Whether we like it or not, construction schedules are always subject to change. Whether the cause is material shortages, weather, change orders from clients, or simply projects taking longer than expected due to complications, change is all but inevitable. Conversely, projects may also have the opportunity to move faster than expected, for any number of reasons, if things line up well. Veterans of the construction industry know to come to work ready to anticipate change and remain adaptable to altered circumstances.
All of which is to say that, due to shifting timelines and complex dependencies, a key to success is knowing how to best use your reality capture data to remain flexible and collaborative while maintaining your project’s schedule in the face of sudden change.
Here are four tips for successful collaboration in construction projects and optimization of your schedule management.
1. ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION ACROSS TEAMS EARLY
At the beginning of any project, it’s important to familiarize your team with all parties involved and their functions within the project, and establish the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). This helps keep your team collectively oriented and fosters an understanding of the broader project ecosystem. This team alignment can become a real asset when the unexpected occurs. Team members who know where to turn, or whom to notify, can help mitigate confusion in any given situation.
Don’t just introduce teams as they’re needed, or hope they’ll connect on their own. Involve all key stakeholders—architects, subcontractors, clients, etc.—from the beginning of a project to establish a collaborative culture.
It’s also important to establish standard operating procedures (SOPs) for communication. This should include points of contact for all teams and trades, so everyone knows who to contact in each situation during the project.
These policies and procedures enable all teams to work together and lay the groundwork for effective problem-solving.
2. PROVIDE A SINGLE SOURCE OF TRUTH
We all know that dependencies, or predecessor activities, require various teams and trades to check on current progress to confirm when their part of the project is ready to begin. Confirming current conditions onsite or how progress is trending is intrinsically communicative, and it should be as efficient and accurate as possible.
Sometimes, too many unorganized memos going around the jobsite can become an efficiency issue. If you, and most of your team, must inform every other team, whether by phone or email, every time the schedule changes, you’ll be expending a lot of time and energy on time-intensive administrative tasks.
A complicated, task-heavy workflow can also lead to accuracy issues. If too many conversations are going on in a decentralized manner, inaccurate or outdated information regarding job progress can quickly spread across teams. This can create a domino effect of misinformation, like a game of telephone, leading to scheduling errors or even costly rework.
Instead of creating extra work for yourself and extra risk for the project, top construction professionals provide all teams with access to a single source of truth that contains both the project schedule details, reality capture data, and other vital project information.
3. TRACK DEPENDENCIES CAREFULLY
Let’s talk about tracking dependencies. Sometimes, they just aren’t clearly defined on a job, or they aren’t properly tracked, both of which can cause major problems for the entire project if left unchecked.
In these cases, teams may show up too early or late, or materials don’t arrive on time, leading to confusion, wasted time, and delays.
Working from a single source of truth—where everyone can see where everything is at—can help you keep track of dependencies and adjust the schedule details as needed.
This is a critical piece to any project —if all teams are able to view the schedule and dependencies and communicate/share information with each other in the same forum—they can flag issues earlier and avoid showing up onsite before they’re needed.
4. REPORT ACURATELY AND FREQUENTLY
Reliable, easy-to-access reporting is vital for keeping all stakeholders informed and ensuring that goals and milestones are consistently met.
Too often, organizations rely solely on second-hand information, periodic walkthroughs (which don’t always happen often enough to be reliable), and “eyeball” estimates to determine how much of a project is complete. Consequently, reporting based on imprecise information makes it that much more challenging to translate what you see in the field into a tangible percentage of completion.
Incorporating AI analysis tools into your workflows, specifically a Progress Reporting Solution, can provide key insights into your project reliably and at a consistent frequency.
Each report is based off reality capture data of the project’s as-built conditions. Trained on millions of real-world construction images, the AI performs a thorough analysis detection on major trades such as MEP, framing and drywall so that you receive timely, accurate reports based on what’s actually been completed on the jobsite.
EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION AND SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT LEAD TO PROJECT EFFICIENCIES
In construction, schedule changes and delays are inevitable. But your team’s adaptability and preparedness can make all the difference in how you respond to these challenges.
By prioritizing collaboration and transparency across teams throughout the construction phase, and utilizing cutting-edge AI technology such as Progress Reporting, it becomes easier to adapt to shifting schedules while minimizing disruptions as much as possible.
On your next project consider these four tips to unlock successful collaboration and optimize your schedule management. AI solutions like a Progress Reporting tool will bring new efficiencies and speed to a traditionally cumbersome process. What are you waiting for?
To learn more about Progress Reporting, book a demo HERE.
