When it comes to managing construction, everyone likes to hear about projects that went OK – those completed on schedule and within budget. However, not everyone is willing to talk about the problems and setbacks during the project, and these are often just swept under the rug like it was something that has never happened. Your construction company probably has goals for growth, no matter how big it is. You must keep your employees’ morale, credibility, and drive for a five-star reputation. Avoiding these top ten construction project management mistakes can help you reach these goals while you work on more important ones.
An Overview of Construction Project Management
Before this article gets into all the details, let us first get a quick overview of construction project management. In the broadest sense, project management is a series of processes that define how the project starts, progresses, and until its completion. It is usually defined by five key processes:
- Initiating
- Planning
- Executing
- Monitoring
- Closing
A project manager’s responsibility includes planning, organizing, and directing the completion of specific projects while ensuring these projects are done on time, on budget, and within scope. By keeping an eye on complicated projects from the beginning to the end, project managers have the chance to change the direction of an organization by helping to cut costs, improve efficiency, and bring in more money.
Ten Common Management Mistakes to Watch Out for in Your Next Construction Project
Every project, especially in the construction industry, comes with many risks. From task management to scheduling delays, being ready for these risks can help even the most complicated projects go more smoothly. Sadly, many contractors or project managers might make the same mistakes when setting up their daily workflows. This section lists the top ten mistakes you should watch out for in your next project.
1. Giving the Job of Project Management to The Wrong Person
People tend to work with people they can trust in the building business. In this case, the responsibility of ensuring a successful project delivery falls into the hands of a project manager. People can make an excellent team if they know how to work together – so it could significantly slow down the project if there are skill gaps. It is wise to hire a project manager who has done a certain amount of work and has skills that match the project’s needs, especially one that utilizes an online construction management software that can streamline and optimize the process.
2. Not Enough Resources to Sustain the Project
Failure can happen if the project does not have all of the resources it needs. Even if you have the correct number of people on your team, it will be hard for the project to succeed if they do not have the materials, tools, or equipment needed to finish the task. The same goes for your crew’s skillset and work ethic. Poor matching of resources will harm you, so you must ensure you have everything you need before undertaking a project.
3. Inefficient Task Management System
As a project manager, you might think you should do every task yourself. However, you should also pay attention to what your members say. People tend to keep quiet when a project manager ignores his team and tells them not to share their ideas and suggestions because he thinks he’s better than them. Project managers must be open to ideas, know how to delegate tasks, and show faith in their team.
Even if you’re racing to meet deadlines and make money, you shouldn’t lose sight of how you’re getting there. Spend time, money, and effort on the steps you need to take to make your work good. A good construction job scheduling software is one tool that can help you achieve an efficient task management system.
4. Not Prioritizing Communication
One of the problems that project managers can run into is the inability to talk to their team members. In cases of misunderstanding, your team members may point fingers and blame someone else. Even when a project is going well, everyone needs to know what’s happening. When project managers don’t talk to the team and the client in a relaxed way, the projects often fail. Communication mistakes can happen in several ways, including when people don’t report things consistently, thoroughly, clearly, or on time. Communication problems can occur both on the job site and in the office, and this can cause the project to take longer and cost more than expected.
5. Placing Less Importance on the Pre-Construction Stage
The most critical aspect of a project is how it is planned in the early stages. Every project needs to start with a kick-off meeting to align everyone on the project’s goals, roles, and responsibilities. During the first meeting, ensure everyone knows and understands what you want from them. It gives you the best chance of finishing a project within a short time frame and fixing the problem before the delay causes the project costs to skyrocket and the deadline to be pushed back for a long time. Coordinating a well-made construction plan means making room for reasonable delays and figuring out how to deal with them.
You need to plan strategically as your construction business gets older and more prominent. You cannot just rely on your spreadsheets and handwritten notes. If you start construction jobs without a plan, you will make a mess and be less likely to reach your long-term goals. So, it might be time to think about using construction technology. These technologies, like construction scheduling software, can help you plan and strategize well by having a clear view of your project from start and finish.
6. Wrong Time and Resource Estimates
The most important parts of a construction project are the cost and the timelines and deadlines of the project. Most schedules are tight so that deadlines can be met. Even when everyone does their best, most construction projects are delayed somehow. Especially since construction projects are made up of a million moving parts that can be harder to manage, if you have never done a project in this specific size or scope before, you should ask for help. It is best to make a budget from the bottom up for reasonable estimates to deliver the correct value for your client’s investment.
7. Mismanagement of the Project’s Scope
Changes in the project’s scope are a common reason why it fails. During the planning stage, everyone must agree on the project’s scope. You should be able to plan on how to manage any requests to change the project’s scope. The proposal must meet specific criteria so that we can figure out how it will affect the schedule and budget.
Remind everyone on the field and in the office how important it is to communicate and stay on the same page. Letting your crew be a part of the project from beginning to end gives them a sense of ownership. It can help you figure out possible risks, especially if there is a change in scope.
8. Micromanaging Projects
When a project manager is new, they could act like the police and check on the team to ensure they are working on projects and giving updates. While this does not apply to every project manager, it is still a risk that should be on your radar. Instead of babysitting the team, lay out everything during the regularly scheduled meetings so they can update and show the progress of their work. A good leader trusts his team and lets them make their own decisions. As a project manager, you need to do precisely that. If you manage your team too closely, it could make people rebellious and hurt the workplace atmosphere.
9. Not doing what needs to be done.
Most projects start with a lot of hope but do not know where they are because they do not know where they are going or what they will do. Make a work schedule that shows who is in charge of what and when these tasks need to be done. Don’t forget the milestones, so they can track how far they are from the end.
It is not enough to start things off. You have to watch how a project moves from start to finish. You should know how things are going at every step. This is the only way to see if problems need to be fixed or to catch small mistakes that could lead to big business problems. One way to do this is to watch your key performance indicators (KPIs). You can utilize a construction management application that can give you reports on how well your project is doing.
10. Not Investing in a Construction Software
Tools for managing projects that are the same for all kinds of construction projects may not always meet all of their needs. When more than one tool is used, things can get messy and take longer to finish. It becomes hard to find minor cost problems, and communication can get muddled when there are a lot of separate channels.
A construction job management software can be beneficial because it keeps track of all construction project parts. All messages, RFIs, schedules, documents, and other things are kept in one place. It also gives you and your team all the valuable information with just a few simple clicks. Like Pro Crew Schedule, you and your team can communicate and be on the same page, ensuring a smoother and more streamlined construction process and successful project delivery.
