Bsc(Hon) in Quantity Surveying and Construction Managemnent

HRM and Production Organization

Model Question & Answers
1.Discuess the relationship between human resources management and higher employee
productivity.

Human Resource Management is a process of bringing people and organization together so that
the goals of each are met. There are various features of Human Resource Management but best it
can be attribute to the encouraging employees to give their best to achieve the higher employee
productivity. The elements that make up this process from initial employment to termination of
the work for directly employed operatives and craftsmen are as follows.
1.Robust recruitment & selection process including job description and person specification.
2. Reward system of negotiable conditions of employment.
3.Induction process which includes relevant company policies and expected level of
performance.
4.Clear lines of communication especially to line managers.
5..A workable agreed dispute resolution framework.
Each of above element is briefly discuss as follows.
Recruitment process includes ,identifying the post to be filled, number of persons to be recruited,
duties to be performed, qualifications required, remuneration of employees, social security and
welfare of employees, and incentive methods to motivate employees. This further involves,
analyzing the job, preparing job description and person qualifications, locating and developing
the sources of required number and type of candidates.
Reward system of negotiable conditions of employment is personal policies, practices or matters
that affect the working conditions of employees. Personal policies can range from leave
policies, dress code, merit promotion policies, discipline procedures etc. Condition of
employment will be written rules for managing employees. These rules will have a direct impact
on employee productivity.
When a new employee starts with an organization they need to be given the opportunity to take
part in an effective induction process. An effective induction process helps ensure that,
employees understand the organizational policies and procedures, understand the performance

standards of the job, stay with the organization, understand the health and safety issues relating
to their workplace, understand the organizational culture thus becoming productive more
quickly.
Clear Line of Communication with supervisors and peers shows the chain of command. It
provides clear lines of communication for employees reporting and working. Employees know
to whom and what duties they responsible and they speak directly to the line managers thus
avoiding any conflicting instructions which will affect for their productivity.
Obviously understanding of strict Health and Safety code of conduct by employees will
minimize the possible hazards of risks, and workable agreed dispute resolution frame work also
will help to improve the worker productivity.
Apart from above fair and transparent company disciplinary procedure, training and development
opportunities ,good working and welfare conditions will form the main elements which build the
relationship between human resource management and higher employee productivity.

2.Explain the importance of Method Statements in a Construction Project and approach to its
preparation.
A Work Method statement is a document that details the way a work task or process is to be
completed. It should outline the hazards involved and include a step by step guide on how to do
the job safely. The method statement must also detail which control measures have been
introduced to ensure the safety of anyone who is affected by the task or process.
Method statements are frequently requested as part of a tender process which allows the client
and consultants to gain an insight into a contractor organization and the way its operates. It
allows a contractor to demonstrate how it can provide goods and services in a safe and high
quality manner.
When preparing a Method statement the first task is to carry out a Risk assessment. A Risk
Assessment is a systematic examination of a task,. Job or process that carry out at work for the
purpose of ,Identifying the significant hazards that are present ,Deciding if what have already
reduces the risk of some one being harmed to an acceptable level and if not, deciding what
further control measures must take to reduce the risk to the accepted standards.
There are eight steps to carrying out a Risk Assessment. They are Identifying Hazards, Identify
those at risk, Identifying existing control measures ,Evaluating the risk, Decide implement
control measures, Record Assessment, Monitor and reform.

A Method Statement must be produced for all jobs or tasks that contain some measure of risk,
identify in Risk Assessment. It has been noted that more and more clients are requesting method
statement at Pre-Tender,Pre-Contract stages and some times after contract has started .
A Method Statement consists of 4 sections. Section 1 includes:
1.A Title of the operations.2.A brief description of the work.3.Company details 4.Start Date,
completion date.5.Site Address6 Document Author7.Document number, issue date
Section -2 can be used as a summary of the main hazards that are present and the control
measures that must be implemented. This section should also be used to list the Personal
Protective Equipment that must be worn. This information will be extracted from Risk
Assessment Document.
Section-3 is used to describe the task in more detail and relevant generic information such as,
Permit to worksite access and egress, Material handling, Scaffolding and access to height,
Welfare and first aid.
Section-4 is the step step guide to explain in details the step that must be taken to ensure the task
to be carried out softly.
Method Statement can also use to monitor sub contractors work. In that case Sub Contractor
Method statement should include, Details for monitoring purposes, Ability co-ordinate their
work with others, facilities required, working space, storage areas required, resources usage,
quality ,health and safety conformity, approvals before commencement.
3.What are Work Packages.? Why they are important when monitoring a project?
Work Package is an important concept in project scope management. While constructing a work
breakdown structure through decomposition , the deliveries are broken down into progressively
smaller pieces. This process continues until all deliveries are small enough to be considered as
work pacges.Each work package should also be small enough to be estimated for cost and
duration. Work Packages can be scheduled ,estimated , monitored and controlled. Work
Packages allows a project manager to develop an achievement oriented work breakdown
structures and still have a better level of control over assignment. When creating Work Packages
it is important to .consider following factors.
*Work Packages should be small enough to be estimated for time and cost.
*The Project Manager and project team should be satisfied that the current level of details at the
work package level provides enough information to proceed with subsequent activities.
*Work Packages should be small enough to be estimated for time and costs.

*Although it varies by projects , most project managers concur that 8/80 rule can be applied to
measure a work package. This rule says that no work package should be less than 8 hours and
greater than 80 hours.Some of the benefits that work packages offers are as follows..
Work Packages can be decomposed into individual schedule activities which are used to create
the project schedule. Once the scope has been created , it is used to decompose the work into
activity details. The activity lists represent all of the schedule activities that need to take place for
the project to be completed. The activity list is an essential input for building the project
schedule.
Work Packages allows for simultaneous work on many different components of a project at the
same time by multiple teams. Each team follows the task s defined for the work package and
completes them by the specified deadline. When all team finished their individual work packages
, the whole project comes together with seamless integration. Completion of a work package is
most often overseen by a specific person.
Another advantage of work packages will be , cost of activities can be aggregated to the level of
work packages so that they can be measured ,monitored and controlled. Even though costs are
estimated at an activity level, these cost estimates are aggregate to the work package level where
they are measured, merged and controlled. For each work package it is possible to determine the
direct costs of labor, material, equipment ,travel contractual services and other non personal
resources. The individual costs of all the work packages are then aggregated to Arrive at the
authorized cost baseline or the authorized budget for the project.
Work Packages also allow team members to have a clear understanding of their roles of
responsibilities, through organization charts, and position descriptions.
The work break down structure is a critical input to identifying risks as it facilitates an
understanding of potential risks at both micro and macro levels. Risks can be identified and sub
4.Explain the strategy in programming a project and monitor its progress and cash flows.
The starartagey of Planning,, Monitoring the progress and Cash Flow will include three stages.
The first stage will be Pre-Tender stage. This stage is very important in preparing the Tender.
This is because tender value will be based on the duration of the contract.. Hence the first step in
Pre-Tender Planning is establishing realistic contract period in which tender is based on.. To
establish this it is important to identify construction methods and method statements of different
stages of the project. This will help to prepare a realistic Pre-Tender Program where the tender
can be based on. Also this will help to offer any other aid to the tendering process.
The second stage of the strategy will be Pre-Contract Stage. During this stage it is important to
establish detail construction sequence of the project. It will help to prepare Master Program for
the construction work. When preparing the Master Program program techniques such as Gantt

Charts and critical Path Analysis can be used to identify the critical activities This will help to
identify key project dates and identifying the key information requirements and schedule key
dates regarding sub contractors and suppliers.
During the third stage or monitoring stage, while the project is progressing at the construction
stage following techniques can be used.to monitor the project. Site meetings will help to
identifying the actual progress at site and comparing with the Master Program and shading the
progress of each activity to identify any delays. It will help to set up targets dates to come back
to original program. Also actual progress can be marked in the Bar Chart as a secondary time
line. Quantity or percentage completion of activities also will help to monitor the cash flow
charts.
5. Project Planning Software are very useful tools for programming and monitoring projects.
Also it is important to select a suitable project planning software package. What are the
criteria you use to select such software package?
First step in selecting a project planning software will be identifying the criteria in terms of
priority listings. This should include the back ground on what type of package to be considered,
why it is needed, where it will be fit in for a particular project.. This can be done by rewiring
prior research from industry analysts, reading magazines and periodicals and searching the web.
These searches can be used to generate potential requirements that the project needs. Each
requirement should be weighted on numeric scale, or high/medium/low to reflect the relative
importance of some requirements over others.
Next step will be creating package long list. At this stage it is important to look for functionality
requirements such as specific feature and facilities, ease of use,compatibility,value for money,
training needs, support from suppliers, maintence cost etc. The purpose of this step is to gather a
comprehensive , but not exhaustive list of vendors and packages that need to consider further.
Crating a package short list will be the next step. This step includes performing an initial high
level evaluation of the long list, looking for obvious reasons to eliminate some of the
alternatives. For example , certain packages may not fit with the requirement and some may be
too new or some may be obviously too expensive. In some cases there may be a feature that you
absolutely needed but it is not available. The purpose of this step is create a short list of potential
packages that look like that will have a reasonable chances to meet the requirements..
Next step will be evaluating the package short list. At this step it is important to map package
features and functions against the requirements and weighing factors to determine which package
most closely meets the requirements. At this stage selected short listed vendors can be
interviewed, set up product demonstrations, and make vendor site visits. The package with
highest score across all requirement s should be the one that best need the requirements. At the
end of this stage it may be possible to identify the first and second choices for the package that
best meets the requirements.

Finally project tram makes the final recommendation and then turn the process over to formal
purchasing or procumbent department. They are responsible for contract negations and legal
details.

6. What are the types of report information that you could expect from a planning software
for use during site meetings.?
Report information provided by the planning software should include following.
1.Programmne information
2.Program Dates.
3.Sequence of activities
4.Crtical items(identified from critical Path analysis)
5.Floats
6.Resource issues.
7.Cost and values.
8.Cash Profiles
9.Monthly comparisons.
10.Alternative planning solutions
11.Monitoring progress, recording and reviving.