PM Off-site - January 21, 2025
Agenda:
- 8:30 am - Greeting - meeting overview
- 8:35 am - Meeting Introduction
- 8:50 am - discussion around the quesions
- 10:00 am - break
- 10:15 am - resume discussion
- 11:15 am - leave for lunch
- 1:15 pm - back from lunch
- 1:15 pm - Summary - who does what by when
- 1:45 pm - Feedback and next steps
- 2:00 pm - End
Summary of items discussed (highlighted item was selected as a first project):
- Some type of scheduling or procurement log could help us to see whan we might be overloaded and allow us to shift work around to other people to help.
- Understanding the Strengths and Weaknesses of each PM might help us assign work better
- Material orders - who does the ordering? Does it make sense to stock things in the shop? Should we order all the screws and sealant per job? Would it make sense to just order these things from the site?
- Inventory management - understanding what we have in the shop and where it is seems like a lot for just Dan and Gabe.
- Overgaard - we can combine packing slips with the key sheets to make it easier to find which container your parts are in. Jeff was going to see if Overgaard would consider putting the container information on the key sheets. Myles to share what he's been geting with Jeff too.
- File locations - could we standardize some of the file locations? Could we establish one platform for the shop and field?
- Wiki for lessons learned. Steve will set up a page and create a video to show you how to edit.
- Training - could we provide training at our quarterly off-sites? System design, contract language, product specific information for waterproofing or insulation, etc…
- PO Log - provide a web based PO log that could generate the PO for you and allow you to see packing slips and invoices for each purchase order.
- Document our processes
- Door process for instance. How do we coordinate our door hardware requirements with the outside vendor and our inside door drawings? What would that process look like?
- The group agreed it would be great to do this type of meeing quarterly. That would put the next meeting in April.
- What are some things you think we should be working on to improve as a team?
- Paul
- To improve as a team, we should focus on clarifying and redistributing PM responsibilities to manage workload better, streamline documentation and approval processes to reduce administrative tasks, and enhance resource support by introducing a trained Project Manager Assistant.
- I like the idea of Purchasing Module idea where a PM wouldn’t have to re-sign and add a cost code.
- I like the idea of shop requisition module but they need to enter all that as inventory. Every part and piece of material needs to go in there including metal panels and parts we receive from the excel shipper files and etc.
- I don’t know how we can improve communication management and expand engineering and shop support to handle material logistics and order preparations more effectively.
- One thing I know is that there is a time taking process and room for error when PM’s need to get the files from OLTD or different vendors and file it on own computer then upload what field needs on plan grid and what shop needs on Teams. If we were working off a shared database and everyone was using the same folder set-up and this was thought to shop, engineering and field, they all could find the latest files and a good part of the time that PM needs to spend on file distributions and making sure everyone has the latest and greatest files could be spent on other things.
- Addressing these areas will help alleviate role strain, enhance efficiency, and support a better work-life balance for team members.
- Greg
- Outside our usual PM meeting, have one for other aspects of project managing jobs.
- Lessons learned (where did a PM have an error and what to do next time or feedback)
- Go over knowing how to understand contract language, so we can be most prepared on jobs.
- Come to the table with new tools you are utilizing to be efficient
- System knowledge, so we can explain what we are building better
- Other
- Myles
- Material sorting / shop inventory (develop SKU’s for barcode scanning for quick entry)
- Shop delivery request
- Centralize project information
- What are some pain points you have in our current process?
- Paul
- The overwhelming workload due to expanded PM responsibilities
- Communication overload, with constant conference calls, emails, and messages, makes it challenging to stay focused and manage project demands effectively.
- The constant pressure of balancing multiple roles, protecting company interests, and managing billing and RFI’s, ordering materials, communicating with Vendor for material order and checking their drawings and order related documents.
- Finding and managing materials from OLTD fabs and coordinating with shop and field teams is cumbersome and resource intensive.
- Greg
- Paper PO’s
- Maintaining paper trails from orders (quote, write po, order, receive files from shop, invoice approval)
- What keeps you up at night?
- Paul
- The stress of constantly staying on top of tasks to avoid mistakes or forgetting important details.
- The constant pressure of staying on top of every task to avoid mistakes or missing deadlines
- The challenge of managing multiple high-value projects simultaneously without dropping any responsibilities.
- Balancing multiple roles, protecting company interests, and managing billing while staying composed under stress is exhausting
- The need to work late nights and weekends to catch up, which affects long-term sustainability.
- Greg
- Always thinking about how I can be best organized with multiple jobs. How can I keep my foreman up to speed on everything, so he can run his job more effectively without unnecessary rework.
- How can we be more consistent as a team so that the shop, field, and engineering have what they need?
- Paul
- Implementing enhanced unified project management tools for real-time updates. Like what you are suggesting in the videos.
- Lots of these documents are there. It’s just the thing that if we could create a system where the shop, PM, field and engineering, they all could understand where to look for what and managing the files and data.
- Create a system where everything is systematically documented like a library and people can go there and find what they are looking for.
- Strengthening engineering checks and material order preparations
- Enhancing engineering checks and material order preparations to ensure accuracy and efficiency.
- Expanding support in the shop to manage and track material deliveries and logistics more efficiently.
- Increasing collaboration between teams to streamline communication and improve project coordination
- Greg
- Uniformity on how jobs are set up from:
- Turnover files
- PM Files
- Shop Files
- Field Files
- So PM, Foreman, office can go to any job folder and know how to navigate it to get information
- What are the key areas we need to improve?
- Paul
- Clarifying and redistributing PM responsibilities to focus more on core project management tasks
- Streamlining documentation file distributions and approval processes to reduce administrative burdens.
- Adding trained Project Manager Assistants to handle routine tasks and support PM’s
- Strengthening engineering and shop support to handle material logistics and order preparations.
- And what else?
- Paul
- Providing additional resources and support to address the workload and improve work-life balance for team members.
- Investing in training and development for support roles to enhance overall team efficiency.
- Exploring ways to prioritize tasks and projects to better manage workload and ensure timely delivery.