Project planning addresses how a project should be completed within a set budget and timeline. This process can be just as overwhelming as the physical work that could go into a job. There are several parts of the project to consider for a project management plan.
This article can help utility project managers looking to create a project plan in real-time. These project planning tips for utility project managers can help lay a solid foundation that empowers teams to meet their deadlines.
Keep reading for tips on how to write a project plan, set due dates, and track projects.
Make a Checklist
Checklists of action steps can keep your project plan organized. As you and your team members complete each task on the list, you can check them off and proceed to the next. Checklists can show you the order of tasks. If you do not know what job to tackle next, consult your checklist and keep your project team on track.
Break down your utility project into different areas based on time or key features of the tasks. Then, assess the project timeline to create a helpful checklist. Some project management tools may help with this!
Recognize Risks
Identifying as many risks your project carries can help you mitigate their adverse impact should they happen. You and your team should address any factor that could threaten your project’s completion.
Common factors include worker injuries, equipment failure, and severe weather. Knowing how to avoid risks when possible as well as picking up the pieces in the event of an incident can ensure your projects align with budget and timeline expectations.
Prioritize Safety
Safety protocols should be treated with the utmost importance. Following guidelines can reduce the number of worker injuries, which can decrease liability risks, costly claims, and possible lawsuits. Safety plans can also help keep projects on track for timely completion.
Communicate
Utility projects often have many moving parts. From stakeholders to vendors to contractors, one project might require you to maintain many lines of communication. Using a central communication system can keep everyone involved with your projects in the loop. Transparency can reduce miscommunication that could delay progress. The key is to make such a system accessible to everyone at any time, especially on job sites.
Hire the Right People for the Right Jobs
You must recruit not only the most capable project team but one that is suitable for the job. You should hire people based on their abilities and expertise. You should therefore assign them to specific roles based on their qualifications. Making them perform jobs they can not do can result in disaster.
Facilitate Document Access
All documentation must be easy to track and access. A document management system can organize relevant forms as well as keep them secure. Losing important documents can delay projects and create legal issues should they be requested and not found.
Stick to the Plan
While your project plan should have room to accommodate interruptions, you and your team should follow it to stay on schedule. For example, if you rearrange the schedule and request employees to be on-site before the equipment they need is delivered, they will not be able to work. You will be wasting your time and theirs.
Don’t Overlook Equipment Transportation
How will your utility poles, cable spools, and other equipment arrive at your job site?
Some utility project managers deprioritize equipment transportation. They assume they can easily and quickly manage the task themselves. However, utility hauling is typically not as simple as calling a moving company. Many elements go into the task. Load sizes, truck limitations, local laws, and more must be accounted for when planning a delivery. Renting trucks, cranes, and forklifts is another must. Hiring drivers, operators, and riggers is yet another on the long list of things to do.
Busy managers might not have time to accomplish this undertaking, especially with everything else they are responsible for completing. Planning deliveries as soon as possible can help reduce delays and expenses.
Partner with Blackwood Resources
A good project is completed on time and within budget. Using project planning tools can take projects farther than expected. Blackwood Resources can take them the rest of the way.
Project management can be nerve-wracking. We can help relieve some of the pressure so project managers can focus on other aspects of their jobs. Hiring a utility hauling company to move your utility poles, transformers, and more can eliminate tasks that you might not have time for. We can handle all of the logistics of transport, freeing you to attend to more vital duties.
Since 2017, we have assisted the utility industry by providing the most thorough transportation services in our field. We specialize in transloading, the process of using specially-designed trucks with attached cranes to load and unload poles and other materials. When your materials reach their destination, the same truck will unload the material wherever you need it.
When you plan for us to transport your utility items, you do not have to spend money on rentals and labor. You do not have to take time to get everything together. You can focus on the other aspects that determine your project’s success.
Please contact us today.
