By now we have all experienced the idea of Multi-Tasking. By itself it sounds like a really cool ability for smart people that have this innate ability to perform multiple tasks at once. Keeping in mind I have been in the construction industry for nearly 42 years. I have only seen a handful of people (2-3) that have been able to pull it off. They are the most stressed people I know as well. Which leads me to believe the idea of ” I have so much to do I have to multi-task to get it all done” leads to some of the highest stress in the world of business.
Every day people multi-task without thinking. They talk on their phone while walking or driving (blue-tooth I hope) These are minor multi-tasking abilities we all possess. But the handling and juggling of 20-30 projects at one time is a totally different story. People that attempt this are setting themselves up for failure. Efficiency is lost because you have to go back and pick up the “crumbs” you dropped along the way. Early on in life, in fact the very first real job I had where I had to punch a clock, the owner of the company had a sign on his office wall and it read “If you don’t have time to do it right the first time, what makes you think you have time to do it over”. After 40 years I still remember it to this day.
Think about it, do one thing, do it well and move on to the next. It’s simple actually. But you have to be willing to say no to people and have the ability to keep to a schedule and remain focused. Over the years I have heard so many excuses revolving around “Multi-Tasking” I didn’t get to place the order for this because I was doing “X” for this other project at the same time. Now we have people in the field without product to work with and we have to stop working on “Project X” go back and order for the other project. It’s inefficient and it is destroying the work place with stress.
Here’s what I do. I handle two contracts worth $25 million. This is for a company that has a “Fleet of facilities” this fleet is approximately 53 facilities. What I do is when the flood gates open, I perform triage on each project.
- When is the project due to start?
- Man power required?
- Estimated delivery for equipment?
- When is the project due to end.
With this information I can put each project in a schedule. The manpower issue is always tricky because more times than not the customer wants multiple projects going at once. Thankfully I have a project manager that is the absolutely best there is anywhere. Like I said, schedule the first project and move on to the next. Order EQ for the First project and move on to the next, assign manpower to the First Project and Move on to the next. None of this is difficult you just have to stay focused on the task at hand. Too many times a PM is juggling multiple projects, and they lose focus on one if not all. At which time it snowballs out of control. Focus is everything.
DigitalDiem - Carl Grimes Photography 