Your role as a construction project manager is extremely important. You’re responsible for supervising workers, ordering materials and making sure all tasks get completed on time. Essentially, you’re overseeing all portions of building projects from when the idea is conceived to when the doors are open. If you’re hoping to excel in this dynamic, fast-paced career, here are four tips for effective construction project management.
Keep the lines of communication open
Because you’re balancing so many moving parts, it’s absolutely crucial that you maintain open lines of communication with all members of your team. Smartsheet noted that in addition to staying in close contact with every laborer under your supervision, you should also be touching base with stakeholders and suppliers as much as possible. While it might seem a little overzealous to be calling and texting business associates multiple times each day, doing so will ensure all bumps get ironed out quickly and efficiently. Failing to keep tabs on every entity involved in the project will leave you with an overflowing inbox and some major problems.The Houston Chronicle noted that, in addition to making themselves available at all times, successful construction project managers are also clear and effective writers. The position involves a significant amount of paperwork and emails, and any errors could throw the entire project off.
Be a team player
If you consider yourself to be more of a “lone wolf” when it comes to completing work, then construction project management definitely isn’t the field for you. This occupation is inherently social and requires you to be an agreeable and enthusiastic team player at all times. You’re also in a leadership position, so your actions directly influence the behavior of the people who work under you. If you don’t act like a cooperative team player, chances are that they won’t either. Lead by example and always stress the importance of working together to achieve big goals.
Continue your education
Construction project managers come from all different professional backgrounds. Perhaps you worked your way up from a builder, or maybe you landed in the construction sector after gaining project management skills in another field. Whatever your trajectory was, however, it’s vital that you receive some level of formal education that focuses specifically on construction management.The Houston Chronicle recommended pursuing a bachelor’s degree in construction management so that you can get a well-rounded idea of what it really takes to excel in this profession. You’ll learn crucial information about construction safety, budget control and green building techniques that you wouldn’t necessarily gain by simply climbing the ranks of a firm. Since the life of a full-time construction professional is extremely busy, simply taking a few classes online is a great option as well. Choose courses about the areas of the profession that you haven’t had much experience in so you can become a more well-rounded manager.
Practice continuous planning
Of course, project management involves a significant amount of planning. Smartsheet noted that successful managers start the planning process long before ground is broken and don’t stop revising their strategies until the project is fully completed. It’s never too soon to start organizing outlines for every step of your building venture. Even if you’re still in the preliminary stages of design, you should be thinking about how the pre-construction and procurement phases will look.But while you should be constantly planning, you should also be extremely flexible. Construction projects involve so many moving parts that all affect one another, so be open to changing your ideas and decisions as building progresses.
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