How to Make Sure Your Next Building Project Doesn’t Get Caught Short
With the new year right around the corner, there are new ideas, projects and goals brewing. Some of us want to remodel our houses, others are finally going to build that patio, and/or maybe you want to spruce up your guest room.
Whatever the building goal is, there are steps you can take in order to make sure you complete it with accuracy, speed and long term results. If you want your project to be successful, you need a plan.
What if you’re not the best planner? Well then you have come to the right place.
Your first step is to decide what project you’d like to tackle and the necessary tools and materials needed. No matter how big, or how small, every project needs a plan.
Your plan will lay out the feasibility of the plan and what it’s going to take in order to complete the project. Start with defining your general needs.
- How many people are needed to complete the project?
- What resources are required for this project to be successful?
- What is your budget? Include labor, materials, equipment and fees or permits you might need to take care of.
When you are able to outline these things for yourself, your partner and/or team, this helps your project to be completed smoothly and successfully.
Utilize S.M.A.R.T and C.L.E.A.R goals to help you with your next steps which include taking this plan from a general layout to the specific actions to follow.
For a quick refresher, S.M.A.R.T stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.
Set specific goals, such as budget or milestones to hit along the way. Agree on how success will be measured in terms of this project. Your plans and goals should always be attainable so that you don’t set your sights too high, only to be let down. Along with attainability, your goals should always be realistic. Set up your projects to be challenging but achievable. Keep your projects on a timely schedule for motivation and also to stay hand in hand with the reality of the situation.
C.L.E.A.R stands for Collaborative, Limited, Emotional, Achievable and Refineable.
When you keep your projects collaborative you remain open minded and flexible, allowing new and possibly better ideas to enter the project. Being able to limit your projects is important, that way you don’t overwhelm yourself with the possibilities of “what if”. Keeping your projects achievable allows pride, allows mutual effort and takes some of the stress of yourself and anyone you may be working with. You can never quite count on what’s going to happen on a job site so keeping your projects refineable is key to remaining adaptable.
It is essential that during your build that you monitor your projects progress. This way, you’re able to see if you are hitting your milestones or not, if the project is successful you are able to see why, if not, you’re also able to see why.
Track your projects objectives (is your project on schedule and on budget?), the performance (are things going smoothly or are you running into bumps along the way?) and the quality (are we hitting our milestones by sacrificing good quality work or not?). Monitoring and recording your project is not only beneficial to you, but any teammates, stakeholders or anyone else who is affected by your project’s success.
After your project is completed, look back and evaluate. How did things go well, what would you change next time? The reflection period is key to your continuing success.
What projects are you hoping to complete in the year 2023?
Timberline Blog 
thanks for sending these.