Before your job got rolling, you built a detailed schedule you thought would help you manage the project to completion. Now you’re waiting on permits, two of your subs haven’t showed and your available resources are strained. You’ve got a stack of daily reports that are too overwhelming to sort through before your next OAC meeting. That faded project schedule on the wall is looking pretty useless.
Project managers need a schedule that is dynamic, just like their jobs. Unfortunately, most project managers are too busy to update their schedule based on every event that arises and they spend too much time tracking down other people to gather the data they need. Moreover, most project managers are using separate systems for project control and project scheduling. The change orders, submittals and daily reports tracked in one system aren’t being reflected in the scheduling system that manages the critical path.
An integrated project management and scheduling system delivered over the Internet can transform your schedule from a printout on the wall to a living asset that reflects the real-time status of your job. Every document that comes through the project management system will automatically update the schedule based on its project impact. By extending access to all your people over the Web, they can update their own information so you don’t have to track them down.
Here we discuss five ways that integrating project management and scheduling in a web-based environment can keep your jobs on track.
Daily reports drive schedule updates
Daily reports aren’t much use if they’re just printed and stacked on your desk. Instead, reports should be created, distributed and viewed within a web-based system. Not only will a web-based system allow more people to report on job status, the online environment will transform the report from a simple write-up to a structured set of project information. For example, team members can report on the percent completion for a given task by selecting from a dropdown menu. Your schedule can then automatically measure that status relative to plan, adjust the schedule and alert everyone affected by the change. At the same time, tasks and processes that are not impacted will continue to move forward on the original schedule.
Proactively control critical project documents
Daily reports aren’t the only documents to come across your desk and impact your schedule. Submittals, change orders, insurance certificates, contracts and permits can all impact the critical path. If left sitting on the fax machine or stacked on your desk, it may be days or weeks before their impact is reflected in the schedule. By moving these paper-intensive documents into a web-based collaboration platform, their impact can be measured and reflected in the schedule in real-time. The schedule will automatically update and alert the relevant people. Moreover, the system can alert you when someone else drops the ball. If your submittal hasn’t been answered promptly, the system alerts you and the responsible party to keep things moving.
A web-based system such as HeadsUp iCPM allows more people to report on job status, transforming the report from a simple write-up to a structured set of project information.
Juggle resources with insight into everyone’s schedule
Because the schedule is inevitably changing throughout the job, knowing your subs’ availability is critical to staying on or ahead of schedule. One way to stay ahead of the curve is to maintain schedules for each of your subs. This way, you’ll know if they are available a few days ahead of schedule or a few days behind. Traditionally, that would mean maintaining more schedules and tracking down more people. With a web-based system, you can extend access to all of your subcontractors who in turn can update their availability via the system. The same applies to equipment and other resources. The availability of every person, company and resource can be tracked in a web-based system.
Find everyone you need with ease
Communication is integral to keep your job running smoothly. You have to talk to vendors, subs, customers, managers, and rental agencies. Maintain an active directory of contacts and resources within your project management system and allow everyone to update their own information in the system via the web. Next time a sub fails to show, access your global contact list and you find an alternative sub, along with their contact info and even their schedules. If the system is integrated with your email, you can manage all of your correspondence through the system as well.
Manage the job from the jobsite
With broadband Internet, cellular modems and urban wireless, it rare not to have Internet access available at the job site. Why then wait until you are back in the office to update the project management system. Laptops, PDAs, and other communication devices allow superintendents and project managers to keep everyone informed about progress, issues, and all the information they have from the site in real time. Rather than wasting a morning driving from office to site and back, get all your work done on-site. Meanwhile, the folks back at the office will have instant access, via the web, to all the new information you’ve updated in the project management system.
A mobile task list in HeadsUp iCPM allows superintendents and project managers to keep everyone informed about project completion via a web-enabled cell phone.
By integrating project management and scheduling, you can bring your faded schedule back to life. And not only will you know project status at any point in time; everyone else who has to know will learn by using the same system, available anywhere. Your job will move more quickly and smoothly by staying up-to-date and proactive in alerting you about what’s going on.
