Introduction
In this Blog, we’re going to talk about how to run a construction project step by step. By the end of this Blog, you’ll understand how running a construction project, whether it’s large or complex, and running it well is very possible if you know the component parts of how to do it and the steps to do it. So we’re going to go through the two things that everybody on the construction project should know in order for them to be working as a collective team.
Key Components
The other thing that we get asked a lot is how do you know if you have the right team? And there’s three things that you can use to determine, three ways to determine if you have the right people in the right seats and when you have those people, how do you get them to communicate? There’s two really key ways to get that done, and we’re going to show you that in this Blog.
Project Mindset
Lastly, no matter how big this project is or how complex, there’s one mindset I would call that you must have as you go through so that you can make sure that you’re fairly in a safe environment, meaning that you have all of your risks under control and that you can run that project effectively and then really go home and be able to sleep well at night because you have this one thing constantly under control.
The Complexity of Project Management
So first and foremost, project management is complex. I remember when I was first an assistant superintendent and then a superintendent, I thought that the construction process was- it was extensive and it was overwhelming, and I didn’t know all of the ins and outs of how I should even just manage my area and let alone the entire construction project.
Understanding the Challenges
So I was like super zoomed in, focused on this part and that part, and am I going to get these all right and I realized after doing a couple of projects, there really is a formula and if you follow that magic formula, you could run a remarkable construction project.
Running Small Projects
The other thing probably some of you are asking yourself, well Jason, that’s fine. Those are big projects. What about the small ones? I’m here by myself.I don’t have much help, a team, or the system you’re referring to when talking about team members.”This maintains the meaning while varying the sentence structure.
It’s just me. How can I use the same pattern to run small projects?
The Bottom Line
And I will say, you, well, these patterns apply with the exception of maybe you don’t have as many team members. But the point is, I’ve run $200,000 projects, 2 million projects, 100 million projects, and the pattern is the same. But the bottom line, the thing that I want to communicate is that if we don’t follow these keys, we are going to get overwhelmed. We may not make it home on time, and we won’t be happy. There’s a high chance we’ll suffer, perhaps from mild depression or even massive anxiety, because we’ll be constantly worried about how things are going to turn out.
Understanding the Project
So the first thing you’re going to want to do is understand the project. I know that sounds basic and you’re like, Jason, you’re wasting my time right now, but I’m telling you, we need to understand the project. And so the first thing you should do is get the drawings, flip through all of the pages, flip through the specs and understand the prime agreement.
Key Documentation
So drawing, specs, prime agreement, and get a general feel of what is it going to take to build this thing? Where is it? What are the circumstances? When is it going to be done and get that understanding. Now that’s going to take a lot of time and a lot of work. So here’s the deal, grind, get it done, get a caffeinated beverage. Whatever you need to do, get in there and dive in and figure that out.
Key Things Your Team Needs to Know
Now, I told you there’s two things that your team is going to need to know now. Number one, the typical details, the typical notes and the specification items that you’re most worried about. I’ll give you a for instance, if you have an item where it says, Hey, you can’t strip these cast in place walls until seven days, or waterproofing may not be applied until 30 days after the fact, or any other really stringent requirement that could affect the schedule or the team or how you build it, you are going to want to pull those out and list those out.
Prime Agreement
Then with the prime agreement, that agreement has certain provisions that might also include the division one specifications that will explain to the project team the requirements, the owner’s requirements for that project. And that prime agreement is super long. But we need to again, pull out the critical items from those requirements, from that agreement, from those provisions, and explain to the team, Hey, watch out for these and watch out for these. If we get this done, let’s work as a team and let’s move forward.
Assembling the Right Team
The next step is you assemble the right team. And there’s a couple of ways that you know have good team members, meaning that they’re a fit for your construction project. So the first one is the team members that you select and by the way, you should spend as much time as you need to assemble the team. It’s always first who and then what assemble the team, who’s going to build this? And then with the team, you figure out what you’re going to do.
Balancing Skills
So the first part of knowing if you have the right people is do your skills and your abilities and your personalities balance each other. Meaning if I’m like high level and I am a visionary, do I have somebody on my team that is an implementer that’s detailed that can really get down to the implementation?
Characteristics of the Right Team Members
So if you’re assembling a team, make sure that you have complimentary skills. The second point to make sure that you have the right people in the right seats is are they a cultural fit, not just with the company, which is really important. So the company’s mission statement and the core values, that person has to be a cultural fit, but also a cultural fit for the owner, what they’re expecting and the team that’s going to be on site.
Ideal Team Players
So really having a vision of what you want that to look like is going to be absolutely key. The third thing that you’ll want to focus on is making sure that you’re hiring ideal team players and ideal team players. Like Patrick Le says in his book, the Ideal Team Player, they are humble, hungry, and smart.
Divide and Conquer
Alright, so for my next point, I’m going to label it as divide and conquer. So I could say something boring, make sure everybody has their right roles. But no, I’m just going to say divide and conquer. You cannot build this project by yourself even if you’re on the project by yourself. You cannot build this project by yourself.
Clear Roles
So divide and conquer. I want to see beautiful, clearly written out scorecards and roles for everyone on the job. What are you doing on the project? How about the project manager’s role? And what tasks are the other team members handling? And make sure that every key role, every bit of supervision, every geographical area that’s covered has somebody, a scientist, somebody running point.
Elevating Communication
Now that you have everybody in their proper roles, it’s all about communication. I once talked to an international lean expert in, I mean, this guy is the real deal. And he consults with companies all around the world, huge companies and he says the number one thing that goes wrong in a company or a project or in a manufacturing facility, it always comes down to communication.
Communication Breakdown
He said, Jason, communication is always the breakdown if something’s failing. And so you’re going to want to really elevate your ability to communicate. And once you have people on the right roles, now you need to communicate between those roles.
Identifying and Managing Risks
Once you have everyone assigned to a portion of the project and we know who’s running point and now we’re communicating, the next thing we do is identify the biggest risks. Meaning that if I’ve assigned somebody to a role or I know that they have a certain role on a project, I’m not going to sleep well at night unless I know that the risks are covered.
Risk Register
And I want everyone to see those risks, not just me. So I will with the team, identify in a brainstorming session the biggest risks on the project, and I’ll put that on what’s called a risk and opportunity registering.
Monitoring the Numbers
Lastly, monitor the numbers. I want you to say something to yourself, I love numbers and numbers. Love me. I know that sounds silly, but say it again. I love numbers and numbers Love me.
Knowing the Numbers
You want to know if something’s going wrong. If I was unhealthy, let’s say I was at risk for something from a health standpoint, would I want to know or not? I would want to know because then I could do something about it.
Call to Action
So here’s a call to action for you. And the action is so that you can implement, right? Because knowledge is not power, knowledge and action is power. So what I’d like you to do is take these points that are in the notes and actually go through each one of ’em and ask yourself, how well are you doing for each of these on a scale of one to 10?
Rating Your Progress
So if you go into knowing the numbers, for example, how well do I know the numbers scale that zero being not at all, 10 being I’ve got some good numbers, I see everything on a daily or weekly basis, right?
