The IPM Blog

No doubt one of the great mantras used by project managers the world over is that failing to plan is planning to fail. I recently stumbled across a blog I haven’t seen before from the Project Management Institute and it’s got some really great posts by project management professionals from all over. My favourite post is quite a recent one from Jim De Piante about how project planning is the key to a successful project management career, and it got me thinking about planning and the tools we can use to ensure our plan’s success.

I’m a big fan of planning. To me, there is nothing better than having a killer outline of exactly what you intend to do, and how it’s going to be done. And then there is nothing more satisfying than seeing everything turns out according to that plan. Of course, this is real life though, so how often does that actually happen?

There are always going to be hiccoughs and disruptions to your plan, but the best planners have tools in place to accommodate those. In construction project management in particular, having a well laid project plan does go a long way to ensuring success, but it always helps to have the tools necessary to achieve that plan, and if they help you recognise when you’re off course and can get you back on track, that’s even better.

One of those tools is construction project management software, such as IPM, with good reporting facilities that can accurately deliver real time figures and data for every stage of the project. This way you know where you are every step of the way, and how far you may be deviating from your original plan. And with IPM, if you are off course you have all the information about the project in a central database to quickly retrieve and, if necessary, delegate tasks and make adjustments to get you back in line with your plan.

IPM also has enhanced planning and forecasting capabilities to give you detailed breakdowns of all your forecast figures, along with optional tight integration with your accounting system to keep track of costs and budget.

So even though the best laid plans can encounter bumps, having the right tools to execute your plan goes a long way to ensuring the success of your plan, and ultimately your project.