3 Important Facets of Project Management

Whether the project you are working on is small or large, the ultimate goal of managing that project is getting it completed successfully to the customer’s specifications, while saving time and money to stay within the schedule and budget allotted.

There are methods and tools for ensuring you have the best chances of achieving that. Following are three important facets of project management.

Ensuring Connectivity

Construction sites have historically been disconnected from the office. But with today’s accelerated schedules, onsite workers need real-time access to systems and job information to do their best work. Data bottlenecks can interfere with real-time decision making and data strategies, resulting in lost productivity. According to a report by Autodesk and FMI, challenges in capturing, managing and analyzing data have cost the industry trillions of dollars globally due to “bad” data, particularly its impact on decision making.

The increasingly mobile workforce in construction needs connected technology. Connected data is especially key as the use of building information modeling (BIM) by companies in the industry continues to grow. In addition, connectivity is important for putting to use the information gathered by drones and cameras and processed by artificial intelligence (AI).

As explained in an August 2023 ConstructionDive article, one solution to the disconnected nature of construction sites is by using connected devices, like laptops and tablets, with built-in secure, high-speed 4G/5G cellular connections.

Learn more about connectivity in the free Graitec Group eBook: The Importance of a Common Data Environment.

Controlling Costs

In July 2023 Autodesk published a report on ways to protect project margins. Some of the suggestions by interviewed industry executives included:

• Be selective – When it comes to projects, bid on the ones where you have a successful track record.
• Plan ahead – Establish processes that help you quickly adjust to changes that affect your projects.
• Identify pain points – Know your company’s weaknesses and implement tools and solutions to help solve them.
• Leverage BIM – Use model-based data for bids, pricing, budgeting, and materials counts.
• Monitor cash flow – Optimize your procedures for invoicing and receivables and negotiate optimal vendor terms for each project.
• Economize – Fine tune your processes so you can accomplish more using fewer resources.

Creating Efficient Teams

Close cooperation and communication among a project’s stakeholders result in a unified, agile, efficient team. Such a team can be proactive during complications like supply chain issues and develop collaborative solutions to issues that arise. One best practice to accomplish this involves using lean construction methods. Lean methods can improve team culture, profitability and project timeframes. Lean methods focus on:

• Removing waste;
• Optimizing the whole;
• Focusing on efficient process flow;
• Generating value;
• Continually improving.

Ideally, subcontractors are made part of an efficient team culture. Contractor management is made easier by monitoring industry and regulatory changes; establishing performance guidelines and measuring improvements; gathering and analyzing data for insights; and reinforcing the use of best practices.

Lean construction methods can be part of your company culture. Learn about how to avoid wasting time and money. Download the free two-volume eBook: “Avoiding the 7 Deadly Wastes in Your BIM Process.”