Even Sherlock Holmes recognised the importance of strong project planning.
July 19, 2016
When managing a construction project, you need a blueprint, or things become chaotic very quickly. Establishing a strong construction plan gives you a clear framework which plays a crucial role in ensuring projects are completed on time and on budget.
Today, Construction planning is a critical activity in the management of a successful construction project. It involves defining work tasks, estimation of required resources, durations for individual construction elements and identification of interactions between construction elements. A construction project plan is the basis for developing the budget and the schedule for work
However forming a construction plan is a highly challenging task that requires both skill and knowledge, most of which can only be built up over years of experience. Even Sherlock Holmes noted this.
“Most people, if you describe a train of events to them, will tell you what the result would be. They can put those events together in their minds, and argue from them that something will come to pass. There are few people, however, who, if you told them a result, would be able to evolve from their own inner consciousness what the steps were which led up to that result. This power is what I mean when I talk of reasoning backward.”
Just like a detective, a good construction planner begins with a result and then synthesizes the steps required to deliver this result. Essential aspects of construction planning include the generation of required activities, analysis of the implications of these activities, and choice among the various options. In contrast to a detective discovering a single train of events, however, construction planners need to critically analyse each options and select the one that best fits commercial and quality needs.
