How to Improve Efficiency on Your Construction Project
In a previous article I wrote, I addressed the cost that change orders have on a construction firm. Here, I am going to focus on 5 ways to improve efficiency on your construction project. Everybody remembers the nightmare in Boston called “The Big Dig” where they were replacing a 6 lane highway - expanding it to 10 lanes. It was supposed to finish in 1998 but was not done until 2007 and over 10 times the original budget.
Cost overruns and schedule delays affect your bottom line. So how do you run your operation more efficiently? Here are 5 steps that can help:
1. Find good construction management software
Good construction management software can keep you organized and free from the clutter of paperwork on your desk or having to manage multiple spreadsheets, allowing you to focus on actually building stuff. Construction management software can handle bid management, billing, invoicing, contractors, timesheets, job scheduling, and more. Try to find one that is easy to use for your project managers and has the ability to be hosted in the cloud and/or have mobile apps. Having your CRM in the cloud will help reduce technology capital expenditures. We have worked with and helped our construction clients select management software.
2. Listen to your staff
Your employees, especially those in the field, are the ones doing the job every day. If something is going wrong or could be better, they will know. Experienced employees will help you spot gaps in your plan before you even get started. Get them involved early in the planning process to spot potential problems and stay in touch with them during the project.
3. Invest in training
Training is critical to efficiency, especially for project managers who need sound leadership and project management principles and techniques to keep projects running smoothly. Helping employees improve their critical skills will help you immediately see benefits in terms of the efficiency of your projects.
4. Improve communication
If you’re not communicating with your team, that is a big reason for losses in efficiency. Technology allows you to have improved communication with all your employees. Mobile devices, such as rugged laptops or tablets, can allow your in-the-field project managers to communicate quickly back to the office. Implementing an instant messaging service like Slack or Microsoft Teams can improve communication without cluttering up or getting lost in an email mailbox. Ensuring your field team’s technology and your business is secure is important, so make sure you have a mobile device management plan. Use technology to communicate with project managers to go over daily expectations and to get their feedback on the progress of the project or any expected pitfalls they foresee.
5. Establish performance measures and hold people accountable
This goes back to implementing a good project management software and creating KPIs (key performance indicators) that you can measure and incentivize your teams. Performance measurements are a great motivational tool for your workers, especially when rewards are attached to them. There are a few KPI’s you can set, including; being on time, completing work on time, and quality of the work.
Many of you reading this probably had some issues in the past with efficiency in your construction projects. You can get ahead of your competition by having efficient processes and using technology effectively for project delivery. Not to mention the improved profitability of your construction firm.
Micro Visions proudly provides its holistic suite of IT support and services to construction companies. Our construction company clients enjoy fully operational IT assets that are optimized and secured to promote their ideal IT working environment. To learn more about what we can do for your Grand Rapids IT Support, give us a call at {phone} or email us at {email}. Let’s get to work.
