Commercial construction management is the process of designing, renovating and building commercial structures. These are usually large projects. Commercial project management is something we understand. From building student accommodation to nursing homes, office space to warehouses, these are not small and quick turnaround projects but projects that can go on for some time to come.
What you need to know here
In construction, commercial building management generally refers to the overseeing and management of a project’s finances as it progresses. It can also refer to the long-term management of business opportunities that will enable the organisation to develop and grow. The commercial manager must maximise business potential in terms of growth and profitability, while monitoring and controlling internal processes as well as managing external relationships with subcontractors, clients, and so on. All commercial builders will know all about this.
It can be complex
Due to the complexity of valuing and costing construction projects, commercial building management has developed into a technical discipline, most commonly undertaken by quantity surveyors. Often quantity surveyors progress to become commercial managers, with responsibility for a commercial team and reporting to the project manager. A successful construction project is one that is delivered on time, to budget and at the required quality. Commercial managers balance these drivers with longer-term strategy of the business and the client’s own commercial drivers. If a project achieves, or exceeds, the anticipated return for the business, with the client relationship maintained or improved, then the commercial management strategy will be seen to have been a success.
Keep all communications open and clear
Even with planning and scheduling, regular communication is crucial for avoiding costly delays or downtime. Before problems arise, develop a chain of command and protocol for addressing situations. Establish best practices for which conversations should happen by text or email and which require in-person meetings or phone calls.
All communication should go through the project manager’s channels and be documented in the software used to schedule projects. To keep everyone on the same page, managers should develop project communication plans that can be as simple or as complicated as necessary to organise important information that everyone can access at a glance. While you can customise these plans to each industry and project, they should include universal components like communication goals, stakeholders, role titles, and frequency of communication. You should reconcile these plans with your original schedule to identify progress and benchmarks.
Overall
Even with planning and scheduling, with so many moving parts and team members involved, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. This can be by the number of issues that need your attention. Part of your role as a project manager is to be a part-time firefighter. But even they have finite resources and must prioritise which blaze to tackle first. Address possible obstacles before beginning the project and decide which move to the front of the line. Whether it be an impact on finances, timeline, safety, or something else, create a hierarchy. Make one that can give a clear path of action. This can give the team some guidance to free your time. It means you can manage your project and keep it on time.
