National Boss’s Day Highlight 

Misty D. Mayes, the Owner and CEO of Management Solutions, LLC (MSLLC) and Project Controls Solutions, has more than 30 years of experience in energy, national defense, and various other industries in mission assurance, project delivery, and independent assessment in various programs. She has unique strengths and experience including improving operational effectiveness via implementing performance assurance programs tailored to each mission and strengthening portfolio execution in project organizations. 

Misty received her Bachelor of Science with academic honors from the University of Tennessee. She served as a member of the University of Tennessee Tickle College of Engineering Board of Advisors and is a member of the Project Management Institute and is a certified Project Management Professional. Misty is a certified Lean Six Sigma professional and a Certified Change Management Professional and holds an active DOE Q clearance. 

Among her accomplishments, Misty served as the Program Manager for various USACE Headquarter, Division and District initiatives, and is a Portfolio Manager for various DOE (Office of Science, NNSA and EM) programs/projects, account Manager for all Healthcare projects within the portfolio for state and commercial clients, the Executive Vice President for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and was responsible for Project Management/Controls. 

As a female business owner in a STEM industry, Misty is involved in the community through several outreaches. She serves at the University of Tennessee’s College of Engineering as Chair of the college’s board of advisors. Misty has also co-chaired a new program that brings together female engineering students, female engineering faculty members, and female engineers from industry to help the university attract and retain top female students and faculty. Misty serves on the Board of Directors for the Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) as well as Chairing WIPP’s Leadership Advisory Council. She is also the co-chair of WIPP’s healthcare committee that was at the forefront of working with the Trump administration on trying to make sure all women business owners have a voice in the changes being made to the Affordable Care Act. She has been fortunate to be able to testify before Congress on various topics impacting women-owned businesses as well as entrepreneurship. She is the first female to serve as Chair for the Board of Trustees for Webb School of Knoxville and under her leadership oversaw the construction of a new technology maker space as well as the inaugural launch of an Entrepreneurial Chair of Excellence and program in the Upper School. In this role, she oversaw the construction and program development of a STEM maker space as well as the launch of an Entrepreneurial Chair of Excellence. In addition to her work with post-secondary schools, Misty also is the first female to Chair the Board of Trustees for Webb School of Knoxville. Lastly, she serves on the board at the Restoration House of East Tennessee to volunteer their talents and time to this worthwhile organization that provides temporary housing and a hand-up to single mothers and their children. 

Most recently, Misty launched a new subsidiary of her company Management Solutions, LLC called Project Controls Solutions (PCS). The underlying mission of PCS is to expand economic opportunities by training the next generation of project control professionals. PCS partners with organizations to invest in local communities and expand diversity by recruiting and training aspiring project controllers from historically underrepresented backgrounds. 

We are thankful to have such a wonderful leader to look to at Management Solutions and Project Controls Solutions in both the professional and personal realm. Her leadership of the organization shows her ambition, dedication, and work ethic and motivates us to not only do our best but to also be our best. Happy Boss’s Day! 

Our sincerest thank you to Misty from everyone at Management Solutions and Project Controls Solutions. 
From the CEO:

Today’s economies are dramatically changing, triggered by development in emerging markets, the accelerated rise of new technologies, sustainability policies, and changing customer preferences. Digitization, remote work environments, the emergence of hybrid PM approaches, emphasis on softer skills, as well as AI and data analytics have revolutionized nearly all industries.

The changing climate presents structural shifts to companies’ risk-return profiles, which will accelerate non-linearly. Companies need to navigate concerns for their immediate bottom line together with pressures from governments, investors, and society at large. All this while natural disasters are growing more frequent and severe.

An uncertain geopolitical future provides the backdrop. The world is more interconnected than ever before, from supply chains to travel to the flow of information. But these ties are under threat, and most companies have not designed their role in the global system for robustness, to keep functioning smoothly even if connections are abruptly cut.

In a world where the future is uncertain and change comes fast, companies need to look beyond short-term performance and basic organizational health. They must be able not only to withstand unpredictable threats or change but to emerge stronger. In short, they need to be resilient and relevant. To accomplish this, companies must not only be aware of trends in their respective industries, but they need to look globally to better understand potential threats and opportunities. As you enter into the annual season of strategic planning, Management Solutions would love to help you bridge the gap between strategy and execution. What’s on your agenda for 2022?

Misty Mayes, CEO
Leading the Next Generation of Project Controls Specialists 

Project Controls Solutions, a subsidiary of Management Solutions LLC., offers holistic training in project controls to prepare the next generation of project controls specialists. 

We believe project controls training should equip project controls professionals to do more than simply input data into a tool. Investing in our training enables project controls professionals to think critically, conduct rigorous analysis and generate recommendations to support successful project delivery. To enable this, there is a focus on delivering the behavioral and contextual aspects of project controls in addition to the technical aspects (i.e., not simply training the what and how but the why, where, when and who). 

Academic Certificate Program in Project Controls  

Our Project Controls Maturity Assessment (PCMA ©) measures everyone's project controls knowledge and experience holistically across 25 different technical, contextual, and behavioral project controls competencies. This enables Project Controls Solutions to partner with clients to create a customized training program tailored to their unique needs, and it enables our clients to measure their employees’ progress throughout our programs. 

The Academic Certificate Program is meant for aspiring project controls professionals with 0-3 years of project controls experience. The program provides individuals with comprehensive training in project controls and prepares them to serve as mid-level project controllers upon completion. Our practical, case-based curriculum is taught by globally recognized subject matter experts who ensure that our graduates can make an impact on their projects on day one. Our program is flexible, with several alternative delivery models to make sure your organization can maintain billability and execution of your projects without interruption. 

Professional Development Courses 

Project Controls Solutions offers 9 stackable professional development courses to upskill experienced project controls professionals. Each module includes both instruction as well as group case studies to allow students to apply the project controls techniques they are learning to a simulated project. Our programs are flexible, with several alternative delivery models to make sure your organization can maintain billability goals and/or project support. We have also tailored both our Academic Certificate in Project Controls and Professional Development courses to cover the following roles: Project Controls Professional, Project Manager, Control Account Manager, and Construction Manager. The modules are applicable to both the academic certificate program and the stackable professional development courses. Our nine modules include: 

  • Project Controls Overview: covers the holistic behavioral competencies required to be successful in a Project Controls profession 
  • Technical Foundations in Project Controls: covers the core technical competencies in cost management, estimating and commercial management. 
  • Scheduling/Planning: covers scheduling from basic principles in network analysis, different levels of schedules, P6 coding, changes, risks in schedules, how to check the integrity of schedules, and schedule recovery techniques. This is coupled with team building, maintaining relationships and the importance of communication and collaboration. 
  • Earned Value Management: covers what EVM is, how metrics are calculated and what they mean and the narrative that needs to accompany the metrics. This culminates in data analysis and performance assessment. 
  • Delay and Forensic Analysis: covers the difference between disruption and delays, understanding contracts, contemporaneous records, excusable vs non-excusable delays, float ownership and how to assess delays. 
  • Risk Management: covers what risk management is, how to create a risk management plan, stakeholder management, differing qualitative and quantitative methods, mitigation strategies and risk ownership. 
  • Emotional Intelligence: covers the importance of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and cultural and social awareness in today's businesses. 
  • Understanding Corporate Strategy: covers understanding your role, creating a reputation of excellence, corporate strategy, and leadership. 
  • Achieving Professional Success: covers the final stage of projects (closeout) and what professional success looks like for continual team development. 

In addition to our Academic Certificate Program, we are licensed and certified providers now offering ECITB (Engineering and Construction Industry Training Board) training courses in the UK. Our courses for the ECITB teach the skills, standards and qualifications for the development of project controls skills within the engineering construction workforce. 

Our accredited UK offerings include courses in ECITB Certificate in Project Controls, Introduction to Project Controls, Managing Risk as Part of a Project Team, Estimating Methodology and Practice, and Project Document Managers. 
Emerging Project Management Trends in 2021 

The discipline of project management is undergoing substantial changes and evolution as new technology and leadership paradigms arise. Continue reading to learn about some of the most critical project management trends now affecting the industry, as well as the steps our project personnel at Management Solutions and Project Controls Solutions are taking to adapt. 

Increasing reliance on digital and remote teams 

Project management, like any other sector, is no longer confined to the four walls of a traditional office. Digital and remote teams are more popular than ever before, thanks to a variety of causes such as increasing connection, shifting business principles, and the advent of the big economy. 

We realized that remote work has numerous advantages, including increased flexibility, which can help us attract and keep top people from all around the world. Our project managers must develop solutions to eliminate friction and inefficiencies that may arise as a result of the rise in remote labor, which is expected to remain even after the global health crisis fades. 

A Closer Relationship Between Projects and Strategy 

We understand the critical link between project, program, and portfolio management for project managers who want to apply their expertise strategically within our organizations. According to the International Project Management Association's (IPMA) project management survey, 63% of firms undertake projects that include at least some type of change management, which is why we offer services in that area. We found it helpful to be more flexible in our project management approach, by adopting a hybrid project management methodology and utilizing change management. 

The emergence of hybrid project management approaches  

Project managers, and even entire organizations, typically pursued all projects according to a single project management methodology. Although the specific methodology adopted may vary between project managers or organizations, relying on a single framework is generally the norm. In recent years, however, our project managers and the organizations they work for have become increasingly adaptable in our approach. Some have even combined different methodologies into hybrid approaches that are unique to their specific project or sector needs, such as the formal and Agile methods. 

Emphasis on essential ‘softer’ skills 

Project managers need a certain level of analytical and organizational skills to be effective in their roles, but a project manager`s job does not end with the completion of project scope and budget documents. Effective project managers must be able to anticipate the needs of their team, understand their expectations and motivations, and identify and remove bottlenecks before they impact project progress.  

The Project Management Institute`s (PMI) “Pulse of the Profession” report found that most organizations are now putting a nearly equal emphasis on leadership skills as they do technical skills. Data from the World Economic Forum`s “Future of Jobs” report supports the need for these abilities, showing that social skills are ranked as one of the top skillsets employers to look for in new hires and that this is likely to increase over time. 

After realizing this, we put emphasis on soft skills through conducting training and presentations to learn how to apply them in our daily tasks. We have seen a tremendous improvement in our employees’ performance as a result. 

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics 

As with virtually every other industry, project management will be impacted by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and the proliferation of data collection and analysis that has characterized much of the 21st century.  

One impact of artificial intelligence is likely to be the automation of many of the administrative-centric tasks currently responsibilities of project managers, including resource allocation, project balancing, and planning and budget updates. By automating low value-added activities, project managers can focus their efforts and energy on completing the activities that most benefit their organization, enabling them to affect greater change and increase the likelihood of achieving each project`s strategic goals. 

Project management professionals do not need to be AI or data analytics experts to prepare for these changes, but they should aim to understand their organization`s plans for AI to anticipate changes in their roles and in their day-to-day work. 

Because Management Solutions and Project Controls understand this, our CEO, Misty Mayes, had the opportunity to share about AI and how it fits in with our industry at the latest Project Controls Virtual Expo back in September. 

Both Management Solutions and Project Controls Solutions are at the forefront of recognizing these trends and working to adjust and adapt our strategies to serve the project controls industry. 
It's time for the beautiful colors of fall to begin appearing!

October 16th was National Boss's Day and we are so thankful for the consistent hard work and effort Misty contributes to both Management Solutions and Project Controls Solutions!
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