10 Tips to Increase Productivity in Construction

10 Tips to Increase Construction Productivity

Do You Know How to Improve Construction Productivity Tracking?

In the world’s economy, the construction industry is one of the leaders. According to last year’s data, there are $10 trillion invested in various construction sites annually. What is more, around 7% of the world’s population is working in this industry. However, this sector suffers from a serious problem of productivity. What is more, its efficiency dropped every year, is now lower than in the 1990s. Lack of productivity affects any project, from the small ones to the mega construction sites where the financial risks are huge. According to McKinsey, if productivity in construction would grow, the industry would add $1.6 trillion.

This situation might be overwhelming, but it is not impossible to find solutions. Even the tiniest improvement in productivity can have major benefits for the industry. Therefore, if you develop a construction project or you plan to do so, keep in mind these tips to increase site productivity. This article is going to show you which tips to use to prevent any loses due to lack of productivity.

10 Tips to Increase Productivity in Construction

1. Create a map of activities

A construction project develops at a very fast pace. So, it is difficult to stay organized all the time. However, this can ruin your project and cause a lack of productivity. Therefore, before you start your project, it is very important to create a map of activities from the start. Your team needs to understand the entire workflow before they start working. This can be a time-consuming process, but it is essential if you want to avoid mismanagement and resource misallocation. What is more, apart from time, this tip won’t cost you a dollar.

2. Improve communication

Even though you have created the map of activities, this doesn’t mean that you have solved the problem completely. Poor communication is one of the causes for lack of productivity in almost any industry. For construction, in particular, it can have a huge, negative impact on the final result. You need to ensure a smooth communication between workers and supervisors. Thus, you will prevent mistakes and manage to respect deadlines. So, you can invest in training your supervisors and help them learn communication techniques. They need to clearly delegate responsibilities and define expectations.

3. Set realistic goals

Even though you offer various incentives to your workers to finish the project fasters, you cannot set unrealistic goals. You need to evaluate the resources you have and establish realistic goals when it comes to the project’s deadlines. Your workers can be the best of the best, but they are still humans. What is more, when you set unrealistic goals and put too much pressure on your employees, they might make more mistakes because of the stress.

4. Update your inventory

The investments necessary for a construction project are huge. Even though your budget is generous, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t keep an updated inventory. Your workers shouldn’t be allowed to receive supplies whenever they ask for it. They need to be responsible for their work and use the supplies you offer them wisely. What is more, by keeping an updated inventory, you will be able to order new materials when you discover that the stock will soon run short. In addition, an updated inventory helps you forecast your purchases and investments for the following period.

5. Organize your construction sites

A construction site is usually a mess. However, this is actually one of the low productivity causes. Therefore, you should pay attention to keep your site always tidy and organized. This is how you will prevent any accidents from happening and equipment damage. What is more, when people don’t find their tools and materials, they will waste their time instead of working. Hence, you will have to deal with low productivity and loses.

6. Delegate

You may have very skilled and smart people on your team, but you can also have some colleagues who are not so efficient. However, this doesn’t mean that you should overload and delegate most of the responsibilities to the most efficient employees. On the contrary, you should split the tasks based on the people’s strengths. Each person has a special skill and you should use it to increase productivity. If you want fast results, learn to delegate smartly and make sure that people do what they know to do best.

7. Safety before anything else

If you want to keep your productivity at the highest levels, you need to prevent injuries as much as possible. Construction is an industry where a lot of serious accidents can happen. Therefore, you need to invest in an effective safety program and train your employees about the safety techniques. By keeping the accident rates low, you will avoid delays and extra expenses with the employees injured at work.

8. Use prefabricated building systems

The recent trends show that many companies in the construction industry are using modular or prefabricated building systems. A modular building system is constructed off-site. Then it is transported to your construction site. So, when you use this solution, your employees will spend less time constructing the building. What does this mean? An improved productivity!

9. Train your employees

A company doesn’t have a more valuable asset than its employees. Thus, if you want your teams to perform to their highest potential, you need to invest in them. Now, with the high innovation pace, you cannot afford to not update your employees. They need to know how to use the latest technologies and be able to teach their teams as well. Therefore, when you have well-prepared employees, your productivity will increase a lot.

10. Offer recognition

There’s no better motivation for your employees than to feel that their work is appreciated. So, when you notice that they are doing things right, you should always acknowledge their good work and present them as an example for the others. You can take things even further and offer periodical rewards and prizes. This is the simplest method you can use to keep your employees motivated and so increase your productivity.

The competition is very high in the construction industry. Thus, you don’t have more time to lose than to do everything you can to increase your site’s productivity. This is one of the most effective strategies you can use to improve your results. The clock is ticking, and you spend more money than you should. So, you use these 10 tips to reach your goals, improve your company’s operational and site productivity.

construction productivity tracking

Conclusion

If your teams are struggling with sharing construction project data, unable to get people in sync or spending too much time on unproductive work, eSUB might be able to help. Contact us today to schedule a demo.


Kristin Savage has graduated from Columbia University where she was majoring in Germanic Languages. Currently Kristin is studying Spanish and planning to obtain her PhD in Applied Linguistics since she is interested in how to use her to some extent practical knowledge of language processes in everyday life. She has been a writer at Pick Writers for a few years and is known for her thorough approach to all the tasks and aspiration to fulfill assignments with flying colors.