Two new comers to the top six Atkins China's Atkins Amigos leap six places to first place. Atkins China produced last year's winners and it looks like their only team this year are starting to threaten. The other newcomer is Atkins' India's Regime climbing three places to fifth. Dropping out are BWB's BWBies dropping to eighth from first and Atkins' Famous Five dropping from sixth to 10th. The ranking positions of the remaining four in the top six have seen minor changes. Lower down there are significant movements both ways so more newcomers to the tip six can be expected.
The chasing pack needs some hard thinking. In past years at this stage the leading teams get twitchy and cautious. A final place seems to be in their grasp but a mistake, an uniformed decision, or a reckless decision that goes the wrong way can and will change all that. The fear of it slipping away generates caution and this generates defensiveness. This will give opportunities for those in the chasing pack to show their flair and take slightly more courageous decisions to catch them. The top six are nervously looking over their shoulder and so they should. The chasers are breathing down their neck.
For all teams, if your strategy hasn't been reviewed this is probably the last major opportunity to do so. It is time for a serious review of the strategy you've been following to determine what changes in the next three rounds will yield the biggest gains. It's time to take some decisions that earlier you might have considered as too risky. This is when leadership and disciplined decision making should show its value. Teams can greatly improve their ranking in these last three rounds. It takes sense to recognise that your strategy isn't working it takes strength to change your strategy. Is your team sensible and strong enough?
Aspects that some teams might like to consider a little more carefully include matching the project manager's experience to the project, a critical factor in efficiency, the number of measurement staff helps recover all you are due and improves your cash position, the estimating effort required for accurate estimates and the company's capital to turnover ratio indicting how hard your capital is working. Yes, there is a lot of variables and they all interact which is why disciplined decision making is required.
With three rounds to go, who will escape the chasers.
Click here for the Full results
The top ten positions in the Sponsors Award are Atkins India, KBR, Sweco, Fluor, AECOM, Mott Macdonald, Atkins UK, Arup, Kier and Taylor Woodrow/Vinci.