The construction industry can be unpredictable and volatile at best and worst times. With the many things that have happened over the last two years, the construction sector is taking a hard hit. So, how is your company coping? Did you level up your game? How flexible is your business becoming?
Flexibility is becoming a critical part of a business, especially if you want to thrive continuously during uncertain times. So, how can a construction manager like you stimulate flexibility, especially in decision-making and construction planning?
Read this blog to discover and learn seven pro ways to incorporate flexibility in your project management.
Why Stimulating a Culture of Flexibility Important?
A piece of great advice about improving every aspect of your construction business will most likely include a bullet point about fostering a certain culture. Flexibility is one aspect that should be present in your company culture, or this case, in your project management.
It is easier to say, “Let us be flexible with how we manage things in our business,” yet unless everybody is on board and getting involved, it will be impossible to achieve. Therefore, creating and reinforcing flexibility ensures it will be at the forefront of your people’s minds.
As a construction manager, you can achieve this through:
- Creating open lines for your people to address existing obstacles and solutions.
- Make a strong effort to secure a team on all project management initiatives.
- · Ensure that changes are encouraged at all levels of your organization.
Embracing Flexibility in Your Project Management
A construction manager like you should look closely at your existing strategies and approaches to determine what areas you need to become more flexible. Here we will show you some tactics to embrace and stimulate flexibility in your overall project management.
1. Reduce operating costs and hard costs
It is quite challenging to do expenses and payroll when job sites are required to shut down. On top of that, money is not flowing into your company consistently. One effective way to keep things afloat while waiting for something to become easier is to cut hard costs and minimize operating expenses. Depending on your construction company’s immediate needs, there are a few ways to approach this particular plan.
- Consider enhancing your business processes by embracing unique innovations. This strategy may require a considerable initial investment, but it is worth the expenses if it can secure a significant ROI and lessen your overall costs.
- Invest in rented or used construction equipment to supplement your company’s fleet when necessary. Used equipment may not represent the latest options available in the market. Still, if you purchased it from a licensed reseller, it does provide a cost-effective and reliable option for moving your construction projects forward.
The two ways we mentioned above allow your construction firm to maintain flexibility since soft costs such as labor and safety management will shift over time.
2. Embrace software and automation
Automation is quickly making its way into nearly every single industry around the globe, and construction is not an exception. In these uncertain times, incorporating automation and construction employee scheduling software can make so much difference in how your company thrives and continues to operate.
If you take time to notice, many common tasks in your field respond well to automation, freeing your skilled people to dedicate their work hours, energy, and skills to other jobs. Indeed, automation and the latest technologies can allow your company to continue operations despite the closures.
For instance, construction time tracking software like Pro Crew Schedule serves as a cloud-based collaboration platform that can keep you and your team on the same page, anywhere at any time. It simplifies the overall process and makes collaboration and sharing easier and seamless for all parties involved.
3. Look for Service Expansions and Business Ideas
As a construction business owner, you may often need to adhere to certain conditions. But when the market shifts, as it happened several times over the last two years, how can your company stay afloat when regular work faces shortages and delays?
A successful construction business builds adaptability to its overall construction planning. You should be able also to determine a new venture and measure its practicality to pull off flexibility successfully. For example, suppose your projects are delayed due to some unexpected reasons. In that case, you need to refocus on your clients’ needs, mainly restoration efforts for re-opening buildings or safety management renovations.
You have other options, and you may stick to a simpler approach. However, do not let anything restrict your company from new ventures that can significantly help your business during tough times.
4. Consider Cooperation and Networking
The construction sector is intensely competitive by nature, and although healthy competition can keep the sector thriving, it does need to alienate companies from each other fully. Try to cooperate and network with other local businesses close to you. Doing so can help you in many things without sacrificing profit or cutting your bottom lines.
You may find yourself struggling to take on new projects due to material and labor shortages. Having a close business relationship with other companies can help you fix this shortage. It is one of the many scenarios in which you will find how beneficial networking is.
To be clear, competition does not mean you get an ally, but it does not necessarily mean you are getting an enemy.
5. Always be ready to adjust to client behavior
Admit it, working with your clients is a privilege, right? However, things have been a rough patch for everyone over the past years, especially your customers. Your company needs to prepare to adjust to the increasingly negative attitude of your clients. You need to maintain professionalism without the intention of alienating or offending the client. After all, everyone needs and deserves a bit of compassion and patience as they navigate the trying and stressful times.
Flexibility in customer communication requires full transparency as well as expectation management. So, always be upfront with your clients regarding your sector’s challenges and adjust the timelines accordingly. And when both parties are already prepared for adaptability, conflicts are most likely to be reduced.
6. Encourage learning and development
It has already been proven that opting for conventional practices and techniques in the sector is no longer an option. As a construction company, you should not consider getting stuck and waiting for things to get better. One way you can do this is to encourage your people to improve their skillset and develop new ones. This is the right opportunity to introduce continuing training programs for your people, especially those interested in seeking new certifications.
Skilled labor shortages make hiring and retaining strong workers quite challenging for companies. So, rather than searching for the best talent, prepare your existing employees for your future needs. Investing in growth and development allows your people to get interested in acquiring certifications and adapting to new technologies easily, like construction management software for subcontractors, while keeping your company primed for a change.
7. Optimize your inventory
Regardless of the shape and size of your construction business, a inventory management system capable of viewing all parts of the flow of your assets is key to flexible operation. To keep flexibility in your management, inventory optimization is one thing you should consider. Optimizing your inventory will give you better visibility of all the materials that need to be procured, which are all essential to your existing and next construction projects.
It is best to use inventory management software to enable real-time inventory transparency. Getting into the nitty-gritty of your inventory becomes much easier with this software. It will also benefit you across the board as it helps streamline your processes while delivering smooth and flexible inventory and management operations.
Pro Crew Schedule’s Flexibility Will Carry Your Construction Business Forward
No one can ever anticipate what will happen next and how it will impact the construction sector. So, instead of hunkering down and waiting, you should seek ways to adopt flexibility to your processes, especially if your goal is to thrive and succeed.
Start stimulating flexibility in your project management. In today’s world of streamlined budgets and tight deadlines, your project management software for the construction industry must be intuitive, versatile, practical, and, yes, flexible. Pro Crew Schedule has these particular qualities built into its design. Multiple construction projects of various scales and sizes call for flexibility in your software solution.
Pro Crew Schedule meets your expectations as it helps you maintain consistency across all your projects while delivering transparency and accessibility to your business.
To learn more about our software, you can get started with a 30-day trial for FREE.
