To project teams, construction project managers are both highly visible and a barely discernible blur of motion. Project managers are there to coordinate all the moving parts: the people, materials, and processes that contribute to project success.
Successful project managers depend on a combination of hard work, focus, patience, skill, and knowledge of construction processes. Meanwhile, they can choose among multiple project management methods, based on their levels of comfort or competency, or on how well it serves the project at hand.
Here, we’ll chat about these different project management methods, offering you pros, cons, and guidance on choosing the best method for your project.
Why Use Different Management Methods for Different Projects?
Each project management method organizes the efforts of the teams differently, resulting in new workflows and deliverables. The method used fundamentally changes the approach to the project and the definition of success throughout project phases.
Construction project management differs from its corporate or institutional counterparts because of its variable nature — each project introduces new processes, timelines, and budget limitations, and has a defined endpoint. Project managers can tailor the exact framework they’ll use to help identify and manage risks and clearly define project roles, which can eventually produce a successful project.
Types of Project Management
Below are a set of well-known project management methods available to help managers shape their approach. Regardless of which method you choose, the project management process will involve:
- Outlining project objectives and limitations through oversight of budget, scheduling, and hiring subs.
- Getting the most out of the labor, materials, and equipment resources used to achieve these objectives.
- Problem solving, communications, and continued coordination to get the project over the finish line.
Lean Project Management
The Lean approach to projects focuses on producing a lot of value for the client through efficiency and workflow waste reduction. Lean can be a positive learning experience for project teams: it asks them to keep working and improving together to find better ways to complete tasks.
Importantly, project managers put Lean into practice by involving the maximum number of stakeholders as early as possible in the planning process. Lean construction is great for Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) projects, as uniting the owner, design team, and contractor under a single contract agreement improves the collaboration process.
Agile Project Management
Agile project management, as the name suggests, heavily emphasizes adaptability based on real-time performance, and is ideal for fast-moving projects with highly variable outcomes. As it moves along, the best project managers will keep their finger on the pulse of the project, poised to maneuver to a different tactic whenever needed.
Scrum project management, an Agile-based method that breaks larger projects into “sprints” or smaller chunks of intense activity, allows teams to regroup and improve between tasks. As with the waterfall method below, the whole team works toward a single stage at a time, leaning heavily on open communication and teamwork to get things done effectively.
Waterfall Project Management
The waterfall method refers to traditional project management. In this more linear process, the whole project team works on a single task until completion, then moves on, in unison, to the next one. The waterfall method can simplify construction site organization and workflows, as the whole team unites behind a single goal. However, it may not be the most efficient route to task completion, and, if taken too literally, might put teams behind schedule. Waterfall project management may be best suited to well-defined projects with little variability.
Critical Path Method
The critical path method (CPM) starts by identifying necessary project tasks and scheduling them in order of dependency to minimize project time. Its main advantage? The project manager can easily compare the project’s progress to the scheduled dependencies and know if the project is still on track. Project managers can even build in a bit of buffer time for supporting tasks off the critical path.
Many experts use cooking analogies to explain the idea behind critical path. In preparing spaghetti Bolognese, for instance, the lengthiest necessary process may be cooking the meat sauce, and the meal can’t be plated until the pasta is cooked. Those two items might go on the critical path. However, the pasta can boil while the the meat sauce simmers: one element does not depend upon the other and can be scheduled accordingly.
CPM may be best suited for projects marked by tasks with highly predictable timelines, or, in other words, defined recipes. Understanding the time required and dependencies involved helps you plan out the project based on task completion.
Hybrid Project Management
Hybrid project management, the combined approach, borrows from two or more of the well-known methodologies (often waterfall and Agile) to make something new. As there are really no rules in this method, hybrid project management can be tailored to individual projects and teams.
Although die-hard users of more traditional methods may find such combinations unthinkable, innovative project managers may find they can create systems that maximize benefits for all project components. Finally, while hybrid project management is highly customizable, it might not be well-suited to very complex projects.
Choosing and Using a Project Management Method
This buffet of construction project management methods may overwhelm project managers who don’t understand where they best apply. Although much of this understanding will come with experience, there are a few project characteristics that can help PMs choose the best management method.
How Big and Variable is the Project?
Straightforward, repetitive projects, like building homes in a new subdivision, might be served well by the tried-and-true CPM or waterfall methods. However, more variable projects prone to last-minute changes or marked by unexpected elements might benefit from a more adaptable method.
How Involved are Owners and Investors?
The delivery method owners choose may predict their level of involvement in the project. For example, on a design-bid-build project, the contractor (and PM) won’t be brought in until after the design stage is complete; in this situation, the Lean project management method may not make sense. When stakeholders are heavily involved, it’s a good idea to choose a management style that emphasizes collaboration and communication.
How Tight are the Budget and Time Frame?
While schedule, budget, and quality are essential drivers of all successful construction projects, often one or two of these constraints will take precedence over the other on any given project. Project managers must identify the most important elements on their project and choose a management method that fits.
Helpful Tools for Managing Construction Projects
Project managers can call on a range of tools to monitor their progress. One example is the Gantt chart, a popular visualization tool that works with many different management methodologies. It displays and tracks project tasks over time, using a horizontal bar chart to help project managers and teams track progress. Picture dates across the top and the list of tasks along the left axis, illustrating how the project is advancing according to goals, milestones, and which tasks come next.
Construction management platforms can help project managers build Gantt charts, stay in touch with their teams, and stay well attuned to project progress.
Different Methods to Reach Successful Outcomes
Although this smorgasbord of management methods might confuse project managers new to the field, these options reflect different management styles and the diverse range of projects the building team may encounter. In time, a project manager may even develop a personalized, hybrid approach that best reflects their individual management style.
Whichever approach you choose, your project manager should maintain open lines of communication with field teams and ongoing and accurate data about daily progress. Both of these can be facilitated by construction management technology.
