 Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Try saying these 12 important things on your project No this isn’t an English lesson, but rather a reminder of some phrases we forget to use, or are too nervous to use in our construction business. Here are a few things we forget to say, or don’t say often enough. Could you be guilty? 1. “Hello” (“Good morning”) – Do you greet employees when you pass them. I knew one business owner who would walk right by people in the office every morning without greeting them. We shouldn’t be surprised that these employees found this hurtful. As managers we are often preoccupied with problems and phone calls and I’m sure I’ve been guilty of not greeting employees. But that worker on your construction project will feel recognised and appreciated if you say hello next time you walk-by. That simple act of recognition, which cost you a few seconds, can make your employees feel more included and appreciated and more motivated. 2. “Thank you” (“Well done”) – We are often quick to criticise employees for poor work, but we overlook thanking or praising them for a job well done. Praise can be motivating. A simple thank you doesn’t cost anything and yet it can reap big rewards. 3. “Help” – You can’t always be expected to solve every problem. Sometimes you have to ask for help and advice. You don’t have to use the advice, but just discussing the problem with someone else can provide a new perspective. Many projects sink further into trouble because project managers have been too proud to ask for advice and have continued on making poor decisions until the project becomes irrecoverable. We all need help sometimes. 4. “Let’s check” (“Are you sure?”) – Too often mistakes are made which simple checks could have detected. Mistakes with prices and quotations, mistakes with measurements, even mistakes in letters and emails. Take a few minutes to check what you’ve done and you may just avoid a costly or embarrassing mistake. 5. “Is that safe?” – Most accidents are preventable and if those involved had stopped to ask this simple question they would probably have done things differently and avoided the accident. Don’t kill yourself or others because you didn’t stop and ask; “is this safe?” 6. “Is there an alternative?” (“Can we do it differently?”) – We often accept the first solution without considering alternate methodologies, alternate solutions or alternative materials. There are usually many ways of doing something - more than one may be right - but we should always be looking for the best solution. It may be time for the old dog to learn some new tricks. The way you’ve always done something may no longer be the best solution anymore. 7. “Will we be paid for that?” (“Did we allow for that?”) – I’ve found that contractors often do work for free. Sounds unbelievable! Yet project managers sometimes don’t read the contract so aren’t aware of the basis of the quotation and what the client’s obligations are. They are also sometimes guilty of performing extra work without a written instruction. When you receive an instruction, or open a new construction drawing, ask the question; “did we price to do that work? Will we be paid?” 8. “I don’t understand” (“Can you clarify that”, or “I’m not sure what you mean”) – All too often we make assumptions when we aren’t sure of something. This is particularly dangerous when pricing a project when the request for pricing isn’t clear. It can be very costly when you incorrectly assume something. I’ve encountered many problems on my projects when drawings weren’t clear and people assumed something which in fact was incorrect. Don’t be too proud to ask questions – no question is too stupid, especially when the answer could save money, and even sometimes lives! Just as important is to not assume that the person you are giving instructions to understands what you are saying or knows what you want. 9. “No” (“Sorry we can’t do that because;…” or, “Sorry we can’t do that but maybe we could do this;…”)– I’m sure we’ve all accepted a project schedule that’s too short, or been bullied by a customers into giving a discount or reducing our price to fit their budget. We’ve probably lamented these actions later when we finished the project later than the agreed date, or lost money on the project. Maybe we’ve regretted not saying no to an unsafe act? Employees and customers can be demanding and it’s often easier to say yes when they ask for special treatments or exceptions, yet this may lead to more demands and problems later. Of course we shouldn’t get into the habit of only saying “no”. I’ve known people whose first response was always “no” – “no” can sometimes be over used and destructive. Learn to think before you say “no”. If you do say no it’s often useful to offer an alternate solution, or at least give reasons for the negative response. 10. “We should do it like this because; ….” – Sometimes we expect our crews to blindly follow our orders and rules. Safety is a prime example where companies and customers seem to have endless rules and regulations. On some projects there is often a culture of non-compliance of these rules. But, maybe if our employees understood the cost of their non-compliance, the potential implications to their and their fellow workers safety and health, they might just be more inclined to do the correct thing. It’s time we stopped saying: “you do it this way because those are the rules”, or “that’s the way we do things around here”, or “that’s what the boss says”, or “it’s my way or the highway”. Your crew deserves the respect to know why we should do things in a certain way, and understanding the reasons will probably make them more likely to do as requested. Explaining why we do things in a certain manner is also part of the mentoring process. 11. “Are we proud of that?” (“Am I proud of this?”) – Many quality problems arise on projects because of a lack of pride or a lack of care. Will you accept the quality of the item in your house? Will you be proud to show your work to your family? Our customers are paying for a quality product and we should be committed to delivering it to them. 12. “Let’s celebrate” – Construction isn’t an easy business and there are numerous problems encountered on a daily basis, so when there’s a substantial success embrace and celebrate it. Everyone wants to belong to a successful team – success is empowering, infectious and motivating. Conclusion How many of the above words and phrases do you use? A large part of construction management is about managing and motivating people. Good communication is essential. Don’t be too proud or arrogant to use certain phrases. Take a few extra minutes out of your day to use some of these phrases and you would be surprised by at the results you get on your projects - they could just save you millions and earn you a whole lot more respect from your crews. Does your manager forget to use some of these phrases? How does that make you feel? Do you regret not saying something you should have? Please share this post To read more about the author’s books and find out where you can purchase them visit the pages on this website by clicking the links below: 'Successful Construction Project Management: The Practical Guide' 'Building a Successful Construction Company: The Practical Guide' 'Construction Book reviews' To read more about the author visit the page 'Paul Netscher' Want to contact Paul Netscher please enter your details on 'Contacts' Find out how Paul Netscher can help you Order your books from Amazon Order your books from Amazon UK © 2016 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author.
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Construction project logistics - the hidden bottleneck that could be strangling production26/6/2016 Logistics are often overlooked when planning a project, yet poor logistics can cause bottlenecks which literally strangle the life out of your project. It impacts production and productivity causing delays and adding to costs. Usually the larger the project the more important and complicated the logistics become.
Logistics includes mobilizing people to the project site, getting them to the project every day and then moving them around the project to where they are working. A project with a dozen, fifty or even hundred people can be simple to coordinate, but some projects can have thousands of workers. Sometimes the project may be in an operating facility which already employs thousands of workers. Somehow the construction workers have to get to their job site without impacting the owner’s workers. Then the owner’s workers still have to get to where they are required without hindrance or being endangered by the construction work. This must happen safely and quickly. Even if every person in a hundred person team is only delayed by five minutes in the day, the total impact on the project is more than 8 hours – put simply we have to employ an extra person every day to make up for the lost time. Five minutes on most construction projects is nothing and it’s often more like fifteen or twenty! Some industrial and mining facilities can cover huge areas and the distanced between work locations can be significant. Lengthy delays in getting personnel to their work areas at the start of the days and after their rest breaks can reduce productivity dramatically. Then there are facilities that have extraordinary security that causes huge delays. I have for instance worked in diamond plants and precious metals refineries where security has been very strict and getting materials and equipment in and out of work areas took time, patience, paperwork and effort – tying up staff and disrupting progress and productivity. Vertical transportation in high-rise buildings can be particularly challenging. I’m sure we have all experienced frustrating delays on these projects waiting for hoists to take up men and materials, or cranes to lift materials to where they are needed. Logistics is about getting materials and equipment from their point of origin to where they are needed at the work face at the correct time and without damage. Logistics includes offloading the equipment and material safely, and installing them when required. Some material and equipment can be over-sized – either being extra wide, long or high or very heavy. Special transport may be required as well as permits and escort vehicles. Can the roads leading to the project site handle these loads? Are the roads on the project site designed for these loads? We need to consider radii of bends, road widths, height restrictions and weight restraints. In addition projects are changing on a daily basis and routes may become restricted or even dug up. What could be a simple exercise of getting an item onto site at the start of the project can turn into a nightmare later as structures are built and roads are changed. Many contractors have suddenly found routes unsuitable part way through the project when new bridges were built over the road restricting the height of loads that can use the route. Projects frequently don’t have sufficient cranes or material handling equipment. This lack of equipment not only delays getting the materials to where they’re required but could also delay offloading the trucks bringing the material to the project. These delays impact productivity, delay trucks from returning to collect the next load (meaning more trucks are required) and can lead to additional costs from transport companies whose trucks are delayed. Double handling and even triple handling of materials is a result of materials being off-loaded in the wrong place, or materials arriving ahead of time and the work area isn’t available. The additional handling of the materials results in additional costs but it can also risk damaging materials and equipment. Lifting operations need to be done safely with trained personnel. Improperly rigged loads can cause accidents resulting in injury and damage to equipment. Lifting operations can be delayed because of wind, equipment breakdowns, inexperienced operators, poor rigging and slinging techniques, cranes being incorrectly positioned, repeated moving of the crane between loads or workers installing the equipment and materials not being properly prepared. Too often work areas aren’t ready for items that have to be lifted, leaving expensive cranes standing idly waiting, while other areas are themselves waiting for the crane. Proper organisation and planning of work areas can free up the cranes to do more work. Crane congestion can be a major problem – especially on large contracts with many different contractors and subcontractors, each with their own crane. This can lead to dangerous situations which need to be avoided such as the risks of crane booms clashing and cranes lifting loads over workers. At the very least it leads to reduced productivity. A major part of logistics is about getting the right item arriving on the project site at the right time. We need to ensure that suppliers have a delivery schedule which they stick to. Far too often we receive the materials we require last before the items we require first. This leads to a congested work area and double handling of materials. Often projects don’t consider the laydown areas where materials will be stored before they are needed. These areas may have restricted access. Sometimes they aren’t cleared and leveled properly which could lead to dangerous situations when trucks and cranes are parked on sloping ground. This might result in them overturning. Materials stacked on sloping ground could also over topple causing damage and even serious injury. These storage areas need to be well drained so stormwater can drain away. I have seen storage areas flooded resulting in damage to the materials or at best the material storage area couldn’t be accessed until the water was drained away. Storage areas .......Continue Reading....... This article was written for and first published on the ClockShark website. Please continue reading by clicking on the link. Is your construction or field service company doing as well as it used to? Is it performing as well as it should? Can your projects be better managed?
Are you losing customers? Do you have spare capacity? What’s the reason for the fall in business? No doubt you are blaming the poor economic climate, more competitors, competition from overseas, the lack of skilled resources and the government. We can always find an excuse if we look hard enough – even the weather can be blamed! But have you actually taken a good hard look at how your business is run and managed? Is the company still the same as it was last decade, or maybe even last century? The world is continually changing around us. Technology is evolving. Our new employees have different skills and expectations. Customers are changing and their needs are different. Trends come and go – what customers were paying for 10 years ago is no longer desirable. What are you doing about it? Many managers are so busy dealing with everyday problems that they don’t notice these changes around them. When they do wake up to what’s happening it’s too late and customers have deserted them, their competitors have overtaken them and their business is losing money. Businesses have to adapt and change. It’s no good saying “this worked for me 10 years ago” or “we have always done things this way”! Some businesses think they can simply go through a re-branding exercise to improve business – which they think means changing the company logo and corporate colors. Maybe even adding a catchy tag-line! The center of the city where we live has been dying over the last 5 years. The streets which used to be vibrant and full of activity late into the night are almost deserted at 9pm. Businesses are closing down. The city council have now, at great expense, launched a re-branding exercise to brand the city center as vibrant and exciting. But it isn’t! They haven’t changed anything in the city. So what’s this re-branding exercise achieved? People fooled by the re-branding into going into the city center at night can only be disappointed. We have to change our business from within and bring on a new strategy. 10 Simple changes
This article was written by Paul Netscher and first published on the ClockShark website. Continue reading by visiting the ClockShark - providers of automated time keeping.  Image courtesy of Serge Bertasius Photography at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Many managers only see their employees as workers – simply there to do a job. But our employees are usually more than this, and even more so in construction.
Why our employees are more than just workers? Yes, we employee people to do a job, to fill a roll, to complete their tasks diligently, safely and to the required quality. But is a carpenter only good for building things from timber and is that Supervisor only good for supervising a team on our construction project? You may be surprised how their actions, both on and off the job site, can help, or hinder, our companies.
So next time you look at an employee don’t just see them as a worker, a carpenter, a concreter or an iron worker - rather see them as an asset that can add value to your company. Embrace them and treat them fairly. Make them proud of their company. Let them know how their actions can damage or add value to the company. Building a successful construction company isn’t just the responsibility of the owner or senior managers – it demands teamwork and commitment from everyone. We depend on good workers in more ways than we usually consider. To read more about the author’s books and find out where you can purchase them visit the pages on this website by clicking the links below: 'Successful Construction Project Management: The Practical Guide' 'Building a Successful Construction Company: The Practical Guide' 'Construction Book reviews' To read more about the author visit the page 'Paul Netscher' Want to contact Paul Netscher please enter your details on 'Contacts' Find out how Paul Netscher can help you Order your books from Amazon Order your books from Amazon UK © 2016 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author. Read this article with useful information on international construction costs in 2016 provided by Turner and Townsend .......Read......
I find construction schedules invaluable on all of my projects. For small projects they could be simple hand drawn bar charts and for large projects they could consist of thousands of linked tasks created using specialist software such as Primavera, Microsoft Project, Candy or similar.
Schedules are useful because:
Common scheduling errors Some of the more common errors include:
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The opinions expressed in the attached articles are those of the writer. It should be noted that projects are varied and different laws and restrictions apply which depend on the location of the contractor and the project. It's important that the reader uses the supplied information taking cognisance of their particular circumstances. The writer assumes no responsibility or liability for any loss of any kind arising from the reader using the information or advice contained herein. "I have what I consider some of the best books on construction management."
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