Have you ever said or thought, “I wish I had more time?” What could you do with an extra hour, day, or even week? Chances are you would have plenty of time to handle everything on your plate. This is day-to-day life for many construction project managers who are in charge of complicated projects. If the projects cannot meet deadlines, they may face serious consequences, like liquidated damages.

Since time is so finite, you need to find ways to become more productive. There are several strategies you can use, from using a free time card calculator to creating a better plan. Keep reading for some helpful tips, which can be found below.

 Keep Your Project Schedule Top-of-Mind

Your project schedule is the construction project manager’s playbook that dictates what is going to happen, when it will happen, and how long it will take. It is also used to determine who is responsible for making these things happen.

Any impacts or changes to the schedule can create a ripple effect, which will shift the other items in the plan. While there are some commercial construction projects that last months or even years, as the project manager, it is your job to review, track, and manage the schedule regularly. This will give you a task list you can rely on for the duration of the project. Another key element to consider when managing a construction project is the labor costs. You need to accurately calculate construction labor costs for each activity and track them over time. This will provide you with an accurate timeline of how much money has been spent on labor, as well as which areas are spending the most money.

 Take Time to Prioritize the Task List You Create

Your project schedule will create a task list for you to use to guide the process. However, not everything related to the project or at the job site will progress as needed. It may be the wrong materials being delivered to the job site, issues related to coordinating with the subcontractors, to safety risks – there are an array of items that require attention from the construction project manager.

Along with handling the regular list of to-dos to ensure the project continues moving forward, such as going to meetings and ordering materials, project managers have to spend quite a bit of their time putting out fires, too.

Track employees whereabouts

A time clock app can be a helpful tool for managing your construction business. It’s a time management strategy that can help you keep track of your time and optimise your productivity. This system uses GPS to track your location and time, so you can see how much time you spend in each place. This information can be used to identify time-wasting activities and optimise your schedule. For example, if you notice that you spend a lot of time driving to and from work, you may want to consider carpooling or taking public transportation. A time clock with GPS tracking can also help you manage your time by setting alerts for specific locations. For example, you can set an alert for when you arrive at work or when you leave the office. This system is an effective way to manage your time and improve your productivity.

 Delegate When Needed

If you are a construction project manager, you have a lot of work to do on a daily basis; however, there is no reason you have to try to handle everything on your own. Project managers for construction sites are a part of a bigger team who is working together to achieve project success. It is necessary to review the tasks that need to be done to see if there is anything that can be delegated to someone else on the team, like for foreman, project engineer, or someone else. Delegating specific tasks will help to set the stage to ensure success.

 Hold Actionable Meetings

Meetings are crucial for team members to get together and discuss what needs to be done and make the necessary decisions. However, many people dislike meetings – especially those that have no real purpose. If you are a construction project manager and you have limited time along with a huge task list, it is necessary to spend your time conducting meetings with a specific purpose.

The key to ensuring that you have a productive meeting and making sure that people don’t dread them is to ensure they are actionable. To do this, you must prepare for your meeting by creating a definitive agenda, state what the goal is for the meeting, and end your meeting with the action items and when they are due.

When you are tasked with effective time management for a construction project, it may feel like many factors are working against you. However, by implementing the tips listed here, you can achieve the desired results and feel confident that your project will run smoothly and that it will be successful. Being informed, knowing what to do, and taking the right steps will help ensure that every construction project is successful and that it meets the goals that have been set.