IPA Delivers Immersive Workshop for Project Leaders
Independent Project Analysis (IPA), Inc. is rolling out a workshop that prepares capital project professionals for the rigors of delivering complex projects.
Grounded in IPA research linking individual leadership characteristics to project outcomes, the Project Leader Workshop assesses participants’ leadership profiles, tests their decision-making skills, and arms them with the knowledge to navigate past obstacles faced by project leaders. IPA has teamed up with the Praevius Group in designing this workshop. Praevius Group prepares professionals to confront real-life command experiences and aides in transferring leadership knowledge from “generation to generation” within an organization.
No time is wasted in immersing participants in the workshop’s subject matter. Before the workshop begins, individual participants complete a survey that measures and compares their leadership profile against top Industry leaders’ profiles. After the workshop begins, professionals take on a Decision-Making Obstacle Course®, a Praevius Group product. The obstacle course is a virtual training module with interactive decision-making scenarios, enabling industry professionals to test their decision-making skills and gain practical experience from top capital projects industry leaders.
Here’s a closer look at what the workshop entails:
Leading Through Complexity
Principles of effective leadership in a complex environment—as identified in IPA’s research—are explored. Participants learn the traits, skills, and personality characteristics shared by effective project leaders and how real-life take-charge moments shaped their future decision-making behaviors.
What Kind of Project Leader Are You?
All workshop participants share their own leadership background stories. They then discuss how their individual leadership traits and tendencies match with and differ from proven records of delivering successful projects. Participants inventory their experiences to identify key developmental experiences and gaps and then develop a leadership philosophy and action plan.
Developing and Leading an Effective Team
What does an effective project team on a complex project look like? Workshop instructors offer strategies and tools to build relationships, communicate effectively, and sustain team comradery in a high-stress environment.
Opportunities to understand and hone individual leadership capabilities do not end after the workshop concludes. Participants are invited to become part of a leadership network where they can continue sharing their experiences and check in with their workshop instructors to assess areas of improvement. Everybody in the workshop also receives a copy of Leading Complex Projects (Wiley, 2018), co-authored by IPA Founder and President Edward Merrow and IPA Energy Practice Director Neeraj Nandurikar.
Participating in the Workshop
The workshop is held as a public class for individuals, and delivered privately for organizations. The inaugural public delivery of the Project Leader Workshop was held in October 2019 in Houston, attended by a diverse group of leaders from owner companies across industries. For private sessions, the materials can even be tailored to fit within a company’s ongoing development program over the course of several months or a year.
Although the full workshop is not available as a public offering in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a 4-hour online training course called Leading Complex Projects: How Do You Compare to Successful Leaders will take play July 21-22, 2020. The virtual training course will teach participants to lead through complexity and see where they stand in comparison to strong project leaders in key areas such as communication, empathy, emotional intelligence, and more.
Complete the form below to request more information on the Project Leader Workshop.