Every project has a start and an end date, which means timely completion is one of the project’s main objectives. However, every other Project Manager you meet talk about delays in EPC project completions from the committed completion dates. Project Managers complain that they are so busy tackling daily issues, which are more reactive than proactive actions, which was the need to ensure timely project completion. So why are Project managers not taking proactive actions to mitigate project risks and pave the way for workfront availability for ensuring timely completion of the projects? Is it a lack of availability of information in time for taking the right decisions at the right time? If so, what was holding back the information from the stakeholders?

Collaboration is the key

We talk about collaboration or interface a lot in project management. Can collaboration at the right time save projects from getting delayed? Are we leveraging digital technology to help the projects? Project teams have widely used technology for managing engineering documents over the years and ERP for procurement of materials and other scheduling tools for managing construction. What about construction document management? What about integrating the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction phases through one integrated project management system?

The project management systems are not about reviewing the progress updates, S-curves, and forecasting delays to the completion dates. It is the availability of real-time project status to all stakeholders to forecast the issues and take on-time decisions to resolve them. Project teams do not collaborate at convenience anymore, and they collaborate in real-time or driven by the project schedule.

From the second quarter of 2020, when pandemic struck the whole world, people realized that the only way to collaborate was by using technology already available for use. We faced travel restrictions, supply chain challenges, resource shortages and much more, but project end dates do not change. Most of the EPC Projects Engineering happens in a centralized location, manufacturing equipment at different vendor locations and construction happening at a different geographical location. How do you collaborate for effective project management? The only way to collaborate is to use technology. The situation forced the teams to leverage the technology, which was available on the table.

Collaborate and manage projects digitally

Project management organizations worldwide are using the technology widely to track the progress digitally in real-time. Owners, PMCs, and Contractors collaborate through a single platform, and the real-time information is available to all stakeholders at their fingertips. The advantage of using a single platform starting from the initiation phase till closeout phase, which can easily communicate with the other established design, ERP tools, and scheduling tools. It provides single-point access to the project management team viewing the project data at various levels. These data can be drilled down to the lowest level if required to assist project managers in taking the right decisions at the right time. The technology ensures that you get the right information at the right moment and get clear indications of where you need to act and where it can be delegated.

Technology is helping the project managers forecast the project outcomes more realistically. It helps the project managers manage project risks in the most appropriate ways to ensure the timely completion of the project meeting the project objectives.

To sum up, regular monitoring of construction project progress is not the need of the hour. The availability of project information by collaborating all the phases and stakeholders in the present world requirement for timely completion of the projects.