In the constantly changing construction industry, staying on top of new trends is crucial to stay competitive and have your project stand out. As a construction manager, your entire focus is staying on time and within budget, but with hundreds of moving parts, this can be very challenging to say the least. Here are 5 proven strategies and expert tips that are becoming popular within the construction industry. Bonus: we’ve added a pro tip for each one.
Tip #1: Utilize Project Management Software
One of the largest changes over the past decade within the construction industry has been the adoption of software. Specifically, project management tools have taken over by storm. Long gone are the days of printed out charts that are solely located inside the boss's trailer. Now, everyone on your team can get access to a shared tool that's constantly updated and can assist with project management.
ProTip: There are quite a few project management software tools currently available, and differ depending on the complexity of your projects. If you’re unsure about the technical abilities of your team members and want easy to use software, JobTread, Leap, and Procore are ranked the easiest to use according to G2, a leading software review platform.
Tip #2: Have Building Materials Delivered When Needed
Effective management of construction building materials is important to streamline your projects and reduce time delays. By using just in time (JIT) inventory management practices, you can reduce the number of materials at your site at any given time and only have them when needed. This is beneficial for a few reasons, it reduces the probability of materials becoming damaged, it frees up space on the job site, and it allows for easier movement of both people and machinery without navigating around building materials laying around.
First adopted by Toyota in the 1970s, Just In Time inventory management involves inventory, or in construction managers case, building materials, being delivered only when they’re needed. Adopting this will reduce the complexity of your projects.
ProTip: In addition to tracking project timelines with a project management software, manage your job sites' materials with the project management software from Tip #1.
Tip #3: Encourage Communication From Team Members
Maintaining a constant flow of open communication from your team members can make or break your job site. Becoming alerted of issues when they’re minor concerns can help you resolve issues before they become catastrophes. By setting up weekly all hands meetings, team members feel that their input is valued and heard. They are then more likely to contribute in the future and remain engaged in the project.
ProTip: Actively reward and encourage communication from team members. Make the rewards visible to other members, they can be simple such as verbal appraisal.
Tip #4: Replace Manual Tasks With Innovative Products
If you’ve been to a building materials distributor recently, you’d see the constantly evolving set of products available to homebuilders. The constantly evolving products are using new technologies to make construction projects easier and quicker.
ProTip: For residential construction managers consider using Angle Armour’s angle iron covers. They’re patented design has a rear section that can be flashed, eliminating the risk of any trapped water on the top side of angle irons. It’s available in 8 different colors to match any brick and has been successfully installed in over 2000 homes.
Tip #5: Implement Rigorous Quality Control
Conducting regular inspections of your project to assess its quality and adherence to building codes will save time and money in the long run. Also, ensure that these practices are followed by all team members regularly and stress the importance of this. If needed, build incentive systems around the adherence to quality control processes.
ProTip: Implementing a plan to assess quality throughout your project and not right at the end before final inspection will reduce headaches and mitigate risks of expensive changes needed.
By implementing these 5 tips you’ll be more likely to keep your projects on time and within budget. As a construction manager, with hundreds of moving parts and people on every job site it’s important to constantly refine and adapt your processes to the changing construction industry. Let us know which tip you like the most in the below comment section under the article.
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