7.30 AM
I wake up, drink my morning coffee, get dressed and rush out the door to catch my 8.10 am bus. I miss the bus, but luckily, it’s just a 25 min walk to work in Auckland City.
8.30 AM
I swing by the café on the ground floor of the office to grab a hot flat white. I finish the morning introductions and arrive at my desk, setting up my laptop and connecting the extra display monitor. I make a to-do list for the day, and scan my meetings calendar to plan out my tasks for the day. Today’s tasks outside of meetings include drafting a monthly project update report and chasing up consultants for outstanding design information.
9.30 AM
We leave the office to pick up the pool car I reserved yesterday for a site visit. We’re travelling to Southern Auckland, where we are project managing the construction of a private hospital. The civil works for the project are progressing well, with 87 on-grade carparks to be handed over to the client, in anticipation of Main Building works, commencing in the coming month.
10.00 AM
The Senior Project Manager (PM), PM and I arrive on-site at 10, donning our hard hats and high-vis to walk across the construction site to the site offices where our meeting will be held. We scan the site, taking a mental note of work progress. As the external project managers, the Client relies on us to check that the Contractor is progressing works according to the programme (the timeline essentially) that was agreed to at the beginning of the project. We also track what costs are being spent on site (Eg. Has material arrived? How many trucks and diggers are on site? How many workers are on site?), so that we can accurately assess the monthly Contractor Payment Claims.
The Contractor runs through the site report issued two days prior, informing the team of activities completed on site in the last fortnight and what works are due to commence in the coming fortnight. The project management team, the architect and civil consultant also give updates on outstanding design issues and any design coordination between specialists that needs to occur. We then do a walk around site with the contractor, taking pictures of the progress for our records.
12.00 PM
Lunch. Finally. My colleague and I grab a table at the bustling Korean restaurant close by. We chat about our weekends, new starters in the office and progress in our respective and shared projects.
1.00 PM
The afternoon begins with a Consultant Team Meeting, where the entire consultant team (30+ people) meets online to discuss project progress and raise any project issues. As project managers, it is our role to run these meetings and be the conduit for information between the wider team and the client. I share with the screen the meeting minutes I recorded from the previous fortnight’s meeting. We use the outstanding actions from the minutes to set the topics for discussion and drive the meeting forward.
As the PM runs through the minutes, I record key decisions and outcomes in my notes so an accurate record can be captured in the minutes. As my graduate programme has progressed, I have been encouraged to present more in meetings. I provide the update to the landscape and environmental sections, fielding questions from the client and ensuring there is a clear direction for the consultants to action following the meeting.
3.00 PM
I’m finishing up some follow-up emails and phone calls to consultants when someone taps me on the shoulder, it’s my coworker asking if I’d like a drink! Everyone in our office is competing for “The Johnstaff Cup”, where we participate in activities like quiz nights, escape rooms and bowling, in an effort to win the coveted “Johnstaff Cup” at the end of year Christmas party. We grab a quick snack and drink in the office before heading to the bowling alley. Everyone is in good spirits at bowling and we play a few rounds in different teams. It’s great to see everyone outside the office environment and get to know people from different business units better.
6.00 PM
I arrive back home around 6. I take my dog for a quick walk in the park and enjoy some leftover stir-fried chicken noodles for dinner. The evening is spent relaxing and watching some Netflix wind down from the day. I set my alarm for 7.30 the next morning, hoping I have a better chance of catching the bus on time tomorrow!
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