Pre-Conference Focus Day - Monday, February 24, 2025

12:00 pm Check-In & Coffee

1:00 pm Chair’s Opening Remarks

  • Martin Darley Senior Advisor, Estimating, Capital Projects, Chevron

Building & Sustaining High-Performance Project Control Teams

1:10 pm Positioning Project Controls as a Career Path to Attract & Retain New Talent

Synopsis

  • Outlining strategies to encourage more students to pursue careers in construction and project management to increase the talent pool
  • Defining the specific skills required for specialized roles to improve quality of hires
  • Keeping employees engaged so they are more likely to contribute positively and minimize high turnover rates 

1:50 pm Building Effective Teams Through Strategic Hiring & Role Transition

Synopsis

  • Understanding whether to hire specialists or train employees to handle multiple roles to build the most effective team
  • Transitioning employees from other positions, such as project management or accounting, into project controls
  • Aligning team skills with long-term project demands to ensure adaptability

2:30 pm Afternoon Refreshments

3:10 pm Panel: Leading Project Control Teams for Effective Project Management

Synopsis

  • Understanding the role of leadership in project controls and the strategic oversight needed
  • Transitioning from directly handling tasks to overseeing and supporting project teams without duplicating their work
  • Evaluating project schedules without updating them to ensure they are realistic and achievable

4:00 pm Balancing Generational Preferences & Process Adaptation to Set Up all Employees for Success

Synopsis

  • Understanding generational differences in work preferences and how to address this effectively
  • Defining metrics and processes in a way that meets the needs of different groups and supports overall organizational goals
  • Maintaining the company culture while implementing necessary changes to support growth and success

4:40 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks

4:50 pm End of Pre-Conference Day