Mistakes That Impact Construction Schedules

One of the key indicators of the success of any construction project is to be able to deliver the project on time. Because of this time constraint, a schedule that is made by hand or by the use of construction management and service scheduling software plays an important part especially if you want to finish the project on time. However, a schedule whether it be a simple schedule using a calendar or a more complicated which uses the CPM ( Critical Path Method) can sometimes fail because of some things that the scheduler has forgotten to take into account. And a failed schedule can have a devastating domino effect on any construction project. Here some avoidable mistakes that can impact construction schedules. 

Mistake 1: Pulling The Schedule Out of Thin Air

Construction is a team game, and to succeed in it, you have to make sure that you understand their capacity to take on the project and meet the milestones needed for the project. To do this, you have to talk with your team so that everybody understands their role and the expectations that you need from them. Another way to do this is for you to use scheduling software for construction to pull up reports of past productivity and use those measurements to accurately calculate what your team is capable of achieving.

Guessing and being overly optimistic is not going to help you finish the project on time. 

Mistake 2: Account For the Weather

Every construction project finds itself at the mercy of weather restraints on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the weather is unpredictable even with the most sophisticated weather prediction software. Because of the fickle character of weather, it's important to factor in possible delays into your schedule. For example, if you are building in the winter, anticipate delays from rain, ice, and snow.  Factoring in delays because of the weather makes sure that you are prepared at whatever mother nature throws at you. And, if it happens that the weather cooperates and doesn't delay your project, you can use the extra time to your advantage. Remember that in construction it’s better to be early than to be late.

Mistake 3: Unrealistic Productivity 

Let's say that you have full trust in your construction team, and, that's great! But, when you are making a schedule,  make sure that you don't overestimate what your team members are capable of doing when it comes to productivity and duration. For example, you have a team of 30 workers, you cannot really give them a workload of 50 workers and expect them to finish in the same amount of time. Make sure that you calculate the number of hours a task will take and at the same time take into account your worker's availability before you do your schedule. Have an open dialogue with your team so that you don't over-commit.

Mistake 4: Giving In To Pressure

It doesn’t matter if you use the most expensive construction scheduling software program or if you come up with the most complicated scheduling diagram if you are setting unrealistic goals for your team.  It's a given that you want to impress your managers and your higher-ups, but there is a fine line between setting high expectations and making unreachable goals for your team.

Do your absolute best to meet your stakeholder's requirements, but at the same time take time to evaluate the risks of pushing a deadline hard. And, in the end, if it simply can't be done,  be upfront about it. The stakeholders and your team will appreciate your honesty.

Mistake 5:  Being Inflexible

In research about project success, it was found out that the project manager's attitude plays a big part in determining whether a construction project will be completed on time or not. A project manager that's inflexible whether it comes to a specific methodology or to hearing feedback that you don't want to hear is an undesirable trait that can set cause project delays.

Making a schedule manually or with the help of construction management and scheduling software is a good start, but, allow space for improvisation. It's a known fact that very few projects go exactly as scheduled, so give yourself and your team the room and flexibility to adapt to unforeseen circumstances and come up with, if needed some out of the box solutions to the problem.