Mission:
Strengthen the project management skills of the WSDOT's management, engineering, technical, construction and support personnel in delivering Washington State's construction programs on schedule, within budget and within scope. Enhance continued professional growth of these WSDOT staff through development and implementation of a statewide venue of structured classes, case studies, shared experiences, informal discussions and open forums focusing on requisite project management competencies, techniques and tools.
Business Purpose:
Improve delivery of Washington State's Transportation projects in accordance with objectives of Executive Order 1032.01, dated July 1, 2008. Implement a program to attract, develop and retain qualified project and program management personnel for WSDOT.
Are you a Project Manager?
Do you aspire to be a project manager? Do you want to enhance your project management skills? The Project Management Academy (PMA) is an excellent opportunity to improve your project management knowledge and skills. The PMA is the "capstone" course for the overall Project Management Training program (under development).
PMA presentation topics include:
Each participant attends four full days of activities including the above presentations on select management topics, engage in class exercises and discussions, develop and present a team-based recovery plan for a large case study project, and enjoy three after dinner "success story" presentations by WSDOT project managers. Evening presentation topics have included:
- Snoqualmie Pass Avalanche Control (Winter 2007/08) and I-90 East Project presented by Don Whitehouse, SCR Regional Administrator and Brian White, SCR I-90 Project Director
- Sahalee Way presented by Brian Dobbins, Northwest Region
- US395 North Spokane Corridor presented by Larry Larson, Eastern Region
- Hood Canal Bridge presented by Eric Soderquist, Olympic Region and John Wynands, Olympic Region
- SR16 presented by Nancy Boyd, HQ, and Chris Schroedel, HQ
Additionally, a luncheon speaker panel presented their respective views of the importance each WSDOT Project Manager plays in the delivery of the WSDOT transportation program. This discussion includes a question and answer period between the panel members and PMA participants. Previous panel members include:
- Jerry Lenzi, Chief Engineer, Assistant Secretary of Engineering and Regional Operations
- John Conrad, Assistant Secretary of Engineering and Regional Operations
- Kevin Dayton, Olympic Region, Regional Administrator
- Megan White, Director of Environmental Services
- Jugesh Kapur, State Bridge and Structures Engineer
- John Wynands, Olympic Region, Assistant Region Administrator for Project Development
PMA sessions are held each Spring and Fall. The first PMA session was held in April 2007; two four-day back-to-back sessions were held with 40 participants attending each session. To date; 240 WSDOT staff have participated in the Project Management Academy. The next session is tentatively scheduled for late January 2009.
Participants are selected from the seven WSDOT Regions as well as Headquarters, Washington State Ferries and Rail. The target audience is TE-3's and TE-4's from all areas responsible for the delivery of the Highway Construction Program. Anyone interested in attending should work with their supervisor to notify their Regional Administrator or HQ senior manager.
PMA Sessions:
Project Management Value
Confirm the increasing focus, impact and value of good project management in the world. Discuss the role of project management in executing business strategies and results of surveys regarding project management effectiveness, value and success factors. Review the essential elements of project management process and life cycle.
Presenter: Ken Hartley
WSDOT Project Management Process
An overview of the WSDOT project management process, best management practices, demonstration of the Project Management Online Guide and an update of the Statewide Program Management Group (SPMG) status and activities.
Presenter: Patty Hite
Scope, Schedule and Budget
Provide a better understanding of the importance and interfaces of projects within the WSDOT portfolio of programs and projects. Describe WSDOT programmatic, legislative and budgetary requirements for planning, executing, monitoring and reporting of its portfolio of programs and projects.
Presenter: Tim Smith
Managing Delivery of WSDOT Capital Projects
Provide a look at the requisite core competencies and skill sets of a successful Project Manager. Examine advantages and disadvantages of different types of project delivery organizations. Discuss interfaces between organizational entities that the WSDOT Project Manager must understand and navigate in order to plan and deliver a project successfully.
Presenter: Ken Hartley
Situational Leadership and Team Building
Leadership styles and effectiveness vary between individuals and different styles are needed in response to varied situations. Movie clips from "12 O'clock High" will be used to illustrate leadership styles and their evolution in times of crisis and changing conditions. The presentation will include discussions among PMA participants in recognizing and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the exhibited leadership styles.
Presenter: John Ryan
Contract Negotiations
Discuss the art of negotiating and the important part that it plays in all aspects of a project manager's life. Use a simple case discussion to set the stage for the presentation and demonstrate the key elements in successful negotiating.
Presenter: Craig McDaniel
Risk Management
Risks are not static over the life of a project and change over time. Simply preparing a risk management matrix and plan is not sufficient; risks must be monitored continually and action plans updated on a regular basis well in advance of the risk occurrence, complete with cost and schedule impacts.
Presenter: Mark Gabel
Change Management
Change from the original and/or approved project plan are inevitable (in fact, project management is all about managing change) and the focus of the project manager and his/her team must be to optimize the potential benefits resulting from the change.
Presenter: Ed Barry
Earned Value Management
Discussion of how earned value methodology is organized for projects, basic earned value calculations, significance of the calculated values to the project manager and his/her team. Use sample project data to demonstrate the use and benefits of the earned value approach to WSDOT projects for reporting status with reasonable accuracy, recognizing unfavorable trends and problem areas, and using the data for planning and implementing corrective action.
Presenter: Patty Hite
Project Forecasting
Emphasize the importance of the project manager and his/her team to visualize and forecast the end results of the project from the cost and schedule perspectives as well as being able to develop workarounds and recovery plans in response to the forecast. Present and discuss the essential elements of cost and schedule trending and forecasting, including the information on which to base forecasts.
Presenter: Ken Hartley
Project Rescue and Recovery
Discuss how to determine if a project is in trouble, the causes of the problems and their extent. Explore the process to be followed, project review team and action team responsibilities, components of a recovery plan, approval levels, and implementation actions necessary to "right the ship".
Presenter: Ken Hartley
Project Management and Reporting System (PMRS)
Provide current development and deployment status information to managers and end users of the new PMRS. PMRS will provide WSDOT managers with better tools to assist them in making effective and efficient business decisions based on management of project scope, schedule and cost. Project information will be easily accessible, transparent, consistent and accurate and will enable improved forecasting and proactive problem resolution.
Presenters: Patty Hite, Charles Rosalin and Sue Cruickshank
Contact Information
Patty Hite, PMP
Project Management Specialist
Project Control and Reporting Office
hitep@wsdot.wa.gov
(360) 705-7268
PO Box 47306
Lacey, WA 98504-7306
Participant Photos
April 16 - 19, 2007 Participants
April 23 - 26, 2007 Participants
October 22-25, 2007 Participants
October 29 - November 1, 2007
March 3 - 6, 2008
March 17 - 20, 2008
