The Core Engagement · "We know something is wrong."

Recover control of one programme — in ten days, not six months.

When your programme is still reporting green — but control is slipping — you don't need another review. You need a reset.

The Delivery Control Reset takes one live, at-risk programme and gives you back control of it — scope, plan, decisions, vendor dates and cadence — in ten working days. Fixed scope. Fixed fee. One executive-ready plan at the end.

Book a Reset scoping call →

Limited to two Reset engagements per month. Delivered directly by Serguei Poppeleer.

Prefer email? hello@contracks.global

Ten business days. Fixed scope. Fixed fee. You finish with a control gap map, a top-ten risk list and a 30/60/90-day recovery plan you can take straight to SteerCo.

Owner-side programmes · €10M–€2B · Europe · Africa · Gulf
€700M
programme held through regional disruption
6 months
idle time recovered on a cross-border pipeline programme
€30M
acceleration plan negotiated, milestones held

You're in Reset territory if…

The plan exists in three places — Excel, Primavera, slide decks — and none of them match.

Decisions get made in side calls, and you find out after procurement has already moved.

You can feel the programme slipping, but you can't yet prove where — or defend it to the board.

Ten days to get the programme back under your control.

The Reset is not a report you file. It's a focused intervention on one live programme: we find where control has been lost, prove it with evidence, and hand you a plan that holds in front of execs, sites and suppliers.

Built for the Head of PMO or programme owner who knows the governance looks right on paper — but the site runs on WhatsApp and unverified dates, and the gap between the deck and the ground is widening.

By the time it shows in the numbers, it's already cost you.
Control leaks quietly — a scope never contained, a decision left open, a vendor date nobody checked. Each is cheap to recover while it's still a gap, and expensive once it's hardened into an overrun or a claim.
The 10-day shape
Days 1–3
Lock the truthScope, plan and decision rights mapped against what's actually happening on site.
Days 4–7
Find the leaksVendor dates verified, open decisions surfaced, the top-ten risks ranked by exposure.
Days 8–10
Hand over the planControl gap map, 30/60/90-day recovery plan, and an executive-ready readout.
Serguei Poppeleer
Serguei Poppeleer · Founder, Contracks Global
MCIArb · WorldCC · LLM Oil & Gas · MIT & INSEAD Executive Education

Across 30 countries, recovering control of complex capital programmes up to €2B — embedded with the team, not advising from a distance.

How it works

Scored against the 5Cs Framework™.

Five controls, applied in sequence. Each one removes a specific way programmes lose grip. The Reset assesses all five on your programme and shows you exactly where the control has broken.

C1

Contain the Scope

Turn fuzzy requirements into written scope, documented assumptions and clear acceptance criteria.

C2

Command One Plan

One live baseline that matches site reality — not parallel plans nobody trusts.

C3

Close Every Decision

Every open item gets an owner, a deadline and a consequence. Decisions made once.

C4

Confirm Vendor Dates

Verified capacity and lead-time checks before a date is ever allowed into the baseline.

C5

Control Tower Cadence

A fixed weekly rhythm that catches slippage early — so the PMO leads, not reports.

Who this is for

If you're accountable for delivery — but not yet in control of it.

01

Heads of PMO with overseas execution

Governance looks right from head office, but the site is running on a different reality — and the gap is yours to answer for.

02

Programme & project directors

One live programme drifting — scope creeping, decisions reopening, dates slipping — and you need it provably back under control.

03

Owners & sponsors who inherited it

A programme set up by someone else, in a different phase, that now has to deliver without surprises on your watch.

What you walk away with

Six outputs. One programme, back under control.

5Cs control assessment — where each of the five controls holds, and where it's broken.

Scope & control gap map — the deck vs the ground, side by side, with the gaps named.

Decision & vendor-date review — open decisions closed, optimistic dates verified.

Top-ten risk list — ranked by exposure, with the recoverable ones flagged.

30/60/90-day recovery plan — sequenced actions you can run, with or without us.

Executive-ready readout — one narrative you can take straight to SteerCo.

Fixed scope. Fixed fee. Scoped to programme size and complexity, confirmed during the Reset scoping call. Ten business days from kickoff to readout — no open-ended advisory commitment required.
Book a scoping call →
Energy · Italy & Denmark · Cross-border pipelines

Six months lost mid-programme — recovered within the original window.

Situation

Two simultaneous cross-border gas-pipeline programmes had accumulated six months of idle time. The schedule was no longer trusted, the commercial position was exposed, and investor confidence was slipping.

Intervention

Reset the control around the work — one defensible plan, decisions closed, vendor dates verified — and built the recovery and claims strategy on top of it.

Outcome

The idle time was recovered inside the original 24-month window. A €30M acceleration plan was negotiated, critical milestones landed on time, and investor confidence was restored.

Before
  • Six months of idle time
  • Schedule no longer trusted
  • Commercial position exposed
After
  • Recovered in the original window
  • €30M acceleration plan agreed
  • Investor confidence restored
Questions before you book

What the Reset is — and what it is not.

Six answers for programme owners who need control fast, without launching a six-month consulting exercise.

Can ten days really fix a drifting programme?

Not completely — and the Reset does not pretend to. Ten days is enough to identify where control has been lost, prove the gaps with evidence, rank the recoverable risks, and produce a 30/60/90-day recovery plan. The deeper fix is the Turnaround.

What if our programme is too complex or political for a standard framework?

The Reset is structured, not generic. The 5Cs give the assessment sequence, but the evidence comes from your live programme: scope, plan, decisions, vendor dates and cadence. The method has been used across crisis conditions, cross-border programmes and politically sensitive delivery environments.

What do you need from my team?

Access to the core documents, the current plan, the decision log or equivalent, selected vendor dates, and a small number of focused interviews. Delivery does not stop. The Reset is designed to work around the programme, not consume it.

What if this only confirms what we already know?

Then the value is turning what people feel into evidence leaders can act on. Many PMO teams know the programme is drifting, but cannot prove where, sequence the recovery, or defend the case to SteerCo. The Reset converts concern into an executive-ready control narrative.

What happens after the Reset?

You can run the 30/60/90-day plan yourself, ask Contracks Global to support the Decision-Ready Programme Turnaround, or retain advisory support for cadence and control. There is no forced retainer.

Is this for contractors or owners?

The Reset is built for owner-side teams: PMO Directors, programme owners, sponsors and executives accountable for delivery. It can involve contractors and vendors, but the mandate is to restore owner-side control.

A review tells you what happened.
A reset changes what happens next.

The Reset exists to put one drifting programme back under your control — fast enough to still matter.

Which programme would you put through it first?

Ten days from now, you could be holding the plan instead of chasing the truth.

Book a Reset scoping call →
Ready to fix it, not just diagnose it? → The Decision-Ready Programme Turnaround "We're fixing it." The Reset gives you clarity; the Turnaround installs the recovery.