Technology is vital to the future of the construction sector. With the ongoing demand for construction labor, already short-staffed construction companies need an effective solution for keeping up to speed. And technology offers a ton of valuable tools and resources to fix the problem. You have a lot to choose from, but that is not the real deal.
While the ever-evolving and improving access to new applications and software is ultimately good for your business, your construction workforce finds it frustrating. So what should you do? The key is knowing how to train your team on new systems and technology.
In this blog, we will cover some tips on how to effectively train and educate your workforce on the latest construction technologies. Moreover, discover also what these technologies your workers need to be mandatorily trained on, which we will cover first in this blog post.
Construction Technologies Your Team Needs to Be Trained On
Many construction businesses today have started streamlining and digitizing their overall process over the past years. Two key reasons for this skyrocketing technology adoption are that teams want to communicate more effectively with everybody involved and speed up construction projects with minimal disruption. But where should you start?
Here are some of the emerging techs and systems in the construction sector that numerous groups of construction professionals and laborers will need proper training on:
- Best time tracking software for construction – Pro Crew Schedule
- Worker Safety
- Fleet management
- Connected job sites
- Internet of Things
In general, these are only a few of the techs being constantly leveraged and prioritized in the sector. When you choose to leverage this to your business, ensure proper tech training for your people. Know that tech construction training significantly helps with recruiting and skills training. In addition, new techs help attract potential talents to your team, thus improving the massive labor shortage.
Ways to Train Your Crew on New Technologies
Before we proceed, know that training your employees on the latest techs today leads to higher productivity and efficiency, resulting in more complete projects in less time. Construction techs like crew scheduler software solutions are becoming increasingly sophisticated and require a unique program for the overall training. So, defining the job roles and purpose related to these unique keys is the key.
The following tips can help you plan an effective training program for your construction crew:
1. Embrace the learning curve
It takes time for even experienced crew to make it through the learning curve regarding these new techs, whether it is software in the office or hardware used onsite.
Now is the perfect time for your upper management employees and low-level crew to practice patience and better understand one important thing – that learning the ins and outs of a new software tool takes time. And that making mistakes and learning from these mistakes is important.
Help your people work better with their learning curve instead of against it.
2. Describe the many benefits of using new technologies
Make changes with a good and clear purpose. You never want your construction crew gets confused. So, start by outlining the benefits of using new construction techs, like construction Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, BIM, 3D printing, and more. When you introduce each piece of this tech into your operations, expect to gain the greatest advantage. As a matter of fact, this does a lot of wonders when clearing up misunderstandings and mishaps even before they happen.
3. Plan the training program
Now that you have buy-in, craft the training outline. Instead of deploying new techs and letting your crew fend for themselves, create a practical program. Below are some tips for establishing one:
- Clearly define your company goals.
- Assessment of all functional tasks relevant to the software features
- Train in order of importance
- Plan and track employee training
- Educating company stakeholders about business expectations and technology capabilities
- Use multimedia tools, like PowerPoint or Google slides, for presentations
- Appointment of an internal point person for technical questions
- Data migration
- Fine-tuning of the software and employee use
- Make education a huge part of the orientation
Some organizations opt for in-person training sessions, while others often choose virtual education solutions. Whatever works best for your construction employment, always do your best to keep these training programs more engaging and easy to attend, with more hands-on opportunities to put the new skills to practice in the field.
4. Make Tech Training More Inclusive and Varied
The successful implementation of new techs in the construction sector depends on familiarity with the new software. A critical step is ensuring all your crew members get the chance to participate in the training, from new site workers to experienced project managers and even the other leaders. Overall, this helps lift the whole project and the industry.
Moreover, ensuring everyone feels they are an important part of the projects and understand new technology will help create a widely capable construction team. Know that the goal of training is to expose as many employees as possible to innovative techs and form highly skilled and experienced teams that are all prepared to build the future of the construction sector.
5. Set clear and realistic rollout methods
Your people will feel better about training requirements when they know exactly what to expect. A critical part of getting your employees to use new software solutions is demonstrating respect for their time and already-packed schedules. In addition, you also need to give advanced notices of clear deadlines for the training and define the rollout methods you will use.
Another thing you must know is that a huge part of overcoming friction and worker pushback is letting them see what is coming and then giving them space and time to process the change. Does this mean a rollout of new construction crew management software takes longer? The answer depends on some factors. But there will be an indication that your people will be more willing to come along because they see the support during the transition process, thus, saving more time in real-time to the overall training process.
6. Pick the right format for training
It is absolutely true. Some companies use the same old training format and this is not applicable every time there is a new tech to be deployed. Sure, it can deliver the training quickly, but it results negatively.
In your case right now, what do you prefer? Lecture-based kind of training or longer practical training? A study found that while participants picked knowledge, their practical application of the acquired knowledge could have been more effective. So, ensure you are designing courses that your people can digest most effectively and easily as possible.
7. Evaluate How Your Workforce works
There are different types of laborers in your workforce; two of the most apparent are the aging workforce and the millennials. Now, the thing is, the two has a different approach to new software implementations. While millennials are thrilled to be part of the training programs, your aging workforce may still need to. In most cases, the latter need help to catch up.
Make sure to craft a better way to introduce new systems to your aging workforce. In most cases, you can prioritize them more than the other. But it depends. Lastly, evaluate each and establish how the technologies can streamline all construction processes. This saves you money, time, and effort by preventing uphill battles against the latest technologies.
8. Ask for specific feedback
Think of your construction team’s leaders and project managers as your stakeholders. Always keep them engaged in the overall process and insist on getting all their input to address any issues early. There is a valuable development opportunity for your team that you must grab – the continuous buy-in that goes a long way in increasing employee buy-in.
So, conduct a survey of all your employees and, from there, track the overall progress of the technology solutions. In the start, make sure to do the following:
- Discover what parts of the new tech excite every employee the most.
- Discover and learn what functions are most improved.
- · Find out the aspects of your worker’s jobs they enjoy the most and how the software has improved their overall performance.
- Find out the issues and concerns your people have.
Manage the Field and Train Your Crew with Pro Crew Schedule
We already mentioned that there are many options you can choose from when it comes to construction technologies. If there is one single aspect of your business that needs the most attention – it is the management.
By choosing the right construction tool to use for overall construction project management, you can handle any size of your workforce. So it is important to take time to review your options.
We introduce the top-tier choice in the market – Pro Crew Schedule. This crew schedule planning software suits all your construction team’s needs. You can take advantage of this tool to manage your field and train your crew effectively. On top of that, it helps foster open communication with all your stakeholders.
Pro Crew Schedule is packed with the best features to support your construction management fully.
