Project Management in Construction

Project Management in Construction Definition: â€Å"Project management is the art of directing and coordinating human and material resources throughout the life of a project by using modern management techniques to achieve predetermined objectives of scope, cost, time, quality and participation satisfaction.† Definition according to Project Management Institute Objectives of Project Management: For construction project management the objectives depend a lot on resource constraints and the target should be accomplished with these in view. A main component of the whole process would be to investigate for better alternatives or making tradeoffs to reduce the conflicts between stated objectives and resource constraints. Especially with manual resources originating from so many cultural backgrounds, the probability of conflict is far higher. In general the objectives of project management in construction can be stated as: Stating of objectives and plans: this should include the various factors like Budgeting, Scheduling, targets and participants. Maximization of Efficiency: This should be accomplished by proper utilization of various resources, labor, material and equipment. The ultimate goal is to meet the objectives within prescribed schedules mentioned in (1). Coordination: A proper communication and coordination has to be maintained between various phases like planning, design, estimating and constructing. Conflicts and differences should be properly evaluated and resolved thus leading towards a common goal and objective Modern Management: Development in various tools and technologies along with detailed research into existing project management principles and trends lead into a new phase of management called Modern Management. Research and study into modern management processes reflected the following additional components: Management process approach: To study the management functions in detail. Management science and decision support approach: Assists managers in taking complex decisions by approaching a given problem in mathematical and scientific manner. Example: Operations Research Behavioral science approach: Involved more in interacting with people Sustainable competitive advantage: Is an indication of a proper management strategy. Modern management can be considered to be a combination of all the ingredients mentioned before, that is General Management, Project management, Special knowledge domains and supporting disciplines. The application of Modern management into construction has proven to be quite effective and efficient. Project Risk: Risk is an important factor of any project. Taking risk by a participant of a project shows his willingness to compete but has the down side of putting the whole project at stake. There are also potential chances of conflicts being arisen between participants due to this factor. There are usually many risks involved in a construction project, a brief list of which can be stated as follows: Social Problems: This includes factors like Environmental protection, public safety rules. Economic problems: Stock fluctuation, fluctuations in exchange rates. Relationships: This is one of the most common and most important factors. These risks develop due to the instability in relations between contracting agencies, participants of project, etc. Technological: Though a key factor in a project life cycle, technology can become a risky factor sometimes. It is up to the project owner and upper level managements to resolve the conflicts created by risk and to give the Go/NO-GO order to the team. Once the decision is made to take the risk, the project management and participants should strive to make the project a success. Organization: The other important factor in project management in general and construction project management in specific is the organizational structure of the company. There are various factor involved in designing and configuring the project that depend on the organizational flow. Some of the factors are Method of decomposition of project (Sequential Vs Parallel Vs Staggered decomposition, which depends on the organization needs and availabilities). Number of organizations involved in the project and the phases they are involved in. (Ex: The owner organization which is involved in the whole life cycle can call some contracting organization for their specific needs). Organizational structure which decides the number of projects being taken up at a given instance of time. (Ex: Matrix organization structure involves same teams for various projects, where as Project oriented organizational structure involves various teams for various projects). Professional Construction Management: A professional construction management normally refers to a team that specializes various phases of construction activities like Planning, Design and construction. They have the responsibility to coordinate with contracting organizations to resolve conflicts and make the project a success. A professional construction manager is a firm specialized in the practice of professional construction management whose responsibilities includes: Working with the owner and the Architectural/ Engineering teams to decide on strategies and make decisions. Consider various resources and constraints and develop alternatives if needed. Process the progress of the project making sure that the owner is well informed of the situation. Material and supply chain management. Provide other services and subcontracts. Professional construction management is involved normally for massive projects like Alaska Pipeline Project. 10 rules for Managing projects that win: Rule1: Clarify the project goal: the most important part of the project is Goal. An effective project manager always emphasizes on goal and rephrases it again and again to the team members. This will clear the vision of people (team members and end users) regarding what they have to achieve thus compelling them to strive for it. Rule2: Use objectives to define responsibilities: the objectives defined to reach the goal should be used in recognizing and allocating responsibilities. An effective team manager will recognize individual talents of team members and assign responsibilities accordingly. Rule3: Establish Checkpoints, Activities, relationships and time estimates: Team members work the best when they know what to do and have a specific target set in front of them. Creating Timelines, checkpoints and activities help the team members concentrate their energies in the proper direction. Rule4: Supercharge the plan with a picture: Try to make the project progress as clear as possible to your team members and upper management. Use Gant and Pert charts to show the progress visually which will aid them to understand the process much better than verbal explanation or presentations. Rule 5: Develop an empowered project team: Understand the elements of human behavior and recognize the differences in team members. Note that each person’s skill can be used in a unique fashion to contribute to the project. Try to find the motivating factor for team members, each person can be motivated by something different. Rule6: Reinforce People’s motivation and energy: This can be accomplished by bringing in a sense of ownership into team member’s mind. Trying to align people’s thoughts with one another and with project goal will help a lot too. By brining in this common thinking and sense of challenge, team members will be cheered and motivated at all stages of project life cycle. Rule7: Communication: Communication between team members and team management is one of the most important factors for project success. Make sure all the aspects of project including progress, successes, failures, etc, are all well informed to the team members. Another part of communication is to listen sincerely and regularly to the opinion of team members, some times listening is more important than talking. Rule8: Vitalize people with energy from conflicts: Try to use the energy generated with various conflicts in the project life cycle to encourage people. This will help them to focus and resolve issues cooperatively. Rule9: The Power of being a project manager has to be used in brining the commitment from team members. This will help them in using their individual powers to make the project a success. Rule10: Try to be creative. Case Study: Alaska Pipeline Project: Alaska Pipeline project was considered to be the most expensive private project in 1970s. With over 10billion dollars of budget and 800 miles of pipeline, this project required top notch project managements abilities to be completed and perfected. I choose this project as an example because of two reasons: (i) The Vast ness of the project and (ii) The involvement of Professional project management organization. During the planning phase, the owner assigned the whole project to a Construction Management company (contracting, called CMC) while retaining the centralized decision making ability. Initially the hierarchy from top to bottom consisted of 9 layers which created many risks and conflicts between various subcontractors and other participants of the project. There were also delays made in decision making process because of various construction sites and count of subcontractors. To eliminate this, the owner then created a Professional Project Management firm by combining a portion of Owner and CMC. The primary goal of this team was to control all the subcontractors. This change reduced the number of layers of hierarchy from 9 to about 5, in turn closing the gap between management and workforce. This also boosted the performance of decision making process as the communication and collaboration process was greatly improved. . One of the primary decisions of this team was to decentralize th e construction of 5 segments of the pipeline as a different project thus giving the organization a goal oriented look. With the introduction of this new firm, all the major rules of project management were covered and the project was successfully completed within given budget and time. References: Burke, Rory â€Å"Project Management-Planning Control†, 4th Ed, John Wiley Son 2002 Lock D, â€Å"Project Management†,   8th Ed Gower 2004 W.Alan Randolph, Barry Z.Posner, â€Å"Checkered Flag Projects†, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall. Project management in construction Project management in construction Brief 199803 The role of the Project Manager amongst other things may be that of the partnering facilitator as identified in various literatures and by authors such as, but not limited to Latham and Egan etc. Highlight a theoretical but practical role for the project manager as a partnering facilitator.     Outlined below is a discussion and an examination of the notion that the role of the Project Manager amongst other things may be that of the partnering facilitator which enables projects to be carried out efficiently. The notion that the Project Manager amongst other things could fulfil the role of the partnering facilitator has been identified as well as being developed further in the literature of Latham and also Egan, besides others. Authors such as Latham and Egan regarded that the fulfilling of the part of being a partnering facilitator as one of the main functions of any successful Project Manager, but of course not the only one. As part of the evaluation of the role played by Project Managers, the potential role of being a partnering facilitator will highlight a theoretical but practical role for any Project Manager to carry out whilst acting as a partnering facilitator. Project Managers have played and still continue to play important parts within the public and private s ectors of the British economy. However, for the purpose of this evaluation the theoretical, yet practical role that would allow any Project Manager to act as a partnering facilitator are considered within the confines of the construction industry in the United Kingdom. It should also be remembered that the ideas relating to the concepts were actually originally developed by engineers in the United States before being widely adapted by businesses and academics alike (Deeprose, 2001 p. 3). The construction industry within the United Kingdom would upon both a theoretical as well as a practical basis provide plenty of scope for a Project Manager to fulfil or serve the role of a partnering facilitator during the course of carrying out their job. The reasons for the construction industry offering opportunities for Project Managers to be able to act out a role of being a partnering facilitator are strongly related to the nature of that industry within Britain itself. Construction firms exist to develop, plan, deliver, and finally complete building projects, Project Managers are also trained to think and function in a similar way (Deeprose, 2001 p. 18). The Project Manager thus arguably has a vital linking and organising function or purpose contained within the core responsibilities of their job, which in itself is pivotal for the efficient running of the construction industry in Britain. Any or every construction project needs to be managed effectively, and well organised i n order for it to be completed on time and within budget, a requirement that the use of a Project Manager is intended to fulfil. Even if only one company was formally engaged in completing a construction project a high degree co-ordination and organisation would still be required to make sure the efficiency of the organisation remains consistently high as well as being successful. A single company will have various stakeholders with different concepts of what needs to be done to successful complete. The more companies which are involved in a proposed project means a higher number of stakeholders need to enter working partnerships (Briner, Hastings, Geddes, 1996 pp. 10-12). In reality, construction projects normally have several contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers involved in the whole process, which further increases the need for co-ordination and sound organisation. The Project Manager is therefore ideally placed to carry out the necessary co-ordination and organisation to achieve the full completion of the project (Deeprose, 2001 p. 3). Latham and Egan, amongst others, have contended that the level of co-ordination and organisation that Project Manager have to use to get their jobs done with the British construction industry could justify the tag of partnering facilitator. Deeprose has argued that the operating methods of Project Managers and companies are very similar, which helps to explain why Project Managers are very useful in running construction programmes (Deeprose, 2001 p. 18). In theoretical and practical terms, the Project Manager needs to work in partnerships whilst facilitating the means to ensure that all are programmes are carried out. One way of exploring whether the Project Manager could theoretically and practically act as a partnering facilitator would be to look into how a project to build a housing development could actually be managed. To be able to complete a housing construction programme theoretically and indeed practically involves a great deal of partnership to move from initial planning a nd designing, through to finding contractors or suppliers, gaining planning permission, then finally construction. Even after construction has been finished partnerships could still be needed to make sure that the required standards are met, and to achieve the highest quality houses. Young argues that the key to the successful completion of any construction project is for it to be well designed with all the people that need to make the decisions having access to all relevant information (Young, 1996 p. 21). The Project Manager needs to form a partnership with the architects that design the building that make up the housing construction programme, and both need to discuss the exact specifications and materials required to make the project achievable (Young, 1996 p. 45). These architects could either work for the same company as the Project Manager or be employed by a different company if not a specialised architectural consultancy. Having a sound partnership with the architect would allow the Project Manager to examine whether the designs for the proposed housing programme are practical, are what the stakeholders actually requested, and also if they meet health and safety standards (Maylor, 1996 p. 47). Close consultation between the Project Manager and the architects will facilitate discussion with regard to the quality, as well as the practical feasibility of the housing being designed. Together the Project Manager in conjunction with the architects will draw up plans as to what will b e needed in the houses to ensure that all features and facilities are installed as planned, and altered if needs be (Young, 1996 p.45). Theoretically and practically for the successful finishing of a house building project the Project Manager needs to form a relationship with the Local Planning Authority to ensure that planning could be granted to allow building work to begin. Without planning permission the proposed housing construction will not be carried out (Deeprose, 2001 p. 18). A good relationship with the Local Planning Authority responsible for granting or not granting planning permission could be useful if the Project Manager needs to arrange for water, gas and electricity supplies have to be extended to the new houses after those have been finished (Young, 1996, p. 45). The Project Manager might even have to liase with the Local Planning Authority to arrange new roads or an extension of existing roads to the new houses. The Project Manger as the main facilitator between the company or the consortium they work for and the Local Planning Authority would have the task of sorting out any differences between th e tow to make sure that planning permission is granted as quickly as possible. Partnership between the Project Manager and the Local Planning Authority should help to facilitate the successful completion of the proposed building of new houses (Maylor, 1996 p. 6). Theoretically as well as practically the Project Manager would therefore need to facilitate a partnership between all the constructors, and sub-contractors, which are, actually needed to design, build and complete the new houses (Maylor, 1996 p. 47). New houses are completed through the combined efforts of contractors and sub-contractors, which have special skills and functions (Briner, Hastings, Geddes, 1996 pp. 10-12). For instance, new houses will need electricians, gas fitters, plumbers, as well as plasterers to complete the infrastructure of every house being built. The Project Manager will be responsible for hiring all the contractors and sub-contractors, as well as any general labourers needed to finish the new houses (Deeprose, 2001 p. 3). The Project Manager would have to make sure that everybody or firm hired to complete the construction is capable of doing their jobs to satisfactory standards or have work done again by alternative contractors (Briner, Hastings, Geddes, 1 996 pp. 10-12). Not only will the Project Manager ensure that the contracted work is done effectively, they will have to action any complaints, needs or problems that the contractors, sub-contractors, and workers have with completing the new houses (Young, 1996 p 47). Health and safety is also an issue that the Project Manager has to consider. The Project Manager has a responsibility to make sure that everybody is safe upon the construction site. Hand in hand with making sure that workers are safe, the Project Manager would also have to ensure that all the work carried out on the new houses complies with all health and safety regulations (Briner, Hastings, Geddes, 1996 pp. 10-12). Facilitating with all contractors, sub-contractors and workers not only maintain the partnership between them all, it also allows the new houses to be safe without anybody being hurt during their construction. For the Project Manager complying with health and safety standards will mean that the building p rocess runs smoothly and reduces the risk of legal action being taken against the building consortium (Deeprose, 2001 p. 18). Therefore, one way in which the function of any Project Manager as a partnering facilitator could be theoretically and practically demonstrated through the co-ordination and organisation needed to build new houses. The Project Manager could and indeed should play a pivotal role in partnering or linking all the elements needed to complete a new housing programme. The Project Manager has an essential part to play in ensuring that the parties involved in the construction of the new houses would work closely together to make sure that the building is completed successfully and to time. Without the Project Manager acting as a partnering facilitator it would arguably be more difficult to design, construct, and fully complete the new house building programme. The Project Manager co-ordinates and liases with the architects over the design as well as the features of the new houses before the plans are finalised and then submitted for planning permission. Then the Project Manager would thus us ually have to approach the appropriate Local Planning Authority to gain planning permission and then amend the building proposals if that is required. Probably the most important partnering facilitating performed by the Project Manager would be co-ordinating, as well as organising all the contractors, sub-contractors and all workers needed to build and finish the new houses once planning permission has been granted. A good working partnership actively facilitated by the Project Manager should mean that the new houses are built up to a high standard as quickly, yet effectively as possible. The Project Manager will achieve the function of partnering facilitator most effectively by involving all the relevant stakeholders that are part of the construction project. Briner W, Hastings C, Geddes M, (1996) Project Leadership – 2nd edition, Gower, Aldershot Deeprose D, (2001) Smart things to know about Managing Projects, Capstone Publishing Limited, Oxford Maylor, 1996 Young T, (1996) The Handbook of Project Management, Kogan Page, London