COPING WITH Multiple Activities in Civil Engineering Project Management

Project engineers have to deal with multiple tasks at once. It may seem overwhelming at times, particularly when you may have 10 to 20 active projects under your control.

It really is imperative that project managers understand the status of every project, their urgency and deliverables. In addition, it seems the better you are as a project manager, the more projects you must handle at once.

Once you manage multiple projects it is vitally important that you realize the final time deadline (the delivery date) and the overall budget.

Ultimately, your client is interested in a couple of things, when can I own it, and how much will it cost. When you can satisfy time and budget constraints, milestones (as per the client's expectations), you can be 'held in high esteem' by your client.

In order to manage and juggle this many projects, it is vitally important that you understand 5 things ...

The ultimate deadline and budget (
The importance and priority of the project
The overall tasks - High Payoff Activities, and Low Payoff activities.
Activities which might be delegated or outsourced.
Your role as a project Engineer / manager.
1. In order to effectively manage multiple projects, you must understand your total workload , and compare the projects deliverables. This is usually done utilizing a project planner, or project management tools such as Microsoft Project. Once all projects are considered, hopefully not all deadlines and deliverables aren't due at the same time. The Tip is to find out the true deliverable date. Often whenever a client is asked when they have to project completed, they have a buffer built in to allow them to 'sit on it' for a short while. If you establish the real activities that may follow the 'deadline', you could be able to safely extend the final date with your client - without detriment. If this isn't the case, leastwise you will see out the importance of the final date.

2. Not all projects are as important as one another. Some projects have other consequences, and tasks that cannot be achieved minus the delivery of the original project. Without sounding callus, you certainly want to take care of your most important clients who've constant work flow and pay well and on time. In most cases, it really is these most valued clients that needs to be looked after as priority number 1 1, as they are your 'bread and butter'. . Keep them happy as well as your business should continue steadily to motor along. As well you will need to take proper care of new clients who may have huge amount of money in future do the job depending on your performance. They will usually not display all of their cards to you, so the best thing is to make sure you take care of them and meet your deadlines. Ultimately you don't want to spend 100 hours on a project that is only worth 50 hours payment. It is fine balance between current and potential future work. The trick would be to recognise project importance early , and their future work potential.

3. Within many projects there high payoff activities and low payoff activities. High payoff activities are the ones that will get the most benefit out of there completion, and low payoff activities don't generate an excessive amount of benefit at their completion. The tip would be to recognise which activities / tasks are high payoff activities right at the start of the project. It is these activities that should be given the priority and attention they deserve. Low payoff activities could possibly be either tackled later, or delegated to others (it is crucial however to monitor the progress of low payoff activities otherwise they might be forgotten until the end - or at a crucial time). Constant updates to the overall task schedule is a fantastic way to stay on track and monitor your progress on each project.

4. You don't desire to spend your valuable time on low payoff activities that can be done by others. Project management is also about delegating or outsourcing activities which are better completed by another person. Sometimes it is easier to outsource a 'time consuming complex design' to a specialist in the field, when you manage the process and the overall project. The old saying "if you would like something done right you need to do it yourself" is not always the case in engineering and project management. You should recognise and do a cost analysis on your time and cost on the cost (and delivery time). While they're completing the task, you will be working on or managing another high payoff activity, that will ultimately allow an overall timely delivery of the project.

5. As a project manager, you have to be generally 'managing' the project, and really should not be 'in the trenches digging the holes'. That is the job for the 'soldiers' or workers under your control. It is however essential that you understand their skills and what they must be delivering for you personally. By 'staying on top' of the element (periodic meetings and minor milestones), reduces the frustration of you needing to 'check and change' their progress.  サンタクロース　トナカイ  is your responsibility to deliver , so you should ensure everything are moving ahead regularly, and communicate effectively and regularly with your team, as well as your client.