Monitoring the progress of each team at every stage is a never-ending mission for all project managers and construction supervisors. Regardless of the type or size of your project, you always need to have a complete view of the progress made on site and communicate critical issues efficiently and effectively.
Excel, WhatsApp, Messenger and email are some of the tools that many project teams in the industry use to stay connected. All of these tools are very intuitive and can be extremely useful in our daily lives, but they are not made for construction.
In other words, they do not have the technical depth to support the complex and time-sensitive processes of a construction project. The reason is your inability to provide stakeholders with field updates that are seamlessly connected to different project timelines.
So a project manager or site foreman has to spend a lot of time writing reports, calling people, or attending frustrating progress meetings in an effort to connect all the information without context and understand what's next for their teams to tackle. . .
Considering that project and site managers typically have to juggle multiple schedules (master schedule, 3-6 week forecasts, procurement schedule, and more), it doesn't take much to understand how error-prone this approach to work can be.
Additionally, the decision-making process becomes much slower and more cumbersome as all field teams will have to constantly check in with the project manager when it is their turn to show up on site and start working on their tasks.
It's clear then how much value you can add to your projects if you structure all communication with stakeholders around a single source of truth. Having all project information collected in an open, collaborative cloud ecosystem will allow you to increase accountability, avoid miscommunication, and reduce excessive administrative workload. So you no longer need to spend 40% of your time putting together progress reports that are out of date by the time they are issued.
Field and office communication: how to improve it
Bridging the gap between on-site and office is the first and possibly most crucial step in your effort to see everything that's happening in the field. By doing this, you will always be in a position to avoid wasted time, detect errors early and deliver projects sooner. Because at the end of the day, if you stick to your schedule, you'll also stick to your budget.
But how can you seamlessly connect your meeting room to the construction site? No need to worry about the answer, we'll help you!
Without further ado, here are three key steps to improving your field and office communication to track progress more easily and with greater accuracy:
1. Start with a construction-specific digital tool
If you've been following our blog for a while, you've probably read this a few times. We cannot fail to emphasize the importance of using digital solutions adapted to construction.
Only then can you be sure that your schedule reflects reality at any given time. All communication will occur in a single data source, allowing you to effectively connect with multiple project stakeholders so you can make the right decisions faster and plan your next steps with confidence.
And most importantly, the impact of all the information coming in from the field is instantly visible across the different timelines you're working on. This way, you continuously maintain a live overview of your position in the project without having to leave the office.
At the same time, your on-site personnel can easily document progress and send critical updates just using their mobile devices.
With everyone kept in complete sync, it becomes easier to avoid mistakes and deliver successful projects more quickly and cost-effectively. If you can limit delays and move your project forward, you will also protect your budget.
2. Move everything to a single source of truth
There is no construction-specific tool that is not supported by a single source of truth. Many project managers tell us that they still need to use more than 24 hours a month to keep all of their programs up to date.
Therefore, they continually go back and forth with the site foreman looking for the latest data and trying to figure out what each update might mean for the development of the next tasks.
Needless to say, this isn't good enough. By following this approach, you will quickly find yourself stuck under a mountain of context-less data.
That's why moving all project communication to the cloud can be a game changer. Simplifying all collaboration in one centralized location makes it incredibly easier for all teams to maintain full visibility over their tasks and for you to handle large blocks of data more intelligently.
The right people get access to the right information with just a few clicks, ensuring everyone knows where they stand and if a task or material order needs to be rescheduled.
In other words, when we talk about introducing a single source of truth, what we are really referring to is the transition from an administrative-heavy way of working to a collective intelligence environment where all project components are connected to each other. in full harmony.
And this is something WhatsApp and Excel cannot help you with. It has to go through the implementation of a digital tool designed and built exclusively for the construction industry.
3. Prioritize on-site adoption
The next big bet to bring your website closer to the office is digital adoption. Once you find the right tool for your project, you need to make sure your field teams will actually use it.
At first, you may notice that some people in the room are not so excited about changing their routine. There are also some project managers who worry about whether local staff have enough technical knowledge to go digital with their mobile reporting.
The reality is that if they can use their mobile device to read the news or check their bank account, they should also be able to learn how to use a construction management app. However, it is your responsibility to show them the value they can get from adopting the new way of working.
To achieve this, training is essential. In collaboration with your software vendor, you should organize detailed training and onboarding sessions where all team members will have the opportunity to ask questions and familiarize themselves with the application.
Lastly, the ease of use of your new digital solution is also an important parameter when it comes to website adoption. Individuals in the field should be able to submit updates and report progress in a few simple steps. This is something that is typically taken into consideration by an industry-specific application.
Connect everyone. Manage better!
Having a live, shareable view of your construction site can play a significant role in your effort to improve communication on your project. When you see more, you communicate better and as a result, you can improve teamwork and plan much more efficiently.
