Down Time
To any reader in the unenviable position of having time to spare, Revay would argue that the time could be beneficially used to create "Cheat Sheets", update operations manuals, and/or compile databases of normalized costs from historical projects to improve estimating capabilities. "Cheat Sheets" are self-help tools for use by project personnel that collate and distill the commercial obligations, duties and rights into a few pages of easily accessible rules and guidance in plain language. The sheets should be embedded by means of training sessions featuring real life scenarios with which the project teams can identify.
An operations manual that clearly defines the intentions and common actions of the firm is one way that companies can ensure that sound business and construction practices are clearly laid out for the current and future work generation. Unfortunately, far from being a firm's keystone document that guides their principal movements in all things, operations manuals very often turn out to be:
- An excess of outmoded policies;
- Mostly left on the shelf, thereby leaving room for inconsistency;
- Not championed by senior management, so permitting mavericks to operate freely (or the blind leading the blind);
- Poorly constructed, with no flow of information; and/or
- Authored without taking into account the complete spectrum of operational, business and commercial issues.
By revamping operations manuals:
- Bad habits that have, over time, crept into the company can be quickly identified and dealt with;
- New hires can gain access to an understandable and functioning document that will quickly assist them in achieving a high level of productivity;
- The organization gains a tool that promulgates the common objectives, procedures, and rules that support the firm's work.
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Efficient Dispute Resolution
