What tips can you recommend for someone that you’d only share with a close friend (and everyone reading this insights)?
Commissioning Management Administration – What may seem like a dull task is a vital part of managing the process and may even determine the overall success of the project. An up-to-date and informative CommissioningActivity / Progress tracking record is something that the entire project Commissioning Team benefit from. The implementation of dashboards to Commissioning ActivitySheets is something I always incorporate, which makes information and progress easily understood by all parties. Recognise Management Soft Skills – A Commissioning Manager should also be able to provide leadership, be able to properly listen and provide feedback where possible.Being able to communicate at all levels is important, particularly in the GCC region where we interact with numerous cultures, nationalities and mindsets! A degree of empathy and levelheadedness is something that is also required, particularly in those tense meetings.
What are hard-to-spot pitfalls that are critical to avoid?
Hard-to-spot pitfalls that I typically see on projects in the GCC region are as follows:
Q: Looking out 3 to 5 years, beyond the obvious trends, what do you think will be the next big change in your industry?
I believe big change is already happening in the region, the definition and importance of Commissioning Management and the skill set required become more cognisant to industry leaders and client’s day by day. I believe theCSA has had a large part to play in this also, providing a recognised standard to the industry and ensuring the development of all levels of Commissioning staff – fromAssistant to Manager!
In 3 to 5 years I expect the roles and responsibilities of various parties on a project to be more clearly defined. Due to the scale and size of the projects here, often referred to as “Giga Projects” the contractual relationships and communications routes in the commissioning process often become unclear and misunderstood. The implementation of strong Commissioning Plans and CommissioningSpecifications is already paving the way for this.
Can you share a personal short event or mishap(commissioning or management related) you can think of that still makes you laugh to this day (maybe not at the time)?
A mishap that always makes me laugh is when I pick upon an engineer or technician “bending” the truth. There are numerous “tricks in the book” to help your readings or measurements meet the requirements, luckily, most experienced Commissioning Managers are also aware of these!Another mishap that springs to mind is during my earlier years as a technician, as I drove off from the project site, I left the project file on top of my vehicle. My colleague andI had to spend the next 15 minutes picking up what can only be described as a confetti of important testing and commissioning documentation and results.
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