Best Time Management Practices For Construction Managers

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A lack of time is a problem for everyone working in construction. Most projects have an extremely tight construction schedule. Resources and skills are always in short supply. To succeed as a construction manager, you need to utilize time in the best way possible, so you can ensure a win-win situation both for you and your client. Being at the centre of the project, not only do you have to manage your own time, but often the time for the entire team working with you. That is why, time management skills are essential if you want to build a successful career as a construction manager.

With that in mind, we did our research and below are some of the best time management practices for construction managers. These tips can help you to prioritize the tasks and make sure that you and your team deliver the project efficiently. 

1. Build the project baseline before you start
This is the first step in measuring the project success and preparing an efficient time management strategy. By investing extra attention at this early stage of the project, you can feel more secure of the outcome of your efforts. It is here that the work breakdown structure, the project scope, and project phases are determined based on a detailed time-frame. The project manager needs, at this point, to examine if the set deadlines are appropriate and realistic. This can help detect potential challenges and obstacles that could be experienced in the course of the project. If appropriate measures are put in place early enough delays can be prevented. This progress against the schedule should be checked and updated weekly or biweekly. Slippage should be addressed and corrective actions taken.

2. Assign the project resources efficiently
It’s no secret that, the success of a project depends on the team. You need to understand your team well, learn their skills, and the workloads they can handle comfortably in a single day. In that manner, you can be sure that the various construction agents will be able to complete their tasks within the set timeframe, since they know what they are doing. If the allocation is done poorly without any skills assessment, there is a likelihood of time mismanagement, missed milestones, and overstretching of the set budgets. Equip your teams appropriately to ensure resources are utilized effectively with set goals achieved at the close of business.

3. Use a task and project scheduling tool

A timeline outlining the work sequence from beginning to completion is important in any project schedule. Creating a project schedule is challenging due to the unknown variables that may emerge along the way. It goes without saying that you can’t predict everything, but a properly resourced schedule can be an essential element in time management and project planning. You can identify the real-time completion, determine the workloads at different phases and the estimated budgets. Project scheduling and task software help you share important details with the client, the team, and partners. Everyone knows what has to be done and by when, using the allocate resources for the task.

4. Take further training to boost your management skills
With increased workloads as a site manager, smart time management remains one of your main focus points. That is why, you constantly need to become better and boost your skills so you can increase your efficiency. Construction is a rapidly evolving field and you need to stay up to date with the latest information on various practices and methods. You need to possess knowledge in many different fields such as time tracking, scheduling and resource planning. On top of that, you should invest on the training of your team members, as well. By doing that, you can feel safe that your team is working as it should even when you aren’t around.

5. Find a solid project management software
In recent times, tracking several aspects of a project in real-time and capturing the correct information has proved to be difficult.  Carrying out all these tasks manually can be hectic and take much of your time, while there’s always of inaccurate calculations providing the incorrect information. Large projects often add complexity and more participants in the team. The right construction management software can help. Some of the main features that you want to look for are real-time collaboration, unlimited accessibility and secure cloud hosting. All in all, construction software can be a valuable tool in your hands.

Conclusion
​From the above, it is evident that project success is greatly depended on good time management. Always aim to accomplish more while making the minimum effort possible. Take advantage of the latest technological innovations to increase the chances of you succeeding at every project you are in charge of. Having more time enhances your creativity that most clients look for beyond your skills.

This is a guest blog written by Anastasios Koutsogiannis from GenieBelt.