Schedule Maintenance
5 essential keys to keeping projects on schedule.
As the supply chain issues have eased in the last year or so, Ecclesia Construction is placing a renewed
focus on the importance of each project’s schedule and the discipline required to maintain it. While
most of us intuitively understand and appreciate the value of staying on schedule, many do not fully
understand the factors that help keep a project moving forward in a timely fashion. Here are a few of
those factors:
1. Understanding the scope, specs, and plans:
The better the estimators and project managers understand the project and the design
documents, the better they can evaluate the time required to perform the work. Since
many of our projects are performed on a design-build basis, we are involved in working
through the design from the beginning with our subcontractors and suppliers, so our entire
project team has a thorough appreciation for the tasks and sequences that need to be
executed to complete the project. This also gives them better insights into potential issues
that could arise during the construction process and how to mitigate them.
2. Creating a realistic master schedule: The complete understanding of the project described
above leads to a master schedule that includes realistic milestones, deadlines, and the tasks
required to meet them. The input, coordination, and collaboration of our key subcontractors
helps us ensure that we can all commit to these milestones are that they are aligned in a
realistic way.
3. Developing contingency plans: Once the master schedule is assembled, we strive to identify
some of the main ways that the schedule could be disrupted and develop plans for those
scenarios. A couple of the potential factors that can cause these delays are issues such as
bad weather or an occurrence of a lack of performance by a subcontractor or supplier, etc.
Though they may not be needed, the act of putting together these contingency plans can
help minimize the impacts that these potential issues can present.
4. Project Management: This is where the rubber meets the road. As the project starts our
project managers and superintendents are tasked with making sure the daily activities of all
subcontractors are coordinated and that they stay on schedule. The key is to identify issues
that key stakeholders involved in the project are facing at any given time so they can be
addressed in a timely manner. The Ecclesia Scrum process forms the foundation of this
effort. Here are some of the key steps:
a. The master schedule is broken down into 2-week “sprints”, which are developing in a
sprint planning meeting. The sprint is further broken down into a weekly list of tasks.
They focus on prioritizing the tasks that need to be accomplished to stay on schedule.
b. In daily 15-minute project team conference calls every morning, in a very direct and
concise way, the selected project management team captain coaches the relevant
project stakeholders for that week through three key questions that impact the project
and the schedule. They are:
1. “What did you do yesterday to help the project management team?”
2. “What will you do today to help the project management team?”
3. “Are there any obstacles blocking you or the team from achieving your scrum
goals?”
This helps all the stakeholders stay informed about project progress, the solutions
identified to address current issues and everyone’s responsibility to accomplish the
sprint objectives.
These calls can touch on everything from coordination of material deliveries from
suppliers, to scheduling subcontractor work crews, to knowing when to call in local and
state code officials. This helps avoid misunderstandings and issues that fester and
remain unresolved that end up impacting the project in a negative way.
Celebrating the end of each successful 2-week sprint and sharing ideas and expertise
can aid in developing trust and encouraging problem-solving and collaboration during
future sprint periods.
Owners are always invited to participate in sprint calls as much or as little as they desire.
5. Monitoring and documenting progress: Finally, we document all these steps along the way
in both internal and owner reports.
Examples: The results of the scrum meetings and the summary of work performed during
the week are summarized and shared, along with safety reports, project progress photos,
and a 3-week schedule look ahead in the owner’s Friday Report. This gives the owners an
overview of what activities are taking place and what will be occurring in the weeks ahead
so they can plan their own operations accordingly.
-Toward the end of the project, a few weeks before the anticipated Temporary Certificate of
Occupancy (TCO) is issued, we assemble an internal team to assist in the Project Closeout
Process and communicate the status of the identified items regularly with the owners and
our entire project team. This helps speed up the closeout process and the issuance of a final
Certificate of Occupancy (CO).
These are just a few of the steps we take to inform our clients about their project and to make sure it is
completed in a timely manner. As always, we welcome an opportunity to help you or your organization
think through the best way to meet your own facility needs and develop a plan, (and a schedule!) to
meet them.
