From People Management to Information Management Impact of Technology on Project Management in the Design and Construction Industry
Abstract:
Communication is critical in project management. A common adage about project managers is they spend 90% of their time communicating. Checking on the status of a task a work member committed to completing, writing status reports, and holding meetings are just a few of the communication responsibilities project managers have. Construction is no different and it requires collaboration across multiple disciplines. An architect normally manages the design, and a construction manager supervises the construction.
Construction has traditionally not been regarded as a technology savvy industry. Construction project management relies heavily on human interaction and linear flow of information. However recent advances in construction technology has disrupted this linear process of information flow. Screen sharing on web has changed in person meetings to virtual meetings. Information is now shared at a central location in cloud accessible to all stake holders with varied permission. Workflows are created to automate the process decision making. Information relayed through hundreds and thousands of drawings and submittals now rests in a single federated model.
This has changed the paradigm of construction project managers from being people managers to information managers. This has also created new roles like BIM managers or VDC managers. The current presentation will focus on the impact of technologies like Building Information Modeling, cloud computation, mobile technology, offsite prefabrication, 3D printing and augmented reality on the project management methodology in the design and construction industry.
