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Chapter 4 · Lesson 1 of 6Topic: Managing the work

Projects in one page

Every project balances scope, time, cost and quality, inside a contract, with someone accountable for each. Knowing that frame explains why your MIDP dates, your requests and your issues land the way they do.

With Maya, information manager2 min read3 quiz questions
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Mayainformation manager
Even if you do this every day, watch for this: Your information plan lives inside the project plan. MIDP dates that ignore the programme's design freezes, tender dates or procurement windows will be overridden by the project manager, and you'll be blamed for 'late information'. Build your dates from theirs.

Every project, from a house extension to a hospital, comes down to what is built (scope), when (time), for how much (cost) and how well (quality), within a contract and with someone accountable for each. Change one and the others move. The project manager's job is to keep them in balance.

Basics
RoleAccountable for
Client / sponsorWhy the project exists, the budget, the big decisions
Project manager / directorDelivering scope on time, on budget, to quality
Discipline leadsTheir part of the design or works
Information manager / BIM leadThe information work stream: requirements, plans, delivery

Where information fits

Information delivery is a work stream like design or procurement. Its milestones (model drops, reviews, handover data) must fit the programme: design freezes, client reviews, tenders, long-lead procurement. Build the MIDP from those dates, leaving time for checking and acceptance.

Story · The MIDP nobody used
How it goes wrong

The BIM lead writes an MIDP with monthly model drops, without looking at the programme. The client's stage 3 review falls a week before the drop; the PM moves the drop, the designers rush, and the MIDP is never updated again.

How it goes right

The BIM lead starts from the programme: each model drop is set two weeks before a review or tender date, with a week for checks. The PM sees the MIDP as part of the plan and protects its dates.

Scenario · told by Priya, estimator
The deadline moves forward

The client brings the stage 4 tender forward by three weeks. The design team panics.

Mayainformation manager
Your turn. Give it about 10 min and work it out on your own before you open the model answer: that is where it sticks.
Exercise: Translate for the PM 10 min

Rewrite these coordinator messages in PM terms (impact, options, decision needed).

  1. "The MEP model doesn't line up with the architecture."
  2. "Door data is missing from the model."

Key takeaways

  • Scope (what), time (when), cost (how much) and quality (how good) pull against each other; changing one moves the others.
  • The project manager (or project director) is accountable for the whole; discipline leads for their parts.
  • Information delivery is one of the project's work streams, with milestones that must fit the programme.
  • A good coordinator speaks the PM's language: impact on scope, time, cost, quality and risk.

Your notes

Check yourself

3 questions · 2 right to complete
  1. 1. The client adds a floor to the building at stage 3. What does the PM expect to change?
  2. 2. How should you set the dates in your MIDP?
  3. 3. How do you best escalate a coordination problem to a PM?
0 of 3 answered
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