What is it? We like to see it as being the conductor of a brilliant orchestra! From small projects to major developments, the same principles apply.
These centre around the “project management triangle” it’s a simple model that shows how the balance between three constraints:— scope, time, and budget—affects the quality of the project. The triangle shows that impacting one constraint will mean adjusting one or both of the others in order to maintain the quality. The Project managers have to manage all three of these to successfully deliver your project.
At Cowburn Watson-Box we treat every project like our own, from small one-off projects to multimillion pound developments. Simply, we get stuck in and drive the project for you!
Our role as Quantity Surveyor is to manage the cost of construction projects – but the earlier we are involved the better as we have so much to add!
We strive to ensure that designs of projects are ‘developed around budgets’ and not pushed down the route of ‘a costed design’. Why promise the earth if the client can’t afford it? So many projects start with fantastic visual temptations, but once costed, are often value engineered into a shadow of their former glory all because budget parameters are not defined or understood properly.
Our experience has taught us that good communication and team collaboration is the key to any successful project. We love to get under the skin of a project providing commercial ‘support from the trenches’.
We can provide advice and recommendations around procurement and contract selection and we share appropriate cost advice throughout all stages of design and construction utilising informed market intelligence, analysis of risk, and due diligence of direct costs which ensure the right decisions are made at the appropriate times.
So what’s Programme management? It’s coordinating the management of a group of projects and ensuring business-as-usual continue activities to achieve beneficial change.
We get into the granular detail of how/what need to report on and then zoom out to see the wider picture to ensure all elements are covered.
We take responsibility for the detailed day-to-day management of the programme including the coordination of projects and change management activities within the programme.
We’ve managed programmes which are linked to external governance and in some cases created a governance structure for our clients. Ultimately we are the fulcrum for our clients development programme, we ensure it’s delivered.