Successfully Manage Risk On Your Next Building Project.
Managing construction projects is complex and brings up a lot of potential challenges.
No single person has all the knowledge or experience to solve every issue that could come up on any given project, that’s why we need to be efficient and effective with how we use our time, our resources and the people available to us so that we minimize the impact of project issues when they come up.
Today I want to talk specifically about efficiency and why it’s important in project management.
In any project, if things aren’t efficient and running smoothly it means more work, more hours, and more meetings to sort things out, which leads to more paperwork, more stress and less time focusing on the things we’d prefer to be doing.
Efficiency is the ability to do things correctly and consistently while reducing the amount of time, money and stress it costs us to do it all.
When a project is efficient, it saves you across all of these areas, but most importantly it saves you cost and time, which you can use on the areas that matter most. You can then use those resources on another project, on staff development, expanding the business and so on.
The economist Vilfredo Pareto developed a well-known principle known as the 80/20 rule. This is the concept that 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. It’s a principle can be extended to 90/10, 85/15 even 99/1. The basis is that there a ‘vital few’ activities or inputs that contribute most to the overall results.
In construction projects we can see how this concept might be applied to different areas of a project.
- Is 80% of time spent addressing 20% of workers, subcontractors or consultants?
- Are 10% of project documents accounting for 90% of documents actually referred to on-site?
- Does 80% of the work actually completed come from 20% of all available hours?
The key to efficiency is to find where the vital few highest impact causes are and develop ways to improve, reduce or delegate them as early as possible.
Here are 8 Ways to create efficiency on your next project:
1. Have clearly defined project goals –
Clearly defined goals help the project team focus on a common outcome and provide direction for the project. What is the overall completion date, what is the target budget, what are the quality expectations?
2. Quickly Identify incoming changes –
The sooner project and design changes are identified and passed onto the project team the easier it is to address them and modify the project’s goals in time. An efficient system to communicate this information clearly saves a lot of time and confusion.
3.Create Process Documentation –
It’s vital to have a process in place for everything that occurs on your project. Clearly defined processes improve quality while removing confusion, wasted time and costly mistakes.
4. Plan for Challenges –
Have contingency plans in place for potential changes. Maybe materials aren’t available or there’s bad weather that shuts down the site. How do you reduce these risks? Also start recording your response to any new issues as they arise (Global pandemic anyone?). What was the solution to the issues and how could this can be improved in the future?
5. Clearly Define the Project Scope –
Understanding the details of the project scope helps the project team allocate resources to the right places and helps to create a realistic timeline for the project.
6. Communicate Clearly With Clients and Team Members –
Good communication includes clear, concise conversations and honest feedback. It helps everyone understand the project’s needs and challenges.
7. Get Mobile –
There is a huge amount of helpful online and mobile programs, apps and cloud services that can assist at every stage of a project to make it more efficient. Whether it’s document control, team communications, defect inspections, invoicing, or contracts. Dedicate time to explore what solutions could improve the area of greatest challenge on your project.
8.Outsource to Experts Where Necessary –
Having the right team in place is crucial for any project. Know where your team’s strengths and weaknesses lie and engage specialists to fill in the gaps.
At Asentia we work closely with construction businesses to take the stress out of making projects more efficient so they can focus on growing and expanding.
But before you can be efficient you need to have a clear plan in place. Book in a free strategy session with us to start creating your business plan today.
