Principles of Effective Construction Project Management for Timely and Outstanding Project completion

Construction project management requires a diverse skill set coupled with a great strategical outlining. From the beginning of the project till the very last finishing touch, the whole journey needs to be meticulously overlooked by an expert eye, and the project plan to be carefully executed and re-thought and re-modeled from time to time. As it's not unknown that construction projects are a tricky business, and the whole process is complicated, it is crucial to plan and take into consideration any contingencies that might occur during the process. We have carefully curated a brief list of Do's and Don’ts s that must be diligently followed through every phase of Project / Construction management.

 

● Conception and Initiation - The most vital step for any project, especially in construction, is mapping the feasibility and chances of actual project completion, before outlining a full-fledged plan. Understanding the various loopholes and potential constraints that the project might have to encounter.  Approval for a project should come only after a very careful consideration of all the variables involved. 

●  Delineating the plan and Team-selection - Once a project is finalized and approved, it's safe to start mapping the subtle details including the budget, timeline and other essential resources. Thinking about the right team that fits the specific needs and aims of the project is a pivotal decision that the project manager needs to deal with at this stage. 

● Launch and Execution - Managing the project, including allocation of resources, rigorous collaboration and supervision of the ongoing work after kick-starting the project is always a difficult yet the most crucial phase of project management. Dealing with stakeholders, clients and teams, while keeping a track of the timeframe along with quality assurance is what construction and project management truly entails.

●  Tracking project Performance - It is imperative to maintain an efficient track of all the domains of the project, in order to avoid running out of time or failing to complete the project according to the agreed conditions, leading to organizational loss. As a project manager one needs to find a suitable way to track the budget expenditures, timeframe as well as the quality of work delivered. These indicators are important to ensure timely delivery and high-end quality. Communication and flexibility during the process is paramount for consistent growth and success. 

Project Management vs Construction Management 

For an efficient and on-time delivery of the construction project, delineating and differentiating between the varying roles of various team-members involved in the process is a pre-requisite. It's a quite common mistake to collate the roles of a project and construction manager that leads to overwhelming amounts of work for a single person and eventually to project failure and heavy losses. 

Project manager falls under the ambit of the larger role of dealing with the clients, acquisition of resources, overall supervision and handles the completion and delivery of the project. Construction management be a sub-set of the management domain and is responsible for leading the construction-team on-site and reports directly to the Project Manager. Construction management involves drafting the inventory of the specific project requirements and supervising workers, sub-contractors and ensuring compliance with the building codes and regulations. Project management involves analyzing the operations and procuring the resources. 

Depending upon the scale of the construction project, these roles can be handled by a single manager or divided between several team-members. It's important to decide wisely and plan efficiently, so as not to invite heavy losses to merely cut down on salary- expenses. Construction Project management can get quite complicated and the only sure-shot solution is to keep evolving strategies as the team-size grows and the project widens. Communication among the team-members as well as with the client parties.