So Isaacson was all ears when he heard about In-Site, from BidCom, a San Francisco-based software company that facilitates project management over the Internet. Using a password-protected Web site for each CMA construction project, In-Site hooks up all the people--from the design team to the host of subcontractors--involved, giving everyone easy access to such project documentation as schedules, architectural drawings, and photographs.
In-Site, a mating of groupware and project-management software, is a valuable tool for grappling with geographically dispersed project teams. At the University of San Francisco, CMA construction manager Gary Meyring is overseeing the construction of a new dorm for the school's 24 Jesuit faculty members, and In-Site is at the core of that project.
When the job started, at Meyring's direction, Swinerton & Walberg, the general contractor, used SureTrak Project Manager to create a Gantt chart for the project. The schedule specifies every aspect of construction (from planning for the purchase of materials to stating when the work should be completed) and breaks each into tasks (for the materials-purchase phase, for instance, ordering the materials and producing shop drawings) for all the participating contractors. Meyring, in turn, converted that chart to a JPG file and published it on the In-Site Web site, where authorized project members are able to review it. The contractors who have access to the site can see when specific tasks are scheduled for completion and how each task relates to other work. For example, the drywall contractor could see what time the framing, electrical wiring, plumbing, and insulation were scheduled to be completed--all tasks that must be done before the drywall can go in. Using DWF, a standard Web format for computer-aided design drawings, Meyring also publishes the architect's construction documents through In-Site.
While Meyring connects to the site from CMA's trendy digs in San Francisco's Rincon Center district, the general contractor's project manager and the construction superintendent log in from the on-site trailer. Because this is one of the first projects to use In-Site, only the general contractor, the architect, the university, the structural engineer, the landscape architect, and CMA have access to the site. Meyring gives printouts to the other contractors.
In addition to serving as an electronic storehouse for such project resources as the plan and blueprints, In-Site is Meyring's mission-control center. Even though this job is relatively small, hundreds of requests for information, or RFIs, fly back and forth among project team members. More powerful than conventional E-mail, In-Site's RFI messaging system allows Meyring to define communication paths among participants, so, for instance, discussion between the general contractor and the architect always flows through CMA. Team members can draw notations and make additions to the architect's documents on-line and send their scribbles as attachments to the RFI.
Whenever an RFI is bouncing among team members, Meyring takes advantage of In-Site's ball-in-court feature to determine who's sitting on a question or a decision. "Then I get in touch with the guy and find out what's going on," he says.
One morning during an early construction phase, Meyring receives an RFI from the general contractor about the length of piers, the long concrete pilings that are to be drilled into the ground to support the structure. The architect's drawings call for 75-foot piers, but the site inspector, upon checking out the soil, thinks the length of the piers should be adjusted. In the old days, such communication would have been sent by mail, and even today most sites still rely on faxes, so it can take weeks to get definitive answers. But because In-Site links project members, it takes Meyring only 45 minutes to get the architect's answer to the site. And he never leaves his chair. "We have the geologist, the testing agency, and the drilling company with its $2,000-an-hour drill rig sitting around saying, 'What do we do?" says Meyring. "Speed is very important."
Isaacson agrees, especially since CMA's fee from the university includes a substantial bonus for on-time delivery. "We're motivated by our clients' and our own self-interest to do anything we can to streamline the project," he says. CMA now mandates the use of the technology by all subcontractors who participate in In-Site-run projects and, Isaacson says, in most cases, he bills BidCom's fees back to his client.
Isaacson believes in In-Site. "Everything you say is recorded," he says, "so it demands a professional degree of accuracy. Those who don't trust their own proficiency and instead rely on bobbing and weaving will be less agreeable to using it. This will weed out the weaker players."
Inside the wood-paneled trailer at the dormitory construction site, superintendent Mike E. Erdman admits that after 30 years of scribbling out daily reports longhand, it may be too late for him to get used to filing them on a computer. He appreciates the benefits of a quick RFI turnaround, but for better or worse, he's stuck in his ways. "Doing this by computer is definitely a thing of the future," says Erdman, flashing a smile. "I guess I'm going to Mexico."
Andrew Raskin is a freelance journalist based in New York City.
A Project-Management Primer
Project management means making good on promises to customers, superiors, and investors. Joan Knutson, president and CEO of Project Mentors, a San Francisco-based consulting firm that, among other services, teaches project-management skills to companies large and small, believes that being able to honor commitments is an increasingly important competitive weapon for small businesses. "Companies with good project management can say, 'Not only do we have the best product or service, but we also have an organized process by which we can promise you it's going to be ready on time and on budget," says Knutson. She warns that the project-management functionality of some software packages is simply too much for most small companies and recommends an approach focused on three project-management principles:
