Setting up a scheduling system for your company can be daunting. A search on Google.com for “construction scheduling software” brings up more than 1.3 million items. Yet proper scheduling impacts all parts of your business, ranging from your marketing, sales, design, production and construction. As your company buys into scheduling, you’ll see increased success.

First, you should figure out what you will need to create a schedule. Identify the order of tasks to be completed. How long should they take? Get your vendors or trades to buy in on the timelines. And, you’ll need start or end dates — preferably both. 

Then, take the time to research all sorts of scheduling software for your company. You must be able to understand how it works so that you’ll find the best fit. Get yourself trained as well as your staff. Purchas ean 11x17-inch color printer to create and post your schedule. And most importantly, know what it takes to create a schedule.

When creating your schedule, identify the “RMs” or Responsibility for Management. Whoever’s following up with tasks, get them to confirm with e-mails, faxes or other written records. This becomes critical when dealing with outside companies. Most importantly, you must monitor the schedule. An unwatched schedule is worse than no schedule at all.

Once you’ve created your schedule, meet with everyone. Get their buy-in. Make sure everyone knows how to read the schedule for the project or projects. Verify contacts. A good schedule will help you juggle all the moving parts that many projects entail.

Finally, once you’ve created your schedule with everyone’s buy-in, post it. A schedule is not a schedule until it’s posted for all to see. Proper schedule management means knowing what’s on track and what’s not, and helps you identify strengths and weaknesses to ensure that your projects get done on time and profitably. Then you’ll be able to schedule some free time for yourself. [ return to top ]