Project managers communicate through writing. Read this to make each word count.

Writing that reads effortlessly takes great pain to create. Here’s how to make each word count.

Source: Easy Reading Is Damn Hard Writing

This is a great article on strategies on how to keep your composure in difficult situations. I’ve tried taking a walk before and that helped, but I really like the suggestion for writing, as well as asking your “Invisible Counselors”.

“To lead effectively, you must keep your composure in front of your team. The tactics we cover will help you navigate the most challenging of situations.”

Source: How to Keep Your Composure as a Manager or Leader

Did you know you can sort horizontally  (left to right or right to left) in excel? I didn’t until a few days ago and I wish I knew this a long time ago.

How to sort columns by the contents of a particular row:

1. Select the range you wish to sort
2. Click the Data tab > Sort & Filter section > Sort
3. Click Options
4. Under Orientation choose Sort left to right

This allowed me to sort a set of columns by their name in the first row, and then sort by the total of that column again later to show the highest totals together.

I finally figured out how to create a schedule that you can build in reverse so you know when you need to start!

Step 1: Change new tasks to Auto Scheduled

Step 2: Show the constraint column in the table view part (this is so you have quick access to the type of constraint on each task)

Step 3: Create a milestone task with a “Must finish on” constraint set to the date you want the project to end.

Step 4: Build the project in reverse, adding tasks above the final milestone and adding dependencies as you normally would. (make sure you have a proper chain from the last task to the first task) Make sure that all the tasks you are adding have the “As late as possible” constraint.

Now, if all your tasks are set to “as late as possible” and you have a milestone that “must finish on” a set date, you can adjust the duration of any task and it will move all of the earlier tasks backwards!

Note: this post was originally published back on 2014-07-23 but it has been one of my most popular posts based upon my google analytics so on 2018-09-17 I updated this post with images to help make it more clear.

Say thanks in the comments if this helped you!

Below is the SlideShare based upon my previous post on Construction Cash Allowances.

Below are 9 awesome books that I think every Construction Project Manager must read. These books will make you much more effective and help you stand out.

And please note, if you buy anything using these affiliate links, you may be enabling my addiction to tech gadgets.

Book #1: To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others

Why?

In this book, Daniel Pink describes how we are all involved in what he refers to as “non-sales selling” in that we are constantly trying to convince people to depart with their time, effort, and resources in exchange for something we have. This is extremely relevant in construction as many of the relationships we have with Contractors and Consultants (sometimes even our Sponsors) are very adversarial. The author’s strategies are extremely relevant to negotiating with contractors, building officials, and other consultants.

Book #2: Head First PMP

Why?

One of the most recognized certifications for Project Managers is the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) designation, and I highly recommend getting it. To get your PMP you need to pass their exam and there are several different exam prep books that will help you prepare. I recommend the head first PMP book because I love their approach. They tell stories, they make it visual, and they have lots of activities to keep all the different parts of your brain engaged. It may seem a little hokey at first, but if you do every exercise in the book I think the effectiveness of their technique will surprise you.

Book #3: Eats, Shoots and Leaves

Why?

One of the primary things you will be doing as a Project Manager is communicating in writing. One key aspect of communicating effectively is to not distract or confuse the reader through poor spelling and grammar. This book is a fun and good read about some of the top principles about grammar. Reading this will make your communication more effective and will improve your results.

Book #4: The Elements of Style

Why?

This book goes hand in hand with Eats, Shoots and Leaves and is a quick read and a great reference book for your written communication. This is a classic and will greatly improve your written communication. If you follow the high standard set by this book you will get more respect and improve the outcomes of your projects.

Book #5: Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

Why?

There is an immense amount of change on any construction project, and this book provides some amazing insight into how to make changes better. The authors (Chip & Dan Heath) present the material in a very unique and sticky way which makes this a great read. This book will help you streamline changes in your projects (and life) and make them last.

Book #6: Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work

Why?

One of the biggest reasons that Project Manager’s exist is to make decisions. And these decisions are often highly complicated and have significant impact. This book provides a framework that will improve the quality of your decisions.

Book #7: Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In

Why?

Another prime activity for Project Manager’s  is to get people to agree. We are almost always trying to get the sponsor on the same page as the contractor, and the contractor on the same page as the architect, and the entire project team on the same page as the building official. This book presents a framework that focuses on Win-Win outcomes, where both parties come out of the discussion satisfied with the result. This book has greatly affected how I approach any disagreements.

Book #8: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

Why?

I think that everybody just assumes that Project Manager’s are naturally good with their time, and although this might true for some, many of us have systems put in place to keep ourselves organized. This is a great system for organizing your entire life and has been instrumental in allowing me to manage multiple concurrent projects.

Bonus Reference Book: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) – 5th Edition

Why?

This book is an excellent reference on all things Project Management.  It is an extremely dry read, but I like to have a copy close at hand so I can pull up the relevant section when I’m working in that area. What I find most useful is looking through the example inputs and outputs to see if any of these would make sense for my current projects. Having this at arms reach for reference will make you a better project manager.

Update: I created a SlideShare on this same topic.

What is a Construction Cash Allowance?

A Construction Cash Allowance is a financial tool that is included in most of the standard Canadian Construction Document Committee contracts. They are a way of allocating costs to future scope items so that you can worry about the details later.

Construction Cash Allowance Example #1: Refrigeration installation

For a previous retail client we used a cash allowance for the cost to install the refrigeration. As this was part of a larger program this client had chosen to self tender the refrigeration installation in regional bundles. But the final cost wasn’t know yet. What we did was include an estimated amount for the refrigeration installation in the tender documents so that the contractor would include enough overhead and profit in their tender price.

Construction Cash Allowance Example #2: Landscaping vs. furniture vs. security

Another possibility is where you have a fixed budget but the scope of various items is not known. You could establish a Cash Allowance for Landscaping, furniture, and security and see what was available at a later date. This allows you to balance the current needs of the client vs market conditions.

Watch out for making multiple specific cash allowances:

We often run into problems when there are multiple very specific Cash Allowances. This can limit your flexibility in the future as if you try to transfer funds between them the contractor may push back or you may require additional approvals from your client.

Example of multiple specific cash allowances:

Let’s say that you decide that you need 3 different cash allowances: $10,000 for security, $50,000 for landscaping, and $140,000 for refrigeration installation giving you a total amount of $200,000. Months go by and it turns out that to integrate the security system at this building to your client’s other facilities is a much more involved task than anticipated and the current estimate is $25,000. Thankfully concurrent to this refrigeration installation tender closed significantly under budget and the client reduced the number of cases required reducing the refrigeration installation costs to $125,000, which is the same total. When you present this reallocation to your contractor he submits a claim for an extra $2,250 as his estimate included different overhead & profit markups for security (20%) vs refrigeration installation (5%). Also your client indicated that as the security costs have increased by 150% we will need to brief his CEO on the increase. A better way is to amalgamate all the cash allowances into one giant cash allowance.  You do want to give the contractors some idea of the breakdown so they know what is coming, but I would express this in a range and always treat the cash allowance like one giant pool of money.

Watch out for hidden cash allowances

The key to using cash allowances correctly is to make sure they are clearly indicated and known by all parties involved so that all the work gets done. These can lead to claims, poor value for the client, and double dipping.

Example of a hidden cash allowance

Your mechanical sub-consultant ran out of time and included a note on one of his drawings that the contractor should carry a $5,000 cash allowance for a reverse osmosis system. Most of the bidders catch this note and include an extra $5,000 in their bid.

Possible outcome #1: Contractor Claim

Unfortunately the evaluation team did not notice that the lowest “compliant” bidder didn’t include this cash allowance. A few weeks go by and the mechanical sub-consultant issues a Supplemental Instruction for the reverse osmosis system and the contractor submits a claim for $5,231 for this work.

Possible outcome #2: Waste of client funds

The lowest compliant bidder did include this cash allowance but unfortunately you had to disqualify another proponent who was $25,000 less because he omitted the $5,000 cash allowance.

Possible outcome #3: Double dipping

The mechanical sub-trade did include the cash allowance in their price, but as the contractor’s project manager has taken over and their estimator is on vacation, he submits a claim. No one knows about the note on the drawing so they agree to the claim and the contractor bills for both the full amount of the mechanical sub-trades price and the claimed amount.

Cash Allowance Recommendations

My recommendation is to use cash allowances carefully. Cash allowances can be a great tool to allow flexibility but if implemented carelessly they can cause you a lot of grief.

So I’m always on the look out for news tools to help me in my life and work.  Well, “on the look out” is a bit of an understatement, as I’m actually almost obsessive about it. I feel some sort of satisfaction in knowing every single way to do something and all the associated pros and cons for each way. In the past I felt this was a strength but I’m starting to realize my productivity is being negatively affected because I keep changing how I do things mid stride. Also, I’ve started to realize that a lot of the different ways of doing things are alarmingly similar and the differences in approaches mean much less than I was lead to believe.

Unsurprisingly the tool sellers are trying to sell us something that cannot be bought.

But that is way too abstract, and you likely don’t have any idea what I’m talking about so I better use an example like to-do list apps.

I don’t know if you have done any research on this but there are thousands of different to-do list apps. Apps like Evernote link into a database of everything, Apple’s reminders are seamlessly integrated into their phones, some apps are designed around seamless collaboration, and the variations go on and on. The customers are trying to buy an organized life, but the developers are just selling tools you can use to become organized. I know I have been sold and re-sold on the lie that if I only change to this new to-do list app, then my life will be organized.  But again and again I have failed.

What I’ve finally realized is there is more value in how you use a  tool then finding the right tool, and that if I would only stop looking for new tools I could actually spend some time using the ones I already have.

This has all been said before, and I’m sure it will all be said again.