Control. Insight. Performance.

Project managers know that if they had these three “virtues of management” as part of their daily operations, they’d be able to 1) do a more effective job as team leader, 2) really understand the forces that are causing issues or concerns and readily fix them and 3) stay on time and under budget, improving the bottom line.

Most people become quite uneasy in any situation where they don’t have a good sense of control. Project managers, in particular, need to be in control of their projects. Project managers also require insight in order to proceed wisely and make decisions that lead to optimal performance on a project. Construction project managers are generally aware of the importance and power of their position, as well as the risks and rewards that are a result of their actions.

And yet, as I’ve said many times in the past, I speak to so many people in the construction industry who are just “flying by the seat of their pants!” They have no formal systems to help make their workday easier or to give them proper control over their projects. This isn’t true only for small companies, as this lack of a true project management system pervades even some of the larger companies in the construction industry.

Project managers need a system that helps with control, insight and performance. For example, the Spitfire Project Management System helps in the following ways:

Control

• Access of documents, sharing of information, and contact of team members can be done at any time, anywhere and on any device including iPads.
• Predefined distribution lists, with automatic escalation, means no one is left out of the loop and no unnecessary project participants are included by mistake.
• Business rules can limit change orders and insure contingency funds are never exceeded.
• Checklists and starting documents can be created automatically with each new project.
• Version control means there is only one version of the truth at any time.
• Templates allow for consistency.

Insight

• Bid tracking gives information about awarded projects.
• A variety of out-of-the-box reports allow for in-depth analysis of, among other things, forecasting, actual costs, bids, change items, pay requests, and project profitability.
• At-a-glance charts show the current financial health of projects.
• Vendor management allows for ranking and performance notes.
• Records and audit trails can be examined and re-examined at any time.
• Integrated accounting information is tied to the budget, providing up-to-date data.

Performance

• Change orders, subcontracts, purchase orders and payments all update the budget automatically—so profitability doesn’t erode.
• Automatic Compliance tracking prevents costly problems and delays.
• Escalating alerts keep PMs on top of all deadlines.
• One shared system makes collaboration and communication among all project participants easier.

When you are searching for a project management system to improve work life, make sure that it has enough features to help with control, insight and performance. It is what every project manager wants and, in this day and age, it is what every project manager should have.