Batteries recharged, and mind and body refreshed, our cohort returned to the Kallibr Training Centre in Maidstone for the start of Build week of our 2022 All-Female Victorian Big Build Bridge Program.
Over the course of this week, they will implement their construction methodology as they work toward completing the construction of their structure to budget and schedule ahead of Friday morning’s grand opening event. Today’s first session was all about feedback, and our tender panel was on hand to go through each team’s submission and presentation, enabling them to gain an understanding of the wafer thing margins that separate success from failure when bidding for major projects.
We were joined by Kenneth Sinclair of program supporter McConnell Dowell, who provided our cohort with a masterclass on lean construction methodologies and their practical application for a major project. Armed with a rainbow of post-it notes, our cohort was in full sponge mode as they absorbed Kenneth’s wealth of knowledge and experience before applying the theories shared into a practical application as they developed their pull-plan that breaks down their key construction activities into a visible schedule that each team member can access at any time. It is often this session of the build where we are able to see just how well our team are planning their activities, and based on Kenneth’s approach and our cohort’s understanding, we have a sneaking suspicion that Friday’s deadline is more than achievable.
Commercial Awareness was the theme for our lunch and learn, and we were delighted to be joined by Lincoln Bromwich and Gareth Whitlam of MRPV, who shared their approach to commercial and contract management while sharing insights and realities of the financials that underpin major projects of work. Again, this session was a highly valuable way for our participants from across the sector to gain a perspective on the approach of a client and how they interact commercially with designers, contractors and the supply chain.
The team spent the afternoon in preparation for construction commencing on site tomorrow as they finalised their Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS), Methodology, Inspection and Test Plan (ITP), Quality Plan, Program, Environmental Control Plan and Traffic Management Plan. Another session with our good friends at Bentley ensured the cohort’s methodology and cost controls were fully up-to-date and on-track for moving to construction.
It was then time for the daily change of roles. Each day our participants are assigned roles by the Project Manager of the day, with roles swapped each day. There are a couple of reasons for this, we want everyone to have the opportunity to undertake and understand as many roles as possible and, most importantly, to get people out of their comfort zone. So one day you may be the PM, the next you are traffic control and then safety manager and then const control and so on. With roles allocated, our cohort headed home before construction commences bright and early tomorrow morning.
