Advanced Work Packaging podcasts

Talking AWP – Ep. 1: 5 Skills of a Workface Planner

Listen to the leaders in AWP discuss the processes, the challenges, and the triumphs
of implementing Advanced Work Packaging.

Advanced Work Packaging Podcasts Series

Insight AWP Podcast Series

In our first episode, Gregorio Labbozzetta discusses the “5 Skills of a Workface Planner”. The list of skills needed by a Workface Planner that Gregorio recommends are:

  1. Field Expertise
  2. Engineering and Procurement Knowledge
  3. Ability to work with data
  4. Communication
  5. Attention to details

This aligns with a survey we conducted. There is some great reasoning to Gregorio’s arguments and is worth a listen. You can also read the transcript below.

Discussion Highlights

  • About Gregorio
  • Topic: 5 Skills of a Workface Planner:
  1. Field Expertise and the building of packages
  2. Why Engineering and Procurement experience is critical
  3. The importance of Data
  4. Communication and the language of construction
  5. Attention to detail closes packages
  • Show, Share, Observe

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This podcast features:

Jeff Samis - AWP Business Development

Jeff Samis

VP of Business Development

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Ryan Bonnell

Marketing Director

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Podcast Transcript: 5 Skills of a Workface Planner

Jeff Samis: Thanks for joining us. Thank you. Gregorio, I know that you’ve been with INSIGHT[-AWP] for a little while, but why don’t you tell us a little bit about what you do for INSIGHT[-AWP]? And how you like working for the company?

Gregorio Labbozzetta: Well, I work for INSIGHT[-AWP] since five years, and I work as information manager. Basically, my role is to go in projects and help owners and contractors to manage the data from the beginning to the end of the project. I’m happy with my job at INSIGHT[-AWP] to the main reasons for these are that the first time I’m a creative guy so I can create the new processes, I can experiment I can study new technologies. And this is very important for me. Then I get to meet thousands of people in every project. And this is also a great learning opportunity. And then it’s really exciting to be always on the edge of the new technologies and you know, being always experimenting and finding new ways to do things.

Jeff Samis: Our topic today is “What are the five top skills of a Workface Planner?” So I’d just like you to kind of just talk to us about what you think those those skills are. And and then we’ll just we’ll fill in some questions as we go.

Gregorio Labbozzetta: OK, nice. Nice. So this is one of the top quoted questions in the industry. I believe, and there are many different answers based on the person you talk to. But I would say that there is a common understanding in the industry that I work.

This plan should have first and foremost a field expertise. So let me summarize the first reason why it’s important, field expertise is because you need to build packages that are going to you to be used by a General Foreman and by a Foreman.

And those packages must be executable and closed. This is the first reason. OK. This is very important. Building packages that that are of no use for people in the field, it’s useless. Give it, it’s, it’s counterproductive. Not only useless. So the first reason why this planner should have been this, but this is this one. The second reason is communication. So the work packages are very good. To convey for information. And if they are not structured properly, it’s not going to work.

Then the second skill that the work this blender must have is an engineering and procurement knowledge. So engineering and material are about 30 to 40% of an installation work package. And it’s critical that they work with a plan that can deal with drawings built of materials, materials, takeoffs, What I start to is at a phase. And and so on. So engineering and procurement, procurement knowledge. It’s very important combined with the field expertise allow the workforce planner to do proper constraint removal. So so again this is key.

The third skill, I would say is that ability to work with the data. So aside from the field expertise and procurement and the engineering knowledge, everything is coming to the work with plan in the form of data So not being able to work with the data can be a can be it can be an issue. Could be an issue. But as you can see, I put this in the third place because, you know, somebody that has field expertise can learn the data but the other way around and take then news for sure. Yeah.

Jeff Samis: Nothing beats nothing beats actual experience, right?

Gregorio Labbozzetta: Exactly. Yeah. Then the fourth, the fourth skill that I would say to that important is communication. So what office planners are kind of the superheroes of the project and they need to deal with with everybody from engineering to procurement to material to construction to management and to planning and being able and all of these take the stakeholders. They speak a different language. OK. So the language of construction is different from the language of engineering. So the workforce planner needs to be able to to talk all of these languages, try to understand everybody, and put together a plan that is that is sound.

The last, the, the last skill, I would say put in the bucket then is attention to the details. And this is coming from my recent experience mainly, and it’s due to the fact that even one detail can affect the closure of a package. So we might be in the the best AWP in the world. We might remove all of the constraints. The package is ready to go. OK, let’s plan it in the following look. But if we forget that or we overlook one single detail, then the package most likely is not going to be close ball in the in the in the right time.

Ryan Bonnell: Well, we did get a lot of feedback from a survey that we put out there. And I mean, I agree with your top five. One of the big ones that came through was communication for sure. And field experience, I think topped the list for sure, just as you were saying. But a lot of other things came in like quality control, which I guess would follow into, you know, you’re detail orientated aspect of it. But what about like the history of trade skills? Like does it matter what trade you’re coming from? Because we have electricians, we got pipefitters all coming into the does that really matter?

Gregorio Labbozzetta: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That, that’s yeah, definitely that matters because you know, there are lots of details into everyday discipline which are very different. So Workface Planner for Steel will have to have a really different knowledge from an electrical of course, but also be different from a piping. So those two disciplines are really near because they are typically a predecessor, the successor, but still they are different. And those are the not only for the composition of the package, which of course for steel is piece marks and for piping is spools, wells, pipe supports, inline instruments but also for the planning side because the way you plan steel it’s different from the way you plan erecting the spools, the timings are different, the problems are different. And so absolutely, so, it’s much better to have the discipline specific Workface Planner. Of course, you know, it’s also good to have the flexibility to it to maybe engage our workface planners for steel. And then through the project, the engaging with some pipe is also good learning for him.

Ryan Bonnell: Right. Right. The other thing that came up was certification. What do you what are your thoughts on certification?

Gregorio Labbozzetta: I believe that, you know, I mean, I do this job for passion. So I and I believe that we should all be students somehow. There is unlimited learning that can done from from this business. And the certification is is a way to put the stamp on on a moment of our life. Right. Right. Hey, I mean, this certification without the journey doesn’t tell me much. It’s the journey that matters and the journey it’s about, you know, working, of course, but also studying studying a lot. So studying, reading and learning new skills. Try to copy from from people who are doing things better. It’s it’s the it’s the one the number then the certificattion for sure. I’ll go to that. Coming and there are lots of personal satisfaction, I mean.

Jeff Samis: Sure. So Gregorio, one of the things that that I’ve noticed since I’ve been involved in in the company is, is the fact that we’re we’re in an industry that’s going through a lot of change, going from running projects, the old traditional way to running projects, using workface planners and using AWP. So what do you think about one of the skills that good workface planner has is the ability to, you know, use change management skills to get people to, you know, think about things a little bit differently around how you how you might be using project management, using AWP versus old methodologies.

Gregorio Labbozzetta: Yeah. That first of all, I think that everybody any one of us can can relate to the fact that nobody wants to change, nobody you know, nobody likes the change. Even people that are embracing the change, I believe they still have the moment where they’re like, hmm, it’d be better if I keep on doing what I was doing. So we are surrounded by by these we are surrounded by these So knowing how to deal with this resistance, which sometimes is also positive, is not always negative, but knowing how to deal with this resistance is really, really important. I, I’m learning, too. I’m learning to how to how to do it. I know that change management, these are is a big issue being but let me say, I have I have one example that maybe I can make I was talking with one of the workface planners and they’re trying to help my operating the change.

Gregorio Labbozzetta: I explained to him that I use a framework that is a show, share, observe, which is which is I think also first, if you want somebody to buy in into your new idea, you need to show something. OK, many people that just you know, sometimes they have a great ideas, but they are not able to put them in a format that can be understood.

Gregorio Labbozzetta: Okay. Then the sharing part, it’s about the sharing with other people, the content and the message that these new idea has. And the message is, “OK, let’s do it together. Let’s be part of one team”. OK. And then Observe is the most difficult part because it’s the part where you need to be patient and wait because it takes time for people to change.

Jeff Samis: Based on what you said. I just want to recap for those things that you think are most important for a workplace planner and those being field expertize; communication, you brought up a few times in your in your description; engineering and procurement experience, is obviously very important; to the ability to work with data. And I think we’re seeing that more and more with our projects that now that we’re collecting all this data, we need to do something value add with that data for the project.

Jeff Samis: So being able to work with the data is really important and large amounts of data to and then obviously detailed oriented that you want someone who is, you know, dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s out there so that nothing gets nothing gets missed in or we’re not doing something, you know, half baked out in the field. So that’s what I heard from you in your description

Gregorio Labbozzetta: Yeah. And all of these are had to be done on very unstable playground. Yeah. Because data and documents are…, information from the field there is no perfection. So

Ryan Bonnell: You had mentioned your your share. What was it? Share. Yeah, observe.

Gregorio Labbozzetta: Show, share.

Ryan Bonnell: So yeah. So that becomes like to me it seems more like a teacher in a sense. Right. So would you feel that would be a good skill to have that that ability to you know, do exactly that.

Gregorio Labbozzetta: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, so we, you know, change is change is a big word. But I believe that people are always trying to understand what’s in it for me, you know, and that in order to buy in there needs to be trust. And the best way to generate trust is to share some experience together. To do something together and to communicate and do something together. So yeah, it’s, it’s kind of a teacher role, but everybody can be a student and a teacher at the same time.

Ryan Bonnell: Yes, exactly, exactly. My point, I think because that was what a lot of people were saying is like ability to learn an ability to be a leader in a sense to also which can be the teaching aspect.

Jeff Samis: Thank you very much for your time today.

Gregorio Labbozzetta: Thank you. Thank you.

Ryan Bonnell: Thanks. Gregorio.

Thanks for listening to “5 Skills needed by a Workface Planner”

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