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Time Management Practices in Large Construction

Projects

Aftab Hameed Memon1, Ismail Abdul Rahman2, Ismaaini Ismail3, Noor Yasmin Zainun4

1,2
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Malaysia
86400 Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia
1
aftabm78@hotmail.com, 2ismailar@uthm.edu.my, 3is_mujahidah@yahoo.com, 4nryasmin@uthm.edu.my

Abstract— Challenge of completing construction projects time management techniques and software packages in
within estimated time frame is biggest concern amongst the construction projects and determine the level of effectiveness
practitioners. Several approaches and tools have been introduced both of them.
over the past years to enhance the management of the
construction projects. This paper has identified commonly used II. RELATED WORKS
techniques and software packages of time management together
with their effectiveness level in large construction projects of In the pursuit of efficient project performance, time control
Malaysia. Data was gathered through survey technique amongst is one of the most important functions. It is more crucial in
the practitioners involved in handling large construction large scale and megaprojects; where various risk variables
projects. Relative Importance Index calculation was employed to cause schedule delays. Hence, there are numerous time
assess the level of effectiveness for time management techniques management techniques and software packages used for project
and software packages adopted in the construction project. The planning and scheduling worldwide. Each of the techniques has
results highlighted that most common and effective time different functions and process in providing a list of dates on
management technique and software Package are CPM and
which certain items are to be completed. Following sections
Microsoft Project respectively. Although, this technique and
software package in almost every project is applied, but still the explain all the related techniques/methods and available
industry practitioners fail in achieving effective time software packages used for time management.
management. Hence, this study recommends the further A. Time Management Techniques/Methods
investigation be carried out in uncovering the related issue which
hindrance in achieving the benefits of these in construction Time management is one of the keys to effective project
projects. management as weaknesses in the time management will cause
delays in project completion [10]. Hence, time in construction
Index Terms— Time management, Large Construction, Time projects need to be controlled from the beginning of the
management techniques, Time control Software construction process until the project is totally completed.
There are several techniques or methods commonly used for
I. INTRODUCTION managing time in construction projects as discussed below:
Time management is important in any construction project. 1) Gantt Bar Chart
Without proper time management, many problems will occur Gantt charts are simple and easy to construct and hence are
such as extension of time or time overrun. Some of the the most commonly used method of scheduling and controlling
researchers describe time overrun as delay and some of them in construction industry [11-12]. Besides that, Gantt charts help
describe that the time overrun is an effect from the construction in managing the dependencies between tasks and determining
delay, no matter what it was described, time overrun become the resources required for each activity. These are used in
the most general problem in construction industry worldwide monitoring progress of the project. The main advantages of
[1]-[8]. Time overrun occur when the actual progress of a Gantt charts are as follows:
construction project is slower than the planned schedule [9]. a) Gantt charts are useful tools for planning and
Delay or time overrun will affect all parties involved in the scheduling projects.
project. It will affect the profits which would be obtained if the b) Gantt charts allow assessment on how long a project
project can be completed on the schedule. But due to the time should take.
overrun, contractors had to spend more money on labor, plant c) Gantt charts determine the resources needed.
and may lose the opportunity to get the next project. Hence, 2) Critical Path Networks/Method
effective time management is very important and crucial to Critical path method has been widely used for network
achieve successful completion of construction projects. The analysis and project planning industry [13] and as a project
aim of the study is to investigate the common application of management tool to improve scheduling and project

978-1-4799-3291-7/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE 61

administration tasks, supporting project managers to ensure 7) Simulation
project is completed on time andbudget [14]. Critical path In construction planning, simulation is commonly used for
methods are used to determine project duration, early and late analyzing risk events associated with the planning of
start dates float time, critical path, logical constraints and a construction projects [20]. Earth moving [21], aggregate
number of other activity characteristics [15]. The major production [20], tunnel construction [22], are few applications
objective is to build up the feasible duration plan required to of risk analysis of the construction operation using discrete
perform a specific project [16]. event simulation. This simplifies the skills and knowledge
3) Milestone Date Programming Techniques required for modeling a simulation network as general
Milestones are important phases or direct deadline simulation programme can be difficult for general users [23].
stipulations within the overall project schedule. Besides that,
B. Software for Time Management
milestone schedule is one of the most critical schedules that
must be maintained and referred throughout the project’s Keeping a project on track throughout its life cycle can help
lifecycle. It is a summary level schedule where the project team in saving money by eliminating the chance for a missed
leader can do a review and identify if any problems occur in deadline. There are many scheduling and management
the progress and make sure that no activity falls behind the software packages to help effective scheduling and time
schedule. Milestone schedule provides an estimated timeline management in construction industry as described below:
for the project life. It includes all project activities and interim 1) Primavera Project Planner
steps needed to implement the project. Primavera has been called one of the technology leaders in
4) Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) the project portfolio management. Primavera Project Planner
The program evaluation and review technique (PERT) is a (P3) can manage all kind of project whether large or short
network model that allows for randomness in activity duration event critical project because it was designed to
completion times. PERT was originated by the U.S. Navy in handle large-scale, intricate and multifaceted projects. This
1958 as a tool for scheduling the development of a complete program is capable of organizing the resources (such as labour,
weapon system [17]. The main advantages of PERT are: material and equipment) needed by the company for managing
a) The primary use of PERT is for the projects which complex and integrated projects. The main benefits of P3
have not been done before. include that it can handle the smaller to medium size of the
b) PERT provides a basis from which time and cost project, produces various reports needed to document the
performance can be estimated. project progress, and it can give real time comparison on where
c) PERT provides an assessment of the probability of the project is at compared to the objectives in the business plan.
reaching certain milestones by specified dates or of achieving 2) Microsoft Project
overall project completion within a specified time period [18]. Microsoft project was designed to assist the project
5) Elementary Trend Analysis/Line of Balance Method manager in developing a plan, assigning resources to tasks
(LOB) tracking progress, managing the budget and analysing
Line-of-Balance (LOB) scheduling is “a visual scheduling workloads. This program has many different versions where it
technique that allows the planner to explain the flow of the allows the user to understand and control project schedules and
project explicitly” [19]. Some of the LOB scheduling finances, to communicate and present project information, and
advantages are listed below: to organize work and people to make sure that projects are
a) It clearly shows the amount of work taking place in a completed on schedule. It also provides functionality for the
certain area at a specific time of the project. user to create reports that communicate the status and progress
b) It has the ability to highlight and optimize the of the project.
resources used by large number of repeated activities, executed 3) Asta Power Project
in several zones or locations. This program was developed for project planning. Asta
c) It makes cost and time optimization analysis easier Power Project is professional project management software
because of all the information available for each activity in the where it is easy to use, and it helps to deliver the construction
project project in all types and size of organizations on time and within
6) Precedence Network Diagram budget. Asta Power Project have same intuitive look and feel
The fundamental concept for precedence diagramming as a Microsoft office application. The activities are directly
technique was introduced by a professor from Stanford drawn onto the bar chart by using mouse or type in the
University, John W. Fondahl in 1961 [18]. Precedence spreadsheet. Asta Power Project is good planning software
Network Diagram is quite similar with CPM, and it also widely where it can produce professional looking project plans quickly
used in the construction industry. Precedence diagrams are also and easily. So, it can help to win tenders and impress clients.
easier to draw and modify; additional activities can be inserted 4) Microsoft Excel
without changing node reference numbers. There is less risk of Microsoft Excel is one of the program that provided by
making logical errors with precedence diagrams, since each Microsoft. An Excel document is called a Workbook. A
activity is connected to others by a relationship. workbook always has at least one Worksheet. Worksheets are
the grid where one can store and calculate data. Besides that,
Microsoft Excel is a useful tool for scientific and statistical

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analysis with large data sets. Excel's statistical formulas and TABLE I. RESPONDENTS’ DEMOGRAPHY
graphing help researchers to perform various types of analysis. Demography Frequency %
5) Project Commandar Type of Organization
Project Commander is an extremely cost-effective planning Consultant 30 23.6
Contractor 79 62.6
tool written by experts in project management and Client 18 14.2
enthusiastically endorsed by satisfied customers worldwide. It Type of Projects
covers all aspects of project management from producing Building 49 38.6
simple plans through to fully customizable professional output. Infrastructure 41 32.3
Building & Infrastructure 31 24.4
This software is ideal for all those involved in project and
Size of Projects
resource planning, job scheduling or departmental. Besides 6-10 million 25 19.7
that, Project Commander is one of the easiest software to use 11-50 million 48 37.8
and also the most cost effective planning solution. It has the >50 million 38 29.9
Qualification
capability to exchange information with Microsoft Project, Diploma 19 15.0
Power Project and Primavera. Degree 65 51.2
6) Deltek Open Plan Master 24 18.9
Deltek open plan is also well known software for project PhD 1 0.8
Experience
planning and scheduling. This software also offers the power 0-10 years 112 88.2
and flexibility to serve the differing needs of business, resource 11-20 years 9 7.1
and project managers. It is because, Deltek Open Plan provides 21-30 years 5 3.9
multi-project analysis, critical path planning, and sophisticated >31 years 1 0.8
resource management. There are several advantages by using Table I indicates that the majority of the respondents were
Deltek Open Plan in project planning and scheduling such as it working with contractor organizations which represent 62.6%
support enterprise-level program management, improves of respondents followed by consultants and clients with %age
project planning, leverage system and processes, and able to of 23.6 and 14.2 respectively. The respondents were involved
manage resources. in handling both type of project i.e. building and infrastructure.
Majority of the respondents i.e. 37.8% involved in projects cost
III. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS 11-50 million. Most of the respondents involved in the survey
This study involved quantitative mode of research using were holding bachelor degree in term of education qualification
structured questionnaire survey. The respondents were asked to with the highest percentage 51.2% compare to others. Survey
specify the method and software they practice in their project statistics showed that 88.2% of the respondents have
and their relative effectiveness using 3-likert scales. Data experience below 10 years, 7.1% of respondents with 11 to 20
collection was carried out amongst clients, consultants and years’ experience, 3.9% with 21 to 30 years of experience and
contractors involved in construction projects who are registered only 0.8% of respondents with above 31 years’ experience.
under CIDB and PKK. More than 300 sets of survey A. Time Management Techniques
questionnaires were distributed to respondents. As a result,
Figure 1 shows %age of respondents having practices
only 127 completed questionnaires could be collected which
various techniques in their project. The level of effectiveness
were analysed statistically with statistical software package
for the techniques is ranked by using the Relative Important
SPSS. Relative importance index (RII) method was used to
Index (RII) for overall analysis as shown in table II.
assess the effectiveness of time management methods and
software packages. RII value was calculated with following
formula:

Where;
w = weighting given to each factor by respondents and it
ranges from 1 to 3
x = frequency of ith response given for each cause
A = highest weight (i.e. 3 in this case)
N = total number of participants
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Fig. 1. Technique/Methods for Time Management
The demography of respondents is presented in Table 1.
From Figure 1, it can be perceived that the three most
commonly used techniques as agreed by all respondents are
Critical Path Method (CPM) technique with highest percentage

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of 97.6% of respondents, followed by Gantt Bar Chart with From table III, the software packages are listed in rank
92.1% of respondents and Milestone technique with 81.9% of based on the RII value. Microsoft Project is placed at first rank
respondents. with RII=0.73, second ranked software is Microsoft Excel with
Table II shows the ranking of techniques of time control RII=0.61, and Primavera Project Planner is third ranked
analysed based on RII values. Results show that CPM is the software package with RII= 0.50. It is followed by Project
most effective method of time management paced at first Commandar, Asta Power Project and the lowest rank is Deltek
ranked (with RII=0.73.) With RII value of 0.64, Gantt Bar Open Plan software.
Chart was ranked at second place while third ranked was found
as Milestone with RII=0.61. LOB and Precedence Network TABLE III. EFFECTIVENESS OF TIME MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Diagram were at same rank as 4th ranked, followed by PERT Software Packages RII Rank
and Simulation.
Primavera Project Planner 0.50 3
TABLE II. EFFECTIVENESS OF TIME MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES Microsoft Project 0.73 1
Asta Power Project 0.28 5
Technique / Method RII Rank
Microsoft Excel 0.61 2
Gantt Bar Chart 0.64 2 Project Commandar 0.29 4
CPM 0.73 1 Deltek Open Plan 0.26 6
Milestone 0.61 3
PERT 0.49 5
V. CONCLUSION
LOB 0.51 4 Through questionnaire survey, frequency and effectiveness
of various techniques and software packages of time
Precedence Network Diagram 0.51 4
management was assessed. The finding of the study indicated
Simulation 0.44 6 that most common and effective method of time management
as perceived by the respondents was Critical Path Method
B. Software Packages (CPM). The respondent recorded that most commonly adopted
There are many scheduling and management software software package is Microsoft Project and also this software
packages to help in achieving effective scheduling and time was ranked as most effective package.
management in the construction industry. Figure 2 shows the
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
result of software packages commonly applied in construction
projects. Data gathered was also analysed to show the level of The authors would like to thank Centre of Research and
effectiveness for each software packages as presented in table Innovations, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, for
III. encouragement and support in carrying out this research work.
Also, we are thankful to construction practitioners for
providing comprehensive & important information; a lot of
cooperation which made data collection easier. The authors
also wish to thank the anonymous reviewers of the paper for
their constructive comments, valuable guidance and advice.
Finally, Aftab Hameed Memon is grateful to Quaid-e-Awam
University of Engineering, Science and Technology also for
granting permission to carryout research work at Universiti
Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia.
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