All projects face challenges: How project managers deal with risk, contracts, change, conflict, delays, and stakeholders will often determine project outcomes.
Our mission for almost 40 years has been to support project teams of owners and contractors in achieving the best possible commercial results for them while maintaining productive work relationships and avoiding disputes. But not all disputes are avoidable, and there too we have an excellent track record of achieving successful outcomes.
Our services take different forms – they may involve consulting, ongoing project coaching, hands-on support, interim management assistance, project team workshops or as an expert witness during a dispute.
Project Coaching
Project coaching provides a hands-on, pragmatic and cost-effective way to help our clients deliver capital efficient and profitable projects. It is centred on the areas of Kingsfield’s expertise in contracts, claims, risk, disputes
Our most senior consultants work at whatever level is needed in your organisation – whether that is executive management, project director and/or team members, either throughout the project duration or at critical points, such as when a dispute is looming, or critical project goals are at risk.
Our clients’ teams do the majority of the work, whereas our consultant coaches, guide, support and respectfully challenge as needed.
Clear benefits of this approach are:
- Achieves the desired project results
- Builds confidence in the team at critical points
- Transfers lasting knowledge to the project team
Contracts & Risk
The pre-contract stage is all about balancing project risk and commercial reward, within a contractual framework and project plan that exploits strengths whilst minimising weaknesses. We strongly believe in addressing key project risk at a time when they can be dealt with most effectively – prior to contract
Projects don’t make a profit by accident! In an environment of aggressively won contracts, where both the budget and schedule are under strain from the outset, we recommend that project teams create and implement a plan to deliver this profit – and revisit it as events unfold.
Our contract and risk services are
- Readiness to contract reviews
- Planning for profit workshops
- Risk & opportunity reviews
- Bid & contract risk reviews
Claim Strategies & Avoiding Disputes
During the project delivery phase, we help you turn your plan into reality. We assist in managing major change and dealing with conflict effectively and help with appropriate interventions when a crisis develops – all with dispute avoidance as the goal.
Whether we are asked to provide an independent assessment of a project’s ‘health’, or establish an effective contract management plan, or advise the executive team on strategic claims negotiation, this is Kingsfield’s core expertise. We create bespoke solutions that place our clients in strong positions to reach negotiated settlements – as no-one wants to end up in court
Our services for claims management and avoiding disputes are
- Project health checks
- Dispute avoidance & negotiated settlements
- Contract and change management coaching
- Claim strategies
- Case appraisal – how strong is your claim?
- Critical interventions & negotiation strategies
Disputes & Expert Support
Formal dispute resolution is costly, protracted and demands extensive senior management time. We therefore always advocate resolving conflict through negotiation before they become legal disputes. When this is not possible, we are able to support a wide range of dispute resolution mechanisms, including mediation, arbitration, adjudication and litigation. We are also specialists in the provision of expert witness support for project management.
Our services in disputes and expert support are
- Expert determination & reports
- Expert witness & testimony