Problem:
The lead consultant’s Program Director was fired from this $18 billion program due to lack of cooperation with the client and their project management team. The relationship with client was at an all-time low, and the client was onsidering terminating the consultant’s contract.
Solution:
The lead consult brought Moein Varaei in as a
Senior Project Manager to:
- Support the VP of operations to manage this program;
- Mend the relationship with the client;
- Motivate and manage the team of 30 designers and site staff;
- Focus on finishing all design elements & obtaining Authorities’ approvals; and
- Negotiate the fee for the remaining half of the project that had been put on hold by the client.
Activities:
- Met with the client and their project managers on a daily basis for a period of one year to:
- Listen and, as a first step, determine the reasons for the relationship breakdown;
- Reassure the client and demonstrate that the lead consultant was there to solve problems;
- Work toward gaining their trust;
- Resolve technical and contractual issues; and
- Follow up on the invoices that had not been paid.
- Created a plan that included:
- A colour coded list of hot-bottom issues that needed to be addressed; and
- A rolling program for all outstanding items.
- Met on a daily basis with the design and construction team to:
- Listen and, as a first step, identify why they were unable to fully cooperate with the client and their project managers;
- Assess staff’s role on the program and their commitment to the project;
- Discuss and resolve technical and contractual issues;
- Brief new team members; and
- Organise tasks.
- Reassigned the staff that were unable to work with the client to other projects and recruited new engineers to complete the work.
- Mentored and coached staff to step up and deliver the outstanding items in a very stressful environment.
Outcome:
As a result of the above-mentioned activities, the relationship with the client improved, the invoices started to be paid and the project was put back on track. Most importantly, the daily jobs of all involved become a lot less stressful.