The construction site is where money is being made or lost. In this sense, visibility is everything. No matter what, you should always be able to have a clear and complete picture of your on-site progress against your plan.
This is also the key to keeping your teams connected so they can work better together and take responsibility for their tasks, ensuring successful project delivery and, most importantly, protection against commercial claims.
But this is where things get complicated. Enabling good communication and, by extension, good collaboration on the ground is not an overnight project. You need to implement the right tools and have the right processes in place so you can link website progress to short- and long-term planning and gain full control over your project.
As good as they are, tools like WhatsApp, Excel and Word are not enough to execute complex construction projects. All construction projects, regardless of their type or size, consist of many delicate and time-sensitive processes that can easily become chaotic due to the immense amount of data that is generated daily on the ground.
Using tools that weren't designed for construction can only add to the confusion and leave you stressed and disoriented in your effort to see where your project is. A construction-specific tool can provide the context you need and keep an eye on the site at all times.
So you can track progress, check the quality of tasks in real time, and connect multiple contractors and trades in one place so you can make better decisions and reduce the duration of your projects.
Furthermore, you will have a great opportunity to improve and eventually standardize your processes. It goes without saying how valuable this is if you are a residential contractor, for example, and want to ensure that homes are ready for delivery on the promised date, while also feeling confident that they were built to the right quality.
It quickly becomes apparent, then, that building good communication in the workplace is the first step to a successful project. In other words, it's the first step for you to see everything on the field and deliver faster.
How construction-specific tools can improve on-site communication
By now, it should be clear that good communication involves website visibility. By seeing everything, you can stay on track, connect your teams to their tasks, and never miss a thing.
In an effort to help you plan better and complete your projects sooner, below are the top three ways a construction-specific tool can improve collaboration between your teams and allow you to regain control:
1. You get an on-site, sharable “live” view of the project
So you'll have easy access to all the information you need to make critical decisions faster, collaborate with people on site to move the project forward, and share and document everything.
This is extremely powerful considering that almost all construction projects rely on multiple subcontractors and stakeholders who need to be knowledgeable about the 3-6 week planning and master schedule at all times.
In any other case, setbacks will appear sooner or later and will have a serious effect on your project. The slightest delay made by a subcontractor on a single task can delay your project for weeks or even months. Not to mention wasted materials and increased inventory costs.
That's why it's always essential to keep your project in sight and track each team's progress at every stage. Because at the end of the day you want to use your time proactively and focus on the work you enjoy.
2. You document everything and reduce administrative workload
Documenting what is happening on a construction project is the key to success. Conflicts over claims can halt work on your project for weeks and cause thousands of euros in budget overruns.
You can retrieve critical information with the press of a button as all information is safely stored in one place. This saves weeks or even months of work as you will no longer have to waste time trying to locate that photo or email that will help you raise or respond to a complaint.
This increased level of transparency and accountability will also lead to your subcontractors taking responsibility for their tasks and staying on top of their game, while you always know the truth and have peace of mind.
3. You standardize your repetitive processes
Construction projects can vary in terms of size, budget or purpose, but at the end of the day, 80% of the processes are the same.
In this sense, having the same standard of work on all sites is a valid option. This will take a lot of pressure off your shoulders, help you avoid mistakes and flag critical issues at an early stage, saving you time and money.
With a construction-specific tool, you get all your teams following the same pre-designed, standardized best practice processes to eliminate errors, misunderstandings, and delays and get everyone looking in the same direction.
Because when you see more, you can improve your teams' efficiency and deliver successful projects sooner. And most importantly, you can make good use of the collected feedback and improve future processes and projects.
Conclusion
Your quest for better website communication has just begun! You have a first idea of what needs to be done, but you still miss the details that will allow you to achieve your goal: see everything and deliver successful projects sooner.
So you can set high-quality standards and streamline collaboration between teams to reduce errors.
