Construction management is the process by which a construction project is effectively supervised, with those responsible keeping a close watch on costs, safety, quality, schedules, scope of project, and more. All the parties involved in the construction project should have a clear understanding of how the project is to be managed, and ensure that their input becomes part of a successful project.
The team working on the entire construction project is usually led by a construction manager. In this role, the construction manager interfaces with each of the groups involved in the project. This could include the finance company or developer, which funds the project; the business owner, who will live with the project; the architect, who will design the plans for the structure(s), and the general contractor, who will manage any subcontractors and oversee the project's daily operations.
It's important to learn about construction management to understand how to put workflow processes together on large, structural construction builds. Learning about construction management will not only teach you about how the various parts of a building are put together, but also how the planning, scope, and safety must be implemented at the same time.
Projects in construction management usually have a series of steps for successful execution. This includes the project conception and initiation, project definition and planning, project launch, project control, and project completion. Each of these steps requires serious planning by those who know construction management, and control measures are usually in place to keep a handle on any part of the project that might escalate out of control.
When you understand construction management, you will come to see the details in each of these parts and how it culminated into a satisfying whole.
Typical types of roles with knowledge and experience in construction management range from jobs as a junior construction project manager for a local developer to becoming a senior construction manager for a large corporation. You might see construction management jobs for home builders, including roles for site safety jobs and operational leadership.
Learning about construction management will expose you to project scheduling techniques and defining project activities, which can help you advance in your career in construction. You will also learn about project planning and possible risk assessment in construction work. In some of these roles, you will be expected to have a background in project scheduling, cost estimating, and project evaluation.
Taking online courses about construction management gives you an understanding of concepts necessary in a career in the construction field. It's a fast-growing field, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimating that construction manager jobs will grow by 8% over the next decade, which is seen as much faster than average.
Start with the basics in construction management courses, and learn about what makes these types of projects stay under budget and within the scope of the plans. From there, you can proceed to more specialized courses that detail the financial part of a project, the operational part of a construction project, or the land-use management issues that you might have to deal with. Once you start to learn about construction management, there's no end to uncovering new and exciting areas in which to pursuit.