PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Strong project management is the result of careful planning aimed at creating the best building within the project's constraints. Project management techniques include team building, schedule and budget control, regular communication with project team members, organization and maintenance of all project records, coordination of team activities and technical quality control through all phases of design and construction.
Team Building
Gresham & Beach accepts the maxim that, in order to build a successful project, first you have to build a successful team. It has been our experience that clients evaluate the success of a team by these criteria:
• Willingness to encourage and maintain involvement and participation from all members of the project team and the client's user groups;
• Ability to listen, to respect and to respond appropriately to the needs and demands of the client and user groups;
• Willingness to communicate and meet with client representatives: whenever, wherever and for as long as the demands of the project require;
• Ability of the team to use its collective creativity to provide a unique design response, within the parameters of program scope, schedule, budget and project context;
• Professionalism and accountability of each discipline, as evaluated throughout the life of the project.
A cohesive team understands that they share a common goal of creating the best project within the project's constraints. They understand that their judgment is valued and their best is expected.
Communication among team members about the project goals, visions and constraints is a critical first step in team building. All team members should be on the ‘same page' relative to the overall vision. A strong common understanding enables all team members to make decisions that support the project goals. Facilitating this process includes knowing when the interface is necessary and making sure that it occurs. Gresham & Beach regularly schedules internal reviews, together with team pin-up meetings, to ensure that our team is communicating and well coordinated.
Schedule and Budget Control
The project schedule and budget are the real backbones of project management. They are the framework that the guides the project team, allowing them to look forward and prepare appropriately. We use project management software to develop and maintain our schedules, and spreadsheets to track our costs.
Completing projects on-time and in budget begins with careful planning and is achieved through long term attention to the plan.
Early in the process, all project team members should understand and agree to the quality of the project from infrastructure to finishes, the relative cost of the agreed upon quality, and the impact that cost has on the overall quantity of space that can be provided.
Careful verification of the project program relative to the project budget is the first step in managing the project budget. It is important to know early that the project is feasible within the realms established by the project team relative to the “three-legged stool” of quality, quantity and economy.
By working closely, from the very beginning, with both the contractor and our own cost estimator, we constantly evaluate the appropriateness of our design response with regard to budget. By careful verification of the existing program in conjunction with a detailed conceptual design budget, we can establish a firm budget foundation for the start of the design process. An accurate conceptual design budget helps the A/E team to avert the need for major course of direction change and to focus on fine tuning adjustments instead.
To help ensure schedule compliance for our projects, we follow a management plan based on seven critical elements:
Element 1: Maintain a parallel schedule of meetings to inform all key players of the project's progress.
Element 2: Work with the client to determine constraints and opportunities unique to the project.
Element 3: Meet with user groups to address program details within the context of project budget and schedule.
Element 4: Assess original project goals for validity; redefine if appropriate;
Element 5: Address new goals that emerge and integrate them into schedule.
Element 6: Establish regular design review milestones for focused review of project development.
Element 7: Meet regularly with consultants to ensure their knowledge of and adherence to the deliverables for each project milestone.
