The Art of Construction Management

Consider this course a carefully curated cheat sheet to help you conquer the multifaceted world of construction management. In the Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) environment we work in daily, it can be tough to respond to change with agility and manage time, tasks, and talent successfully. Whether you’re just starting out or have decades of experience managing large and complex projects, this course will provide you with a new set of tools and teach you to re-evaluate and apply old tools to your projects or business in strategic and unconventional ways. 

By the end of this course, you will learn how to: 

Manage VUCA

• Evaluate VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) in construction environments

• Respond effectively to VUCA in your project and business 

Adapt to Challenges

• Prepare for Black Swan Events by developing methods to minimize their occurrence

• Apply Black Box Thinking and Cognitive Dissonance – you’ll learn how to recognize your failures and leverage them to your advantage

• Understand how success can lead to future failure and how to avoid making this mistake

• Leverage today’s failure into tomorrow’s success

• Reframe difficult tasks and problems

• Understand the difference between Proactive and Reactive responses, and how to maximize one while minimizing the other

• Keep up in a fast-moving world by learning to learn faster and having better retention 

Build Interpersonal Skills

• Apply the practice of Management by Wandering Around (MBWA) effectively at your job sites

• Negotiate a successful change by applying selling and negotiation strategies

• Understand motivational triggers

• Identify the difference between leadership and management and learn which traits to build on

• Understand and improve your Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

• Build great relationships - you will learn to think differently in your interactions with stakeholders 

Improve Productivity & Time Management

• Identify and apply tools and techniques for monitoring and controlling your projects

• Plan for continuous improvement – you’ll learn why it’s more important than ever and how we need to change to improve

• Evaluate your own personal time management (because you can’t manage projects unless you can manage yourself)

• Apply time management tools and techniques that work for your personality

• Apply Pareto’s Law and the 20/80 Rule

• Develop and implement effective checklists using the Checklist Manifesto

• Improve productivity by ‘sweating the small stuff’ 

Boost Planning Skills

• Articulate your mission and vision and communicating them to your team

• Develop and meet your project goals

• Understand the Planning Fallacy and Confirmation Bias

• Develop workable and realistic plans 

Maximize Communication Skills

• Identify and apply the ‘Art’ of a successful presentation, to your team, clients, to subcontractors, etc.

• Understand how to ask better questions and get better answers

• Lead effective meetings 

Important note: Attendance and participation in all three workshop sessions is mandatory for workshop completion. Please note that if a student misses a class session, we are unable to transfer registration or provide a partial refund of the registration fees.

Delivery Method: Virtual Session – Zoom Meeting             

Course Fee Includes: Access to the course, course materials, and a digital certificate upon completion.  

This course is delivered in partnership with local and provincial construction associations across Canada. You will be participating with a group of industry peers from multiple regions. 

Sharing a single registration between two or more individuals is not permitted. Please register each person that will be in attendance.

There are no prerequisites for this session. 

This course is designed for those that are involved in managing/leading construction projects at any level.

1. Computer or laptop

• • This course will involve on-screen interaction with your instructor and classmates, reading/viewing on-screen content (slides or videos), and interacting via typing with questions or responses. For this reason, cellphones may not be adequate. 

  • Windows 10 or Mac iOS. 

2. Webcam (Mandatory)– in order to engage and collaborate, participants will be expected to have their webcams on for the duration of the class

3. Microphone (Mandatory)

4. Internet connection- For best results, you will want to ensure you have an internet connection with an upload/download speed of 3-5 Mbps. You can test your internet speed here. The minimum recommended speed is 1.5 Mbps, but anything below 3 Mbps may result in loss of quality or buffering. Ideally hardwired connection versus wireless for stability - connect your computer directly to your router using an ethernet cable, rather than using your home wi-fi.

5. A quiet space with minimal distractions –The microphone will be engaged for interactive sessions. Please plan to be fully engaged in the class and clear your work schedule just as you would for the in-class program.

6. Comfortable chair