Steve RamsdellPM I| BergelectricQueen Creek, Az, United States
I have been in construction for going on 20 years now. From an apprenticeship I rose up to a Project Manager. Going on 3-4years now I have been doing Project Management full time and all my experience in that is from school, classes, online learning, and years of field work.
I have seen in my studies that there are some things I believe would be really effective if utilized in the construction field (e.g. PM styles like agile for instance) but I have yet to see anything really utilized. I know first hand how hard it is to get construction to adapt to change, but I am wondering if it is just my experience or if others have seen what I am saying in that “Project Management in construction” is nothing like what I read and study or seen others doing.
I utilize my toolbox of PM for myself because I wouldn’t know where to start to try to change it, but I am wondering if it is either I have just been on a rough side of an industry that refuses change and hates it in general or if others have seen it as well.
I appreciate the feedback/conversation Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Hi Mounir
the problem there is to tied Agile to the Manifesto. The Manifesto is nothing to be aware unless you are working in software domain. I can write a lot. By the best source is to find Rick Dove´s book "response ability" that contains mos of the information to understand what agile really is. By the way, today I performed a conference in Argentina regarding to Agile where more than 20 people assits and most of them are not related to software. Saving Changes...
While my exposure to construction projects has been limited, my experience has been that construction project managers need to be able to read a blueprint, understand building codes, and do things that, if I were to draw a parallel to my role as a software development/deployment PM, would, at minimum, make me a technical lead if I filled similar functions in my job.
You can apply most of the 12 principles of the agile manifesto to any project. Keep in mind that most frameworks/methodologies/etc... are just wrappers that are placed around work. The work hasn't really changed. Tools to get the work done may have. Wrappers are used to try and make work more efficient. Most of the components of the wrapper are not new, they've just been combined in a new way and given a new name.
Think of project management as a toolbox. Inside of it are many tools. You have to understand the job you are trying to finish in order to know which tools to use. It doesn't really matter which wrapper you use or borrow from, as long as the people you are working with know how to use the tools you are providing. Saving Changes...
Steve RamsdellPM I| BergelectricQueen Creek, Az, United States
I can give you an example of agile in construction...
2 year project, using a standard waterfall design I have seen as the “go to” in construction, and when all is said and done, we reflect on a project as a bottom line accomplishment.
Breaking my own work load into week long scrums, something I tried on my own, I noticed losses all over. Sure small but 15-20 forgot about over a two year span adds up.
Doing this, monitoring myself and tasks, I was able to allocate people (resources) when a fire came up because they weren’t committed to something we decided was going on 6 months earlier.
This is generic but it was noticeable and I’m wondering if anyone else thought/noticed this Saving Changes...
Steve RamsdellPM I| BergelectricQueen Creek, Az, United States
Nov 10, 2017 2:00 AM
Replying to Mahabubur Rahman
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I am just sharing my past experience and knowledge. In construction changes are inevitable. It is challenging too. In construction, changes may arise from many sources such as contractors/subcontractors. A change clause should be incorporated into the terms and conditions of the contract so that all changes should be handled according to it. Some sources of changes are:
1. Design changes considering field conditions
2. Non availability of specified materials
3. Hauling costs
4. Variations in estimated quantity
5. Non availability of resources
6. Changes in quality and scope etc.
The constant change is why I feel agile would be so applicable and I don’t see it anywhere, am I wrong, or just what I have expirenced thus far
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1 reply by Sergio Luis Conte
Nov 11, 2017 7:17 AM
Sergio Luis Conte
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You are totally right. Believe me: I am working with Agile from the genesis (because and incidental events of life I was part of the genesis, software and non-software which is the place where Agile was born) not because it is a new fashion. The reason you stated is the reason to use Agile: transform because environment changes and to create environmental changes. Agile is not deliver faster, Agile is not about to cut cost, Agile is not "you can change everything in every time", and other lot of things you can read outside there. Regarding to your post, the question is: why we need Agile in the construction market? The first thing is thinking about your company. If you implement Agile in your company (the practice) you will gain in agility and you will get something unique: you will be able to react to unexpected changes in the environment and you will be able to create changes in the environment (this will produce differentiation and other must follow you). Then you can think about to implement Agile in the process you use to create something. Here you do not need to use a method, you can do that with your actual method. Is it needed on construction field? It is a matter to analysis. In the case I have the opportunity to use that it was needed because it was for the government and it was part of a hugh transformation project that had a challenged time frame and lot of areas to cover and products to create. We used DSDM. If you ask me if it would have been my decision "a priori" I would tell you "never". But we did that and it worked
Saving Changes...
Steve RamsdellPM I| BergelectricQueen Creek, Az, United States
Nov 10, 2017 4:07 AM
Replying to Anton Oosthuizen
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Agile by definition means the ability to adapt to change, no matter where or how you use it. The concept of agile is implemented using different frameworks such as scrum or XP in development or in manufacturing, Lean. In project management the concept of agile is implemented by using the adaptive approach. But no matter how the concept of agile is implemented there are some commonalities such as rolling wave planning, again something that is implemented differently depending on your environment i.e. construction, development, manufacturing etc. So you cannot translate how agile is implemented in software development directly to another environment like construction but you can (should?) definitely implement the concepts.
To do this in construction is probably the most difficult. I've worked on many construction projects and getting an adaptive (agile) approach adopted across the board is something I am yet to accomplish. Have done it on sub packages of a construction contract such as systems but due to governance associated with most big construction projects it will always be a challenge. Your first port of call would be to get a rolling wave schedule approved by your stakeholders, you need to get them comfortable with the concept of short term high level detail, medium term medium level detail and long term low level detail. Short, Medium and Long terms would obviously be determined by your project duration and complexity. Good luck as it is never an easy task.
I have started by applying it to my personal workload. Document what I encountered and try to turn it into digestable info for my senior management because no one seems to understand when I explain
This is my current idea so tapping people I may make a little sense to for input guidance and ideas Saving Changes...
Steve RamsdellPM I| BergelectricQueen Creek, Az, United States
Nov 10, 2017 7:58 AM
Replying to Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
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Let's forget about Agile in construction for the time being; it's a red herring. I think Steve's main question is project management practices in general in the industry. Steve, when you say "Project Management in construction” is nothing like what I read and study or seen others doing" can you be more specific? I assume in construction there is planning, a schedule, a budget, resources, risk assessment, quality assurance, scope, stakeholders, and a manager/s to oversee it all yes? That is project management, even if it doesn't include all of the 47 processes (a couple more now with PMBOK 6) that PMI has produced. I think the general issues is construction management has never really valued certified project managers as much as engineers, architects, surveyors etc. Have you been asked to get a PMP certification because management feels it's necessary? Probably not right? That tells you a lot about the level of faith the industry has in certified PM's, which is a shame, as guys like you could really shake things up, and yes include Agile practices in some areas of construction.
Thank you so much! You nailed it. I’m not after a style to use in construction I’m talking about solid management and control techniques I learned studying this practice and how shocked I am it isn’t the actual standard in my industry.
I mean I have talked to Project Mannagers running 10-20mil in projects that don’t know what PMI is.that is astonishing me
The guy who first trained me in “project management” as I now do it I bought a copy of the original book Gnatt wrote 100 years ago... nice gesture I thought...
He didn’t know who he was.
Is this a standard in all construction or just my personal. I need to gauge that before an attempt/approach to ideas and or change if that makes sense Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Nov 10, 2017 12:39 PM
Replying to Stéphane Parent
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Which is the reason why project tailoring, as finally introduced in PMBOK 6, is so important.
Stephane
Unfortunately, tailoring in the PMBOK Guide is too little - too late and lack the right focus. The good news it is finally acknowledged. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Nov 10, 2017 1:22 PM
Replying to Sergio Luis Conte
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Hi Mounir
the problem there is to tied Agile to the Manifesto. The Manifesto is nothing to be aware unless you are working in software domain. I can write a lot. By the best source is to find Rick Dove´s book "response ability" that contains mos of the information to understand what agile really is. By the way, today I performed a conference in Argentina regarding to Agile where more than 20 people assits and most of them are not related to software.
Sergio
I acknowledged that the Manifesto is not the only source but what are the key points of Agile and how it can be used?
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1 reply by Sergio Luis Conte
Nov 11, 2017 7:19 AM
Sergio Luis Conte
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All you need to know about Agile is inside the USA DoD NSF/Agility Forum deliverables. You can find most of them into Rick Dove´s book "Response Ability". Rick was the program manager for that forum
Saving Changes...
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Mounir
Absolutely rolling wave planning is an agile practice. If you consider the same for more common environments such as development you find rolling wave being implemented as sprints (in SCRUM) where only the immediate sprint is planned in detail while those into the future are less detailed but becomes more detailed as their planned release comes closer. Rolling wave is adaptive because I do not have to break down the building to implement a chance to upcoming tasks,
This also allows you to implement other agile principles such as continues integration and retrospectives without making huge waves. We all know that most project have review meeting of some sort but these are not always as effective as they should be because it is to discuss progress against a rigid schedule that has been planned to the Nth degree for months or even years in advance. Saving Changes...
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