Send time charge codes with meeting and function invitations.

If you send an invite/schedule booking to team members for a meeting, staff function, training etc, you should send the time code that they should book their time for that time under.

This will save them each individually searching or asking what they should book their time to.

This should also apply if you instruct someone to work on a different project than they normally work.

Tagged with: booking time • cost code • meeting invitations

Filed under: Communication • Cost • Time

Although alliance systems can lead to great cost and time savings, it is important to pay particular attention to internal communications and authorisation systems.

It can take a lot longer to get information circulated or authorisations done properly compared to if everyone was from the one company.

Verification of designs can be particularly time consuming as the designs may need to pass between lots of departments.

It can help to indicate clearly on the communications or forms who is responsible for replying or taking action, when that action is due by, and who they should return it to or pass it on to when they are completed. For other people copied in the communication, make sure it is clear that they are only copied for information only and do not need to act or reply.

Keeping urgent or important labels for truly important communications can speed the process.

If necessary, make a, simple to follow, one page procedure for processing documents (so that people can know what to do easily).

Tagged with: alliance • authorisation • verification

Filed under: Communication • Documentation • Time

Make sure your team is skilled and trained in using the basic functions of their computers as efficiently as possible.

Possibly run some short workshops on the use of keyboard shortcuts, quicker ways to do things, etc.

Put together a simple list of commonly used tasks that have easy shortcuts or quicker ways to do it. Such as using the windows + E keys to open a file explorer window.

Some people open many copies of folders or programs whereby their task bar is full of small tabs that are too small to show the title. This is useless. They should only open as many as can still be read.

The increased efficiency accross the entire office based side of a project can by substantial. Individual people can increase their efficiency by up to 30% or more.

Tagged with: computer skills • efficiency • shortcuts

Filed under: Time • Training

Encourage and discipline your team members to use neat writing when making notes on drawings or things which others must read or refer to.

Messy or illegible writing slows the reader down and leads to miscommunication. It can also lead to mistakes as someone may assume a word is different to what was intended.

The project manager should lead by example.

If you, as the project manager, receive unclear hand written correspondence or drawings with unclear writing, you should return it to the writer and ask them to re submit it to you either typed or written clearly.

This is a communication issue and mistakes could lead to costly delays or safety issues.

Tagged with: lead by example • neat • notes • writing

Filed under: Communication • Time

Microsoft Outlook or similar programs allow you to send meeting requests to people. This is a quick and effective way for meetings to be set without wasting time calling around for available times.

If all members of your team use the calendar function properly, they would have all their meetings and busy times entered into their calendar. When you request a meeting of them, you will be able to see available times in a simple bar chart and book accordingly.

Tagged with: calendar • meeting request • meetings • outlook • schedule

Filed under: Communication • Human Resources • Time • Training

Make sure you put a priority on tasks that other people require to be completed before they can start on their tasks.

Your team members may require you to approve something or send them something before they can proceed with work. It is very important that you put a priority on getting that task done and inform them of its completion. Otherwise you are slowing their work and costing more time and money than just your own time.

It may be necessary to do those tasks before you do tasks that have no dependencies.

Tagged with: dependencies • priorities • tasks

Filed under: Planning • Time

Although this is an organisation issue, not just a project issue, it is important to make sure your team does not send messages to all for something that is specific to one group or one office.

E.g. “A pair of reading glasses have been misplaced. If you have seen these could you please return them to reception.”

This kind of message often gets sent to the whole organisation mail system, which could include thousands of people, when it should be sent just to that local office.

The lost time associated with thousands of people readings a broadly sent email like that and the bandwidth costs could amount to thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

In the above example, approximately 5000 people received the message. 5000 x 30 seconds is about 42 hours wasted time ($5000+ in billable time). Plus the time wasted in people laughing about it and replying with comments. Plus the storage costs and transmittal costs.

Not only does it make the sender look foolish, it wastes your project time, resources, and if from your project, its reputation.

Tagged with: email • local office • wasted time

Filed under: Communication • Cost • Time • Training

If you (or others) are to travel for meetings, confirm that they have been scheduled.

Projects with committees or bureaucracy may overlook setting the times or places and informing everyone of a meeting properly.

Confirm the meeting before leaving for it.

Tagged with: meetings • schedule • travel

Filed under: Communication • Time

Don’t schedule backwards from the end date.

Program the project logically. Do it forwards then adjust to fit for time.

If you do it backwards, you aren’t planning the project, you are just fitting schedule to match the end date, that won’t help achieve the tasks, and will probably mean you go past the scheduled date anyway.

Tagged with: end date • schedule

Filed under: Planning • Time

Keep a careful watch on external dependencies.

External things such as deliveries, contracts, and approvals that could delay your project if late.

They may not be your direct responsibility and are out of your control, but you need to keep watch that they are getting done and that dates are not slipping.

Deliveries are a big one here. You should make your suppliers aware of your project schedule (or the part relevant to them) to emphasise the importance of the delivery date you require of them.

Don’t say you need it by a certain date if that date is the actual date you will install it. You need to allow time for delivery, unpacking, checking, and moving to the site.

Tagged with: deliveries • suppliers

Filed under: Contract • Contractors • Procurement • Time

Find out why a project was started.

Some reasons could be different to just business as usual, and these may affect the priority on time, cost, or quality

• Was it internal business reasons (business process improvement)?
• Is your organisation using the project as a demonstration of its capability? To show off and make itself known.
• Is the project a way to break into a new market (low or no profit may be expected because it will be used as a learning and development exercise).

Tagged with: demonstration • improvement • new market • priority • profit

Filed under: Cost • Quality • Scope • Time

Find out what is most critical for a particular project – Time, Quality, or Cost

For example, a sports event launch is not time negotiable. It must be on time, it cannot be delayed a few days like a construction project could.

Tagged with: critical

Filed under: Cost • Quality • Time

Spend a few moments to consider where your project fits in with the business.

Tiny extra costs may not be worth the time or effort to try to reduce. You might spend more money trying to reduce them than the savings in doing so.

Prioritise tasks in terms of your project and also for your organisation. You might have something important for your project to do, but if doing so will delay many other projects even more, maybe you should alter that item to benefit the big picture.

Tagged with: big picture • prioritise • tasks

Filed under: Cost • Planning • Time

Recognise that outsourcing some tasks might be more efficient. Especially if your organisation is struggling to recruit enough people to fill needs (in a tight market).

Paying an external expert to do some specific tasks (e.g. calibration of sensors) may be quicker (saving costs and time) than finding an internal commissioning engineer with available time and getting them trained.

Also recognise that such training could benefit the company in the long run if it is a common task. If not, then outsourcing it may be the best way to get it done.

Time can often be the biggest saving to the project by outsourcing some tasks, as long as you manage the risks of doing so properly.

Tagged with: commissioning • expert • Training

Filed under: Contractors • Human Resources • Time • Training

It is the responsibility of the project manager to organise priorities for the team members.

You should provide direction on what is the most important task.

You should settle conflicts between activities.

Provide things like the network diagram and critical path of the project to clarify to team members what work is the most important.

The PM should also give their team direction on the requirements for time, cost, scope, and quality.

Tagged with: activities • conflict • critical path • direction • important tasks • network diagram • prioritise • priority

Filed under: Cost • Planning • Quality • Scope • Time

Don’t count on overtime for yourself or for your team.

The project should be managed to avoid needing overtime.

Overtime costs more, is less efficient, increases safety risks, and tires the team so they are less effective later.

Tagged with: efficiency • overtime

Filed under: Human Resources • Planning • Time

At the planning stage of your project, check if other projects might affect yours.

For example:

• Planned road works in front of the access gate to the site.
• Upgrades of nearby electrical supplies or pipes.

If you don’t allow for these influences, you may get significant delays to your schedule.

Tagged with: delays • influences • interference • site access

Filed under: Construction • Planning • Time

Remember to allow for close-downs over Christmas.

Many fabrication companies, suppliers, fabricators etc have 2 weeks close-down around Christmas.

For planning a long project you might need to allow a 4 week period of low or no productivity from mid December to mid January, because of the number of people on leave, which means things take longer to get done (such as approvals).

Tagged with: Christmas • close down • closedown • December • holiday • January

Filed under: Planning • Time

If you get lots of emails (particularly ones that you are copied on) then it may be worth considering setting some email filters to sort emails to certain folders (design, construction, urgent, etc).

All emails that you are only CC’d on should be automatically filtered.

Priority emails that are sent to you only or you as the main person should be filtered to an “Important” folder for review more immediately.

Consider only reviewing your emails at specific times each day (say 9am and 3pm). All emails received could have an automatic reply sent stating “I only read emails at 9am and 3pm each day, if you require an urgent response please call me directly on ———”

Tagged with: email • filter • folders • review • sorting

Filed under: Communication • Time

If you say you will be at a meeting, be there on time.

Make sure work is completed on time. If it cannot be, document why (variations, wet weather, changed conditions).

Reliability and delivering on time will mean you will get better (more important) projects, more money, and more responsibility.

You want to be someone who people can say “He can do it”, not “don’t give that project to him.”

I have known many project managers who avoid going to the weekly company project managers review meeting because they consider it a waste of time. This leads to the director/manager of that person to consider them unreliable (and sometimes complain about their lack of attendance to those who did show up at the meeting). The advantage of going to a weekly review meeting is that you can get a feel for resource availability and learn from the problems and mistakes of other projects (this is particularly important for new project managers).

Tagged with: meetings • on time • reliability • reliable • unreliable

Filed under: Planning • Time