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Let’s face it, construction leaders in any market are busy.
Delays, schedule changes, incomplete project plans, paperwork, change orders and – worst of all – stop work orders, play havoc with projects completing on time and under budget.
It is suggested that worldwide, the average large construction project takes 20% longer to complete than planned and runs a staggering 80% over budget. We’ve highlighted some of the best advice from our construction clients who have implemented meaningful technology innovations that saved time, money and stress:
Be clear about the purpose, priority and impact of the tech.
A key piece of advice from construction leaders we have spoken to is to involve the right people in decisions about tech. Gather and embrace ideas from stakeholders across the business, project and operations on what the key issues and successes are, what impact improving these would have, examples of tech they have seen or used and input on process design.
Reward your tech gurus.
Your best employees WANT more responsibility, so reward those that give you the best ideas. One real estate client of ours led a short challenge among their graduate intake to select a new software that would streamline their construction and property management operations. The winner helped deliver the project and received a bonus linked to the savings they made – needless to say they’ve never been short of great ideas since!
Monetize your investment.
With competition being rife in the market, hard data showing the positive impact technology has on your budget and schedule management will pay dividends. One general construction contractor we work with within New York shows real-time performance stats when bidding on work, and the company has seen a 17% increase in wins since doing so.
Gamification of training.
Reading pages and pages of instructions is a thing of the past. By using engaging, interactive material and self-directed learning, you’ll encourage employees to learn through doing and can create some healthy competition by tracking progress and rewarding learners.
The construction industry has been slower to adopt technology, but developers and general contractors we work with are increasingly turning to technology to improve the efficiency, safety and flexibility of their operations and dramatically increase productivity and margin growth.
So, with a rapidly evolving suite of technology products that can, in theory, create significant efficiencies, how do you select which product will benefit YOU the most? And most importantly of all, how do you ensure everyone uses it in an industry that is slow to embrace change?
As specialist recruiters in the world of Real Estate & Construction, we’re here if you need help defining a role or brief, specialist insight to help shape your ideas or expert help with your recruitment process. Just get in touch to arrange a conversation with one of the team or if you’re ready for us to find the perfect person for you, send us your brief.
If you’re looking for your ideal job send your resume to us to get started or search for the latest job vacancies and we’ll get the ball rolling.