Monitoring Project Schedules and Resources in Construction

Construction projects have many moving parts: the materials, equipment, teams, deliveries, contracts, schedules — this list just scratches the surface. With so many elements to factor in, it takes the close monitoring of an experienced construction project manager and their team to keep everything on time and on budget.

How a construction project manager or construction manager chooses to monitor a project depends on how complex the project is. The scope of work, the dependencies and the goals of a project all have an impact. Thoughtful oversight of the scheduling, finances and resources is required to maintain steady progress.

The Importance of Building in Buffers

From a resources point of view, one of the areas that has the most potential to cause problems and delays is procurement. Some materials have much longer lead times than others, especially if they are sourced from different countries or if they are made to order. It’s crucial to factor this into the construction programme, and to build in time buffers so you have some leeway with deliveries. 

Other materials have shorter lead times, so there’s not as much urgency for ordering them. If your storage space is limited, the items with shorter lead times can be ordered closer to when they’re needed, which we call ‘just-in-time deliveries’.

You’ve also got to factor in the human resources, and make sure that you have the deliveries in time for when different teams need to use materials on site. Aligning deliveries with the availability of your workforce is crucial, as you don’t want expensive craftsmen on a day rate to be waiting around with no equipment or materials. 

Some projects have very sensitive timelines, which adds another layer of urgency to the schedule. For these projects, it’s even more important that you hit your milestones at the right time. Delays on projects like these can lead to costly fees and loss of profits, as it’s common for there to be penalties when there is a hard deadline. 

How Proactively Managing Personnel Affects the Programme

While a detailed programme and strong resource planning make a big difference to how smoothly a construction project operates, you’ve also got to have a risk management process in place to handle problems and changes. These could be logistical issues with the availability of materials and equipment, or problems with personnel, to name just two examples. Dealing with these problems well comes with experience, and it’s often a good idea to talk to people who have more experience to see how they’d tackle a problem. 

When it comes to personnel, you can avoid a lot of problems with good leadership. For a project to go well, you need strong teamwork. If you’ve got a strong team leader that everyone respects and appreciates, you’ll usually find that the team work well together. 

Dynamics are always different, but leadership goes a long way. Good communication and fair, prompt payment foster a positive atmosphere on site. And when the atmosphere is good, you’re more likely to find people tackle problems collaboratively and proactively. This helps to reduce bottlenecks and prevent rework. 

Adapting to Unexpected Changes

It’s very rare for a construction project to go exactly as planned, adhering to every detail of the programme. The ability to adapt to changes is one of the most important skills for construction leaders, as it’s part and parcel of working in the industry. Changes in designs and to the availability of materials and personnel can all cause minor interruptions that if left unaddressed can snowball into major issues. 

To deal with these issues while causing as little disruption to the programme as possible, you’ve got to have a rigorous approach to problem solving. You need to identify what the problem is at its root cause before you try and solve it. When you fully understand the cause and conditions of the problem, then you can troubleshoot it. 

Part of staying on top of changes and variations is documenting them so you have a record of every decision that was made, the change to the design or materials and the additional labour that was needed. Generally, teams will have a way of recording variations on site, whether in a variation book or electronically. 

Close Monitoring Means Better Project Outcomes

Overall, keeping a close eye on whether deliveries and work are happening as outlined in the schedule means you’ll be able to intercept any issues more easily, helping you align with the programme as closely as possible. There will always be some flex — this is just part of working in construction. But by planning thoroughly, putting buffers in place, leading effectively and staying vigilant, you can minimise disruptions and hand over a great project to the client. 

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