Specify the Due Date
When submitting any document for review (such as a design, invoice for payment, report, etc.), specify the date a response is due (perhaps 10 business days). For contractual related items …
Check Geotechnical Information
Check and double check geotechnical information supplied by the client. If the client supplies the information, it would be ideal for the contract to specify that your design/construction relies on …
Organise Design Carefully
When doing a project that requires design, you should plan the time required for design carefully and allow adequate time for the design to be completed. You should also write …
Increase Efficiency In the Office
In an office dedicated to your project, seek ways to improve efficiency, and don’t allow “green” or “efficiency” measures to actually decrease efficiency. For example, I have seen many offices …
Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) and Records
It is important to keep a good record of the things you do to meet your stated goals. E.g. Goal to improve safety – keep a record of all the …
Make Project Policies, Procedures, and Forms Easy to Find
For projects to run efficiently the team members need to be able to find and use policies, procedures and particularly forms easily and without having to spend time looking for …
Start Meetings On time
Starting meetings on time and finishing on time creates in the team a sense of organisation and planning. If meetings constantly start late, people will turn up later and later. …
Control of Documents
Keep good control of formal documents. When writing a set of documents, plans, etc, make sure that final production is coordinated by one person, or that the file storage is …
Get IT Systems Right When Out of the Office
It is important to get the setup of all the IT systems correct early in a project. For example. If you have a team placed in a client office to …
Clarify Client Expectations
Clarify the expectations of your client. If you don’t you may find that they expect the project outcome to be a lot different than it really is. There is no …