Using Trunk Tools as a Project Manager
This guide is for Project Managers who want to get more out of Trunk Tools day to day. It covers where Trunk Tools saves you the most time, from scope questions and RFI tracking to change events and owner communication.
Note: This guide is about your job, not your permissions. To learn how to manage your project's settings and users, see Understanding Roles & Permissions.
Set Up Your Suggestions
On your project home screen, click Customize next to What can I ask? and choose Project Manager as your role. Pick focus areas like RFIs & submittals, Change orders, or Cost & budget, and TrunkText suggests questions built from your project's documents. See Using the Prompt Library in TrunkText.
Where Trunk Tools Helps Most
Scope and Buyout
Find out who owns a scope item without digging through contracts and bid packages.
Does the plumber own firestopping?
Is Bulletin 20 included in the painting package?
Summarize the scope of work for the electrical subcontractor.
If your team uses TrunkBid, it can review sub bids for scope gaps before buyout. See What is TrunkBid?
RFIs and Submittals
Track what's open, what's late, and what changed.
Which RFIs are still open, and who is the ball in court on each?
List the outstanding submittals for Division 08.
Was the response to RFI #45 incorporated into a later bulletin?
TrunkRFI can check new RFIs against your project documents before they go out and help draft them. See TrunkRFI - Prevent + Draft Agent: Getting Started Guide.
Changes and Cost
What are the general conditions for change orders in contract 09A?
Summarize the reasons for rejected change orders last quarter.
What allowance was included in the GMP for patching?
When a change comes in, the Change Event Agent helps you find every affected trade. See Change Event Agent.
Schedule and Milestones
What is the project deadline based on the latest schedule update?
What activities are scheduled to start May 1?
List all upcoming milestones in the master schedule.
Meetings and Correspondence
Based on last week's OAC meeting minutes, create an agenda for this week.
Based on our prime contract, draft a notice of delay to the owner for weather delays.
Tips for Project Managers
Check the sources. Open the cited documents before you send anything to an owner or sub.
Share what works. Share your best prompts to the Project library so your team can reuse them.
Bring in outside partners carefully. If owners or subs need access, see Collaborators & Document Permissions.
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Questions? Reach out to support@trunk.tools.