Invited PM Excellence expert Alexander Kutuzov, PME shared his impressions of participating in the TNF forum

It is considered one of the largest events in the Russian Federation in the fuel and energy sector; more than 4.5 thousand specialists and experts in the energy sector took part in its work. The main topic of the forum was the issues of national technological priorities and development strategies of the fuel and energy complex and related industries in Russia.

This year Alexander Kutuzov spoke at the TNF forum, PME invited expert on megaproject management at PM Excellence with the topic "Tools for managing risks and priorities of large-scale projects and megaprojects for the sustainable development of Siberia and the Far East."

In his opinion, today the leaders of large corporations understand that large-scale projects, whatever their focus, require a special approach to management. It cannot be the same as in normal operating activities. Why, what does it give, and what are the losses if you manage megaprojects incorrectly, Alexander said.

- Why is this topic important for oil and gas, and is there any specificity here?

- Mistakes in any megaprojects are too expensive. One day of delay in project implementation means tens and sometimes hundreds of millions of rubles in lost profit. And in our work we often see that this arises precisely because of poor project management. Basic things may not be done there.

In the vast majority of cases, oil industry problems with megaprojects are the same as in other industries. These are unqualified project managers and the team as a whole, lack of understanding of approaches, attempts to manage the same way as production. The specificity here is that current production indicators always come first. And projects work for the future and are often financed on a residual basis. True, if we don't work for the future, we will come to the point that after a while there will simply be nowhere to extract oil and gas. And therefore, it is especially gratifying to see that today in this area they are beginning to pay more and more attention to the competent management of megaprojects.

But updating this approach is still necessary. And this is not only our task. This is a very difficult job at the senior management level of companies. In creating a common information field for the industry, where a thematic discussion is possible, we see the value of such platforms as TNF.

- What are the main problems today?

- In 80% of cases, we are involved in the role of "firemen": there are big problems in the project, all the deadlines have already been pushed back. We jump in and "pull" the project as far as possible, and we have examples where we were able to actually close a significant backlog.

Only in 20% of cases are we attracted at the initial stage. Customers immediately want to do everything right and understand that there is not enough team. Today it is generally difficult to find project management specialists. Not always their qualifications allow them to manage large-scale projects.

When companies try to do everything on their own, it often turns out that at first they are looking for people, trying to assemble a team out of them, and it begins to work effectively towards the end of the project. And then people start running away because the project ends. This is what I call "late team effectiveness." If you work with us, a professional team comes immediately. Our task is to integrate all participants in terms of time, money, resources, and risks.

- If we talk about the price and value of a well-coordinated, experienced team, what is their ratio?

- I would call this a classic of the genre: we show how much our services cost, and we see resistance. "To pay such money! Yes, we'll recruit our own guys here now." A professional team is, of course, not cheap. But mistakes made by an unprofessional team are more expensive.

Let me give you an example about the construction of a large field in which we participated. All our work there cost only 2 days out of 150, by which we managed to reduce construction. That is, the value from our work is usually orders of magnitude higher than its cost. But this is a proactive approach to management. And, unfortunately, the leader in Russian corporations is still reactive.

- Were you able to organize an active discussion on this topic at the last TNF Industrial and Energy Forum?

- This time we were more like scouts. I only participated in one of the sessions. But I can say that over the past 2-3 years I have visited a dozen different forums. And I can say that TNF is definitely the country's central platform in the oil and gas sector. I saw there are many opportunities here. Firstly, you meet old and not only old acquaintances. A professional "get-together" is formed where you exchange experiences, knowledge, news, and so on. Secondly, there are interesting reports, including on our topic. Next year we will definitely participate with a specialized report and will try to organize a separate session on the topic of management.

You can find out more about the tools for managing large-scale projects and megaprojects in Alexander's telegram channel - "Megaprojects with Kutuzov"