The 5 Steps to Planning Your Project

Creating a project plan is the first thing you should do before taking on any kind of project. Follow these 5 steps to put your project plan together...

Step 1: Define the Project Goals
The first thing you need to do is define the project goals. These goals are the very reason or purpose that this project is being contemplated. How do you do this? The best way is to conduct interviews with any and all stakeholders that have an interest in this project succeeding. Focus on their true needs that will create real benefit and value once the project comes to completion. This will result in a long list and there's no way you will make everybody happy. Take some time to prioritize the goals so the most important ones are worked on first.

 Step 2: Identify Project Deliverables

You now have a prioritized list of goals in hand that this project must meet. The next step is to identify the deliverables necessary to meet these goals. These deliverables could be something as tangible as opening a new facility or as intangible as improving training for the call center. Identifying as many deliverables as possible will create the basis for your Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

 Step 3: Determine Who Will Do the Work

The next step in the project planning process is to determine who will do the work. This becomes easier to define now that you have the deliverables identified. There's a logical path to follow as the ownership of deliverables is usually self-evident. For example, you know the training department will be responsible for creating user manuals and the IT department will be responsible for upgrading everyone's hardware. You can then get down to an individual resource level as the plan progresses.

 Step 4: Establish a Project Schedule

Now that you know the goals of the project, what needs to be done, and who will be doing the work it becomes a simple matter to assemble a project schedule. The best way to do this is sit down with the owners of the deliverables and explain to them clearly what must be accomplished. Obtain their feedback for how long each deliverable will take and when they feel the work can begin. It is unlikely at this point that the

schedule will work out perfectly, but this will serve as a starting point for negotiations around deadlines, resources, and scope.

 Step 5: Create Supporting Documentation

There are literally dozens of supporting plans that can augment the project plan. You can determine how much or how little of that documentation you want to pull together based upon the complexity or visibility of the project. But, there are a handful of supporting documents that you will always want to include in your project planning process.

 These are:

Communications Plan - This plan determines how everyone will be communicated with as it relates to project status. This includes how the weekly progress report meetings will be conducted, how escalations will be handled, and which stakeholders need to know which information throughout the life of the project.

 Risk Management Plan - This plan identifies those things that have the possibility of going wrong on a project and turning into big issues that could knock it off track. Be sure to include not only the risk, but also what is being done to mitigate the risk.

 Change Management Plan - There is almost a 100% guarantee that something is going to change on your project. Be sure to have a process in place that acknowledges the fact that change will occur.

Following the 5 Steps to Planning Your Project above will change "Ready, Fire, Aim" to "Ready, Aim, Fire" and help you get more done in less time!

The Origin of Bill of Quantities

Bill of Quantities is synonymous with Quantity Surveyors. The profession was said to have emerged in England at the beginning of the nineteenth century, although the firm of Henry Cooper and Sons of Reading was established as early as 1785. Prior to the first recorded usage of the term "Quantity Surveyor" in 1859, the terms "measurer", "custom surveyor" or "surveyor" were used.(ASAQS, 2006)

BOQ emerged in the 19^th century after the Industrial revolution in Europe. In those early days the Quantity Surveyors acted for the master tradesmen, measuring the work after completion for use in making payment to workers and frequently submitted as partisan Final Accounts to the building owner to claim for payment. Later on it was the practice of the building owners to call for tenders before any work was undertaken. A procedure was then developed to invite several master builders to submit tenders for the total price of the project rather than a collection of prices from master tradesmen or what is known today as sub-contractors. (ASAQS, 2006).

For the purpose of submitting the bid or tender, each builder then has to come out with accurate estimates of the project cost or tender. It was done by measuring and quantifying the quantities of all materials and labour necessary to complete the work, i.e. preparing a bill BOQ for the project. As each builder had to prepare his own BOQ for each project, they came to realise that they were duplicating a lot of effort by each measuring the same quantities from the architect's drawings. They realised that it is more economical for them as a group to employ one surveyor to measure the work and prepare the BOQ for them.

The builders will then price the BOQ and submit their tenders on the same basis. They would share the cost of the Quantity Surveyor (or the successful builder will pay the surveyor) and include the payment in their bids. On the part of the building owners themselves, since they ended up paying for the Quantity Surveyor's fees, it finally dawned on them that they might as well employ him directly and get some cost advice from him as well. (ASAQS, 2006; Myles, 2006, CIQS 2006).

Apart from some minor changes in term of method of measurement, content and format of presentation, BOQ is still a document detailing description and quantities of all the construction work of a project. It may now may come in elemental, trade, work section or operational form. With the advent of ICT, the process of preparing s has evolved from the tedious manual and time consuming processes to semi-automated or fully automated processes involving the use of computers and sophisticated specialised software. But the whole process is still involving the toiling over many hundred drawings

in doing the time consuming “taking off”, many hours of meetings and discussion with the client and other consultants and drafting, checking, editing and printing the 300 – 500 pages document.

Source: Paper presented at International Conference on Construction Industry 2006

Five ways to get lucky

Get more luck in your life

Ever feel as though some people have more luck than you? Inject your life with some much needed good fortune. With the aid of positive thinking you can turn that frown upside down, start living your life to its full potential and achieve your dreams, without feeling the need to reach for that scratch card.

Look for the silver lining

It is inevitable that some people seem to get more luck than others, but should we just wait to see if luck strikes for us or take matters into our own hands? We can help ourselves a lot by looking for the silver lining in a negative situation. If you focus on the negatives you are only going to cloud your judgement on the solution, so adopt a more positive outlook on the situations in your life and you will feel better about how to handle them and begin to assume a lucky mentality. Change your thoughts and luck will follow.

Be on the lookout for new opportunities

Very rarely do opportunities for luck present themselves; when they do it’s fantastic, but the chances are this is not going to occur. Nine out of 10 times things happen because we make them happen, so why not take some calculated risks to increase your opportunities. Take smaller risks at first and if they pay off you can increase them. You should always be on the lookout for new prospects, whether it is in the workplace or in your social life. Keep your eyes and ears open as you never know what’s just around the corner and you don’t want to miss out!

Cut loose your anxieties

Individual hang ups can hold us back from doing everyday tasks in our lives. Adopt the mantra: ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’ Don’t let your anxiety get the better of you; your mind is very powerful and anxiety is just a learnt behaviour. Sometimes putting yourself in a stressful situation is OK and to explore new paths in life is essential. Sitting back is all well and good if you’re willing to watch the world go by, but the more open you are to new opportunities the more you’ll increase your chances of luck, so let go of that anxiety and go for it!

Trust your instincts

People who make quick decisions can be led by their intuition. Your gut instinct is more than likely correct; how many times have you been stuck in a situation where you knew things weren’t right from the off, but still carried on and things have turned sour? Listening to yourself can really help you make the right decisions. So how can you become more intuitive? Take some time for yourself, relax in the bath or go for a walk and clear your head. Spending time with yourself will help you understand your thoughts clearly; that way when the next decision has to be made you will know exactly what you think and you can manage the situation with a clear decisive answer.

Learn how to deal with bad luck

The way we deal with bad luck can be detrimental to how we view our lives. A pessimistic person can always see the bad in everything, and to dwell constantly on the bad will inevitably get you down in the dumps. Try to put a positive spin on all the bad situations you find yourself in; focusing what could have made that situation worse will give you that pick up to see you through the rough patch. It isn’t possible to always be happy and positive about everything or everyone in your life, but making a concerted effort to have a happier and brighter outlook on life will make you appreciate the luck you already had in your life that you didn’t notice.

Make your air conditioning dollars go farther

When temperatures rise outside, it's natural to seek cool shelter indoors. For many people, that means flipping on the air conditioning unit and taking it easy. Keeping the air cool is more than a luxury for some families; elderly parents and young children cannot tolerate excessively high temperatures. However, the need for air conditioning puts many families at financial risk. A pricey combination of rising fuel costs and high electrical demand make summertime electric bills hard to manage.

According to Energy Star, the American family pays nearly $1,000 a year on heating and cooling their homes; that figure is above other electrical costs! You don't have to risk exposing your loved ones to brutal heat to save money.

Take advantage of some money-saving tips and beat the summer heat.

Help circulate cool air through the home by placing an oscillating fan in family rooms, like a living room or dining room.

Keep the temperature at constant temperature and avoid dropping the thermostat too low. Lowering the temperature costs you money and won't cool the home any faster.

Raise the thermostat 2 to 3 degrees before you leave for work if no one will be home. The energy experts at APS say that moving the temperature up 5 degrees for eight hours a day can save you $3 to $5 a month.

Install a whole house fan system. Whole house fans pull the hot attic air out of the home and keeps the air circulating, giving your home a cooling effect. This move could chill your home by a few degrees.

Replace old air conditioning units. If your window unit is a decade old, it needs to be replaced with an energy efficient unit. If your home has central AC, have the thermostat calibrated and the system charged yearly.

APS says homeowners should replace their older SEER units (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) to save energy bucks. Replacing a unit with a SEER rating of 10 with one that has an 18 SEER rating you could save up to 50% on your AC costs annually.

 Change the air conditioning filters regularly; once a month is suitable. Good air flow across the filter will cut down on cooling costs and stop allergens from floating around your home. FPL Energy Services say that air filters cost between $10 and $25 a piece, but replacing them can save you 5 to 15 percent on your monthly bill.

Hang insulated curtains in your windows. Sheer curtains look nice, but they don't provide any barrier between you and the outdoor heat. Keep windows covered during hot afternoons.

Also, do a walk through of your home while the air is on. Check for leaks around windows and doors. Sometimes your energy dollars simply float out the window!