In the construction industry, projects are usually a combination of various tasks, and their complexity can often become overwhelming. Moreover, surveyors must ensure that there are no errors due to the nature of their work responsibilities. In order to effectively manage such projects, chartered surveyors require project management software. What is more, that software should have some key attributes such as the ability to collaborate, plan, manage and communicate seamlessly with all stakeholders.
In this article, we are going to cover why surveyors need portfolio management software and how it can be used.
The role of chartered surveyors
A chartered surveyor is a knowledgeable and skilled professional working in construction. They have a vast understanding of every aspect of a construction project, such as legal, technical, contracts, and commercials. Some of their primary responsibilities are managing the fund allocation, budgeting, sub-contracts and contracts of a construction project. Usually, current construction projects are enormous and very complex. In order to effectively manage those projects, numerous organisations have developed specialised project management software for chartered surveyors.
What is portfolio management software?
Portfolio management software can be utilised to organise, allocate and plan various resources for managing projects as well as report to clients and stakeholders. It can also allow chartered surveyors to complete their tasks without wasting their and stakeholders’ time.
Moreover, it helps teams to keep track of projects, and their progress, collaborate and clearly define responsibilities and tasks. It also allows surveyors to manage time and costs.
In order to deliver projects before the deadline, teams have to keep everything organised, especially when there are multiple active projects. Cloud-based project management software can provide a detailed overview of all the projects, minimising any possible errors. Usually, a single project management software contains a range of tools that serve different people depending on their responsibilities.
Some of the critical aspects of project management software are various spreadsheets which can be used to manage to-do lists. Next, there are also collaboration tools which allow for seamless communication between stakeholders. Lastly, it has various tools to make portfolio and project management easier, faster and free of errors with a high-level perspective on a strategic level.
Benefits of construction project management software
Fund management
Funding is a baseline of any construction project. Without it, the project wouldn’t even start. What is more, management of those funds is vital. Usually, they come from more than one source. Luckily, that software can track how much and where the money comes from. It can also effectively analyse each task and allocate resources accordingly. Lastly, project management software has live dashboards which show how much is available and can predict future bottlenecks.
Budget management
For a construction project to be successful, there is no place for budget errors. However, due to the nature of those projects and their complexity, they often can be challenging to accomplish. Even the slightest error can become a hurdle for contractors, thus slowing down or even completely stopping the project. Fortunately, the project management software can help budget accurately, making the whole project more efficient.
Data management
Project management software can be utilised for data analytics and data management, which makes it a very powerful tool for construction projects and chartered surveyors. It can easily store information from both past and ongoing projects. A key feature of this software is that it eliminates the need for repetitive work, which helps to save time and speed up processes. Lastly, contract management and project estimation tasks are much more accurate.
Collaboration
One of the key aspects of project management software is the ability to effectively communicate with both external and internal stakeholders making them well informed on all aspects of the project. What is more, it helps minimise any possible conflicts and improves the speed of decision-making processes. Everyone involved in the project gets access to dashboards with real-time updates, charts, reports and statuses of various tasks. It makes it easy to predict any bottlenecks before they even occur. Lastly, easy access to documents makes everyone on the same page.
As you can see, many benefits come from using project management software. It makes the job easier for chartered surveyors and can also improve processes for all stakeholders and minimise possible bottlenecks and errors.
