We wanted to share a great article on construction management software. In light of recent news in the State of Florida about state school construction funds drying up (and I'm sure in other states as well), it seems appropriate to continue to stress how much of an impact capital program/construction management software can have to ensure projects are delivered in the most cost-effective, efficient manner.
Design Economics: Construction Management Software
19 January 2012
In times of economic uncertainty modern construction management software can be vital for the success of a project. Elisabeth Fischer discovers how the latest technology, including workflow and mobile software, and the concept of connected data can deliver design jobs on time and under budget.
Technology is paramount when it comes to managing construction projects today. The days of sharing cumbersome hard copy, spreadsheets and blueprints have long passed and been replaced by cutting-edge software and services.
The slogan here is 'the simpler, the better' and in times of persistently rising material costs the use of modern construction management software can be the crucial factor for the viability of a project.
Undoubtedly, the rise of the internet has made the overall planning, coordination and control of projects from inception to completion easier than ever before.
Read the full article here:
http://www.designbuild-network.com/features/featuredesign-economics-construction-management-software/
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
The 3 Biggest Challenges of Sharing Construction Project Documents
Organizing construction project documents can be difficult and time consuming. For capital project owners with frequent or multiple simultaneous projects, the management of plans, specifications and drawings can be a big headache. Providing access and presenting these documents to external project team members is a must, but how best to go about it can be a real conundrum.
The three biggest challenges that capital project owners and construction project managers face when storing, managing and sharing project-related documents with contractors, subcontractors and consultants follow.
No. 1: The old school approach is expensive and resource intensive
The cost of printing and mailing hard-copy paper documents for distribution to external project team members adds up quickly because plans change or addenda need to be shared. Project managers can find themselves in a state of perpetual printing and delivery – either via mail or courier.
No. 2: Electronic files are often poorly organized and locating documents is a struggle
While sharing electronic documents is preferable to paper, the high cost of online document management/control services is often a deterrent.
Additionally, distributing documents via an FTP site and using Microsoft-like folder structures may be difficult for casual users; they cannot easily move from one document to another because the folders do not adequately convey relationships. Time is wasted hunting for the desired file – something that, when a bid package is issued, can deter potential bidders and reduce participation.
Owners and project managers often wrestle with whether an old school approach to distributing hard-copy paper documents is preferable to a disorganized online file structure that’s overwhelming and inefficient. Both options can seem like a losing proposition.
No. 3: Team members are unknowingly referencing outdated information
If contractors, subcontractors and consultants can’t locate the most up-to-date information as decisions are being made, the project can suffer from unnecessary change orders and delays, both of which negatively impact the budget.
Sorting though versions of documents can be time-consuming. And resorting to a naming convention to track iterations is confusing and prone to errors. Operating without a historical record of changes can be just as big of a problem, though.
Accessibility and dissemination of up-to-date construction documents and plans is imperative to the success of any project throughout all phases, from bidding through construction, and even during occupation. Until a solution is employed that mitigates these problems, construction projects will continue to be plagued with unnecessary expenses, poor decision-making, and/or frustrated project team members.
The three biggest challenges that capital project owners and construction project managers face when storing, managing and sharing project-related documents with contractors, subcontractors and consultants follow.
No. 1: The old school approach is expensive and resource intensive
The cost of printing and mailing hard-copy paper documents for distribution to external project team members adds up quickly because plans change or addenda need to be shared. Project managers can find themselves in a state of perpetual printing and delivery – either via mail or courier.
No. 2: Electronic files are often poorly organized and locating documents is a struggle
While sharing electronic documents is preferable to paper, the high cost of online document management/control services is often a deterrent.
Additionally, distributing documents via an FTP site and using Microsoft-like folder structures may be difficult for casual users; they cannot easily move from one document to another because the folders do not adequately convey relationships. Time is wasted hunting for the desired file – something that, when a bid package is issued, can deter potential bidders and reduce participation.
Owners and project managers often wrestle with whether an old school approach to distributing hard-copy paper documents is preferable to a disorganized online file structure that’s overwhelming and inefficient. Both options can seem like a losing proposition.
No. 3: Team members are unknowingly referencing outdated information
If contractors, subcontractors and consultants can’t locate the most up-to-date information as decisions are being made, the project can suffer from unnecessary change orders and delays, both of which negatively impact the budget.
Sorting though versions of documents can be time-consuming. And resorting to a naming convention to track iterations is confusing and prone to errors. Operating without a historical record of changes can be just as big of a problem, though.
Accessibility and dissemination of up-to-date construction documents and plans is imperative to the success of any project throughout all phases, from bidding through construction, and even during occupation. Until a solution is employed that mitigates these problems, construction projects will continue to be plagued with unnecessary expenses, poor decision-making, and/or frustrated project team members.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Surviving an Internal Audit (part 3)
Navigating through an Internal audit is an important part of any facility and construction manager’s job. In the previous posts, I described how auditors quickly form an opinion and then work to validate it. We covered some best practices that will increase the odds of a positive internal audit.
We at e-Builder have had several experiences with internal audit because many times our clients begin their search for project management information systems after a bad audit. Auditors find issues. They dig deeper and typically conclude that the facility does not have good processes or they don’t have a way to ensure the processes are followed (i.e., to enforce them). In these cases, the auditor’s report will typically include a recommendation that they implement a system to enforce the processes.
Project and program management systems that have an integrated workflow system satisfy the auditor’s needs. Workflow systems give you the ability to model a specific process and then to ensure that the process is followed. For example, if your process requires all invoices over fifty thousand dollars to be approved by the VP of Facilities – how do you ensure that it is followed? You can rely on the people within your team or the people within the finance team to follow the process, but this leaves too much room for human error.
I’ve heard people ask rhetorically – “do you want the people to manage the process or do you want the process to manage the people.” There is a trade off in each scenario. People want flexibility to navigate their process within the day-to-day real world constraints that come up. However, that flexibility often results in errors and in some extreme cases intentional non-compliance (e.g., fraud). You have to find that balance.
In today’s difficult economic climate, capital spending has come under a microscope. As a result, lots of issues have been discovered and there are many unanswered questions. Why did we approve that? Why did we select that contractor? Why did the cost of the project change so drastically? The trend we see is that executives at these organizations are not getting the answers they need fast enough. They feel like there is too much flexibility and they are looking to tighten up the controls.
It doesn’t matter if you use e-Builder, some other system or build your own. The concepts are the same. We have had the benefit of watching what happens when clients build tight processes and controls into e-Builder. They also have all of their documentation in the system. When the internal auditors arrive, the construction manager grants them access to the system (i.e., a username) along with a short overview on where and how to find information. And then, they leave the auditors to do their job. What are the auditor’s initial perceptions in this scenario?
• They feel like the facility staff has nothing to hide because they freely give direct access to the information that the auditors need.
• They feel like the facility staff is knowledgeable and organized because they have all of the information in one place and they can get to it quickly.
• They feel like the processes that are in place are being followed – because the facility is taking the extra step to implement systems that govern the process. Telling the auditor – “oh yes, we review everything” is a lot less credible than saying, “we have a process where I get every invoice over $50,000. If I don’t sign off on it by clicking ‘here’ – then the invoice will not be processed and 5 different people will get notified of this issue for follow up.”
Perhaps most important, the auditors will feel appreciated. Those folks have a thankless job. When you give an auditor a system that helps her do her job, you are letting them know that you care about them and that what they do is important too. Perhaps this one thing has a bigger impact on the perceptions and outcome of the audit than anything else. To learn how e-Builder can help comply with financial (and other) regulations for better audit results, visit us at http://www.e-builder.net/
We at e-Builder have had several experiences with internal audit because many times our clients begin their search for project management information systems after a bad audit. Auditors find issues. They dig deeper and typically conclude that the facility does not have good processes or they don’t have a way to ensure the processes are followed (i.e., to enforce them). In these cases, the auditor’s report will typically include a recommendation that they implement a system to enforce the processes.
Project and program management systems that have an integrated workflow system satisfy the auditor’s needs. Workflow systems give you the ability to model a specific process and then to ensure that the process is followed. For example, if your process requires all invoices over fifty thousand dollars to be approved by the VP of Facilities – how do you ensure that it is followed? You can rely on the people within your team or the people within the finance team to follow the process, but this leaves too much room for human error.
I’ve heard people ask rhetorically – “do you want the people to manage the process or do you want the process to manage the people.” There is a trade off in each scenario. People want flexibility to navigate their process within the day-to-day real world constraints that come up. However, that flexibility often results in errors and in some extreme cases intentional non-compliance (e.g., fraud). You have to find that balance.
In today’s difficult economic climate, capital spending has come under a microscope. As a result, lots of issues have been discovered and there are many unanswered questions. Why did we approve that? Why did we select that contractor? Why did the cost of the project change so drastically? The trend we see is that executives at these organizations are not getting the answers they need fast enough. They feel like there is too much flexibility and they are looking to tighten up the controls.
It doesn’t matter if you use e-Builder, some other system or build your own. The concepts are the same. We have had the benefit of watching what happens when clients build tight processes and controls into e-Builder. They also have all of their documentation in the system. When the internal auditors arrive, the construction manager grants them access to the system (i.e., a username) along with a short overview on where and how to find information. And then, they leave the auditors to do their job. What are the auditor’s initial perceptions in this scenario?
• They feel like the facility staff has nothing to hide because they freely give direct access to the information that the auditors need.
• They feel like the facility staff is knowledgeable and organized because they have all of the information in one place and they can get to it quickly.
• They feel like the processes that are in place are being followed – because the facility is taking the extra step to implement systems that govern the process. Telling the auditor – “oh yes, we review everything” is a lot less credible than saying, “we have a process where I get every invoice over $50,000. If I don’t sign off on it by clicking ‘here’ – then the invoice will not be processed and 5 different people will get notified of this issue for follow up.”
Perhaps most important, the auditors will feel appreciated. Those folks have a thankless job. When you give an auditor a system that helps her do her job, you are letting them know that you care about them and that what they do is important too. Perhaps this one thing has a bigger impact on the perceptions and outcome of the audit than anything else. To learn how e-Builder can help comply with financial (and other) regulations for better audit results, visit us at http://www.e-builder.net/
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Surviving an Internal Audit - Part 2
Facility Managers and Construction Managers
The auditors will form perceptions of you and your operation very early in your relationship. If they perceive that you are doing things right or wrong – the outcome of the audit will most likely follow that early perception. So how do you cause your internal auditors to form a good perception of you right from the get go? Here are 3 best practices:
Best Practice 1 – Tell the truth
Even the most gifted liars get caught. Google Bernie Madoff if you want more on this topic. For most normal people, lying does not come naturally. If you start to lie, it will catch up with you. Keep in mind the audit team is trained to spot people that aren’t telling the truth. If you lie once, you brand yourself as a liar and it’s hard to recover.
So Best Practice 1 is the same thing your mother told you as a kid. Tell the truth. Even if it’s bad news. Honest mistakes, problems, issues, things that went wrong – those are all better than lies.
Best Practice 2 – Make information readily available
The auditors will ask for documentation. Lots of it. The more direct access you can give the auditors to that information, the better their perception will be. They will think that you have nothing to hide. They will think that you are well organized.
If you require auditors to go through a step or series of steps in order to get documentation – they will surely wonder why. If you have to go back into some room and pull documents – they will wonder, “what else is in that room.” If you just give them direct access, they won’t wonder at all.
I participated in audits where we would show up, and all of the information would be neatly organized in boxes on the conference room table with a directory listing where to find everything. We immediately think, “this is going to go well.” The other extreme is when we would ask for information and we had to wait hours or days – We would think that the information did not exist, or that it was bad and we would scrutinize that information.
Even if you provide access, it’s also important that the information be neat and well organized. If you cannot easily explain to the auditors how to find information, they will assume that you yourself can’t find information if you need it.
Best Practice 3 – Demonstrate your systems and controls
To an auditor the documentation is the output of a good process. They review documents, but they are more interested in validating that you have a good process in place to comply with the policies, procedures and regulations. To demonstrate that you have a good process, you should be able to:
• Produce process documentation. Do you have flow charts or other documents that explain your processes? Can you pull these documents out and speak intelligently about them?
• Articulate the process very clearly. Can you tell stories about the process and when it worked well or even when it didn’t work so well? If you can’t, you probably don’t follow one.
• Demonstrate your training process. Do you have documentation in each employee file that demonstrates that they were trained? Do you have training materials?
• Demonstrate controls. Do you have controls in place to enforce your process? It’s one thing to say that you require something to occur – but how do you enforce it?
FYI – “Hope” is not a control strategy.
The auditors will form perceptions of you and your operation very early in your relationship. If they perceive that you are doing things right or wrong – the outcome of the audit will most likely follow that early perception. So how do you cause your internal auditors to form a good perception of you right from the get go? Here are 3 best practices:
Best Practice 1 – Tell the truth
Even the most gifted liars get caught. Google Bernie Madoff if you want more on this topic. For most normal people, lying does not come naturally. If you start to lie, it will catch up with you. Keep in mind the audit team is trained to spot people that aren’t telling the truth. If you lie once, you brand yourself as a liar and it’s hard to recover.
So Best Practice 1 is the same thing your mother told you as a kid. Tell the truth. Even if it’s bad news. Honest mistakes, problems, issues, things that went wrong – those are all better than lies.
Best Practice 2 – Make information readily available
The auditors will ask for documentation. Lots of it. The more direct access you can give the auditors to that information, the better their perception will be. They will think that you have nothing to hide. They will think that you are well organized.
If you require auditors to go through a step or series of steps in order to get documentation – they will surely wonder why. If you have to go back into some room and pull documents – they will wonder, “what else is in that room.” If you just give them direct access, they won’t wonder at all.
I participated in audits where we would show up, and all of the information would be neatly organized in boxes on the conference room table with a directory listing where to find everything. We immediately think, “this is going to go well.” The other extreme is when we would ask for information and we had to wait hours or days – We would think that the information did not exist, or that it was bad and we would scrutinize that information.
Even if you provide access, it’s also important that the information be neat and well organized. If you cannot easily explain to the auditors how to find information, they will assume that you yourself can’t find information if you need it.
Best Practice 3 – Demonstrate your systems and controls
To an auditor the documentation is the output of a good process. They review documents, but they are more interested in validating that you have a good process in place to comply with the policies, procedures and regulations. To demonstrate that you have a good process, you should be able to:
• Produce process documentation. Do you have flow charts or other documents that explain your processes? Can you pull these documents out and speak intelligently about them?
• Articulate the process very clearly. Can you tell stories about the process and when it worked well or even when it didn’t work so well? If you can’t, you probably don’t follow one.
• Demonstrate your training process. Do you have documentation in each employee file that demonstrates that they were trained? Do you have training materials?
• Demonstrate controls. Do you have controls in place to enforce your process? It’s one thing to say that you require something to occur – but how do you enforce it?
FYI – “Hope” is not a control strategy.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Surviving an Internal Audit - Part 1 of 3
Facility Managers and Construction Managers
Internal audit is part of the governance system in a large organization. Whether public or private, non-profit or for-profit, there has to be a mechanism to ensure that policies and procedures are followed. For facility managers and construction managers responsible for managing a capital program, internal audit is as much a part of the process as selecting an architect, going out to bid for construction, or occupying the facility.
Yet these audits typically go one of two ways - really good or really bad. There doesn’t seem to be any in between. Early in my career, working for a large environmental services company, I had the opportunity to conduct several internal audits of environmental facilities and construction projects. What I learned is that the outcome of an audit is based more than anything else on the auditors’ perception of you and your operation.
Auditors cannot review every single thing you and your staff do. That should be obvious – a relatively small audit team working for a defined period of time typically represents 1-2% of your staff resources. To conduct an effective audit within their resource and time constraints, they pick a sampling of information and use this data to paint a “picture” of what they think is really happening in your organization or with your projects overall.
They also rely heavily on your behavior – their perception of your reaction to their requests for information. If they develop a perception that you are lying, trying to hide something, or don’t know what is required of you – the audit has the potential to go down a “really bad” path. Once the auditors latch on to a perception – it’s very hard to change it. You have to work twice as hard to overcompensate for it and you may never recover.
In the early nineties, I was part of a five-person team that conducted a one-week internal audit focused on environmental and construction compliance. My employer, Waste Management, had just purchased this facility 6 months earlier. From the moment we arrived, we perceived an attitude from the facility leadership. One hour into this five-day audit, I could tell this audit was going to go really bad. And it did. Once the perceptions formed – each side dug their heels in. As the week progressed, things got uglier and uglier. At one particularly low point, the general manager refused to allow us on the property – keep in mind, we all worked for the same company.
I was new at this ”audit thing” at that time, and my personal perception was that the audit leader had the report findings written in his head within 1 hour and our team spent the rest of the week validating those findings. To be clear, there were issues at this facility – very serious ones. To give you an idea of how things turned out, one week after we issued our final audit report the entire leadership team at this facility – a big multi-million dollar operation - was fired.
So how do you avoid the possibility of a really bad audit? You have to take some specific steps at the beginning of an audit – the first hours of your working relationship – to ensure that the auditors form a good perception of you and your operation. Their perception is reality. Once they form that good perception, they will work just as hard to validate it. So what are the specific steps? Tune in to the next post to find out.
Internal audit is part of the governance system in a large organization. Whether public or private, non-profit or for-profit, there has to be a mechanism to ensure that policies and procedures are followed. For facility managers and construction managers responsible for managing a capital program, internal audit is as much a part of the process as selecting an architect, going out to bid for construction, or occupying the facility.
Yet these audits typically go one of two ways - really good or really bad. There doesn’t seem to be any in between. Early in my career, working for a large environmental services company, I had the opportunity to conduct several internal audits of environmental facilities and construction projects. What I learned is that the outcome of an audit is based more than anything else on the auditors’ perception of you and your operation.
Auditors cannot review every single thing you and your staff do. That should be obvious – a relatively small audit team working for a defined period of time typically represents 1-2% of your staff resources. To conduct an effective audit within their resource and time constraints, they pick a sampling of information and use this data to paint a “picture” of what they think is really happening in your organization or with your projects overall.
They also rely heavily on your behavior – their perception of your reaction to their requests for information. If they develop a perception that you are lying, trying to hide something, or don’t know what is required of you – the audit has the potential to go down a “really bad” path. Once the auditors latch on to a perception – it’s very hard to change it. You have to work twice as hard to overcompensate for it and you may never recover.
In the early nineties, I was part of a five-person team that conducted a one-week internal audit focused on environmental and construction compliance. My employer, Waste Management, had just purchased this facility 6 months earlier. From the moment we arrived, we perceived an attitude from the facility leadership. One hour into this five-day audit, I could tell this audit was going to go really bad. And it did. Once the perceptions formed – each side dug their heels in. As the week progressed, things got uglier and uglier. At one particularly low point, the general manager refused to allow us on the property – keep in mind, we all worked for the same company.
I was new at this ”audit thing” at that time, and my personal perception was that the audit leader had the report findings written in his head within 1 hour and our team spent the rest of the week validating those findings. To be clear, there were issues at this facility – very serious ones. To give you an idea of how things turned out, one week after we issued our final audit report the entire leadership team at this facility – a big multi-million dollar operation - was fired.
So how do you avoid the possibility of a really bad audit? You have to take some specific steps at the beginning of an audit – the first hours of your working relationship – to ensure that the auditors form a good perception of you and your operation. Their perception is reality. Once they form that good perception, they will work just as hard to validate it. So what are the specific steps? Tune in to the next post to find out.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Expanding on e-Builder - a Recent Update from Blogger Paul Wilkinson
I wanted to share a link to one of the few bloggers I follow, Mr. Paul Wilkinson (PR, Media, and Marketing professional based in the UK), who has been writing his "Extranet Evolution" blog now for over 5 years.
http://www.extranetevolution.com/2011/08/expanding-on-e-builder/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ExtranetEvolution+%28Extranet+Evolution%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
http://www.extranetevolution.com/2011/08/expanding-on-e-builder/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ExtranetEvolution+%28Extranet+Evolution%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
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