Bridging the gap between Scheduling and Planning

Categories: Blog

Bridging the gap between Scheduling and Planning

We cannot simply eliminate the top-down approach of construction scheduling, as we need to have targets to structure the execution and define the key milestones. However, construction planning should involve defining a realistic flow of work, and not just the sequence of activities. Planners must work with the site teams to understand critical site context that will help account for potential constraints and challenges that will hinder the flow of work.

We need to break the silo-based approach and instead focus on getting the teams to work together.

Collaborative Planning

Instead of the planners working in silos, it is advised to get your teams together and take reliable commitments for the work that they will be performing. Leadership is essential here to drive teams towards taking responsibility by asking them about their work plan and make-ready needs to ensure the work is good for production.

Constraint Mapping

Constraints are issues that disrupt the flow of work. It is important to review the issues before starting any task, making sure that the prerequisites are met to minimise unexpected variances.

In case issues are encountered during the job, the right teams must be notified instantly so the teams can focus on resolution, rather than getting the information across multiple hoops.

Visualising Milestones

Making the construction schedule easier to visualise for the site teams can immensely improve communication during collaborative planning. Allowing the teams to visualise their work is really important to ensure the flow can be clearly defined while mapping the potential constraints that could hinder the execution of the work.

With handovers being highlighted, the teams get an opportunity to voice their opinion and concerns so clarity on the workflow can be obtained before actually hitting the site and firefighting.

The Visi-Lean Workflow

The Last planner system implementation in construction projects with VisiLean – Once the contractual timeline and Milestones are defined, the next step is to make sure these targets are broken down into workable Phase Plans. With the help of the site teams and collaborative planning sessions, clear lookaheads can be defined by taking soft commitments from the teams on the work flow. This is where visual plans and clear Task cards come into play.

The setup is quite simple; get your teams together, review the current progress and accordingly adjust the look-ahead plan by providing reliable commitments. As the project progresses, get your site teams to plan out the weekly tasks with more details. Collaborative plans are made by breaking the plan into phases, and then into micro-detailed weekly plans, thus paving the way for continuous improvements based on critical feedback from the site. With transparency enabling clear communication and hence, clarity of work, the team can truly focus on achieving the targets defined and helping deliver the project on time.

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Don’t miss out on the opportunity to discover the power of VisiLean! Book your demo today and take the first step towards a more efficient and collaborative construction project management experience.

Howard G.

September 24, 2021.

Review Excellent - as well as the product, the customer support has been fantastic. ☺Ease of use, potential for it to be a single source of data, phone app. ☹Like to be able to scroll left to right between weeks in scheduler view and the location stays in the same place. Would like to be able to scroll 1 week at a time in phase view. Constraints to be tracked, and identify by associated trade. Unable to "commit" a task for the next week.

monish g.

July 24, 2021.

Visilean Review Good ☺Visilean is a very good software for collaborative efforts with a dedicated team working on a tight schedule ☹Offline facility not available. It should be incorporated.

Deron M.

July 22, 2021.

Visilean is the future of construction... ☺Real time updates of the project - Ease of giving updates strait from job site. Mobility of apps and Great customer support and system on-boarding. ☹I don't really have much negative to say, every time we come up with something to improve the system it doesn't talk long and its part of a system update. They are working every day to improve the system.

Aastha B.

July 8, 2021.

Why should you go with the software Software has a lot of significance in improving a projects performance. My overall experience was really great and the team is really supportive. ☺BIMLean Integration works out easy with the software. It supports LPS of Lean Process. Model and Schedule can directly be imported and linked in the software itself. 4D simulation can be viewed in the software with a proper colour wheel assigned to it defining the work status. Work commitment, collaborative planning, communication and workflow are improved using the software, which helps improve project performance. Different projects constraints such as: space planning, resource planning, equipment positioning, etc. are easily identified. Software summaries the project status with PPC tracking of WWP, reason of variance mapping, constraint summary and generates progress reports with all documents submitted per activity (RFI, Quality Report, Site Photograph, etc.) in one place. It compares the planned v/s actual work at site with visual view addition. It is a handy software and is easy to use with easily accessible data. Software also has a mobile version, helping the data to be tracked from anywhere possible. ☹Overall the software is really great but some points from a designer's perspective could be added into the same.

Bhaumik P.

The Future of Built Environment Good ☺3D BIM, 4D Simulation, Value Engineering, Waste Reduction ☹Everything is okay in the cloud and app system. But what if the project is in a remote location. Network Connectivity for real-time updates is an issue. They should build an offline version of the app.

Agastya M.

July 7, 2021.

A game changer for real estate projects The experience with VisiLean has been very satisfactory ☺We have been more inclined towards using the mobile app. Using the mobile app is very much convenient on an every day basis. Most importantly the Quality Approval workflow is very seamless. We can convey our work completion by clicking just one button on the mobile app and the Sr. Engineers get notified about the same. When it comes to the Software, it is cloud based and this helps us to access the Software as well. It is just like accessing facebook; you go to the VisiLean website, provide your credentials and boom; you have all your projects with you. The Gantt view in the Software helps us to create our schedules and also import our schedules created on Microsoft excels. ☹Not much cons that our company can think of, but yes; on some instances, when we work in basements where the network connectivity is an issue; it is not possible to provide the updates from mobile app. We have conveyed this to their support team (which is very friendly btw) and they have already committed to deliver it soon.

Keith O.

July 6, 2021.

Graham Construction Very good as I said. It will need to be in bedded more into peoples working habits. ☺Keeps a track of important contractual issues ☹Needs more time to bed into peoples working live's

Josh B.

Great Planning tool ☺The mobile app made it easy to see my tasks only. ☹The web version was a little confusing and hard to navigate for first time users.

Daniel F.

July 2, 2021.

Visilean review - Best custom service i have ever experienced. - Visilean wants feedback and really listen to it. I am very convinced that Visilean wants to be developed and contiune to improve, and they show it. Ideas and user friendly tips i give in feedback often is implemented in the near future. ☺- Live update on phones. - Low time spent on documenting activities that goes according to planned. - That you make each subcontractor "more" responsible when they need to accept each activities 6-8 weeks before start by making it "ready". ☹- No view to gives you the full overview of the long term plan. (like 12 months ahead). - Todays use of colors. Ready state is good for the planner only, but during planning meeting with all contractors, look