Construction has always been the industry in which it’s challenging to measure productivity. As a construction professional, it’s likely you’ve heard about the McKinsey Global Institute report stating that almost nothing has changed in construction productivity rates over the past two decades (however, we question those results). With the sector facing pandemic challenges, productivity has been considerably affected. According to the report “Pandemics and Construction Productivity: Quantifying the Impact” released in August of 2020, the impact of the pandemic equals nearly a 20% loss in productivity. As a rule of thumb, a 10% impact on productivity results in a 100% impact on profitability. With that comes the need for contractors and other stakeholders to find ways to compensate for this impact. In this blog, we’re looking at several tips to do that by ensuring your job site is efficient and productive.
Manage Your Time
As soon as you get a contract, start mapping out your detailed project plan. Define the work tasks, build them up in a sequence to set manageable deadlines, and then break the tasks down into small digestible individual tasks or activities. You might also want to group them according to the resources required, such as materials, tools and equipment, or even work hours and labor intensity. Thinking about essential task attributes will help you create a well-balanced schedule and keep track of project milestones. For example, if you see which tasks depend on materials, regularly checking in with suppliers and subcontractors will help you avoid missing deadlines or falling behind with the schedule.
Manage Your Team
In our previous blogs, we’ve already highlighted the importance of good communication for working remotely and managing high-complexity construction projects. More than that, communication is the best tool to monitor and boost your productivity. Only by establishing clear communication lines among all major stakeholders on a project and talking with workers in the field can you identify areas where productivity is falling and work to improve the situation.
Effective communication is also an outstanding contribution to resolving issues before they emerge and avoiding costly delays and budget overruns. Only an uninterrupted flow of information can ensure that crucial issues are addressed on time and that everyone is informed regarding the current and upcoming tasks on site.
Manage Your Data
The time of attaching copies of blueprints to paper reports and sending them by fax is gone. Now, the construction digitalization rates keep improving with the frequent release of new tools and platforms. Although this process has numerous advantages, like saving time and helping make data-informed decisions, one considerable drawback is the amount of data we produce. Not to become overwhelmed with documents, files, and photos, it’s better to choose the right tools to begin with.
The tool that you can rely on to manage time, communication, and data is 360 Photo. The ability to walk your job site virtually allows you to save precious time, update schedules and track job status, and provide visual progress proof to project stakeholders. Contact us today to learn more about bringing efficiency to your job site!
