of the easiest ways to score higher marks and win more work … or just to be more persuasive generally. This short blog tells you what a 'Feature-Benefit' statement is and how to write them.
Read the full article
Work Winning : ‘F-A-B, Captain’ or ‘F-USP-D’ ?
This post looks at two models to make you or your organisation's bid, tenders or proposals more attractive to a Buyer and differentiate yourself from the competition.
Read the full article
Work Winning : Win Themes – What are they ? And how do you develop & exploit them ?
‘Win Themes’ are often mentioned by those who write bids as seemingly the holy grail of writing winning bids. However, when asked, the same people are remarkably vague about what they are and how you develop them. This article aims to demystify what they are and how to develop & exploit a Win Theme.
Read the full article
BoK6 submission on Work Winning
This was written as a submission for the Association for Project Management’s update to their Body of Knowledge (6th edition). It breaks the work winning process down into 11 key activities. Despite not being used, it was well received by the BoK reviewers (who wanted it to be used) and by others who have read it.
Read the full article
NEC3 Key Dates – More risk on the Contractor?
NEC3 Key Dates – More risk on the Contractor ? The third edition of NEC3 introduced ‘Key Dates’ whereby the Contractor has to prepare an area of the Site by a Key Date, so that the Employer or an Other can come in and do some work. If they do not meet the stated condition by the Key Date, then they are liable for the uncapped direct costs to the Employer of not meeting that date. This article discusses whether having ‘Key Date’ puts more or less risk on the Contractor. It was published in the October 2007 NEC User’s Newsletter, Issue 40.
Read the full article
5 ½ reasons to get rid of the percentage for Working Areas overheads
Jon was recently challenged by a distant project sponsor to justify why he wanted to delete the percentage for Working Area overheads from his NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contracts option C and E cost based contracts for a new framework. Instead, the winning contractors would simply be reimbursed at cost for the items in the percentage. With a few additional stories to bring it alive, this was my response.
Since then, NEC have announced the fourth edition will be published in June and that the percentage will be done away with.
Read the full article
Critical Chain project management and NEC3
This article discusses the problems with traditional programming and outlines how critical chain project management – often referred to as ‘buffered programmes’ – can overcome these to reduce project durations. It outlines how it fits in with the programming provisions of the NEC. It was published in the April 2009 NEC User’s Newsletter, Issue 46.
Read the full article
Record of discussion on critical chain project management between Glenn Hide and Jon Broome
Record of discussion on critical chain project management between Glenn Hide and Jon Broome (see above). This is how Jon and Glenn got to know each other. While we agree on most things, we still have different views on this ! However, both of us learnt from the discussion.
Read the full article
NEC3 : not just for engineering contracts
NEC3 : not just for engineering contracts was published in 2010 in ‘Project’, the Association for Project Management’s monthly magazine. It gives an overview of how the NEC3 family of contracts sets out to achieve its three main aims of Flexibility, Clarity & Simplicity and Stimulus to Good Project Management.
Read the full article