New Project 5

[Moonstone]

I finally have the opportunity to be the Resident Engineer on a small scale project. I have 3 years of experience in field/office. On this project, I am the only person incharge from the CM side... which means I will be the only onsite representative - will do everything - documentation, project mgmt, inspection, etc all on my own.

The contract has been awarded and work will start in a months time. I have started to feel a little nervous about this deal. Any tips on how I can start off smoothly and successfully?

 

[RDK]

In this situation, nervous is smart.

I’m not saying that to demean you or your abilities, I have been doing that for almost 30 years and I’m still nervous. Every new job has unique challenges and every job has the potential to either blow up in your face or to be successful and lead to bigger and better things for you. All too often the difference will be issues that are beyond your control.

Best to split your time into 5 equal allotments.

Schedule
Quality
Safety
Technical
Administrative.


Start spending much more than 20% on any one area and one or more other areas will suffer. If you have the safety issues well in hand then the most harm you can do will be financial and all money really is is numbers written on a piece of paper.


Be confident in your abilities; always remember that someone will be trying to snow you for their own ends. Tune up your bullshit detector; you will need it working at peak effectiveness.

Having said that, relax and have fun, there is nothing more satisfying than leaving a site that was once a green field and seeing a functional project in your rear view mirror.

Good luck




Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[Moonstone]

RDK,

Thank you very much for your advice. I really needed some confidence boost and thanks for providing that. I really liked your last line about watching a "functional project in your rear view mirror". I will keep that in mind for the entire duration of the project.

 

[MintJulep]

Take the time to properly define your office infrastructure.

Too many project offices end up with stacks and stacks of drawings, letters, and other crap, resulting in the inability to find anything.

How will you file stuff? How will you index and catalog that stuff so you can find that one piece of paper you need right now? How will you keep track of correspondence into and out of your office? How will you ensure that you provide a timely response to things that you need to respond to? How will you ensure that you get answers to questions you ask? How will you ensure that you always have the most current information? How will you know when the schedule is in jeopardy of slipping? (Knowing something is late after it's late is easy - and useless!)

Learn how to conduct effective meetings.

Throw a few bozo's off the site early on - this will establish a "he don't take no crap" reputation for you.

 

[HVAC68]

1. Set priorities
2. Start from day one the policy of "A place of everything" & "Everything in its place". Take care not to have too many things - keep only what's essential, otherwise, you will get lost finding out what you want.
3. Set a time table for your activities including meetings, inspection calls, drawing approvals, etc - Obviously, you may have to make exceptions sometimes, but don't make that as a habit.
4. Start creating the image of a no non-sense guy. There is a very thin line between this and being arrogant or being perceived as arrogant.
5. Enjoy your work - This is the most important part. Once you do that, other things will start falling in place.

Good luck

HVAC68

 

[RDK]

Moonstone

The satisfaction of seeing something useful where there was nothing before is the reason why I became an engineer and why I still enjoy the profession so much some 30 years later.

IMHO “real” engineering is done in the field. That’s not to say that there is no place for the theoretical design stuff, but the actual taking of raw materials and seeing it fashioned into a useful end result is what it is all about, at least for me anyway.

The other advice about being organized in the office is good advice as well, losing documentation and control over the administrative stuff is a real killer. If you cannot produce any documentation about something happening then you cannot prove that it happened. Keep a good diary, I like to use lab books with bound pages so you cannot lose a page or be accused of tearing one out. (And NEVER take a page for use as scrap paper; keep some other paper for that. A lawyer friend taught me that.)

One final piece of advice the worst decision you can ever make is to default to making no decision at all, you may decide to defer the decision until something happens or you get better information but to fail to make a decision is the worst decision you can ever make.

You will never have perfect information you sometimes have to make some assumptions, sometimes you can have too much information and be subject to analysis paralysis but sooner or later you will have to make a decision. Better to make it earlier and then move on.

Often you can be 80% correct with only 20% information, best to hit the target while there is an opportunity than to concentrate on a perfect bull’s eye only to find that the opportunity to make a decision has moved on before you make it.

Make the best decisions you can with the skills, information and resources available then move on. If it doesn’t work out then make a decision to correct the problem, but don’t lose any sleep after you have done your best, tomorrow is another day and will have its own problems and challenges.


Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[okpiper]

Moonstone thx for the thread because I have learned alot from the responses. To the responders, Thx for the replies. I am in a brand field to me. The company I work for has some great superintendents that really know the trade and they will call into the office and have some conference calls so that I can learn this industry. Anyway enough of about me. Just wanted to sat thanks for the thread.

 

[norzul]

Try this...the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr Stephen Covey:
1) Proactive
2) Begin with the Ends in Mind
3) Put First Thing First
4) Think Win-Win
5) Seek First to Understand then to be Understood
6) Creative Cooperation
7) Sharpen the saw

...and just recently the 8th habit...Find Your Voice to Inspire Others to Find Theirs...

 

[Ashereng]

Hi Moonstone,

"always remember that someone will be trying to snow you for their own ends"

"Throw a few bozo's off the site early on - this will establish a "he don't take no crap" reputation for you."

I agree that the above cautions are valid.

I would like to suggest starting off with a neutral and professional attitude, and extending to the people you will be working with the professional courtesies that you would like extended to you.

Not everyone is bad, selfish, etc. There are good people out there, trying to do their job.

As with everything, people will typically respond to the way they are treated. If I feel that someone distrusts me, from the get go, chances are I will not trust them back. N'est pas?

You mentioned that this is your first opportunity being the Resident Engineer. This means that someone in your org thinks you are capable and up to the task. Just keep doing what ever it is you've been doing to get to this point. The only thing that has changed is your title - all of your skills, accomplishments, capabilities, personalities, etc. are still the same. Moonstone is still Moonstone.

Be yourself. It has worked so far to get you here.

Oh, and your office/organisation/colleagues/boss are still where you've left them. They are only a phone call / drive / flight / email / Blackberry / etc. away.

Good luck.


I would add that not everyone is going to be "bad". If you start off with a neutral and professional attitude, people will

 

[MintJulep]

Adding to RDK's excellent advice:

Learn the difference between data and information.

Ashereng's recommendations about neutral and professional attitude are right on. Don't get emotional about issues, and don't take them personnally. Work hard to treat every issue in am impassive fashion.

Ashereng is also correct when he points out that there are good people trying to do their job. You want as many of these as possible working on the project.

There are also people who will go the extra mile. Identify them, and make friends of them.

Unfortunately there are also:

People that just don't care.

People that don't know what they are doing, and can jeopardize the project, or the safety of others.

 

[Moonstone]

Thank you all for such great responses. I am really impressed by the kind of responses I have received. I have already started working on a CM Plan for the project so that I put all the procedures in place. The precon meeting is coming up soon. So, that my next step. I will keep you posted.


Thank you again.

 

[JPatten]

Don't get emotional about issues, and don't take them personnally.

Excellent advice. You will run into disagreements. Just remember they are not personal. Everyone is trying to do their job.

One final piece of advice the worst decision you can ever make is to default to making no decision at all, you may decide to defer the decision until something happens or you get better information but to fail to make a decision is the worst decision you can ever make.

Again excellent advice. The only wrong decision is no decision.


The one piece of advice I can add is that any good Superintendent will test you. Just hold your own and you will end up with a great working relationship.

 

[mkinnes]

As much as possible try to leave work on the job site. Spend time off the job doing things that clear your mind.

 

[RDK]

Good point Keenes, especially when you are away from home and have a lot of work to do and not much else to do with your time it is all too easy to get into the trap of working 14 hours a day 7 days a week.

Sooner or later you run out of fresh laundry and energy, fatigue results in errors in work and in judgment.

On a related note try to keep coffee consumption to reasonable limits, you will spend a lot of time in your office trailer and people will bring you problems, having coffee available for them makes discussions easier, it can also lead to a 20 to 30 cup a day habit.

Quitting coffee cold turkey from that level was harder than quitting smoking.


Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[Moonstone]

Well, I have started the project and things are so far so good. I am enjoying being on this project and remain very busy most times. I am spending a lot of time at work and every day is like a new experience and I am learning more than I have learnt anywhere else. For those of you who get an opportunity to lead a project, grab it without inhibitions. Everything falls in to place once the project starts.

 

[Ashereng]

Congrats! Glad it is working out.

 

[Hoagie]

All good points above. Allow me to add some:

KNOW your contract documents (plan, specs, and estimates). Be sure you contractor has reviewed them and that he knows what he is expected to deliver;

Keep and eye on schedule and budget, but don't get to concerned if you are a little over or a little late;

Understand the work and try to anticipate problems and solutions before you begin a task;

Since you are all alone, you must form understanding with your contractor/s early on. Try to develop procedures and guidelines for inspections, changes, procurement, etc..to streamline the paper BS. You will need to learn to juggle your time. See what ideas he has. Don't be afraid to work with your contractor. Meet with his PM/super frequently. Ask for a p/t admin to help with your clericals;

Don't lose your cool...there is nothing more pathetic than to see a manager trip. You will encounter problems. Accept and embrace this fact. Some problems can't be resolved immediately. Don't be pushed into making a bad decision because someone feels inconvenienced. Rome wasn't built in a day; spare yourself the panic.

Good luck. I was in the same situation back in '83. I learned an awful lot...I think you will too.

H.

 

[BTriple7]

I am glad I have also learnt a lot from this discussion. Am a project engineer and have drawn some slight experiences which I would like to share with you....

Softwares like Ms Project and Outlook can go a long way to assist you in scheduling, planning, resource allocation and for reminders. Always remember to update them.

Make a large print of your project Gantt chart and pin it onto your wall. it acts as a constant reminder...

Carry your laptop with you whenever you go for meetings so that you can be taking minutes as the meeting progresses. You only need to have prepared a draft template (of the previous one)which you will just edit, as most meetings are mainly followup. This saves a great deal on time spent preparing minutes and sending them.

 

[GTstartup]

There's a saying that goes something like :

"If everything is going well, you have obviously overlooked something"

I disagree, if everything is going well, it's just going well. My advice is this:

Do not assume because everything is running smoothly that you have to find problems to report. Contrary to what many young engineers think, people do not perceive reported problems as you "doing your job" of course if there are problems, then report them. However if there are no problems be first to report that everybody is doing a good job.

I still cringe at the memory of my first resident engineer job where I made a big deal about some conduit not being parallel. Ouch.

 

[Moonstone]

No Project is perfect, no design is perfect. There are always going to be problems. How they are handeled puts you apart. I would say, escalate what needs to be escalated and solve what you can on your own. Not being very experienced myself, sometimes its hard for me to judge whats important and whats not. But, I am trying to do my best and am learning. I do know, that I will do much better on my next job. The advice to young engineers - grab every opportunity you have to learn and grow. Do not be scared to take up challanges. I have learnt a lot from the advice received on this post. Thank you all for the valuable resposnes.