How Organizations Can Simplify Construction Project Management with KanBo

When tens of millions are at risk, being meticulous on construction sites is essential for keeping costs down.

Construction organizations have limited time and money, so they need to plan for every possible scenario. Whether you’re constructing a production plant, a power station, or other modern facilities, construction project management is invaluable for getting the job done on time and on budget. Further, construction management aids in keeping the whole workflow on schedule and running seamlessly, from initial conception and strategy to utilizing resources.

To successfully lead a construction project, construction organizations must be familiar with conventional management and the construction procedure. Moreover, construction projects have objectives and constraints, such as a timeframe for fulfillment. Such efforts are comparable to the management of large projects in other highly specialized domains like aviation, medicine, and power generation, despite differences in fundamental technology, institutional structures, and approaches. With so many moving parts, it becomes incredibly challenging for construction businesses to ensure effective management. That’s where choosing the right work and business process management tools like KanBo can make a huge difference.

Understanding Construction Project Management (CPM)

Organizing, governing, and monitoring the several stages and activities involved in building anything is what construction project management (CPM) is all about. CPM may range from overseeing a single property to running a large construction management firm. Regardless of the scale, CPM can assist your organization with pre-construction planning, construction tracking, post-construction evaluation, and final initiative closure.

Construction project management is the rawest form of PM since it follows many of the same fundamental processes. It’s a kind of project management focused on achieving a specific goal, with a visible outcome, and limitations imposed by things like schedule, money, workforce, conditions, and more. While several similar project management techniques, ideas, and procedures that you may find in a commercial or industrial organization are in play, there are also significant variances.

Knowing the ins and outs of the construction process and being able to think on one’s feet in the face of unforeseen challenges are both essential for successfully completing a construction project, which may include various tasks and processes. Because of the intricate and ever-changing nature of development projects, the role of a construction project manager is to maintain the project’s viability. All required regulations, blueprints, and requirements must be met, and the project must be completed within the set time frame and financial constraints. Planning, as well as managing costs, durability, and safety, are all part of the construction project manager’s job description.

Basic Functions of Construction Project Management

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The construction business is unlike any other regarding the number of players and interests involved. Managing the resources and vendors involved in a construction project while delivering it on schedule and under budget is a full-time job. That’s where construction project management (CPM) may help construction businesses keep tabs on everything from your coworkers to the progress you’ve made on your projects’ targets. Although CPM itself won’t build the project, it offers clarity to everyone on the crew so the organizational teams can go forward together.

Time & Cost Management

To help construct the payment schedule, knowing the financial plan could be helpful. Construction project managers use the spending plan and schedule to gauge progress. They must release the payments at each milestone to ensure the project remains on track. Construction projects could be safer if contractors are not given all the funds upfront as project managers can ensure everything is up to specification. Apart from funds management, keeping track of time is also essential. It’s common knowledge that the construction industry charges more daily when a project exceeds budget. One of the most important aspects of managing a construction project is learning to effectively divide and manage the timeline to oversee the successful completion of daily operations.

Project Planning & Contract Administration

A construction project manager has to define a complete project plan, so every step of the process is well laid out. This allows the team to evaluate the strategy and find any potential bottlenecks and dependencies in time. Moreover, legal requirements and regulatory considerations are also taken into account by the stakeholders, including owners, contractors, architects, and construction project managers. This ensures that all the terms and conditions are effectively communicated, and there are no surprises in store for any party involved in the project.

Safety Management

A major part of effective construction project management involves providing a safe and secure workplace free of any potential risks or hazards. There is usually a safety manager hired by the project management department to educate and train the workforce about the industry’s best practices, safety procedures, and regulatory compliance guidelines.

Project Quality Management

Quality control is an important part of construction project management and so falls within the purview of the project leader. A project manager must evaluate current procedures to guarantee high standards are met. For instance, they should check whether the materials are of an adequate standard and guarantee that the final product is safe from hazards. Further, quality assurance guarantees that the project starts out with established quality criteria and wraps up with the approval of the client.

5 Key Phases of Construction Project Management

It’s important to note that although the steps in managing a construction project are similar to those in managing any other kind of project, there are important distinctions to be aware of. In light of this, we have compiled the following specific overview of the six fundamental stages of a construction project.

Phase One – Project Conception

During this stage, the project’s owners come up with the concept for the development, investigate potential sites, develop the initial set of criteria for its implementation, and set a deadline. An architect or designer, often under the supervision of the construction project manager, will be given these results by the decision-makers before they start creating the blueprints for the project. The CPM manager is responsible for briefing the architects on the project’s requirements, gathering input from key stakeholders, and resolving any problems that arise as a result of the brainstorming process. Sponsors must address three crucial facets of construction: viability analysis, layout blueprints, and contractual agreements. The feasibility of any given project may be evaluated by conducting a thorough business case assessment. If you don’t have a formal and structured case, at least include some detailed plans in your project strategy to ensure you and the customer are on the same wavelength.

Phase Two – Pre-Construction

The development component of a construction project is when the management starts getting ready for the building phase. Examining the land, performing soil tests, developing a timeline, screening for unforeseen problems, gathering supplies, choosing construction project management applications, and collecting a crew are all part of essential prerequisites. Some typical positions on a construction crew are:

• The site manager on a construction project is the individual responsible for supervising the workforce. They keep tabs on how much work has been done, how much has been paid out in wages, and how much time each working person has spent on the job.
• The project supervisor’s role is to act as a liaison between the construction site’s on-the-ground personnel and the project manager (CPM), ensuring that all necessary information is conveyed and followed.
• The safety manager’s function is to ensure that everyone in the workforce is following the rules and communicating any safety hazards.
• Construction workers are hardworking individuals tasked with bringing a construction project to existence by driving fasteners, pouring concrete, and operating heavy gear.

Depending on the project’s nature, the construction project manager may also hire specialized professionals such as roofers, electricians, plumbers, HVAC experts, and construction expeditors.

Phase Three – Project Execution

Once a construction organization has conducted all the feasibility studies, made viable strategies, and sourced the required materials, it’s time to breathe life into the idea. A construction project manager has to ensure that every step is executed without any hiccups and that any missteps are fixed in time. An experienced project manager would carry out a comprehensive risk assessment to ensure that all the potential risk elements are in front of them so they can find adequate countermeasures.

Phase Four – Commissioning

After a building has been constructed, the commissioning phase begins, during which the construction company checks its functionality, makes any necessary repairs, and instructs the facility’s staff on its proper usage and upkeep. The company must be careful to keep extensive documentation of this procedure.

• An organization has to double-check every last detail before delivering a final project to a client. They carefully inspect the finished version for any remaining issues and record their findings.
• Upon completion of the internal quality evaluation, the project manager then presents the project to the client and conducts a walk-through with the client. The customer will want to go over the work site and try out the various features and functions of the finished products. It is the obligation of the company to rectify any additional problems discovered during the client’s assessment.
• Even if everything goes well, the construction company will nevertheless instruct the customer and the property manager on how to use the necessary systems so that they can keep the building in working order after the workers have left. This may refer to anything from hardware to software to electrical systems.

Phase Five – Occupancy & Warranty

The warranty term begins on the day when the new owners of the property take possession. In the first year of occupation, the construction organizations are usually responsible for two warranty claims:

• Warranties provided under the contract pertaining to the equipment and the structure of the property.
• Legal guarantees that are asserted by statute are also enforceable.

If the business has thoroughly recorded the regular upkeep for this structure and provided explicit guidance for the occupants, they won’t have to worry about anything on their end if problems arise as a result of carelessness on the occupant’s part. In order to guarantee that the standard of the building construction fulfills or surpasses the incumbents’ requirements, any problems with quality are addressed within the warranty timeframes.

Major Challenges of Construction Project Management

As evident from the aforementioned process, construction project management is an intricate venture that involves a wide range of moving parts and intricacies that need to be taken care of. There aren’t just a diverse variety of internal and external factors but also a plethora of personal interests that cannot be managed well without building a highly collaborative workplace where process visibility and progress transparency are crystal clear. That’s why construction project management teams have to face numerous challenges, including the following.

Ensuring Effective Communication & Documentation Management

It’s challenging to keep lines of communication open between all stakeholders engaged in a construction project. Keeping a complete and accurate record of all project documentation is an additional challenge. The risks associated with poor coordination and record-keeping are, unfortunately, too substantial to ignore. Any step, from initial planning to ongoing sourcing, might be endangered if there is a breakdown in communication that causes a delay in the process. In addition, the challenges of administrating email, conversations, calls, and other ways of interaction and collaboration can pile on the difficulties. Managers don’t only have to encourage regular communication but are responsible for document management. On the other hand, all involved parties including builders, insurers, and land developers, need one reliable information hub. Construction organizations have to build a successful document management process by analyzing their current document management system, consolidating the current papers, and standardizing existing procedures with a document management solution that has the features business needs.

Absence of Access to Real-Time Data

If you’re sharing information with your workforce, it needs to be updated constantly. Otherwise, the team members are left in the dark, acting on obsolete data and causing more problems and delays. Construction works always have a sense of progression about them. As a result, you require real-time information in order to monitor changes and respond appropriately to emerging issues. Again, though, the answers lie in a suitable piece of software. It’s important that the system you choose provides up-to-date reports and visualizations that facilitate data discovery. Plus, the resources for modeling processes and measuring results.

Inability to Provide Accurate Estimations

You can’t put enough emphasis on how important it is to accurately predict construction expenses, materials, and completion dates. In the highly competitive construction sector, even the smallest error in estimating might spell disaster. A large margin of variation in cost analysis might cause a large-scale project, like the construction of a power station, to stall midway, causing high sunk costs. Although it may seem like an imperfect system to anticipate the future due to uncertainties like price fluctuations, market volatility, and delivery delays, forecasting tools may assist you in accommodating all of these aspects and create the most reliable forecasts feasible.

Creation of Unwanted Data Siloes

In initiatives where information is challenging to collect and manage, misunderstandings and delays are typical. In addition, data barriers may have an effect on budget management, project efficiency, risk evaluation, and other areas. Imagine, for the sake of argument, that your subcontractor is delaying progress because they are searching for data that is already accessible to them, or because they have decided to proceed without the data in question. Either you’ll run into holdups, or you won’t be able to bring yourself to keep your hopes high.
You may eliminate information silos by switching to a management solution that enables you to consolidate and organize key data. The most advanced tools, such as KanBo software, provide seamless system integration and quick access to data regardless of location.

Meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Without changing to more eco-friendly manufacturing and consumption habits, the construction sector will not be able to meet its climate targets. The construction sector has many hurdles and obstacles, but overcoming them will need a focus on global climate and ecological implications. Because millennials care more about environmental and ecological concerns than previous generations, this holds especially true. Despite the fact that existing infrastructure and economic models can significantly cut emissions, innovative ways will be required to meet climate targets in the coming years. Innovative solutions are required in many different fields to ensure environmental sustainability, including the hiring and firing of people. As more cutting-edge tools become accessible, there will be a larger need for reliable, effective digitalization. Sustainable Development Goal 9 was developed by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and the construction sector plays a crucial role in realizing this objective. It encourages MNCs to take part in the building of global infrastructure so that more people may reap the benefits of industrialization and economic progress. Additionally, these steps are performed because of the significance, on the part of corporations, of creating an environment that welcomes and supports innovation. In the following paragraphs, we’ll discuss several sustainability objectives that construction firms are expected to ensure compliance with.

• Public-private partnerships (PPPs) and related efforts to create environmentally friendly infrastructure. New transportation infrastructure has to include the private sector and be managed by the private sector.
• Increased financing for healthcare-related construction projects; enhanced workplace health and safety initiatives; improved access to medical care; and the organization of group-building exercises.
• Corporations in the construction industry would do well to support community development projects in the areas where they build.
• To construct and run educational institutions, everyone in the workforce should be given the opportunity to do so. Corporate social responsibility and sponsorship initiatives may assist companies in training the workforce of the future.
• Water distribution systems and flood prevention infrastructure should be developed together. Building sites should do as minimal damage to the surrounding environment as feasible.
• Green construction approaches and materials should be used from the very beginning to reduce the environmental impact of developing energy infrastructure. The construction sector has an obligation to take the lead in conceiving and supervising projects that make use of renewable energy sources.

How to Improve Construction Project Management with KanBo

The KanBo construction solution is an adaptable answer that allows construction businesses and their crews to efficiently plan and oversee the whole project. They learn how to convey information about a project in an accelerated fashion from the preliminary phase of strategic conception all the way through to its ultimate approval.

Implement Cost- and Time-Saving Measures in Your Projects

As KanBo is compatible with all data structures, it may be used by construction firms to streamline the usage of programs like TenderBook, Master BIM, digital paperwork, and 3D representations of master plans. Incorporating modules for multi-departmental management and scheduling, they can keep tabs on even the most intricate procedures and streamline the labor involved in any project, from the brainstorming phase all the way to the release of the blueprints. By streamlining master schedule approvals and making it easy to exchange changes with any stakeholder, KanBo aids construction companies in reducing the need for manual data input, hence reducing the likelihood of human mistakes and allowing projects to be completed on time.To cut down on expenses and gain the flexibility to add or remove tasks as your building projects advance, project managers may utilize KanBo to combine various schedules into a single master schedule. In addition to freeing up resources and reducing costs, they may eliminate duplication of effort and boost the productivity of business teams across the board.

Build Your Projects around Clear Goals and Objectives

Construction project management teams can use KanBo to effectively communicate the plans and specifications, the risk of conflicts, inefficiencies, and duplication, and to develop a master project schedule in a timely manner with contractors and subcontractors. Distributed teams and divisions may stay on the same page using project-oriented contextual communication to develop and revise goals and the scope of the project in a unified location. All departments, assets, information, and procedures across the whole project lifecycle may be brought together in one location to foster collaboration, and changes can be acknowledged and implemented as they occur. Through the use of information analytics and relevant insights, KanBo enables data-driven decision-making throughout the whole project chain, helping to eliminate misunderstandings, reduce risks, save costs, and achieve targets. KanBo software provides CPMs with master schedule adherence capabilities, including checks, audit reports, and status monitoring, which greatly improve the efficiency with which projects may be carried out. You can keep your project under control by avoiding arguments and moving forward at a steady clip.

Implement Agile Project Scheduling at the Highest Level

In the construction industry, KanBo deployment is a game-changer. With the use of real-time data and insights gleaned from the area of work, they may facilitate well-informed decision-making without compromising the data’s excellent security. By maintaining a focus on the big vision and giving your teams the freedom to plan, carry out, and oversee their own work, you can facilitate agile project management. They may also view the whole scope of the project with little effort, allowing them to anticipate and prevent problems before they become significant setbacks. By facilitating two-way interaction for efficient collaboration throughout the course of the project, KanBo enables businesses to let their employees keep their concentration on the activities they are best at. With the aid of KanBo, they are able to zero in on the areas that need immediate attention and assign the appropriate team to tackle the problems and chores that are unique to their company, therefore removing any unnecessary dependencies.
In addition, they may depend on modern collaboration methods rather than using traditional methods of communication like email.

Sequencing Tasks Based On Scope Helps Improve Resource Management

By using the KanBo system, construction companies may provide a visual picture of sequential tasks for their geographically dispersed teams, helping everyone in the company better grasp what is expected of them and at what intervals. They may get individualized perspectives on the project’s development, allowing them to always be in the know and to provide timely, useful comments and information for faultless implementation. In addition, a work-driven contextual master project schedule may link everyone and everything together to keep the project on track and under budget. Project managers and their teams may use KanBo as a centralized hub for project management, allowing them to more easily align tasks, resources, and expertise, as well as make and execute changes as they become required, without wasting time or falling behind schedule. Together, these capabilities allow for efficient resource management, as well as the creation and storage of all the knowledge and expertise needed for the timely execution of the building project.

Reduce Risk by Improving Project Security and Quality

To avoid overruns, needless delays, and project risks, construction companies may keep everything on KanBo from the early phase of project planning through task management and final execution. By following a plan and getting things done, they may improve quality and safety across the board and still accomplish their primary objectives. By providing a centralized hub for communication, collaboration, and management, KanBo enables organizations to streamline their processes, streamline communication, and streamline decision-making for their projects, all while saving time. KanBo allows businesses to prepare for the present and future requirements of a project team in a way that is driven by the nature of the work being done, therefore reducing risk and maximizing efficiency. Moreover, they may cut down on unnecessary material usage, stop waste from occurring and foresee any setbacks that may result from changes to the project’s scope or other requirements.

Utilize the Project Experience You’ve Built Up Over Time

Over the use of KanBo, construction project managers may encourage dispersed project teams to draw on information gained through the course of the project, as well as draw on the experience and lessons learned from previous projects, to enhance functional and budgetary efficiency. Because information can flow freely, they can speed up the pace at which they carry out operations, improve the efficiency of their procedures, and respond to changing conditions while remaining one step ahead of the competition. KanBo may be used to centralize the vital information offered by coworkers on a daily basis and facilitate informed decision-making via information-driven analytics and actionable reports. Construction firms may avoid delays caused by dependencies and bottlenecks by employing a master project schedule that is constantly updated in real-time and can be searched for information relating to any phase of the project. With KanBo, businesses can centralize their data and information using the ECM’s built-in interface with other programs like BIM, CAD, and GIS.

Improved Construction Project Management with KanBo

Construction project managers aren’t the only ones that need a streamlined method of communication and management in the construction industry. In general, any construction firm might benefit from KanBo’s adaptable task and knowledge management system. Construction firms are liberated from the need to build information-restricting walls in order to facilitate knowledge exchange and the development of innovative practices among their staff. KanBo can work for organizations operating on a wide range of scales.

KanBo Is Where the Executive Branch Is Headquartered

KanBo provides easy access to company-wide knowledge bases, including strategic plans, current projects, job descriptions, staff strengths, and news updates. If top management decides to adopt an agile work and knowledge management platform, virtual operations and databases might be set up. Instantaneous access to data and analytics presented in a highly visual fashion is now available to executives in the construction business. The innovation strategy of a corporation might benefit from a faster and more accurate decision-making process.

For Non-Professional Programmers, KanBo is a Low-Code Environment

We simply touch on two advantages of a low-code approach: quicker application delivery and less human coding. People who aren’t programmers, such as project managers and business analysts, can now create mobile apps. Non-technical employees may have a stronger influence on the organization if the IT backlog is reduced and shadow IT is removed. Creative new technologies have enabled a knowledge management system that is more efficient than ever before.

It’s Advantageous for Those Who Do Not Know How to Code

Application software may be developed by developers and others who aren’t familiar with computer programming. It might be difficult for executives to do their jobs if they aren’t proficient in coding. The primary benefit of using KanBo as a no-code solution is the speed with which you can create applications. Businesses are increasingly relying on these platforms due to the growing importance of mobile workers and the limited availability of in-house software specialists.

KanBo Is Widely Used By IT Professionals

Workflow and process management software is what KanBo is all about. A process is a set of interconnected actions carried out over time. KanBo’s robust collection of project management tools might be useful for human resources and workers alike. The characteristics of the program facilitate cooperative effort across organizational boundaries.

Final Word

Constructing anything from scratch is a massive task. Because of this, it’s important to consider and evaluate several factors and requirements. For this reason, it is essential to rely on construction management software, which will not only make your life simpler but also help you to take your building design to new heights. A well-managed construction project guarantees that everyone in the team is on the identical path and that the job is done on time. The right software, like KanBo, can help construction organizations improve forecasts, consolidate data, boost efficiency, and reduce costs.

It’s important to have a system in place for construction managers to stay on top of all the shifting priorities and last-minute adjustments that come with the fast-paced nature of the industry. With KanBo, they can plan and carry out any endeavor as it is a comprehensive solution that can help your team make better decisions and share information more efficiently.