Organizing the Development Process
The development process can be complex and filled with hundreds of tasks, deadlines, and multiple critical paths. 

Any advice, SOPs, checklists, tools, or resources to organize your development process from a project management standpoint that you are willing to share?
[{"id": "frosq3o", "text": "My company used ProjectMates. Nice program that allows you to enter critical dates and link dates to other critical path items. We also were able to give access to our consultants so they could upload their deliverables and share with the rest of the team. We used it on the construction side too for storing progress pictures and I believe it incorporated our punch lists as well (though I wasn\u2019t on the construction side of things).", "replies": [{"id": "froz43q", "text": "This, I also like MS Project.\n\nHell, a lot of companies just build out Gantt charts in Excel. Plenty of templates for that out there.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "frouezi", "text": "Airtable or even Jira (generally a product management tool) would be a great way to collaboratively get tasks done. I used airtable to keep my team in check, but have recently been using Jira and its a much more streamlined software to build out initiatives and all the little tasks needed to complete that initiative (or deadline in development world). Make sure you use the next gen project as it has a really nice roadmap style gantt chart to view all the deadlines on a high level.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "frpm0gy", "text": "We use MS Projects for Pre-development and a CM Project Management Software during construction. Dealpath is a purpose built tool that works for acquisitions, I\u2019m not sure if it works for Development but it\u2019s basically a project management software for pursuits, so, possibly.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "frpntuh", "text": "Basecamp is the best project management software I\u2019ve found - Shared calendar, internal chat channels, task assignment with due dates and a completion notification etc", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "frrwllv", "text": "A lot of folks are chiming in on what tools to use. I use smart sheet, but what\u2019s most important is picking a tool that the whole team commits to using. Otherwise, folks are going to fall back on email threads to keep track of progress and status updates, which can get messy.\n\nIn terms of SOPs or checklists or best practices- here\u2019s what I do.\n\n1. You want to keep the goal in mind at all times. For me that is designing, permitting, financing, and constructing a Class A building. With all the hundreds of tasks you have to complete, it\u2019s easy to forget why exactly you are doing all this work for. Stepping back to look at the big picture can help put things in perspective. \n\n2. Usually on any given day you are working on one aspect of the project (fundraising OM, zoning submittal, design development documents, etc) I make a check list for each sub task and update it every day until it\u2019s complete.\n\n3. Do determine what your major milestones are (zoning submittal, building permit submittal, zoning hearing, groundbreaking etc) and what dates those milestones need to happen. Make sure your team knows what the deadlines are.\n\n4. Don\u2019t over optimize too early. Focus on designing a warm shell with generous setbacks first. Once you\u2019ve locked in a site plan and confirmed with the various agencies that your plan works, you can try to chew up that setback and optimize support spaces to increase rentable square footage. There\u2019s generally a trade off between optimization and flexibility, and you need to be flexible until all the external agencies have chimed in, at which point you can start optimizing and locking in design elements. \n\n5. Involve a GC early on and listen to what they have to day. This will help you avoid potential design pitfalls (architects are not always the most cost conscious people) and provide critical ongoing pricing info so you don\u2019t run the risk of designing a project that doesn\u2019t pencil.\n\n6. Keep track of critical path items and hustle to get them done. Saving a day or two per critical path task adds up over the course of hundreds of tasks.\n\n7. Follow up! As a development manager this is pretty much your main job. Set clear deadlines and check in every two days by phone or email until the task is done. Be pleasant and concise, but do make sure your team knows that you are on them to finish their stuff.\n\n8. When the ball is in your court, clear the rest of your schedule and devote all resources to finishing the task. Nothing slows a project down more than an Owner who sits on a critical path item for days or even weeks.\n\nEdit: 9. Take notes! Keep records of every call and meeting. This is critical for saving money on legal and also tracking status on the half dozen balls you have in the air at any given time.", "replies": [{"id": "fs0nrjm", "text": "This is my favorite response. Thank you banito", "replies": [{"id": "fs3favn", "text": "No problem", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]