Regardless of the domain, there are always situations that enrage, frustrate, and leave you speechless. You can, however, laugh at those moments when you reflect on them.
So let's see if you're familiar with these situations while managing your construction project and how you feel recalling them now 😉.
Situation 1
You arrive at the office and get ready to work on your stuff. What a positive day!
As you're looking at the blueprint, your colleague comes to you and asks "David, can you help me with...?". Okay, 15 minutes have passed.
Come back to your blue print, just sit down and think "where am I .... hmm?"
"David, I have a problem with this project. Can you come see it?" your colleague calls you. Okay, 30 minutes have been lost.
Now it's time to work. But "David, can you come here for a few minutes?" your manager texts you. Again, another 1 hour has passed.
When you get back to your desk, you think "Oh no, half of my morning is over, let's get some work done". Your seat isn't quite warm. "David, Alex asked you to make the working agenda for me, would you mind?" the new intern asks.
And at that moment, you just want to shout out loud "Let me do my job!!! "
Situation 2
Your project is progressing well, but you need to check with your colleague on some important details.
You email him to ask when he will be available for a discussion. "Sorry, I can't make it today. Maybe tomorrow." he replies after a few hours.
The day after, you come to his desk. "Sorry, I'm in the middle of something. Can you come back later?" He says in a hurry.
You wait 30 minutes, come back again, but he is not there. "Haizz, when can I have the information? "
Situation 3
The next day, you make some changes to the file and repeat "Hmm... which name? First floor plan 1.2.1 final", you save it as a new file.
A few days later, you continue to update the file and save it as "First floor plan 1.2 final final".
After some time, you need to see the last updated file for this project. And "I'm not sure which one is the final one" you're confused.
Read more: "6 pain points in managing a construction project".
Situation 4
"Hey Joel, I just finished drawing the living room door, plan 1" you say.
"Plan 1? I thought I already told you that I made an update and named it Plan 1.1 a few days ago?" Joel responds.
"No, I didn't hear anything, and I spent half a day working on it" you upset reply.
"Really, but I think I did text you on Whatsapp, no?" Joel is confused.
How speechless are you?
Situation 5
You have to take over your colleague's project because he is sick.
"Hmm, what is it?
Where are the plans?
Oh, here, this doesn't look right.
Why/when did he make this change?"
It's such a mess and you have to call your colleague to ask.
"Ask Joel, he handled that part." your colleague responds.
You try looking for Joel, he's not in the office.
"Ahhhh, what can I do now?" you're frustrated.
Situation 6
"Hi David, can you note that we may need to adapt this blueprint in May 2023" your manager tell you.
And today is just 1 Nov 2022...
😅😅😅
There are many more that we are sure you know better than we do. How often do you find yourself in these situations? At the end, how do you feel and what did you do to prevent such unexpected events?
Read "Why engineers and architects need a project management platform?" to know how to prevent and manage well when these events happen.