How important is time management to a project manager? Turns out, it is very important. Every project manager wants to keep a project on budget and on time, and one of the ways to avoid unexpected costs is to stay on top of all project tasks and deliverables and keep the work running smoothly.
Category Archives: Construction Industry
Useful Information
I decided to give into temptation and pick up on Dennis’ thread Beyond the Data. See, it appeals to the geek in me: I love data and playing with it, even though I know I am not in the same league as Stephen Wolfram.
But, I also like to think of myself as having a pragmatic side. All that data is only of value if it helps us produce better results. Or make good decisions faster.
So I spent a few minutes and thought of a concrete example of how the data behind a project management system can help people act smarter in construction project management.
TweetBeyond the Data
The Hidden Information We Strive For is Buried Within
One thing for sure: modern society gathers and stores more data per second than just one generation prior did in a lifetime.
A generation ago, none of the following were commonplace:
TweetPiles of invoices? No Problem!
Piles of invoices look different than they did a few years ago when paper cuts were a much bigger risk. These days, invoices often arrive via email as PDF files. Spitfire Project Management System includes some features that date back a decade and were originally designed to handle TIFF files from network scanners. We don’t think about this feature too often, but it can still offer significant workflow benefits today.
Sales recently shared the needs of a prospect who wants to process a pile of around a hundred invoices and supporting documents a day basically twice, making two passes through the pile. We told the prospect about our solution, which apparently thrilled them enough that they asked if they could start using it “tomorrow.”
TweetAvoid the XY Problem
Here at Spitfire Management, we love to listen to our clients’ needs. It’s the first step in a process: first listen, then address the need, and finally write a “You asked for It, You Got It” article for our client newsletter! But, sometimes, what we hear is very muddled because of the XY Problem.
Concisely put, the XY Problem syndrome is when people talk about their attempted solution rather than the actual business need. That is to say, there is an initial problem (X), and the person who tries to fix that problem thinks of a solution (Y), but then runs into a problem with that solution so seeks help from someone else by asking about how to make that solution work instead of asking about the original problem.
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