PM Excellence discussed project management with industry experts at the MINEX Far East forum

Senior Vice President spoke at the forum's business program PM Excellence Alexander Kutuzov, PME. In the report "We know, but we don't do: recurring failure patterns in managing large-scale projects at the implementation stage," he presented a systematic picture of the most common difficulties and failures that customers and contractors encounter when implementing projects.

According to Alexander Kutuzov, most mistakes do not occur at the planning stage, but already during the project implementation process - when the team lags behind the project, schedules become a formality, and control over priorities is lost. Among the key problems voiced: dishonest schedule network schedules, poor work with suppliers, lack of an up-to-date schedule network model, unreliable reporting and, as a result, missed deadlines and increased budgets.

"Implementation problems are always a management issue. We note that in 9 out of 10 cases we are not talking about external circumstances, but about systemic internal failures: opacity, uncontrollability, insufficient staff. Megaprojects are not disrupted due to bad weather - they are disrupted due to the lack of a working management architecture," Kutuzov noted.

Forum participants also discussed the implementation of capital-intensive projects in the mining industry in conditions of personnel shortages, unstable logistics and high sensitivity to deadlines. Common challenges are formulated, including the need for qualified project managers, overworked experts, gaps in planning and poor risk management.

The forum confirmed the relevance of the topic of project management for enterprises in Eastern Siberia and the Far East. Among the participants are Sberbank, Norilsk Nickel, VGK, Polyus, Tek-Trading, Primorsky GOK, groups of companies working with Gazprom and Rosgeologiya, regional authorities and investors.