Tag Archives: builder

Contractor Must-Know: How to Handle Conflict During Construction

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No matter how small or how big a project is, it is always prone to challenges. Oftentimes, major conflicts like claim disputes, arbitration, and litigation may even come up. These types of problems are not just time-consuming, they can be very costly too. The National Research Council estimates that $4B to $11B is spent annually in resolving these cases in the U.S. market.

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And as a contractor, you often have to play the role of an unbiased outside party. You have to do whatever it takes to avoid these costly nightmares. To aid you in this, check out the following practices often upheld by Project Neutrals or Individual Dispute Review Boards.

1. Develop Trusting Relationships

You have to develop trust between all stakeholders of the project. If you’re building a home for a family, you have to consider each member’s needs, while also putting into account any homeowner, neighborhood, city, municipal, or state guidelines. In the case of people, when trust levels are high, there is less tendency for involved parties to be defensive. Conflict resolution is much easier if everyone is on the same page.

2. Be an Active Participant in the Project

In order to establish your role in a project, and to build trusting relationships among stakeholders, you shouldn’t just be a passive observant. Be an active participant! Make your significance clear. Make your presence felt. Assure them that you have their best interests in mind and that you have the capacity to make it happen. Let them see you do your stuff.

3. Communicate Clearly

Nothing spells a sure disaster more than unclear communication. We all know that construction projects can amass a lot of paperwork, documentation, permits, and so on. We have to ensure that the message of each document is crystal clear and cannot be interpreted vaguely. Not just in paperwork, you have to ensure that all modes of communication are clear. Be it text, email, calls, or in-person communication— it’s a must to deliver your instructions as clearly as possible.

4. Treat Everyone Fairly

Don’t just prioritize your client. You also have to be fair to your employees, contractors, drivers, business partners, suppliers, and so on. To avoid (and resolve) conflict, you have to make them feel that you are being fair to everyone who’s involved in the project.

5. Be a Resource Person

As the project manager or construction manager, you should be the nucleus or nerve center of knowledge. All parties concerned should be able to come to you and ask questions. Of course, it’s your job to have information ready at a moment’s notice. For this you have to maintain a stable timeline, have good reporting skills, and a firm grasp of the project’s status.

Construction can be a real pain in the behind, IF you don’t know what you’re doing. That’s why it’s important to study best practices, learn from mistakes, and use whatever tools and resources you have at your disposal.

Automated Trackers believes in you! Happy building!

Builder Tips: The Truth About Project Management

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Effective project management doesn’t have one basic template. Each project involves a hundred little adjustments from your usual approach. Today, we’re debunking some of the most common project management myths and shedding light on the best ways on how to go about your business.

Fact: It’s not all about processes

A lot of newbie project managers mistakenly compare project management to a computer that’s all about processes and algorithms. Based on experience, we know that this isn’t true.

In fact, project management is mostly about people. It’s about people management, client servicing, and conflict resolution. So yes, while methodology is very important to any initiative, it’s just part of the responsibilities.

Team work and soft skills are a must too.

Fact: Remote collaboration can be productive
Work mobility is absolutely essential to good project management. The advancements in technology today make remote collaboration completely possible. Did you know that in a recent survey, 37% of businesses report that their remote workers are more engaged than the ones in the office?

Also, 75% of bosses report that remote employees are much happier than those who don’t have that option. And here’s a whopper, remotely working actually increases performance by 13%!

Fact: Project management is NEVER just about paperwork.

Executing and organizing a project is more than just securing permits, creating timetables and making checklists. The fact of the matter is, project managers spend 90% of their work time communicating. 

Did you know that you can cut down as much as 10% of working hours by reducing paperwork, moving your projects to the cloud, and using project management software?

FACT: Frequent meetings are not that essential

Make the most of your time. Did you know that 47% of workers consider meetings one of the biggest time-wasters in the workplace? People arriving late, waiting for everyone to settle down, unnecessary chitchat here and there, all of these add up to hours of time that could have been spent being productive. If an actual face-to -face meeting is a must, keep it short and sweet.

Project management is one of the trickiest jobs out there, but it can also be the most fulfilling. Nothing beats the feeling of finishing a project that’s been executed to perfection. When you see your clients’ smiles, everything will be worth it!

Click here to know more about how Project Management has gone paperless.