Archives August 2019

Oil and gas project management refers to the unique requirements of managing science, technology, and engineering aspects of projects in the oil and gas industry. McAllen Williams Consulting provides not just the quantitative and qualitative techniques useful for managing the oil and gas projects, but it also addresses the technical and managerial aspects of projects in the oil and gas industry.

Thus, the technical project management is the basis for sustainable national advancement, which often depends on the development of the oil and gas industry. As such, managing oil and gas projects effectively is essential for national economic vitality. Project management is the process of managing, allocating, and timing resources to achieve a given goal in an efficient and expeditious manner.

Project management represents an excellent basis for integrating various management techniques such as statistics, operations research, Six Sigma, computer simulation, and so on within the oil and gas industry operations. The McAllen Williams Consulting oil and gas project management present an integrated approach to project management for oil and gas projects. The integrated approach covers the concepts, tools, and techniques (both new and tested) of project management.

The McAllen Williams Executive Courses covers proven best practices designed to help organizations achieve its strategic objectives through various strategic business units. The courses are designed as an enterprise-wide approach to be implemented by organizations to achieve more optimally and to gain competitive advantage in the business environment.

These courses can be taken as a corporate training for organizations who seek to be or remain at the top in the industry or aspiring individuals who want to position themselves better in their organization or who seek to be the driving force for change. The courses include the following:

• Oil and Gas Project Management
• Oil and Gas Risk Management
• MSP – Programme Management
• MoP – Portfolio Management
• Earned Value Management
• OBASHI

Dealing with change and, more importantly, the impact of change is a high priority for all organizations. In other for organizations to compete in the future or to attain a competitive edge in the market, change need to be introduced to processes, people and resources to optimize and achieve the best value for every invested sum in the organization. The change will need to cut across the organization as a whole either in business re-engineering or the introduction of new products and services among others. Change helps this transition to deliver better value to clients and prospective client for the organization to be a leading brand in the ever changing business environment.

The Change Management certification deals with the theories of how change impacts on and is affected by:

• the Individual
• the Team
• the Organization
• the Change Leader.

Benefits for Individuals

• Improve ability to change by managing reactions and develop an understanding of change by identifying the impacts that initiatives can have and learning to address them.
• Learn how people react to change and use this knowledge to lead them successfully through business transformation.
• Learn about change theories and how to apply the appropriate theory for an organization’s specific needs. This will enhance the way colleagues and organizations deal with and embrace change as well as establishing personal change management processes based on learnings.
• Know how to take people through the various phases of transition and lead change more effectively with less resistance and more support.
• Help you understand how to react to change so you are equipped to lead more effectively and sympathetically.

Benefits for Organizations

• Complement established, process driven methods (like PRINCE2® and MSP®) to develop a holistic picture of change.
• Attain a unique, tailored change management process based on the specific needs of the organization.
• Reduce the risk of failure or delay during periods of organizational transformation by maintaining productivity and reducing costs.
• Gain support from staff and instil confidence in the change management programme so employees are comfortable and prepared to move forward to the next stage.
• Change Management certified professionals use their comprehensive understanding of change, its benefits and its impact on various groups within organizations to allow the organization to react more effectively to competitive pressures and to global, political and environmental issues.

Foundation Level

The purpose of the Foundation certification is to measure whether you have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the Change Management Text and Handbook to act as an informed member of a change management team during a period of change within part or all of your organization. The Foundation certification is also a pre-requisite for the Practitioner certification.

Exam Format

• Multiple choice
• Four sections, total of 60 questions
• 30 marks required to pass (out of 60 available) – 50%
• 60 minutes duration
• Closed-book.

Practitioner Level

The purpose of the Practitioner certification is to confirm whether you have achieved sufficient understanding of how to apply and tailor Change Management guidance in a given organizational change situation. A successful Practitioner should, with suitable direction be able to start applying the Change Management approaches and techniques to a real change initiative but may not be sufficiently skilled to do this appropriately for all situations. Your individual Change Management expertise, complexity of the change initiative and the support provided for the use of Change Management approaches in your work environment will all be factors that impact what the Practitioner can achieve.

Exam Format

• Objective testing
• Four questions of 20 marks each
• 40 marks required to pass (out of 80 available) – 50%
• Three hours duration
• Restricted open book – manual and candidate handbook only.

The Agile Project Management (AgilePM) certification aims to address the needs of those working in a project-focused environment who want to be Agile.

Based on the proven fundamentals within DSDM Atern, the certification provides the ability to deliver Agile Projects in organizations requiring standards, rigour and visibility around Project Management, while at the same time enabling the fast pace, change and empowerment provided by Agile.

The course will:

• Explain how to lay the foundations for successful agile projects
• Explain how an agile project is managed
• Clarify the different management styles needed for successful agile projects (compared to “traditional” projects)
• Provide integration with PRINCE2®.

Benefits for Individuals

• Develop a more advanced, applied level of knowledge to gain an understanding of agile and the ability to apply relevant project management methods, leading to successful agile projects.
• Clarify different management styles needed for successful agile projects compared to traditional projects and be able to tailor these to the situation.
• Actively promote trust and close co-operation between the business and developers and gives the business ongoing visibility into what is happening.
• Combine knowledge of more traditional management methodologies with agile to better adapt to a changing business environment.
• Improve time-to-market and project success rates while simultaneously accelerating results by encouraging stakeholder involvement, feedback and effective controls.

Benefits for Organizations

• Deliver change faster, at a lower cost and with lower risk by continually validating project milestones against business objectives.
• Complements and works with existing corporate processes such as PRINCE2®, quality and audit processes which improves rigour and visibility around project management, leading to a proven track record of successful delivery in a corporate environment.
• Simply adopt a tried and tested approach rather than developing and integrating a company-specific agile management process.
• Achieve better communication and control over projects and adapt project plans without disrupting the project budget, timescale and scope.
• Develop professionalism in employees and include agile certification in employee professional development schemes.

Foundation Level

The foundation AgilePM certification lives up to its name by providing the users of the method with the core principles needed to facilitate a successful project, while allowing a degree of scope and agility that not many other methodologies provide. With a clear, concise and detailed perspective on project productivity, the AgilePM certification is useful to all candidates and competency levels ranging from highly experienced project managers to those new to the industry.

Exam Format

• Multiple choice format
• 60 questions per paper
• 30 marks required to pass (out of 60 available) – 50%
• 60 minutes duration
• Closed-book.

Practitioner Level

The practitioner level empowers, encourages and equips you with an in-depth knowledge of not just the certification, but also how to apply and implement these principles into the life of a project manager on a daily basis. Pre-requisites accepted to be eligible to take the Practitioner examination:

• AgilePM Foundation Certificate, or
• DSDM Atern Foundation Certificate, or
• DSDM Advanced Practitioner Certificate.

The practitioner examination is in the “Objective Testing” format of scenario, question and answer booklet.

Exam Format

• Objective testing
• 4 questions per paper, 15 marks available per question
• 30 marks required to pass (out of 60 available) – 50%
• Two hours duration
• Open book (restricted to the manual only) examination.

ITIL® is the only consistent and comprehensive documentation of best practice for IT Service Management. Used by many hundreds of organizations around the world, ITIL simply means Information Technology Infrastructure Library and its philosophy has grown up around the guidance contained within the ITIL books and the supporting professional qualification scheme.

ITIL consists of a series of books giving guidance on the provision of quality IT services, and on the accommodation and environmental facilities needed to support IT. ITIL has been developed in recognition of organizations’ growing dependency on IT and embodies best practices for IT Service Management.

Benefits for Individuals

• Provide a practical framework for identifying, planning, delivering and supporting IT services to the business.
• Increase business productivity, efficiency and effectiveness through more reliable IT services.
• Define processes with clearly documented accountability for each activity to increase efficiency.
• Enable a business to keep pace with change and drive business change to its advantage.
• Help employees to focus on the needs of the customers and user experience rather than spending too much time on technological issues.

Benefits for Organizations

• Align IT services with business priorities to achieve strategic objectives.
• Increase value from the service portfolio while reducing costs and risk.
• Enable successful business transformation and growth with an increased competitive advantage by defining and managing the customer and service portfolio.
• Increase competence, capability and productivity of IT staff and better utilize the skills and experience of staff.
• Improve user and customer satisfaction with IT as well as the end-user perception and brand image.

Foundation Level

The purpose of the ITIL Foundation certificate in IT Service Management is to certify that you have gained knowledge of the ITIL terminology, structure and basic concepts and have comprehended the core principles of ITIL practices for Service Management.

After completing the ITIL foundation course and exam, you will have gained knowledge and understanding in the following areas:

• Service management as a practice
• The ITIL service lifecycle
• Generic concepts and definitions
• Key principles and models
• Selected processes
• Selected functions
• Selected roles
• Technology and architecture
• Competence and training

Exam Format

• Multiple choice
• 40 questions per paper
• 26 marks required to pass (out of 40 available) – 65%
• 60 minutes duration
• Closed book.

Our general courses include the courses that are considered best management practices which can be embraced by both individuals and organization to enhance their knowledge in achieving excellence in delivering to the ever changing business environment.

These include training and certification in proven best practices such as:

• PRINCE2 – Project Management
• PMP – Project Management
• M­_o_R – Management of Risk
• ITIL – IT Service Management
• Agile Project Management

Change Management

PRINCE2® (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a process-based approach for project management providing an easily tailored and scalable method for the management of all types of projects. The method is the de-facto standard for project management in the UK and is practiced worldwide.

The continued international development of PRINCE2 examinations, training and course material is contributing significantly to the recognition of PRINCE2 as a truly international standard. More and more people are having the opportunity to benefit from the training courses and certifications that are available worldwide.

Benefits for Individuals

• Learn how to manage projects or to work in a project environment using the most internationally recognized project management method.
• Ensure that team members focus on the viability of the project in relation to its business case objectives – rather than simply seeing the completion of the project as an end in itself.
• Promote consistency of project work and the ability to reuse project assets while facilitating staff mobility and reducing the impact of personnel changes/handovers.
• Design plans and reports to meet the needs of each level in the project team and Project Board, improving communication and control.
• Mitigate perceived problems and issues and focus on the viability of the project throughout.
• Evaluate the project portfolio to bring clarity and allow improvements in reviewing projects.

Benefits for Organizations

• Benefit from a shared and thoroughly understood language and approach to reporting which will save time and effort.
• Increase staff awareness of their roles and responsibilities in the project management life cycle.
• Utilize an invaluable diagnostic tool, facilitating the assurance and assessment of project work, troubleshooting and audits.
• Ensure stakeholders (including sponsors and resource providers) are properly represented in planning and decision making.
• Enable more effective engagement of stakeholders in the process of project approval and management.

Foundation Level

The purpose of the foundation level is to confirm you have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the PRINCE2 method to be able to work effectively with, or as a member of, a project management team working within an environment supporting PRINCE2. The foundation level is also a pre-requisite for the practitioner certification.

Exam Format

• Multiple choice
• 75 questions per paper
• 5 questions to be trial and not counted in scores
• 35 marks required to pass (out of 70 available) – 50%
• 60 minutes duration
• Closed book.

Practitioner Level

The purpose of the practitioner level is to confirm you have achieved sufficient understanding of how to apply and tailor PRINCE2 in a scenario situation.

Exam Format

• Objective testing
• 8 questions – 10 question items per question, each worth one mark
• 44 marks or more required to pass (out of 80 available) – 55%
• Two-and-a-half hours (150 minutes) duration, no additional reading time
• Open book exam (official PRINCE2 manual only).

M_o_R® (Management of Risk) is owned and managed by the Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdom and published by the Cabinet Office. It looks at risk from four perspective in an organization which include strategic, programme, project and operational.

A risk consists of a combination of the probability of a perceived threat or opportunity occurring and the magnitude of its impact on objectives”. With this definition ‘threat’ is used to describe an uncertain event that could have a negative impact on objectives or benefits; and ‘opportunity’ is used to describe an uncertain event that could have a favourable impact on objectives or benefits.

Benefits for Individuals

• Gain the confidence and ability to influence and shape risk management across an organization.
• Encourage openness and discuss real business issues in a realistic manner to meet business objectives, improve service delivery and achieve value for money.
• Put an effective framework in place to make informed decisions about the risks that affect strategic, programme, project and operational objectives.
• Understand the nature and extent of risks facing a company and reduce the incidence and impact on the business.
• Continuously apply risk management to an organization and simplify the process of making information available when decisions need to be made.

Benefits for Organizations

• Increase competitive advantage and become more risk aware by managing potential problems and opportunities.
• Improve performance through waste and fraud reduction and more efficient use of resources.
• Better manage contingent and maintenance activities and increase the likelihood of achieving change initiatives.
• Bring together principles, an approach and a process with a set of interrelated steps and pointers to more detailed sources of advice on risk management techniques and specialisms in order to develop a route map for risk management.
• Identify, assess and control risks to effectively manage them.

Foundation Level

The purpose of the foundation certification is to confirm that a candidate is able to demonstrate a knowledge and comprehension of the four elements of the M_o_R framework – Principles, Approach, Processes, Embedding and reviewing – and how they support corporate governance. The Foundation level is also a pre-requisite for the Practitioner qualification.

Exam Format

• Multiple choice
• 75 questions per paper
• 5 questions to be trial and not counted in scores
• 35 marks required to pass (out of 70 available) – 50%
• 60 minutes duration
• Closed book.

Practitioner Level

The purpose of the Practitioner level is to confirm whether the candidate has achieved sufficient understanding of how to apply and tailor M_o_R in a scenario situation.

Exam Format

• Objective testing
• 4 questions per paper, 20 marks available per question
• 40 marks required to pass (out of 80 available) – 50%
• Three hours duration
• Candidates may make use of the Management of Risk: Guidance for Practitioners (the Management of Risk ‘guide’), published by TSO, together with the APMG guidance document ABC Guide Part A Example Techniques. No material other than the Question Booklet, the Scenario Booklet, the Answer Booklet and the two guides is to be used.

PMP stands for Project Management Professional. It is the sum of knowledge within the profession of project management and it includes proven traditional practices that are widely applied, as well as innovative practices that are emerging in the profession. PMP certification is offered by PMI (Project Management Institute) in the United States of America.

Many companies require their project managers to hold this certification and are growing in popularity every day. It includes keen knowledge of human behavior and the ability to skillfully apply appropriate interpersonal skills, accomplished through the application and integration of the project management processes of Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling and Closing the project.

Benefits for Individuals

• Learn how to manage projects or to work in a project environment using the most internationally recognized project management method.
• Promote consistency of project work and the ability to reuse project assets while facilitating staff mobility and reducing the impact of personnel changes/handovers.
• Mitigate perceived problems and issues and focus on the viability of the project throughout.
• Evaluate the project portfolio to bring clarity and allow improvements in reviewing projects.

Benefits for Organizations

• Benefit from a shared and thoroughly understood language and approach to reporting which will save time and effort.
• Increase staff awareness of their roles and responsibilities in the project management life cycle.
• Utilize an invaluable diagnostic tool, facilitating the assurance and assessment of project work, troubleshooting and audits.
• Ensure stakeholders (including sponsors and resource providers) are properly represented in planning and decision making.
• Enable more effective engagement of stakeholders in the process of project approval and management.

By undergoing the certification process and achieving a PMP qualification you will have demonstrated your knowledge of the method to a recognized examined standard. This is important as many employers now wish to recruit candidates with specific skills and are aware of the qualifications and what they mean in terms of competency.

Exam Format

• Administered by Prometric Centre
• Computer Based – (refer to www.pmi.org for more info)
• Exam is 200 Questions to be answered in 4 hours.
• Review time allowed at the start of exam
• Instant notification of result