4 Tips for Improving Your Construction Workforce Management

Construction projects are notorious for being delayed and going over budget. In fact, according to industry data, only one-third of construction projects stay within estimated budget constraints, and losses due to construction site labor inefficiencies totaled nearly $177 billion in 2018. However, several new solutions are helping construction project managers ensure a project is delivered on time and within scope. Effective construction workforce management is crucial to keep a project on track, and a good construction project manager optimizes both job site operations and employee’s labor hours to complete the job more efficiently.

Article highlights:

— Tips to Improve workforce management including collaboration and optimization tools

— Technological tools like moving to digital and effectively utilizing data

— Benefits of workforce management that can result in a win-win for the client and company

If you are looking to improve productivity on your job site, we have realistic, actionable ideas to help. Here are four of our top tips to help improve your construction workforce management:

1. Collaborate

Having an open stream of communication between all workers on the job site is key to a project’s success, and collaboration helps make this a reality. In construction, there are a numerous amount of different specialized subcontractors involved in achieving a final project. Collaboration can have a significant impact on the overall efficiency and effectiveness of a project. 

Many contractors are choosing to use database management systems to help streamline communication and collaboration on the job site. By doing this, contractors can maintain consistent communication and quickly and efficiently remedy any errors or delays occurring, preventing a domino effect that delays the project as a whole. 

2. Optimize your Workday

Time management is often one of the biggest pitfalls of a construction project. When workers are spending a significant portion of their day waiting to begin working, it slows down the entire project and ends up being extremely costly. In fact, almost 90 percent of construction workers classify the industry as being unproductive. 

Simply investing in a better time management system can have a massive payoff in the long run by increasing worker productivity, overall efficiency, and attitude towards the project. Some areas to look for ways to improve time management include site preparation, workday planning, and travel time.

3. Move to Digital

The construction industry is notorious for requiring long, arduous hours of administrative work on top of the already labor-intensive process of working on a construction site. Billing, daily reports, estimates, and code inspection documents are just a few of the many documents to complete during a construction process. Moving these to digital can save vast amounts of time and energy. 

There are countless solutions to help ease the transition from paper to digital. Using tools like mobile workforce management at construction sites are particularly useful to help organize and optimize daily workflow. 

4. Use Data

In today’s day and age, data is the name of the game. There is a vast amount of new data being collected every single day, and the amount is growing exponentially. We have an enormous amount of data at our fingertips that is instrumental in completing a successful and efficient construction project. 

It’s essential to use the right data, the right way. Tools like construction workflows that use data can be extremely beneficial for project managers to oversee project delivery. They have many additional benefits, such as reducing the risk of errors and delays as well. Data holds the keys to helping a construction project succeed. Correctly analyzing data can help increase overall job site productivity by assisting managers in drawing conclusions and making necessary changes to the project. 

Importance of Construction Workforce Management

Proper construction workforce management leads to increased job site productivity, resulting in a win-win situation of stakeholders and workers showing higher levels of satisfaction with the project. Using effective management techniques has countless benefits, some of which include:

Reducing downtime: Construction workers often waste up to half of their day waiting to be able to begin their part in the project. With effective construction workforce management, this downtime could be drastically reduced, significantly increasing the productivity level of workers on the job site. 

Managing costs: Good construction workforce management can help minimize wasteful spending and improve the likelihood of completing a project on time. Time-consuming, labor-intensive tasks, such as accounting, can be streamlined to help manage costs across the project. 

Meeting deadlines: Construction projects often fall into a “domino effect” when one part of the project is delayed. By optimizing your construction workforce management, you can help ensure you are meeting all of your deadlines. 

Improving Reputation: Having a reputation for meeting deadlines and budgets can speak volumes in the industry. By using proper construction workforce management, you can build up your industry reputation, which is an essential factor in future client acquisition. 

Conclusion

Effective construction workforce management is key to a successful and profitable construction project. Construction project managers should be going digital and using data effectively to minimize wasted time and resources. Additionally, streamlining an open line of communication and optimizing your workday through a time management system is crucial to ensure your project is delivered on time and within scope. Proper construction workforce management can help maximize employee time to ensure a job is completed as efficiently and effectively as possible.