Regardless of its industry sector, every project comprises hundreds of activities, tasks, and subtasks – each with its essential role in completing the project. Of course, the construction industry is no exemption to that fact. When managing construction projects, keeping track of each and every task or subtask that must be completed on a construction job site every day, every week, or even every month is a problem difficult challenge in and of itself.
Nowadays, most project managers still utilize the traditional approach of assigning and distributing work. It still involves sending text messages or making phone calls to a crew for their assigned tasks, contacting the subcontractors, and somehow keeping it organized and on track. It is easy to lose track of assignments when there are so many different communication channels between superintendents, subcontractors, employees, and laborers. Sometimes tasks are recorded and monitored, and other times they are not, which leaves space for mistakes, human errors, and inefficiencies throughout the project’s lifespan. Suppose you want to do a more satisfying job running your project and managing your crew. In that case, effective project task management can help you achieve your goal of delivering your project smoothly and efficiently.
Task management is critical in determining the success or failure of your project’s progress and result. In other words, if you are a project manager and do not have the proper tactics for managing your construction crew, you may encounter several roadblocks and obstacles. This article will help you learn effective task management and share tips on keeping it simple and efficient.
What is Construction Tasks Management?
In construction, task management is managing a task through its life cycle, from start to finish. Every task is planned and controlled, utilizing specific resources and deadlines to deliver projects on time. Task management involves a comprehensive set of responsibilities: planning, testing, tracking, and reporting. It may appear not very easy, but it may also be done and effectively with the right strategies. Project managers should meticulously plan how each job should be handled and how it should progress. Setting deadlines, communicating and collaborating with team members, and developing construction timetables and schedules to keep you and your team on track.
Why Does Construction Tasks Management Matter?
It is essential to manage construction tasks to guarantee a finished product that is on time, on budget, and of high satisfaction to your customer. Good and effective management of tasks can result in less stress and streamlined and optimized operating processes for you and your clients. Construction task management is a critical component of time management in the construction industry. Because of this, you will need to put your organizing abilities to use. Because after all, as a project manager, it is your responsibility to ensure that projects and teams remain on schedule, particularly during times of high pressure.
When done right, effective task management allows you to:
- Get a real-time, bird’s eye view of what your progress looks like
- Manage and organize your workload
- Boost crew productivity and morale
- Assign the right individuals or teams for the right tasks
- Control your resources and inventories
- Create open communication and close collaboration
- Be more time-efficient
How To Implement Effective Task Management Programs?
Task management is a crucial part of project management for construction. There are several tools available that you can utilize when planning and managing your task, ranging from manual, electronic, or online-based management tools. The following are the primary five-step processes that you should consider while putting in place an efficient task management system:
Define your Project Scope and Deliverables
Before getting started with task delegation and management, defining the project’s scope and deliverables is essential. This way, every part of the project is considered, and no detail is left out.
Organize your Workflow Processes
A workflow is a series of processes that indicate the activities required to finish a specific project milestone in construction. It describes how something goes from being undone to done. Take a high-rise building, for example. Hundreds of activities must be done, from excavation, foundation pouring, and interior finishing, before declaring the project completed.
Breakdown your Activities into Smaller Tasks
Next is to break down your activities further into smaller, workable tasks. This strategy enables you to clearly define who is in charge of the specific task and determine its relationship to other tasks. Once you have determined the proper sequences of tasks, you may decide which ones would critically impact your timetable, cost, and inventory.
Assign and Allocate Your Tasks
Assigning and distributing work daily or weekly is the most effective technique to handle project task management. The jobs may be distributed equally between the crew members, preventing them from being overburdened with labor. To guarantee that the project does not experience delays, we must adequately employ and compensate the crew, boosting productivity and morale.
Continuously Monitor and Update
Once your project kicks off, it is essential to monitor and update any progress or changes in real-time continuously. You can realign tasks and schedules according to sound business decision-making by spotting potential problems and solving them immediately.
Nine Tips to Keep Your Construction Tasks Management Simple and Effective
There are a variety of approaches that may be used to manage tasks effectively. It ranges from manual to-do lists like paper and pen, a spreadsheet, or construction scheduling software. This section has listed down nine tips to keep your task management simple and effective.
Scheduling Management
Scheduling tasks is an excellent task management technique. It keeps the team focused on the job at hand and prevents them from being distracted by worries about other tasks. Keeping on track, on the other hand, is a considerable challenge. It is possible to understand better what is happening inside your project by creating a complete schedule and assigning start and due dates.
Be Flexible
In some instances, you need to be flexible with your deadlines and realign tasks and timelines accordingly. This can be due to drastic changes in the market trends, customer drive, or change orders. If not addressed promptly, any of these variables might deprive a team of its potential for success and development.
Be Open to Possible Changes
Sometimes, things do not always go the way we want them to. This is particularly common in the construction industry, being notoriously prone to delays. Being open to possible changes helps keep you focused on tasks and immediately solve these potential roadblocks.
Be Involved
As a project manager, it is your overall responsibility to manage construction projects from start to finish. However, managing your construction crew does not end with the allocation and delegation of tasks. It is essential to be involved throughout the task progress and keep everyone on the same page.
Communicate Clearly
The importance of communication has been stressed on numerous channels on various levels throughout the years. No matter what business you work in, maintaining open lines of communication with all team members is critical to achieving smooth sailing and seamless project success.
Ensure Close Collaboration
Suppose you want to be a successful project manager. In that case, you must keep your task management programs open and transparent with your teammates. Meet with them consistently and ask them about the project or tasks updates. Getting their feedback and comments about existing task management techniques is good data to arrange your tasks better.
Develop an Efficient Document Control System
Managing tasks and projects involve a significant amount of paperwork. When you are working on a specific task inside a project, a large number of papers are generated and changed. Suppose you want to keep your duties organized. In that case, you must make sure that all the documentation and key data linked with a project are maintained in a single location. Using web-based document filing is a great approach to keep everything organized and quickly accessible on the internet.
Strive for Continuous Improvement
The ability to continuously improve is something everyone has, and exchanging feedback is the best method to discover where progress can be made. This will guarantee that your team and your work procedures can continuously improve and be optimized and streamlined. Obtaining the most satisfactory possible outcomes in the shortest amount of time is now easily attainable.
Use a Construction Scheduling Software
Many businesses have become market giants as a result of technological advancements, and millionaires have been created as a result. Project managers have now moved away from the old pen-and-paper technique in favor of electronic and digital technologies that allow them to automate the tedious and time-consuming chores associated with task management.
Using the right tool at the proper application may make a significant difference in your career as a contractor or a project manager. While skill, knowledge, and training may have a lot to do with our task and project management abilities, using the correct task management tool may increase our chances of success.
