Bernard Fanning

Said the following about Christopher Lynch:

“Chris welcomes everyone with a smile, nod and an “alright?” and appears to know more people in the business than many of our colleagues with more longevity in the business!

Chris joined the Crossrail 2 team in March 2017 for a 4 month placement. I had to wait for him to come over to the team because he was doing such a great job in his previous placement they had asked him to stay on for 6 weeks. His main challenges were setting up the access onto the railway for ecology consultants, establishing a document and drawings list for the scheme and supporting me in gathering the projects requirements to establish a baseline for Crossrail 2. We captured the requirements using GIS and Chris became a champion on the system and a huge asset to the team.

The Apprentices are on 3 months rotations for 2 years. Their ability to influence a project is dependent on their previous knowledge and ability but most of all, their attitude. Chris personifies the behaviours expected by Network Rail. He was not afraid to challenge and give his own ideas towards any tasks he was given. He demonstrated collaboration through his engagement with a multitude of stakeholders on the project in order to gather requirements. He was accountable for his work and took pride in delivering it particularly his presentation on the importance of a drawing and document list and he is customer driven. He takes time to understand his customers’ needs and strives to deliver on time and to the quality that is expected or higher.

I learnt a lot from Chris’ attitude, initiative and energy to seek out information and ultimately get the job done. He approached every task with confidence and wasn’t afraid to ask questions to enhance his understanding, and also test yours, therefore demonstrating a natural flair for collaboration. This was particularly true with his management of the possessions. Whilst he didn't always know the answer, it didn't take long from him to find out using his contacts and initiative. Chris was great to bounce ideas off as he would always listen, seek clarity and respond with suggestions for improvement using his own knowledge on previous projects as demonstrated in his establishment of the Task Information Delivery Plan and SharePoint survey that he undertook on behalf of the project.

Due to his support on the requirements capture process he has helped influence a new way of capturing project requirements whereby the project team seeks clarity of the requirement and how to deliver the requirement by working with the project sponsor (who sets the requirements) and the designer (who will deliver the requirements). It was a colossal task with 4 sponsors, 5 lead designers and 16 different disciplines identifying requirements. Without Chris’ support this task would have been overwhelming for the team and Chris truly made it workable.

I wish Chris the best with his future and hope to see him in the industry once his placement finishes in September.“