Since 1999 Grand Designs has been following the exploits of self-builders across the UK. In over 100 episodes, however unusual or ambitious the project, the same problems have been encountered over and over again. Most of them happen because of the way the projects are managed, and there’s a lot you can learn about project management from this programme, whether you’re building a house or a website.
Project management isn’t a part time job
Many of the self-builders on Grand Designs take charge of the project management themselves, often fitting it around their full-time jobs. This means that they’re not always around to answer questions or solve problems. Often, by the time they arrive on site, small problems have turned into big problems.
Effective project management requires time. To keep everything running smoothly you need to regularly maintain contact with everyone involved and keep track of progress. You need to make sure that everyone is aware of the project schedule and what each of them needs to do in order to stick to it. You also need to ensure that you are available throughout all stages of the project to answer questions and that everyone knows how and when best to contact you.
Projects usually cost more than you think
At the start of each Grand Designs episode the intrepid self-builders confidently lay out their plans and budget. Sometimes they’ve set a little extra money aside as a contingency, other times the budget is so tight that there is simply no room for a contingency. Usually the project ends up going over budget though; they may have underestimated how much money was needed, come across unexpected problems, or decided to change or increase the scope of the project.
Your freelance projects can go over budget for exactly the same reasons. It’s easy to under-quote a job, especially if you are relatively inexperienced, but the more practice you get the more accurate your quotes will be. To try to avoid underquoting, work out how much you think the job should cost then add on a bit more, maybe 5-10%.
To prevent changes in the scope of work from ruining your budget, make it clear to your client, right from the start, what your fee covers, so that if they change things or ask for extra work mid project you can discuss with them how that will affect the budget and it shouldn’t be a nasty surprise for them if you need to ask for more money to cover the extra work.
Plan for unexpected delays
Building or renovating a house is a complex job and on Grand Designs the projects often suffer unexpected delays, such as those times when they dig down to the foundations and find them crumbling, experimental building materials or techniques don’t behave as anticipated, or someone orders the wrong size of windows! These kinds of situations can rip a project schedule to shreds.
When scheduling your projects it’s a good idea to allow for extra time in case anything goes wrong. Work out your deadlines by estimating when you could reasonably complete the work than adding a few more hours/days/weeks (depending on what type of project it is), and making that your deadline. That will allow time for things like clients delaying giving feedback or making decisions, fixing problems or, if things run smoothly, you can end up not needing that extra time and completing the project early, which should please your client!
Effective project management is vital to the success of your project and to keeping your clients happy. Be sure you take notice of these 3 lessons learned from Grand Designs!
If you have any tips for great project management I’d love to hear them- please feel free to share them in the comments.
Photo: PhotoDune
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