How many projects can you take on before it goes wrong?
Two or three small projects at once, or one big one: you run it from memory, without recording anything properly, and that works fine. Until, one day, it doesn’t, or mistakes start happening. Then you go looking for where it went wrong, and lose your grip on everything else in the meantime, because your attention is on fixing it. When that happens, it helps to have something to fall back on.
It’s not about a number, it’s about the total load
Two large projects can be just as heavy as eight small ones. It’s not about a fixed number, it’s about the sum total: how many drawings, agreements and statuses are you trying to keep in your head at once? As long as that fits, working from memory is fine. As your business, responsibilities or project grow, that total grows with them. And at some point, it’s no longer something you can oversee.
If someone asks how project B is getting on, you have to ring round before you can answer.
Here’s how you know you’ve already lost your grip
You have to work out which project you were even in before you can find the right document. A new colleague asks where something is, and the only answer you can give is “just ask Marco”. On one project, communication runs through email, on another it’s WhatsApp or Teams. Getting an overview of everything together means half a day spent copying and pasting across five different channels. You’re sure something was agreed about the schedule last week, but which project it was for, that you have to look up. And if someone asks how project B is getting on, you have to ring round before you can answer.
Recognise two of these? Then it’s time for a different approach.
The answer is a structure that’s the same for every project.
What actually works
The answer is a structure that’s the same for every project. That starts with one place where you see all your projects at once, instead of clicking through folders separately to work out what’s going on. And it works best when your projects resemble each other: recognisable main folders, a consistent way of reporting, a fixed place for agreements. Then you don’t have to work out from scratch where everything is every time you start a new one.
Want to know more? What is project management? covers the basics. What does a construction project manager actually do? looks at where things go wrong within a single project.
Frequently asked questions
At how many projects does relying on memory alone start to break down?
That depends not just on the number, but on the total load. Two or three large construction projects can be just as heavy as eight or ten small, short-term jobs. Industry guidance suggests 1 to 3 large projects as a rule of thumb for what a single project manager can handle, rising to around ten for smaller projects.
Is a projects overview the same as a dashboard?
No. A dashboard usually shows figures and progress within a single project. A projects overview shows what’s happening across all your projects: what’s running, at what stage, and where you need to look now.
Does every project need exactly the same structure?
Recognisable is enough, it doesn’t need to be identical. The same main folders, the same statuses, the same place for reports. Enough that you don’t have to work out from scratch where things are for every project.
More or bigger projects doesn’t have to mean chaos
Prostream supports working project by project with a clear overview of all your projects, with permissions and roles that determine who has access to what. Take a look at all of Prostream’s features and see how that looks in practice.