What is Your Strategy to Improve Construction Project Performance?

Written by LetsBuild

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This is something I always get confused about – Strategy and Tactics. I always have to check and it turns out that Strategy is deciding what you are going to set as the objectives and Tactics are deciding how you are going to achieve it.

So there we are – Strategy decided. Yours is too improve your Construction Project Performance!tower_cranes.jpgThat’s a bit short and sweet for a Blog so we’ll have a look at your proposed Tactics.

Now the first thing I want to get across is this and it comes from my years as a freelance project turnaround specialist: – If you want to improve your construction project performance get a Detailed Programme to Completion (DPC) put together! Do it in discussion with your sub-contractors; they will advise on what is practical and possible. Once you have your DPC display copies of it everywhere so that the “dirty finger-nail brigade” can see it. So why do I say that?

Read also: Bridging digital culture in construction

On a commercial construction project most of the skilled tradesmen are on price work. They also happen to be a greedy bunch! If they can see a DPC and know what they are supposed to be doing and when, they think to themselves “Oh, goody! If I can get off this job a couple of weeks earlier than anticipated that means two extra weeks money this year! Family holiday paid for!” What happens is that your construction project will probably be ready for hand-over before the contracted date. Makes you look “dead good”!

There is a down-side to this unexpected acceleration, though. It does mean you have to do regular updates to your DPC and push out the revised version. You also have to make sure that materials will be available to meet the revised DPC. Revising it can also alter the Critical Path, so watch out for that!

Another little tip to improve your Construction Project Performance is this:wander around the site as often and as long as you can. While you’re doing that, nit-pick at any poor workmanship; get it in the early stages before any follow-on work has been done in the area. That saves time, but there is another little twist. The lads don’t like having their work criticised so they’ll work better in future to show how good they are really! Good, fast, skilled workmanship? Lay lavish praise on the guys who did it! They’ll do even better and faster if they know you know how good they are!

So that leads us to the two big questions: –

  • How do you find a way to get that DPC out to everyone involved on your Project to improve your Project Performance? The answer to that is dead simple! Just use GenieBelt! That gives everyone instant access to the DPC.
  • How do you find the extra time to wander around the site to improve your Project Performance? First thing in that direction is to do away with the site paperwork! Which leaves us with the same dead simple answer as to the last question: Just Use GenieBelt!