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Congratulations you have pitched for a job a won it. But now what? What is the best way to get the job done, and make sure that the whole team are working together?

Once a brief has been established, it is then the task of the project manager to assertain how the team will be able to achieve it.

The first stage is the planning process. Here the project manager will need to delegate roles to the members of the team, define their objectives and determine the key tasks that they will undertake.

It is imperative that all tasks assigned are documented and that all involved are clear about what outcomes are expected and their ability to achieve them in any given timescale.Project Managers should be well acquainted with the particular skills of each member of the team and be able to assign tasks appropriately.

Projects in the exhibition and architectural visualisation industry can be very complex, so the ability to break them down into managable bite-sized chunks is vital. Using a “Work breakdown structure” or “WBS” is a good visual way of representing these tasks. It is much like a family tree with the objective at the top and all the tasks necessary to achieve it underneath grouped into the areas of responsibility of the members of the team. The larger the project the larger the structure of the WBS.

Each different level of the WBS is often given a name such as Phase, Activity, or Task. These names will vary between organisations, but it is important to be consistent when referring to them.

With some of our more complex exhibition and installation jobs, it has been necessary to split some of the tasks into completely seperate sub-projects. Treating them as almost seperate design jobs which will only be merged back into the overall scheme further down the line. these tasks can often include jobs not necessarily familiar with your teams normal output and may very well be the types which may need to be outsourced. However it will still be someones job to make sure that these task are not only delegated but also completed to the required timeframe and budget.

Don’t take on too much yourself! If you try to do too much yourself you may become part of the problem rather than part of the solution. You will be over-worked, over-stressed, and shown to be the weakest link in the chain, highlighting your inabilities to plan accordingly. Likewise by passing too much of the workload to other collegues you then run the risk of over-working them to the point of tension and resentment.

This method of working, although potentially time-consuming to set-up will pay dividends through increased productivity and the system can then be applied to future assignments. Projects tend to be more unsuccesfull when not properly planned out.

It is very common for there to be changes to the brief, but when properly mapped out, the WBS can be altered and tweaked to incoroprate these unforseen and often last minute alterations.

Remember if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. Good Luck!

——

Matthew Theobald has been involved in the architectural design and visualization industries since studying industrial design in the UK and Italy. He is now a superfly pimp working at Exhibition Display Solutions in Maidenhead

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued voluntary protection program management guidelines to encourage employers to do more than just comply with regulations to prevent occupational injuries and illnesses. Although compliance with the law, including specific OSHA standards, is an important objective, an effective corporate safety program looks beyond specific requirements of law to address all hazards. It seeks to prevent injuries and illnesses, whether or not compliance is an issue.

This is precisely what some of the best workplace safety consulting firms are doing. Health and safety management system standards/guidelines are important for corporate safety and health consultants to establish. These safety management practices are compiled, applied, and finally advocated by safety and health professionals and consultants representing corporations, professional associations, and labor unions. As a result, these guidelines are used to promote workplace safety through the use of effective and comprehensive safety audits.

The health and safety management guidelines call for systematic identification, evaluation, and prevention or control of general workplace hazards, specific job hazards, and potential hazards which may arise from foreseeable conditions. Additionally, the extent to which a safety management system’s program is described in writing is less important than how effective it is in practice. As the size of a worksite or the complexity of a hazardous operation increases, however, the need for written guidance increases to ensure clear communication of policies and priorities and consistent and fair application of rules. For this reason, it is vital for organizations to seek the guidance of an industrial occupational health and safety firm. By relying on a safety organization’s expertise, a company can effectively prepare for OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). Since safety consulting firms conduct comprehensive audits with an emphasis on solutions-oriented recommendations for program improvement, companies become more aware of specific factors that put their employees health and safety at risk as well as the actions that need to be taken to promote a safer work environment.

Major elements of an effective occupational safety and health program include:

Management Commitment and Employee Involvement. This calls for:

“A worksite policy on safe and healthful work and working conditions clearly stated so that all personnel with responsibility at the site and personnel at other locations with responsibility for the site understand the priority of safety and health protection in relation to other organizational values.
“A clear goal for the safety and health program and objectives for meeting that goal so that all members of the organization understand the results desired and the measures planned for achieving them.
“Top management involvement in implementing the program so that all will understand that management’s commitment is serious.
Employee involvement in the structure and operation of the program and in decisions that affect their safety and health, to make full use of their insight and energy.
“Assignment of responsibilities for all aspects of the program, so that managers, supervisors, and employees in all parts of the organization know what performance is expected of them.
“Provision of adequate authority and resources to responsible parties, so that assigned responsibilities can be met.
“Holding managers, supervisors, and employees accountable for meeting their responsibilities, so that essential tasks will be performed.
“Annual reviews of program operations to evaluate their success in meeting the goal and objectives, so that deficiencies can be identified and the program and/or the objectives can be revised when the goal and objectives are not met.

Worksite Analysis. This includes:

“Identification of all hazards by conducting baseline worksite surveys for safety and health as well as periodic comprehensive update surveys. Also included would be an analysis of planned and new facilities, processes, materials, and equipment; and another of routine job hazards.
“Regular site safety and health inspections, so that new and/or previously missed failures in hazard controls are identified.
“A reliable system to encourage employees, without fear of reprisal, to notify management personnel about conditions that appear hazardous and to receive timely and appropriate responses. Investigation of accidents and “near miss” incidents, so that their causes and means for prevention are identified.
“Analysis of injury and illness trends over extended periods so that patterns with common causes can be identified and prevented.

Hazard Prevention and Control. This calls for:

“Procedures that ensure that all current and potential hazards are corrected in a timely manner through engineering techniques where appropriate; safe work practices understood and followed by all parties; provision of personal protective equipment; and administrative controls, such as reducing the duration of exposure.

Safety and Health Training. This includes training to:

“Ensure that all employees understand the hazards to which they may be exposed and how to prevent harm to themselves and others.
“Confirm that supervisors and managers understand their responsibilities and the reasons for them so they can carry out their responsibilities effectively.

The most effective workplace safety specialists help companies (internationally, nationally, and locally) continuously improve their safety management systems through comprehensive auditing where a team of highly qualified/certified safety and health professionals review the clients’ organization in terms of OSHA compliance, safety programs, training systems, etc and recommend corrective action and management process improvements as they relate to occupational safety and health.