Can Integrated Project Execution Management Approach be a blessing?

In the Real Estate industry, project delays is a common and perhaps an accepted norm. Well.. a recent study has relieved that there six issues in project management -

1. Inaccurate assessment of project risk
2. Lack of capability to manage project complexity
3. Inability to correctly estimate and monitor
4. Ineffective utilization of best practices and benchmarks
5. Difficulty to involve multiple and diverse stakeholders
6. Inability to synchronize project plan and execution 

Some real estate companies attempt to get around these issues by using a project scheduling tool - be it tools such as Microsoft Project or Primavera, but still have failed, simply because... in a typical project and I would like to stick to the Indian context - the project execution team is on-site and in most cases the project management team (architects, designers etc.) sits out of a head office or branch office distant from the project execution team and both managed by the Top Management team located perhaps at a third location. So... no synchronization, no looking at the same picture... many a times it ends up more as a case of each blind person looking the elephant and assuming and interpreting what the elephant looks like in their own personal way. Result - project delays, resources utilization issues, cost overruns and depleting profit margins - all the stuff that no CEO or CFO likes. 

In fact... it all starts in the very initial phases of a project itself, wherein there is always an hurry to "announce" the project with very little time for detailed planning, time for putting in the necessary supporting infrastructure, identifying and assessing the project related risks and the time taken to augment and do good them - for example, time taken for land acquisition or right of way or alignment or even environment or forest clearance if required. The estimates built in the initial project plan for clearance from various agencies can go wrong leading to delays. At times, there are issues around the scope definition itself.

What is perhaps required is - an integrated project execution managementwherein the project scheduling tool has integrated BIM (Building Information Management) capabilities and is able to create project schedules that are precise and accurate and which allows one to breakdown the plan into tasks and link these tasks together with the ability to be able to test different scenarios and their impact on the end delivery date of the project. What is required is the ability to assess -

• What is the likelihood of completing the project on time and within budget?
• Which tasks are most likely to cause the project to be delayed?

Also, it is common practice in a construction project of having an “internal” or “target” schedule which is less than the “contract” schedule. If not handled properly, this can cause cash flow pressures. Most importantly, the Top Management would like to see the costs built in into the project scheduling tool and also to be able to run multiple scenarios to understand the impacts of these scenarios on the overall costs of the projects thus been able to reflect upon the projects costs.

Another issue is - to be able keep track of the project progress and to be able to built in the progress / delays into the project plan so that an impact analysis is possible and corrective actions can be initiated too. From a Top Management perspective, one needs a project scheduling tool that allows they to see project progress online across multiple devices. This will also enable a much closer working relationships between the Project Management and Project Execution teams. 

It is very important to understand that the project plan is as good as the "weakest" link in the entire plan. Effective project execution management is all about identifying the "weakest" link in the project plan and address it. Once the "weakest" link is addressed, then one needs to look at the "next weakest" link and go on and so forth. The project scheduling tool needs to be able to capture this information for historic and learning purposes so that future projects plan are made more effective and efficient. 

The project scheduling tool also needs to have the able to connect and take data from and share data to various other systems deployed in an infrastructure company to enhance the value to the business.

Today, there are scheduling tools that facilitate this integrated project execution approach to project management within the scheduling tool itselfand it is time Indian infrastructure companies consider adopting this approach to plan project much more effectively, reduce delays in project delivery and gain repute with the customers for "on-time delivery".

The crux of success for any real estate company is - effective and efficient, timely, on budget, on time project execution.