Project planning in construction is time-consuming and exhausting, especially if there are a lot of employees who need to be assigned different tasks at various job sites.
There’s also the issue of scheduling that comes to play. Using spreadsheets to figure out a construction worker’s schedule will further delay the project’s completion.
If a project manager practices good scheduling, they can eliminate production bottleneck problems, facilitate the procurement of necessary materials and ensure swift project completion. In contrast, poor scheduling will result in substantial waste, as construction workers will wait for long periods for their work schedule to be finalized.
Read on to find out why construction scheduling is crucial and how it helps in streamlining your projects.
In construction, a schedule is a project calendar that can be in written or graphic form. It represents an essential blueprint of how a project will be executed and by when.
A construction schedule tracks project progress, records milestones, and outlines project timeframes. It typically includes project deliverables, asset allocations, tasks assigned to employees, construction deadlines, budget, and cost of involved construction parts.
Planning a construction project efficiently will benefit construction managers and keep stakeholders in the loop of project progress.
Tracking, communicating, and reporting progress will also make delegating tasks to construction employees easier. Optimized construction scheduling can be beneficial for your construction company for several reasons:
Construction companies that have limited budgets have to be extra careful in managing their resources.
Poor resource management can lead to decreased productivity when the necessary tools for a specific project are not available. Construction employees can also feel discontent when they’re sitting and waiting for their tools to arrive.
Using the construction schedule makes it possible to change the sequencing of project activities, i.e., either extend or shorten them if faced with unforeseen circumstances.
When construction managers are eager to start their projects, they can make rash decisions that affect the entire project process and cause project delays.
By creating a well-thought-out schedule, they can provide their project team specific instructions to follow and refer to.
Managers can strengthen team management and give a real sense of direction by assigning fixed tasks and responsibilities.
As a project manager, asset or resource allocation is an essential factor in your project calendar.
Ensuring construction equipment, tools, and material for the respective construction crews helps improve productivity.
Construction companies with limited resources should consider resource planning by following more resource-oriented scheduling.
Proper project management will help prevent inaccurate project estimates. Within their construction schedule, a project manager can set monetary and time limits for a particular project.
Through their construction project schedule, project managers can decide if the duration stipulated by the client is obtainable. Thus, they can avoid getting penalized by a client for the late completion of the project.
Project managers should manage construction resources and use a project schedule to plan before the arrival of such resources to the construction site. Doing so will ensure quality checking of equipment and upholding quality standards for the next project.
Such scheduling techniques will also secure the smooth allocation of resources to construction employees and won’t cause any disruptions in the construction plan.
Critical Path Method Scheduling or CRM, a common construction scheduling technique, can also improve safety performance by sequencing the activities to ensure maximum protection for workers.
Construction projects require thoughtful planning to achieve project goals and minimize cost overruns. Here’s how a manager can start their construction project scheduling in just five steps.
Gather essential information about your project from multiple stakeholders like project owners, contractors, and subcontractors.
Stakeholders can provide you with financial data so you can formulate tender or bid estimates. They can also give you information regarding the number of needed construction equipment and their respective costs.
When it comes to budgeting your project, managers need a steady influx of cash to keep the project moving forward, so it’s important to talk to your bank before it starts.
An accurate construction schedule is incomplete without a thorough list of detailed tasks. Consider the stakeholders involved in the project and ensure to input their roles, duties, and tasks in your plan.
After tasks are finalized, it’s time to break down your project plan from top to bottom. Luckily, you can use a work breakdown structure or WBS to visualize your deliverables and scope of work to manage project tasks successfully. The WBS takes complex projects and breaks them down to the essential parts that need to be worked on.
Large tasks that have been broken down into smaller ones are now ready to be put on a Gantt chart.
Gantt charts are typically used to assign the duration of each task. Depending on the project’s overall course, you’ll need to calculate employees’ holidays, sick days, and vacation days. If weather-related issues come up, then looking at historical data helps in predicting forecasts.
Sometimes employees might miss punching in, which can cause inaccurate task reporting. In such cases, an alert system is needed to inform supervisors of sudden absences. MobiClocks flag alert system helps you manage missed, offline, or suspicious punches through a color-coded feature.
Subcontractors and suppliers might mention an estimated project duration in their contracts, but this can often change due to slow productivity or other unforeseen circumstances. Updating the project timeline is essential to keep managers and team members aware of changes in a project schedule.
Allocating tasks can be complex if there are many employees. That’s why using a color-coded feature can quickly help managers keep track of different teams and functions.
If you want to ensure that your project is on time and on budget, you can look into cost coding tools. MobiClocks advanced cost coding feature, for example, helps you calculate the cost of tasks allocated to each employee seamlessly and accurately.
After making needed estimations of the duration of the work and having detailed information of employee title and experience, the next step is allocating resources.
Now it’s time for the construction schedule to come to life. Ensure that all employees have balanced tasks and are not overburdened or left without work.
The schedule of construction projects can change multiple times. Hence, managers need to approach project schedules with flexibility and modify them accordingly.
Schedules require reviews to correct any changes in project duration and to minimize risks. Monitoring and reviewing also keep track of construction work progress and help in maintaining smooth communication in project teams.
Scheduling software can help you manage projects better and make your team more organized. With so many options, managers find it tough to choose the right scheduling software for their company.
Find out more about software options for construction businesses through our article on construction management software.
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