Millpond were once again proud to sponsor the 2020 Project Manager of the Year Award. The Award was presented at an Awards event held in Auckland on 27 January 2021
The Millpond Project Manager of the Year Award recognises a project manager’s significant achievement or sustained performance, in the project management of a project or multiple projects where PMBOK® principles have been applied and demonstrated in the previous year.
Congratulations to the winner and finalists of the Millpond Project Manager of the Year
Winner:
Deep Joshi – Fonterra
Finalists:
Stuart Taylor – Octa Associates
Craig Tomlinson – Mercury NZ Limited
Deep Joshi 
Fonterra – Waitoa Dehumidifier And Batching Project
Deep led this ‘essential’ project for Fonterra with a goal of improving production capacity and performance for a Waitoa-based drying facility.
The one-year project commenced in October 2019 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. It still came in on schedule, despite the impacts of the New Zealand lockdowns and border closures.
The judges were particularly impressed by Deep’s handling of the project timeline and budget challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. The pivots necessary to allow internationally-based subject matter experts to support the project without site visits. Furthermore the Covid-readiness work he led to ensure not only Fonterra, but their subcontractors were adequately managing the risks of Covid-19 infections were clearly fundamental to the project’s success.
Deep’s collaborative and humble leadership style was key in developing trust and team connectedness. This was clearly evident in the letters of commendation he received from staff, project sponsors and the third-party suppliers.
While the other two finalists were also outstanding nominations, the judges viewed Deep’s leadership style and philosophy highly. Combined with his use of project management standards and practices, and his handling of the Covid-19 challenges placed him first in the award category for The Millpond Project Manager of the Year for 2020.
Stuart Taylor 
Octa Associates – Christchurch Town Hall Restoration Project
Stuart was instrumental in the success of this high-visibility and highly complex restoration project, which is clearly a cornerstone in the Canterbury re-build. His outstanding leadership utilising project management best practices combined with his personable style, ability to articulate a vision and path forward with logical and reasoned explanations, as well as his stakeholder management skills were evident in the nomination.
The judges were particularly impressed with Stuart’s skills in managing a significant number of Compensation Events over the project duration within budget while also maintaining the respect of all parties and a cohesive and collaborative team. They also acknowledge Stuart’s obvious success in influencing positive outcomes for all stakeholders through logical, pragmatic and action-oriented project discussions.
Stuart is a worthy finalist in The Millpond Project Manager of the Year awards and should be proud of not only his achievement, but also the high praise he has received from the nominator and his client.
Congratulations to Octa for winning the ‘Construction Project of the Year Award 2020’ for this project.
Craig Tomlinson 
Mercury NZ – Arc Flash Protection Scheme Installations
Craig successfully managed a critical infrastructure project involving high complexity due to national grid supply requirements and the numerous stakeholders and contractors involved.
Through his experience, project management practices and style, he was able to balance the demands of health and safety, electricity generation outage schedules, cost, schedule and quality as well as international suppliers while maintaining a collaborative and enjoyable project environment.
Craig is a worthy finalist in the Millpond Project Manager of the Year awards and can be rightly proud of his achievements of this project, which have exhibited a high degree of professionalism in leadership and project management bets practice.
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