All construction projects rely on a long chain of stakeholders who must work together and communicate continuously so that scheduled tasks are completed on time and within budget.
Of course, everyone in the sector knows that it is almost impossible to complete a project without suffering any type of delay. However, that doesn't mean there's no way to reduce setbacks in your projects and avoid costly mistakes that could eventually lead to endless claims and legal disputes.
This is where timely communication comes into play. Increasing the speed of response on your construction sites is the first step towards a project with full site visibility, where all interested parties are facing the same direction.
But how could you achieve this without facing death from a million apps or without drowning in a sea of disconnected information?
Well, it may seem complicated, or even impossible to some, but it really doesn't need to be. As long as you have the right software in your toolbox, you can gradually regain control of your project communication and bridge the gap between the boardroom and the construction site.
If you are now wondering what the right software means, we are simply talking about an industry-specific digital tool that has been designed and built with construction as its only priority.
And the reason behind this is simple. Tools like WhatsApp, Messenger, email or even Excel can be great, but they are not enough to manage your projects effectively because they do not provide that valuable link between website updates and 3-6 week forecasts or master schedule.
For you as a project manager or director, this simply means that making decisions about every website update you receive becomes much more difficult because you lack a clear view of everything that is happening on the website. In other words, the less you see, the slower you will respond to field updates. Unfortunately, this also applies to project teams and subcontractors.
Once again, it’s clear how important website visibility is to reduce downtime and ensure seamless communication across your projects.
The three steps to faster communication between the website and the office
In an attempt to help you escape the nightmare of fragmented communication and the administrative burden that accompanies it, we present below the three steps that will allow you to increase the speed of response on your construction sites. So you can deliver successful projects sooner and cheaper:
1. Choose construction-specific digital tools
We’ve already mentioned above the importance of implementing industry-specific digital solutions in your construction projects, but we can’t emphasize this enough. You can have the best people in the field, but without the right tools on hand, they won't be able to move your project forward.
At the same time, without a shareable live view of your project location, you will also find it extremely challenging to track each team's progress. That said, you can quickly spend almost half your time chasing updates and writing reports that are out of date by the time they are issued. The result?
- The response speed and, by extension, the reaction speed will be extremely low.
- Subcontractors will appear on site in vain.
- Your project will be vulnerable to commercial complaints.
- Deliveries will be delayed and customer dissatisfaction will increase.
2. Rely on a single data source
On this blog, you must have read repeatedly about the importance of having a single source of truth for your projects. Again, the goal behind this is quite simple. Using one data source ensures better communication and significantly reduces administrative workload.
Additionally, by centralizing all project communication, it becomes easier to ensure project progress as everyone will remain focused on the schedule and always feel confident that no crucial information will be forgotten or lost.
In addition to better communication, a single source of truth can also help you level up your quality management processes. All quality and safety checks will now be easily linked to the master plan and critical issues will be resolved as you go, leaving no room for costly surprises during deliveries.
But response speed can also refer to how effectively you and the site manager address complaints. By having all critical information in one place, you can find and retrieve within hours that email or photo that could protect your project from commercial claims. This is extremely powerful considering the time and effort typically required to fight claims on a construction project.
This is also further proof of how important it is to implement construction-specific tools in your projects, as they can provide a single, secure data source open to all project stakeholders.
3. Standardize to combat administrative burden
Standardization has already started to become an essential part of the new normal in construction. It can take different forms depending on the sector or project you are involved in, but the main concept is always the same. Adding more predictability to your production and gaining more control over different aspects of your projects.
It goes without saying that by encouraging standardization and repeatability of tasks, you also have a unique opportunity to improve your project communication.
For example, by introducing standardized, easy-to-use inspection forms and checklists, you can significantly speed up communication about quality management on your projects. In the long term, this could lead to faster resolution of nonconformities, fewer errors and, by extension, faster project delivery.
Thus, it becomes easily evident that repeatability and effective decision-making depend on good communication. The better the connection between the location and the office, the better the visibility of the location for you and your teams.
As repetitive as it may seem, it all comes back to our first point. Implementing construction-specific tools that can support a seamless way of connecting with diverse stakeholders in your project.
How to keep everyone on your project on the same page
At the end of the day, good communication on a construction project is all about keeping everyone aligned. This is the only way to avoid errors or at least resolve them as quickly as possible.
In this article, we present some of the first steps you need to take to achieve your goal. However, this is just the beginning.
In an effort to help you gain full visibility and control over your projects, we invite you to download our in-depth eBook on the importance of industry-specific tools for your project .
