This was PM Jam from the world of bricks, concrete and AR

Bitport has launched an initiative focusing on the project management profession called PM Jam. The first stage of this initiative was the PM Jam 2025 event in the second half of March. The conference delivered several eye-opener presentations, with a strong emphasis on small group workshops and experience sharing.

Hybrid practice

The two guiding principles of the programme were the compatibility of agile and waterfall methodologies (hybrid project management) and the efficient management of different distributed teams (virtual project management). The case studies presented good practices to address challenges in both areas, including the use of artificial intelligence.

In line with this, Csaba Livják, CEO of BuildEXT, was invited to give a presentation on “Brick, concrete, VR/AR: a hybrid environment in all its elements”, and after a brief BIM overview, he quickly turned to the main topic: how BIM helps the efficiency of construction project management.

The CEO presented the practical process of classical and agile project management, based on the experience of two parallel design projects.

Traditional methodology – the real “PM Jam”

In the first, classic case, the design office was given 7 days to prepare the design, which the promoter wanted to comment on within 5 days, giving the designer 5 days to make the requested changes before the final check.

In this case, the classic word-sharepoint-email combo used in the project resulted in a 106-page pdf document with a delay of several days, which encoded the responses of the different stakeholders at different times, using 367 points, three font colours and three additional highlight colours.

“What we have: email forwarded three times to 5 people and 7 duplicate recipients. What there isn’t at all is ‘only’ responsibility and a deadline. This method is all about passing the buck, the result is fretting, mud-slinging, threats of penalties, blame-finding and burnout. In practice, the designer has only seven effective working days to design what the client has asked for. ” – explained to the audience the main drawback of the traditional project workflow the CEO of BuildEXT.

Agile PM

In contrast, agile project management is a different methodology. “If the client asks us if we can design the house in 1 month, we can say yes with absolute certainty with agile methodology behind us.“

In this case, the process is uninterrupted by an extended comment period. Instead, the design can be carried out in the time available, with continuous feedback contributing to a dynamic design process.

“Set up the project platform and publish 2-3 times a week. Comments should be continuous so that designers can make corrections. In the end, a 3-day design freeze will be exactly enough to close the project without any problems. ” – summarised Csaba Livják the rules of thumb of the methodology.

Need for BIM integrator

In the remainder of his presentation, the BuildEXT founder illustrated the role of the structured data model and the Common Data Environment through several case studies, emphasizing the importance of entitlement management, process architecture, and issue management, among others.

“Achieving a ‘single source of truth’ is essential for conscious data management and project smoothness.” he stressed, adding that in his example, instead of 7 working days, you can easily spend 17+4 days on effective planning, which increases efficiency threefold, not to mention a more accurate picture, more thoughtful plans, more comfortable deadlines, a good work culture and, of course, a good customer experience.

The PM Jam was hosted by Symbol Budapest on 18 March 2025 read the organiser’s report here.

LED lights were not invented by the continuous development of the candle

The digitalization of the construction industry does not only mean the use of new tools; it also requires completely new mindsets and processes – and of course, a market player who can manage the building lifecycle from design to construction and operation as a BIM integrator, achieving cost savings of up to 30%.

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