Project Management Diary
This has been mentioned often in the previous text. What it refers to is a simple way of keeping track of information that is passed between you and others. There are two ways of achieving this and it is dependant on the way you work.
Project Management Diary – Example one
The designer spends the majority of the time at the office, has occasional site visits, and any meetings are at the office. The easiest way to keep track for this designer is to use a phone log. This is a book, ruled up to include at a minimum – space for date, time, project, client, conversation, action to be taken, phone number, and any other items you may require.
Every time you pick up or answer the phone, you log in the date, time, job, person you spoke to, what the conversation was about, and most importantly any decisions that were made or action that you have to make. With this you can either do nothing as you have clarified the query or put it back in writing to the person at a later date. It is a very good habit to get into as, the busier you get, the less your mind can retain and it is very easy to recall when it is noted in your phone log. This will negate any hearsay conversations at a later date.
All meetings at the office are minuted and put with the project concerned; any site meetings are the same.
Project Management Diary – Example two
The designer who spends most of their time on site, overseeing/project managing the jobs. They use a mobile phone and rarely call into the office. The best option here is to use a hard cover diary. This can be used to note down anything on site that needs attending to, future meetings, milestones in projects, phone numbers for those involved on the projects, and phone conversations can be recorded in a similar fashion to those above. This diary once completed can be stored for future reference should any queries arise. If the contractors see you noting everything down, they are less likely to disagree should any queries evolve. You can always get the contractor to sign the diary when you both agree to a change on the project.
These are just two ways of keeping track of your decisions. The most important thing is that you have something in writing. This means that it is part of your contract, someone else can step in and know exactly what is happening, you don’t have to remember everything yourself and you should be able to answer any queries years later.
