No matter the scale, managing a bond is a complex process.
We know this because the Projectmates PMIS (Project Management Information System) has been helping school districts and municipalities plan, pass, and execute bond programs for more than two decades.
Using that knowledge, we’ve created a short list of the top five tips to help you build and manage bond programs more successfully.
1. Build Your Proposal Around Community Needs
Understanding the needs of your taxpayers and then including them in the planning process is vital to a successful bond campaign.
Taxpayers should have the ability to use your PMIS to specify the types of projects they wish to fund. Streamlining the process of submitting projects for approval through a PMIS is an excellent way to involve taxpayers in the bond creation process.
With the cost of living going up and taxpayers tightening their belts, addressing the community’s needs becomes a considerate and strategic approach to increase the likelihood of success in your bond elections.
2. Track Every Bond Dollar
Every bond dollar must be carefully monitored for maximum impact.
Your project management platform should be able to seamlessly consolidate and track funds from various sources.
Having a centralized location to monitor the financial health of your bond program improves project agility, so you can quickly respond to changing needs. This optimized approach helps improve resource allocation and prevents any funding bottlenecks.
You should even be able to run a variety of “what if” scenarios to see how your budget would perform in response to different changes.
Figuring out what funding issues your project may face ahead of time helps reduce the risk of budget overruns once construction kicks off.
DID YOU KNOW? On average, 88% of all spreadsheets contain errors.
PANKO, Raymond R. What We Know About Spreadsheet Errors.
3. Enhance Efficiency for Strong Project Execution
Ensuring your funds are efficiently allocated is just one piece of the bond management puzzle. Your project execution needs to be as efficient as your bookkeeping.
Collaboration between your various teams is key to project success. Your PMIS should enable smooth communication throughout the entire project lifecycle minimizing miscommunication and the resulting delays. This fosters a collaborative environment, uniting architects, contractors, project managers, and school administrators if you’re managing a K-12 bond program.
In today’s highly regulated environment, compliance with industry standards and local regulations is non-negotiable. Your PMIS needs to simplify document management and ensure that all required approvals and permits are well-documented, organized, and easily accessible at all times. This will significantly reduce the risk of compliance-related issues.
And, the ability to generate real-time reports during project execution is invaluable for K-12 and government owners. Your PMIS should provide customizable reporting tools that allow stakeholders to monitor project progress, identify bottlenecks, and make timely, informed decisions to avoid overspending. Integrations with popular business intelligence platforms will further simplify the creation of vibrant and dynamic reports from the data your projects produce.
DID YOU KNOW? 52% of all construction rework is caused by poor data and miscommunication, costing around $31.3 billion in the U.S. alone.
FMI | Construction Disconnected
4. Ensure Transparency Through Technology
Maximizing the impact of locally approved bond money is more than just completing construction, it’s also about creating trust with the public. They need to have confidence that the funds they contribute to the city or district will be spent in the best way possible.
That means you need construction management software that allows the public to look under the hood, so to speak, and see how your bond program is running. You should be able to set up external links so community members can see project updates, photos, and progress in real-time.
You’ve already included the public in the planning process; build more trust by continuing to keep them informed every step of the way.
DID YOU KNOW? 82% of building owners have projects that exceed budget, with 18% experiencing that problem on over half of their projects.
Dodge Data & Analytics | Optimizing Owner Organizations: All Buildings
5. Create a Painless Project Handover
It’s easy to become laser-focused on the planning and execution process of a project. However, you also need to remember that ultimately, your facilities team will need comprehensive information about the project to quickly and effectively manage the building. This includes details ranging from fixture locations to operation and maintenance (O&M) manuals.
A PMIS should make organizing and handing over those assets easy. You should be able to track warranty details, manufacturer information, equipment standards, who installed what when, and more in the one platform. This helps your facilities teams manage the building from day one with ease.
Additionally, all of this information should be easily integrated with your existing facilities management software.
DID YOU KNOW? 88% of owners cited effective document management as a driving factor for PMIS investment.
Dodge Data & Analytics | Building Better with Technology: How Owners Are Leveraging Software to Improve Project Management
Use Projectmates to Make an Impact with Your Bond
While every tip mentioned is important, none are available to you if you’re still using legacy project management methods.
You need the right software to make your job easier and your construction program more efficient.
With more than 40 built-in tools spanning the entire lifecycle of a project, Projectmates serves as a reliable partner in your journey to maximize the impact of your bond funds.
Get in touch today to unlock the full potential of your capital construction projects.
