Project team management and leadership skills

This means that you have some leadership role within a project, and are involved in delegating and managing the workflow of one or more junior colleagues. For smaller projects this could mean that you perform the project engineer role, and supervise the work of more junior engineers carrying out design on part of the overall project. On larger projects you may be responsible for a smaller section of the design, and have another junior engineer working with you to help you on this. Alternatively you might delegate work to CAD technicians in the drafting department, and be responsible for managing the work that they produce. On a smaller scale, any example you can give of when you have supported another colleague to carry out a task could count as management and leadership skills. For example, you may work through design calculations with a junior colleague to introduce them to a new design code or calculation spreadsheet.

Programming and project control

This is about managing workflow on a project. Whenever you plan your own time over the next week or more, you are programming your own work. If you can give examples of programming the work involved on a project, which may be carried out just by you or also by others, that will be relevant to this objective. Perhaps you have produced a Gantt chart to manage future project workflow, or you have considered all of the upcoming deadlines and prioritised different packages of work based on what is the most urgent. If you have had a big drawing issue to get out by a certain date and have made sure everyone works effectively to meet the deadline, that could be an example of programming and project control.

Liaison and interface management

This involves interfacing with other members of the project design/construction team. You can demonstrate this by showing that you have taken part in project meetings (give some examples of different types of meetings you have attended, if you have written minutes or agenda or been involved in some other way). Being responsible for communication with a contract on site is another good example, dealing with site queries and variations.

What to say in your final report:

• Describe how you have been responsible for managing other people in your project team
• Give examples of when you have shown leadership skills
• Give an example of your experience in programming and project control
• List the different types of meetings you have attended and how you were involved
• Describe some examples of communicating with other members of the project team, for example the architect or contractor

What to put in your portfolio:

• Drawings you have marked up with notes for others to work on (e.g. CAD technician)
• A Gantt chart or other forward planning document you have produced
• Minutes or agenda from a meeting you were involved in
• Examples of some communication between you and other team members, such as site visit report from you to the contractor, or dealing with site queries or variations.

Reading List

• Construction project management: an integrated approach – Fewings, P.
• The Practice of construction management: people and business performance – Fryer, B.
• Achieving successful construction projects: a guide for industry leaders and programme managers – Gardner, I.
• Modern construction management – Harris, F. and McCaffer, R.
• Business organisation for construction – March, C.
• People and organisational management in construction – Naoum, S.G.
• Organizational behaviour in construction – Walker, A.