For most of us, the start of a new year means committing to making the next 365 days better than the last. Roughly two-thirds of American adults make some kind of resolution, usually centered around creating a healthier lifestyle and stronger finances.
Why should construction project owners miss out on the fun? Here are some suggested resolutions to help make 2022 the best year yet for your buildings and your balance sheet.
Be more proactive. It’s tempting to rely on your general contractor to keep you in the loop, but with COVID-related supply chain disruptions and labor shortages forecasted to continue in 2022, you can’t afford to be passive. This year, resolve not only to stay involved in the construction process, but to raise those “what if” questions that are critical for anticipating and mitigating risks . . . and risk management has never been more important for helping ensure that your construction projects finish on-time and on-budget.
Keep your head out of the clouds, but don’t get pulled into the weeds, either. Being involved in your projects is a tricky proposition for any owner with Too much detail and you miss the forest for the trees. Too little and you miss key warning signs until it’s too late. Your success requires you to find a data sweet spot somewhere in between: one that allows you to easily switch between project, program, or portfolio-level reporting. Identify the metrics most critical for project success and keep your eye trained on them continually.
Improve project team communication. Given the projected challenges of managing construction projects in 2022, it’s vital that all stakeholders communicate with each other efficiently and accurately. Miscommunication results in almost half of all rework on a project, so ensuring that your project team stays on the same page throughout the project can have a significant impact on both your timeline and your bottom line.
Challenge yourself. Construction industry statistics are pretty clear: Almost 75% of construction projects exceed their budget and miss their completion deadline. Unfortunately, those grim numbers have conditioned us to accept delays and overages as the norm. This year, challenge your team — and yourself — to reject that idea. What would it take to improve your odds of finishing on-time and on-budget? More efficient construction document control might be a good start, since bad data is the culprit responsible for a majority of rework and change orders.
Practice accountability. Even relatively small construction projects involve a sizable number of both internal and external stakeholders. Being able to track specific milestones (and any relevant communications) is critical for ensuring that people actually follow through on their commitments. Often a major schedule slippage is the result of many small delays, none of which seem individually significant. Add up their combined impact, however, and it can be sizable. Owners should make schedule visibility a priority.
Systems matter. No matter how talented your team, the key to construction project success is the quality of your systems. Sustainable systems lead to predictable results. Take time at the beginning of the year to assess how effective your systems are. What are your strengths? What are your challenges? Whether it’s how you track your construction budget or your site’s safety inspections, where is there room for improvement?
Be open to change. Change is hard. That’s why most New Year’s resolutions fail by February. But if we keep doing the same thing the same way, we shouldn’t be surprised that we keep getting the same result. In the immortal words of Dr. Phil, “How’s that workin’ out for ya?” This year, take an opportunity to explore new tools, new ideas, and new methodologies that could change your project management for the better.
As anyone embarking on a New Year’s diet knows, making the resolution is the easy part. Following through is the challenge. Our team at Owner Insite wants to help you to make this your best year yet, and we’re confident that our construction project management software can play a big part in reaching that goal. Schedule a demo to see for yourself how our solutions can meet your construction management, asset management, and capital planning needs.
