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BUSINESS NEWS JACOBS SUPPORTS EUROPEAN NUCLEAR YOUNG GENERATION FORUM 2017 Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. is a Gold Sponsor for the European Nuclear Young Generation Forum 2017 to be held from June 11-16, at the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, U.K. ENYGF brings together students and young professionals from across the nuclear energy generation industry to provide an international platform for sharing experiential knowledge and best practices. This year’s event will be organized by the U.K. Nuclear Institute’s Young Generation Network. The theme for ENYGF2017 is “Innovation in Nuclear: a Rich Heritage and our Bright Future.” The program includes expert speakers, interactive workshops, and technical tours to nuclear energy sites around the U.K., as well as extensive networking opportunities with some of the industry’s leading technical experts. ENYGF2017 will also showcase the U.K. nuclear energy industry’s innovation and expertise. “With the significant investment programs planned for U.K. Energy, it is critical for the

nuclear and infrastructure industries to remain highly focused on attracting new talent,” said Jacobs Vice President Aerospace and Technology Europe Peter Lutwyche. “The European Nuclear Young Generation Forum is a great opportunity for Jacobs to meet the next generation of innovators and for young people to learn more about the future of the industry. We look forward to engaging with the delegates, sharing insights from some of our exciting projects, and contributing to the technical innovation discussions that will emerge over the week.” PRELIMINARY AWARD OF PROJECT ZUIDASDOK TO FLUOR, HEIJMANS AND HOCHTIEF JOINT VENTURE Fluor Corporation announced that the Zuidasdok project has been preliminarily awarded to Zuidplus, the joint venture with Fluor, Heijmans and Hochtief. The contract includes widening and partial underground installation of the A10 South motorway and expansion of the Amsterdam Zuid station in the Netherlands. The design and construction contract is worth approximately $1 billion of which Fluor has

a 42.5 percent share, Heijmans 15 percent, and Hochtief 42.5 percent. The contract also includes seven years of maintenance for the tunnels. Zuidasdok is a joint project by the City of Amsterdam, ProRail, and the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management of the Netherlands (Rijkswaterstaat). The widening and partial tunneling of the A10 South motorway will create accessibility and new public spaces to the Zuidas district, improving quality of life in the area. Space will also be created for the new Amsterdam Zuid station making it a high-quality public transport hub. The widening will also take place at the junctions De Nieuwe Meer and Amstel. “This preliminary award is of great importance to Fluor as it supports our strategic plan and we will be executing the project with partners who also have a proven track record of delivering similar undertakings,” said Hans Dekker, president of Fluor’s infrastructure business. “We look forward to using our design build expertise to successfully deliver this important project with cost and schedule certainty.”

They need to know how to offer solutions to your clients across multiple fronts. ❚ ❚ Decision making. Project managers have to make tough decisions and have uncomfortable conversations. Give them the authority to make things happen. Like an over-bearing parent, over-involved principals are not helping their PMs grow. Give them the training, the tools, the people, and then let them lead. ❚ ❚ Fungibility. Change is inevitable in this industry. If it weren’t, there wouldn’t be thousands of articles on scope creep. Great project managers are nimble enough to adapt to any situation that may arise during a project. They’re calm under pressure and are able to break problems into smaller chunks so their teams can more easily solve them. Leadership is the vital element in all successful companies and it’s an especially important characteristic of successful PMs. Good project managers can usually get things done as expected. Excellent project managers are leaders who inspire their teams to accomplish the things others thought were impossible. Like peanut butter and chocolate, leadership and project management make a perfect combination. BILL MURPHEY is Zweig Group’s director of education. Contact him at bmurphey@zweiggroup.com. “Excellent project managers are leaders who inspire their teams to accomplish the things others thought were impossible. Like peanut butter and chocolate, leadership and project management is a perfect combination.”

BILL MURPHEY, from page 3

Don’t assume that just because your professionals have been around a while that they know what it takes to be high-performing PMs. And don’t assume they’ll know what to do when they receive that tap on the shoulder telling them it’s their turn to take the baton. Set your project managers on the path to success by ensuring they’ve received training in the essential leadership skills every project manager should possess: ❚ ❚ Communication. Great project managers know how to talk with people. Not to people, but with them. They know how to inspire confidence and gain the trust of others. They must also be comfortable speaking to groups of strangers. Help them overcome the natural fear of public speaking by having them give a presentation in front of a group of your firm’s employees. “How well an architect, engineer, or consultant performs in a PM role largely depends on how well they can lead and inspire others. Poor leadership directly correlates with late and over-budget projects, something you’ve probably seen.” ❚ ❚ Business development. As a professional service firm, you must be able to sell all your services. Are your project man- agers aware of every service your firm provides? Can they sell those services to their current clients? If not, consider sending your team through a business development training course where they can learn how to be better “doer-sellers.”

THE ZWEIG LETTER April 17, 2017, ISSUE 1196

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