Want to know how to do a better construction site management? Are you planning to manage a construction site and give your best skills and effort? Here is a detailed list of helpful guides on how you can be a great construction manager, achieving successful projects that can be finished and delivered in a cheaper and faster way.
Achievement is one way of saying that you meet your goal. You’ve accomplished any tasks given to you. And will provide you with the best outcome of your skills and effort. Completing a project is one great example of achievement, whether for schoolwork or your job.
Passionate people like architects, construction managers, and contractors work wholeheartedly in achieving plans, making them into reality for their customers and even for society.
Doing Construction Site Management by Using WhatsApp and Excel isn’t enough.
Managing a construction site with a team of so many people is no easy task. As a construction manager, you always have to keep your eyes and ears open to manage and plan for a big crowd.
Most of the project managers’ tasks include attending meetings, making phone calls, and writing reports that took 40% of their time in a day. It is an exhausting job, especially when they need to rely on tools and devices that use technology, which isn’t fitted and accustomed to the construction industry.
Another critical thing to consider as a project manager is to be aligned with the site manager so both of you can ensure to protect the project against any commercial claims. Ensure any failures and mistakes will be corrected so there will be no unlikeable surprises when you handed over the project. It is the main reason why construction managers were called the uncrowned kings of the industry. They have to face many complicated issues, never lose sight of planning, and without them, employees’ and workers’ safety might be compromised.
With all the things mentioned above, here are the ten powerful tips a construction manager should follow to get the tasks easier to take plus making their projects finished on time.
1. Know what tools you need – and be knowledgeable in using them.
Several tools can allow a construction manager to connect with different people, even using laptops or smartphones. Some of them stand out. Most of the construction industries usually use Excel and WhatsApp, but they didn’t know that these tools aren’t doing good work. They aren’t enough to manage a whole construction project. One simple reason is they can’t connect the planning to the updates they should receive from the site.
This usual scenario results in a mistake that leads the project managers to not getting the correct information from the field, giving them a lot of excessive work and causing them hard to come up with decisions.
That is why it is essential to think of a very reliable construction-specific tool to get a shareable on-site live view of their projects. These tools can also help them track the team’s progress at every stage or level. Every construction manager should know what devices to use, making the work time-efficient and eventually, saves a lot of money.
2. Find a single source of validity.
Another mistake relating to tip #1 is finding a single source or validity. Most of the construction managers spend a lot of time gathering information from different sources and stakeholders. They tend to get data from multiple origins using unreliable tools that are not suitable for the industry. They should know that these tools wouldn’t connect and interact in a single data source.
Using one and the only source of validity in the projects can save time and reduce the burden to every construction site management. This source can give them the overview they need to develop great options and decisions, offering them the fastest and easiest communication with their teams.
3. Lessen the problems and difficulties
Resolving problems and difficulties has the most significant impact on the construction site management industry. Most of the time, construction site management are the ones taking the burden because of this.
Addressing the problems and difficulties at an early stage will not waste a lot of time. As mentioned above, be knowledgeable on the specific construction site management tools that can help the project be successful. Invest in communication tools that can help gather important information.
Knowing how to invest in these tools can determine the only data source and validity needed to connect different stakeholders. By practicing this task during construction site management projects, managers can have the power to know what tasks to prioritize.
This practice will result in more freedom and peace for every construction manager, for they will focus more of their attention on crucial matters.
4. Prioritizing safety at all times
This third helpful tip is the most common and should be practiced everywhere at all times. Even when the project’s budget is a little less than what it should be, prioritizing safety should be number one for every construction site management project. We should never forget that there is nothing more important than a human’s life, that no amount of money can buy it.
Besides prioritizing safety, construction managers should know how to interact with the team, managing stress that leads them to be happy. Worker’s happiness can increase productivity which can finish the project faster, making it successful.
If a construction manager’s relationship with the team is harmonious, it can lessen the stress that can be a heavy feeling for everyone.
Most importantly, considering safety as an essential matter will avoid serious accidents. It can save a lot of time; it will not waste a lot of money.
5. Know how to engage in repeatability
In construction site management, repeatability means using the same processes and equipment in the past that has been effective, reducing time and effort.
It has been an emphasis on this article, the importance of investing in repeatability. Due to the pandemic (COVID-19 crisis), the construction site management industry needs to develop and move along with the new standard or trend.
Engaging in repeatability is a way of lessening problems and delays, resulting in a specific construction site management project’s efficiency and quality. Knowing what the practical processes and equipment are can play a vital role in the project’s success.
Doing this tip on the projects with the same construction set up and structures can give freedom and improve the project’s efficiency. Construction managers can control the operations without giving the workers hard time and stress during working.
6. Always do your quality checks
Mistakes are not a surprise for every job, especially if you forget to check even the tiniest details on how to achieve it perfectly.
Many project teams were used with this kind of scenario at the end of a particular project, especially before handing it over to a customer or a client. It takes many delays and a lot of money to resolve problems discovered at the last minute. And take note, you will have to start another process to make sure the mistakes and difficulties will not occur again.
Being a project manager, you should possess the ability to understand every issue the project will face. It will help if you ensure that every small matter that can affect the project must be addressed at the start and won’t interfere with its success.
Achieving quality checks with both short and long-term plans can give construction managers complete control of each project’s aspect. It will provide them with the idea that they should give particular tasks more attention.
7. Stick to the budget.
Many might think that is a very common tip, but to be honest, this will save the project from getting expensive tools and devices that are not helpful.
Getting the data from multiple sources can be expensive, and every construction manager should prioritize it along with other crucial aspects in planning. Repeatability and quality checking are part of these aspects.
Taking ownership of the project is a big responsibility if you imagine, but you can start with the most manageable tasks and areas. If you think of it in a broader sense, regulating delays and being extra cautious with managing the construction materials, and communicating and putting up claims are the best ways to begin. These tasks will allow any construction manager to take complete control of the project.
All of these necessary matters will demand the usage of the right tools and devices. Again, using the proper instruments for a project will save it from wasting a lot of the budget.
8. Watch out for claims.
Claims are one of the biggest problems for every construction manager. Just one mistake will cause a delay in the project, getting 100% of the attention, and will cost a lot of the project’s budget. And as a construction manager, you’ll be taking the blame for the difficulties even if you don’t know where they originated. You’ll spend more time thinking about how you can resolve them.
Being aligned with your site manager is the best way to get back on track, resolving what caused the difficulties. Using the construction-specific tools and getting a single source of validity will save the project, making the situation less problematic. Being responsible and having the proper knowledge is the key.
Claims are the demands from one particular party, requesting compensation caused by the other parties’ damages or problems.
9. Presenting lean on site.
Lean construction in construction management is for a project-based-production process using practical development in design combined with operational research.
It is one of the most brilliant methods used in managing a construction project. This process helps determine the proper responsibilities and duties to give to each of the team members. It offers a significant advantage in discovering a suitable method for leading your workers during a project.
One weakness of using this method is that it’s a manual process of communicating using whiteboards and posting notes that can end up a little messy. But no time to worry because you can overpower this weakness by using the proper tools on-site in a digital form. Though whiteboards can never go away when it comes to planning, it is vital to think of another way to provide visual clarity that can help the project along the way.
Using digital tools can reduce messy setups on-site, determining the tasks to finish without compromising the quality. Setting these tools up plus having less usage of the whiteboards will rock!
10. Lead by example
Last but most importantly, every construction manager should never forget the act of leading. Leading means some followers rely on your skills and decision-making. Ensuring you are connected with them and listening to their opinions and suggestions serves you the right to become a leader. Always remember, communication is the key to a good relationship.
Leading your workers the right way means providing guidance and direction in a manner where they can understand, encouraging them to bring the best out of themselves thus, setting up good decisions and recommendations. Using this kind of management leadership can help you gain not just a harmonious relationship with them, but they’ll treat you more as a family or friends.
Earning your employees’ or workers’ trust can help build a stronger relationship with them, leading to the project’s success.
Gaining trust is essential not only with your current projects but for the future as well. Again, remember the word “repeatability,” which means having the same teams and group of people working with you again and again.
And what makes the same people work for you again? By leading them the right way!
As we’ve concluded, maybe you already know the necessary things to prioritize and the difficulties you might encounter when planning. This helpful guide is one way of getting on the right track, giving you the proper knowledge of efficiently managing a construction site. If you know by now the right thing to do, we can make sure that you can finish the project sooner at the right time, without compromising quality, and will save a lot of money. The project’s success depends on you, so work your way to the top and be the best construction manager you can be.