How inter-connectivity can save your construction company from embarrassing mistakes

When managing a construction project, delayed schedules and stretched budgets can feel like the industry standard. 

The multitude of independent parties from architects, engineers, contractors, plant operators, project managers and trades creates the perfect foundation for disjointed communication. 

The answer?

Well-integrated IT solutions can enable real-time and seamless collaboration. Yet, many businesses still rely on disconnected systems that utilise scattered and inconsistent data.

Your construction businesses’ reputation is at the risk of mistakes being made due to

• incorrect data, 
• miscommunication, 
• delayed updates, and 
• slower decisions 

Ultimately, it puts construction businesses behind. Although updating systems might seem like more work, blown-out budgets and not meeting deadlines are far more expensive.

To focus on client relationships and deliver project outcomes on time, we explore the common mistakes of disjointed systems. 

1. Team disconnection and lack of collaboration

Without interconnected systems, effective communication between on-site and off-site teams is quite tricky. 

The breakdown of communication encourages departmental silos and missed information. There is often a lack of understanding of how one team’s work on the field may impact decisions needed to be made in the office. 

Information scattered across multiple platforms and devices can delay critical information and impact time-sensitive decisions. Additionally, being involved in project hold-ups and reworks can cause frustrations to rise on the field.

Integrated solutions can improve managing labour, simplify change management, making real-time decisions and improving project costs. 

This integrated approach allows teams to maximise visibility and communication flow.

2. Disjointed Data 

Operating independently can result in double, triple and inaccurate data entry. This independence compounds the human error element. The more people that touch data, the more error-prone it is. 

Disjointed and disparate data causes teams to take action based on inaccurate information. It means that the integrity of data compromises decision making due to its inaccuracy. 

The interesting thing about disjointed data is that it requires more human input. More resources are needed to manage disorganised data meaning it’s expensive, inaccurate and causes further problems for construction companies. 

3. Forecast with more accuracy

Right from the start, the crucial element to completing projects on time and budget is initial estimates and gathering a complete understanding of the project’s scope. 

A comprehensive and organised data set on historical projects allows project managers to understand errors in the past better and use them to better forecast future projects. 

4. Keep costs to a minimum with innovative automation processes.

The more systems and processes a business uses, the more complex a project can be to manage. Maximising productivity is essential for a growing company and automating tasks is an excellent way to achieve this. 

It’s a powerful tool that reduces costs and minimises human error. 

It allows businesses to achieve more by ultimately doing less. But can only be achieved when a good data set and interconnected working environment is created. 

For example, field teams can automatically feed data into a centralised system that stores, reads, and alerts relevant team members when particular tasks need to be completed or fix issues. 

Automation increases the visibility project managers have over tasks. More visibility = More potential profit.

The power of being connected

Data is the new gold. 

When businesses employ automated systems rather than person-hours, they can achieve much higher productivity and even help you avoid a blaring mistake. 

Speak to Thrive about how you can create an interconnected business environment today – contact our team at help@thrivetech.com.au.

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We Understand.
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