Are you using MS Project, Excel or WhatsApp to stay on top of your program? Many project managers, like you, choose to rely on these tools to manage project schedules.
As good as they are, none of these tools are designed to perform high-repetition construction projects. Imagine you work in a hospital, apartment building or even a road project. If the tools of your choice aren't made for building, you'll soon find yourself buried under a mountain of disconnected data, having to manage multiple updates from different sources, with no way to share the latest version of the program with the rest of the team.
Despite all this, some project managers insist on using the wrong tools and push against the implementation of construction-specific tools in their projects. Here are the top five objections and why they are all really wrong:
1. Digitization is very expensive.
The cost of implementation is one of the biggest concerns for project managers. But with the right tool, the return on investment will be extremely high and will start to become evident very quickly. As in the case of Federico from Grupo Provivienda. He was able to reduce the time to build a house from 330 days to 60 days after migrating his planning to the cloud and replacing MS Project and Excel with a tool made for construction teams.
2. People on site won't use it.
Another concern many project managers have is that their on-site teams won't use the new application. They think their field team doesn't have enough technology knowledge. This is not true. If your on-site personnel can use their smartphones to catch up on news from their favorite sports team or to check their mobile banking, then they can certainly use a construction app to access the latest version of the program, send updates, and flag critical issues. .
3. I don't have time to implement something new.
Project managers working on high-repetition construction projects are under a lot of time pressure. However, there is always time for improvement. Especially because implementing a specific tool for construction will ultimately allow them to finish faster and, therefore, increase their chances of meeting the budget.
4. This new tool is very complicated.
The complexity of a new application can also be a blocking factor. Many project managers worry that a new tool will be too complex and that it will take time to get everyone working on it. To avoid this, you need a digital tool designed for repetitive projects and have a strong customer success team that will help you train your people. If these two factors are present, you can start reaping the benefits of digitalization very quickly.
The example of Denis from Toureen Group speaks for itself. He was able to see everything on site and get results in just 24 hours after replacing MS Project and Excel with a digital tool tailored for construction.
5. I don't have a problem, I'm fine!
The last and possibly the most dangerous objection. In one of our recent webinars, Olivier Luxen, Senior Project Manager on a residential project, compared the way we do planning in construction today with the way we did it on a road trip 40 years ago.
You plan your project in MS Project and distribute it, but as soon as an obstacle arises, your planning becomes obsolete causing stress and confusion because the information arrives late.
But it shouldn't be like that! It's time to replace MS Project, WhatsApp and Excel with a single source of truth like Matt Ghinn, Project Director at VolkerFitzpatrick. Matt believed that planning is king. If he delivers on time, he will stay within budget. In other words, he had to complete as many tasks as possible within a certain period of time. Thus, he increased on-site completion from 60% to 85%.
“We are not calling, we are not using WhatsApp groups, we are not sending emails. The program is live, it’s there and all the data from the website is captured”, explains Matt.
