| When writing your construction company's business | | | | multiple projects start to move forward, it may be |
| plan, describe what systems you will have in place to | | | | necessary to devote a full-time project manager to |
| potentially manage multiple projects at the same time. | | | | each. This person can look out for the interests of their |
| Certainly, you don't want a situation where you have a | | | | project and give it the attention that the client will |
| great number of employees and pieces of equipment | | | | demand. This demands that you have staff with the |
| sitting idle between projects. However, you would like | | | | management skill needed in the first place. |
| to not lose business as it comes along. You should | | | | Your crew must be assigned to work in a way that |
| have the capacity to at least start the planning for a | | | | keeps them busy, but not too busy (avoiding overtime |
| new project while another one is already underway. | | | | and the extra costs and diminished returns it creates |
| Sharing Resources | | | | as much as possible). If planned well, crew will move |
| With only one project being worked on, the issue of | | | | between a segment of work on one project to a |
| sharing resources doesn't exist. But once a second | | | | segment of work on another just as subcontractors |
| project begins, you will need a system to track how | | | | start a piece of work on the first. |
| your resources are being shared between both | | | | Equipment which you own in limited quantities, which |
| projects in order to reduce your overall costs, and | | | | should be true of most significant tools and machines, |
| continue to work to the time constraints of the | | | | must be moved between projects and your storage |
| projects. A software project management or | | | | and scheduled carefully to avoid holding up any of |
| resources scheduling system is highly recommended, | | | | them. Key subcontractors who are needed on multiple |
| as it is easiest to share information between multiple | | | | projects must also be scheduled as if they were your |
| managers and your staff. | | | | crew, although you lack very much direct control over |
| These resources include your managers, your crew's | | | | the schedules they keep. |
| labor, equipment and tools, and even subcontractors. If | | | | |