I have been working the construction industry for 23 years. I spent 10 years as a lead superintendent and 3 as a senior project manager building vertical structures, prior to becoming a CPM scheduling consultant. I built my own schedules as a super and PM. What is happening now in the industry is hard for me to explain: Top State/National/International …
When scheduling is done properly – it saves and makes you more than it costs. So if you are looking at the money it costs you, without looking at the money it makes you, then you are only looking at half the picture. I realize that most schedules are poorly designed /under – developed, do not model the building approach …
You know that the cost and time required to complete a project once it is designed, correlates directly with the building approach and execution of the project work. It is only through optimization of the building approach and execution, that both the owner and builder can realize significant gains of time/money. It is stagnation of the building approach / execution …
The owner’s interest is not protected when a CM reviews the CPM baseline and update schedules instead of hiring a competent CPM scheduling expert. Nor is it protected when the CM approves a front loaded schedule and proceeds to prematurely disperse funds accordingly. It is surely not protected when a CM hides behind the means & methods clause, when the …
Extraordinary project outcomes require skill-sets that your staff does not have. Extraordinary project outcomes include all of the following: Ahead of schedule finish/ Under budget finish/ Satisfied client that recommends your company to others/ Low employee turnover/ Low subcontractor turnover/ No serious human or environmental casualties/ All of the six project attributes above are rooted in Advanced Project Controls. Are …
Is Primavera scheduling software that hard to learn? I don’t know if Primavera is really that hard to learn or not. I used to think it was. Now, I am starting to wonder. And Primavera 6 (P6) is quite different from Primavera 3 (P3). A couple of months ago, I overheard a colleague teaching two junior schedulers, that P6, like …
Are you sure? Yeah the schedule is there, but is it being used to manage the project? When it comes to leading successful project outcomes, it really comes down to understanding project controls; creating and managing project costs and time schedules. Valid project controls requires two competencies to be effective. Yet most project managers / superintendents /construction managers / business …
They number so few, that statistically, they don’t exist. There is no better way to bolster your project management outcomes and your company’s reputation accordingly. What are your options? Use your in-house PM’s that lack real expertise, resulting in: Invalid schedules – useless for day to day project management The use of detached Excel spreadsheets (check lists) to manage your …
CPM tip #1: Hire a scheduler with Construction Management experience The ideal career path for a scheduler is: Superintendent->Project Manager-> Construction Scheduler. It is the career path less traveled; but if you can find even one such scheduler, you will have really found something. A scheduler without construction experience can’t build a schedule without the help from a CM type. …
I have spent most of my career working in the Phoenix market. While living there I met a race car driver/driving instructor named Ty. He worked at the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving and he told me a story about car racing that applies to construction management /project management too. First let me say that Ty could really drive. …
