04
Best-in-class contractors invest their time in high-value activities.
Automate to operate reinforces the age-old truth that no one has enough time in their day to get
everything done. Best-in-class contractors habitually automate as many of the "time-stealers" as
possible, so they can reapply their time to the matters that directly improve program performance.
In today's environment, there are two dirty little secrets that tend to steal much more of our time
than we care to admit. Project managers spend...
> Too much time crunching numbers. According to several studies, including ones conducted
by the Project Management Institute, as much as 80% of a project manager's time is spent
communicating project status. When speaking with the design team, a project manager
needs to discuss the latest design changes. The subcontractors want to discuss payment
status. The internal management team wants to hear the latest overall status. It's all related,
but each conversation requires different information. Project managers often spend a lot
of time crunching numbers to facilitate productive meetings. The data are shared in a variety
of formats — from Excel spreadsheets to PowerPoint slides.
> Too much time chasing down people. How many times have you personally walked an
emergency change order request all around the owner's office, even climbing flights of
stairs to get everyone to sign it and approve it? Have you done the same with a late invoice
that a subcontractor desperately needs today, or they will walk off the job site?
AUTOMATE TO OPERATE
Page 7
