The construction project manager’s job is a mix of actions that must be taken. They generally include all of the following:

• Plan the work
• Hire, fire and supervise team members
• Get equipment and materials
• Set goals
• Stay on time
• Stay under budget
• Keep all project partners in the loop
• Communicate well with management
• Draft contracts
• Manage risk

Every project manager tackles the above in order to start, manage and successfully complete a construction project. Each of those tasks involves a tremendous amount of thought and actual work. But project managers, for the most part, consider themselves masters at juggling all of these responsibilities and staying sane throughout the process.

Construction project management is a particular type of work that is suited to a special breed of individual. These folks have an extremely high level of confidence, can work and communicate effectively with others, and can keep themselves focused on completing the project on time and under budget. When necessary, they even put up with the frustration of using inadequate software to do their job (often due to contractual obligations to use specific software).

By inadequate software, I mean using a system that is totally manual or sub-par and lacking real capabilities.

The job of a construction project manager is  hard enough to begin with. It is made much simpler when the correct software–one that actually helps with many tasks–is used from bid through the start of a new project, and every aspect of the work, and then to final closeout. Project managers need a system that provides a tremendous amount of automation (automatic creation of documents, automatic distribution, automatic workflow, etc.) and configurability. They need a system that tracks every bit of information used throughout the project by every team member. They need a system that keeps them aware of how things are going, alerts them to potential problems, and reduces time and mistakes, leading to better profitability.

If you are a project manager, or have project managers on your team, and are not using a system that provides this high level of support and functionality, you should consider a system such as the Spitfire Project Management System. Such a system will actually assist project managers and take some of the burden away from the many tasks associated with their construction project management job.

For more information, request a free demo.