For course participants (or prospective course participants) click here to contact your course coordinator for the link to the course files.

Introduction

The following series of questions link to a short overview of each area to outline the outcomes you can expect from the overall course, and the individual modules in the course. Alternatively, you can simply scroll down the page for any of the questions in italics. The non-italicised links take you to a different document on another page.

• How can the Dive Project Manager course help me in my career or my business?

• I'm not great at running meetings and getting people to contribute - how can I improve?
  (Manage effective communication in a diving organisation)

• How can I avoid being fined over occupational health and safety issues?
  (Establish, maintain and evaluate occupational health and safety systems)

• What is the best way to get employees to do what you want them to do?
  (Leadership and management in a diving organisation)

• Where should I take my business in the future?
  (Developmental planning for a diving organisation)

• What will it cost to do the job?
  (Prepare estimates, quotes and tenders)

• How can I avoid going over cost and over time?
  (Direct project activities)

• What do my customers really want from me?
  (Manage the delivery of quality client service)

• How do I avoid losing my shirt?
  (Manage business risk)

• So what do I get out of doing the course?

• Introduction and Module Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria (PDF File for Download 150 Kb)

• Copyright/Disclaimer

How can the Dive Project Manager course help me in my career or my business?

Imagine you are planning a major diving project. It needs multiple dive operations over a period of months, includes a technically challenging task, and can't afford to have any time overruns. Your business has had to go in aggressively on pricing to with the job, so budget overruns are out of the question. Where do you start?

To manage major projects is completely different to day-to-day operations and needs quite different skills to supervising a dive operation. In the Australian Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Diving Safety) Regulations 2002 and in the United Kingdom for example, the roles are differentiated even in law as diving contractor and dive supervisor (The Diving at Work Regulations (1997). http://www.hse.gov.uk ).

Even if you have been a dive supervisor for years, your focus needs to include a whole lot more than the primary focus of getting the job done safely. You might be dealing with clients who have little understanding of the technical challenges and safety requirements of occupational diving and you need to balance the often conflicting demands of getting the job done on schedule with getting it done safely.

Now imagine that you have been promoted to being in charge of the whole diving business. To run any business requires a range of skills that are not always easily picked up "on the job". To run a diving business, or to be responsible for dive operations is even more complex than many businesses, due to the inherently dangerous aspects of occupational diving. If you are in charge of the business, you will want to have a broad understanding of all the aspects of running the business on a day-to-day basis as well as managing the projects that bring in the cash.

The Dive Project Manager course not only gives you and/or your employees tips and techniques for managing projects, it also covers a broad range of skills required to run the business in a sustainable way. You will get ideas for how to keep clients coming back, how to avoid losing your shirt (i.e. money!) on a project, and how to keep employees safe and committed to the success of the project or the business.

You will cover the following topics in the course:

• Managing effective communication in a diving organisation
• Establish, maintain and evaluate occupational health and safety systems
• Leadership and management in a diving organisation
• Developmental planning for a diving organisation
• Prepare estimates, quotes and tenders
• Direct project activities
• Manage the delivery of quality client service
• Manage business risk.

Based on a solid background of theory, it also incorporates real examples and insights from successful diving contractors who have been out in the real world and can tell you what really works. We'll be making reference to some of these diving contractors and their work throughout the course, and giving website details. Take the time to have a look at the websites and project experience of some of the people who have contributed to the development of this course.

Descend Underwater Centre - One of our biggest contracts to date is the massive task of cleaning and inspecting all of the bridges over the Murray River starting at Indi and finishing at Wentworth, a distance over 1000km. This project for the Road and Traffic Authority (RTA) includes tasks as diverse as lock re-instatement, sealing turbine tunnels, video and still photography, surveys, stop log placement, underwater concreting and grouting, pipeline construction, pylon cutting, demolition using underwater cutting and explosive techniques, dredging, salvage, underwater welding, the cleaning of potable water reservoirs and tasks completed in contaminated environments.

I'm not great at running meetings and getting people to contribute - how can I improve?

(Manage effective communication in a diving organisation)

Most people understand the need to have meetings, but few people enjoy them. This is often because meetings are poorly run, or people see them as a waste of time and are reluctant to contribute in a positive way. A project manager needs to ensure that not only is everyone is kept informed of plans and progress, but also that he/she can make the most of everyone's knowledge and experience in problem-solving and planning. Even the most inexperienced member of the group might see things from a different perspective and make a useful contribution if given the opportunity.

If there is a problem, getting the right people involved in solving it, or being able to negotiate with the client or other contractors on the job site could mean the difference between a profitable project and a loss maker. Getting a group together to brainstorm could be helpful, particularly when performing a task that is a little out of the ordinary - like this one! Take a look at the description of this job - and decide whether you would rather be the diver, or the surface team!

The first module "Managing effective communication in a diving organisation" covers many of these things in detail and these will be backed up and consolidated in the face-to-face sessions.

How can I avoid being fined over occupational health and safety issues?

(Establish, maintain and evaluate occupational health and safety systems)

Of course, we all know that we should be doing our jobs in the safest way possible regardless of whether there are penalties imposed or not. But the reality is that:

• sometimes it is tempting to take short-cuts in order to get the job done more quickly or easily.
• sometimes we do our best, but our workers ignore our advice - whose fault is it then?
• regulations change and we don't always manage to keep up to date.

Will you cop the blame if you are the project manager? Ultimately, you are responsible, but there is a lot you can do to both improve the health and safety performance in your workplace - and to avoid being held personally liable if something does go wrong. There are precedents for employees being fined, without the employer being liable, due to the measures the employer had put in place, such as in this example of a practical joke gone wrong reported in the NSW factsheet on workplace violence prevention.

The regulatory authorities are there to help employers to make their workplace as safe as reasonably practicable and to ensure that employees are protected. But they also have the power to inspect your workplace and your procedures to make sure that you are doing your best to keep your workers safe - particularly if there are any accidents or complaints about working conditions.

Quite apart from the difficulties of explaining to a family that their husband/son/daughter/wife isn't coming home, there's also the personal embarrassment and bad publicity of a fine. It makes good business sense to get your occupational health and safety system working for you. There are more and more examples of financial penalties being imposed on businesses that allow their workers to be hurt or killed in the workplace, and even for companies who may have been lucky enough not to kill someone, but have inadequate safety procedures in place, or allow workplace bullying for example. Many of the more recent amendments to legislation include increased penalties, such as those in the amendments to the Commonwealth legislation. http://www.comcare.gov.au/ohs/seminar-pdf/Amendments-OHS.pdf

What is the best way to get employees to do what you want them to do?

(Leadership and management in a diving organisation)

Management is about getting employees to do the work and setting up the systems and procedures to allow them to do it efficiently. Leadership is about achieving a shared understanding of the business goals and having your team wanting to achieve them.

There is a range of leadership styles, some of which are better suited to certain situations than others. Although you will have a naturally preferred style, it is useful to learn some of the other ways of motivating and leading people to get the most from your team.

Strong leadership is underpinned by efficient management and systems. This module gives an overview of some of the essential management systems applicable to any business, in the areas of administration, human resource management and contract management. Learn from the lessons of others on how not to get your employees off side and how to get the extra mile for your business.

Where should I take my business in the future?

(Developmental planning for a diving organisation)

If you are successful, your business will grow. To make sure that you do this in a sustainable way, you will need to do some planning for how you will grow the business and what additional needs this might bring. While it may seem unnecessary to have this in writing, you will find that writing down your plans will help to crystallise your thoughts and to be able to more easily share them with other key stakeholders. You will need to be able to research the impact of external changes to the industry on your business, and understand your market.

Along with growth of a business, comes a greater need to develop and properly document policies and procedures affecting the way the business is run. Some of these are mandatory under diving regulations or OHS law, but others, while optional, will greatly enhance your ability to train new employees, be away from the business for extended periods of time and have things running smoothly in your absence and so on.

What will it cost to do the job?

(Prepare estimates, quotes and tenders)

As you can see from the following example, tenders are a common way of doing business for dive contractors. It's not always easy to estimate accurately, as often critical parts of the job can't even be seen by the estimator since they are underwater. This brings unique challenges to estimating and quoting in the diving industry. A good understanding of contract wording and obligations can assist in creating a contract that is sufficiently flexible to meet the needs of the customer without costing the dive contractor in unpaid extra time and work.

This module is based on lessons learned from real winning (and losing) tenders and the contract tips you will learn from successful contractors are sure to be a sound basis for creating future win-win contracts for both the dive contractor and the client.

Gray Diving Services - G.D.S. was successful with its bid for the works which was offered on an open tender basis attracting interest Australia wide. As a result of the substantial changes made to the original specifications the project ran overtime, however the final price was still below our next nearest competitor and under the allocated budget for the project. The works were undertaken over three separate contract periods totalling 14 months between 1994 and 1997. During this period 1576 logged dives were made at the site, some at maximum storage level and most in the 25-30m range with extended bottom times and low water temperatures. The project was totally accident free with no lost time incidents.

How can I avoid going over cost and over time?

(Direct project activities)

There are standard approaches to managing a project that are designed to make the most efficient use of the resources and balance the often competing constraints of time, cost, people and quality. Using well proven methodologies will help to alleviate many of the problems often associated with projects. But, of course, there are nearly always unexpected events or issues that arise in a project. And the sign of competence of the project manager is in how well these events or issues are handled, so that both the client and the diving business are satisfied with the outcome.

It is not always easy to accurately estimate a job and often issues and problems are only uncovered once the project begins. In these cases, project management includes the ability to quickly realise that there is a problem and resolve it. This might include checking the project specifications and contract conditions and negotiating a mutually agreed plan of action with the client, which may result in contract price variations, or having the project go over time, as in the example above. Note the important fact that although G.D.S. went over time, the client was pleased with the satisfactory completion of the works, and has been a source of repeat business for G.D.S.

What do my customers really want from me?

(Manage the delivery of quality client service)

Quality client service does not always mean being the best, the fastest and the cheapest. In fact these are sometimes contradictory and you are likely to need to trade off some aspects of cost and quality. What it does mean is clearly understanding what the customer needs, and never making assumptions.

Communication is the most important aspect of client service. There are many times when what may appear to be a big problem, such as a time overrun, may not be an issue for the client if they know about in advance and can rearrange other activities to suit the new schedule.

So in the example from Gray Diving Services, it is vital to remember that it is not the overrun that is necessarily the issue, but how it is handled. If a customer can see that a problem is being dealt with quickly and within the terms of the contract, they are usually far more satisfied than if they only find out when it is too late for them to deal with the flow-on issues.

As well as looking at client needs and the delivery of service, this module focuses on employee commitment, marketing your services and reviewing service delivery to ensure that it meets the needs of the client, while at the same time complying with the relevant legislation.

How do I avoid losing my shirt?

(Manage business risk in a diving organisation)

Losing your shirt, doing your dough are colloquial terms for the rather unpleasant experience of losing money. Whether it is your own money as owner of the business, or your employer's money, it is certainly not a sustainable way to run the business! Risk is often associated with safety, but it is also important to recognise and manage risks to the business. This includes specific project risks, as well as the longer term risks of inadequate management of areas such as people, money and equipment. Credit risk, fraud risk and business continuity in the event of a major mishap are other areas to consider.

This module covers these and other areas of business risk, and gives practical suggestions on how to mitigate the risks.

So what do I get out of doing the course?

Overall, the ADAS Advanced Diploma of Occupational Diving, Dive Project Manager qualification should help you on your way to a promotion or a stronger business, successful projects and more repeat clients, and a safe and healthy working environment for you and your team. It's a nationally recognised qualification under the Australian Qualifications Training Framework and was developed in consultation with industry to make it a practical and useful qualification on the job.

Insights from successful contractors, sharing knowledge from other participants and building a network of contacts for future collaboration are likely to be invaluable to all participants, whether you are a self-employed contract diver, the owner of a dive contracting business, or the manager of the diving group in an organisation.

For more information, visit the ADAS website at www.adas.org.au or contact the National Manager of ADAS, Paul Butler on (02) 6689 5656.

Copyright

All material in this course is subject to copyright and may not be downloaded or copied in any form in part or in whole, except by course participants, or as allowed under Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968.

The course was developed by Active Learning Partners for the Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme (ADAS) for use in the Advanced Diploma of Occupational Diving, Dive Project Manager course.

Disclaimer

Throughout the course, links or references to websites are provided for guidance or illustration. The materials in this training resource and in linked or references websites may be the opinions or recommendations of third parties.

Active Learning Partners cannot guarantee their accuracy, currency, reliability or completeness. Active Learning Partners does not necessarily endorse these third party opinions or recommendations or any associated organisations, products or services found on these websites. Similarly, the absence of a link to a third party website should not be seen as a criticism or comment by Active Learning Partners on the provider or content of that website.

It is sometimes possible for a third party website to have been subjected to an unauthorised redirection to an inappropriate website. All websites were checked at the time of course development. Active Learning Partners cannot be held responsible for any such redirection or the results thereof. Should you discover any non-functional or inappropriate websites, please notify Active Learning Partners www.activelearning.com.au or ADAS www.adas.org.au immediately (contact details on website).