If you are at work on a residential or commercial project, it is essential to meet deadlines in the construction business. If you are working on a residential property, the owner would want to move in as quickly as possible. Alternatively, if it is a commercial property that will be occupied by tenants, the owner would expect the project to be completed on time so that he can start generating rental income. The clock is always ticking and everyone wins when a project is completed as quickly as possible.
There can be numerous factors that slow down a construction project, such as inadequate planning, ineffective communication, and simple errors that result in a wastage of labor, time, and materials, to name a few. However, it’s possible to avoid most of these delays. By adopting the best practices related to construction management, you can ensure that your project meets its deadlines without compromising on quality.
Below take a look at the most effective techniques you can use to speed up a construction project:
1. IMPROVE YOUR PLANNING
Improved planning equals improved productivity. Before you start working on a project, it is essential to come up with a detailed plan on how to perform work so that you can complete it in minimum time. Most construction projects are delayed because of unnecessary waiting times. Hence, the best way to get it done quickly is to plan how to eliminate these waiting times at each stage of the construction process. Really if your initial planning is off, the whole project is going to be slower and more painful.
Another useful approach is to analyze all previous projects from start to end to identify the barriers to productivity and reasons for delays. Once past problems are identified, contractors should be able to find ways to avoid them in the future.
If you’re dealing with a large-scale project, you also need to have as much information as possible about the location. Drone use in real estate is gaining popularity and surveying for planning is one of the reasons.
2. INVEST IN BACKUP POWER
The size of the project did not matter; it is essential to have an emergency plan in place to deal with a power outage. Its due to severe weather conditions such as storms, heatwaves, bushfires, and strong winds are becoming increasingly common in Australia. In the worst cases, these outages can easily last for a few days. That makes it necessary for any construction business in the country to invest in high-power generators to ensure their projects don’t face unnecessary delays due to power failures. If you are looking for quality generators, make sure to check out ablesales.com.au.
3. USE CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Technology has revolutionized the construction industry and provided various tools that make managing a construction project so much easier than it was a few years ago. Today, you can find construction management software that can manage every aspect of a construction project.
Software can take care of key support functions so that you can focus on the main construction work. Take bid management, invoicing and billing, reporting, and job scheduling off your plate. By using such software, you can minimize paperwork, streamline your processes, and make project management so much more convenient, accurate, and hassle-free. It’s also generally a lot cheaper than hiring people to handle all these aspects for you.
4. PRIORITISE ON STAFF TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE
Do your workers and supervisors have adequate training and experience for the project on hand? If your employees lack training and experience, the chance of errors, poor-quality work, and delays increases significantly.
Your supervisors, in particular, need to be trained to make adequate time management a priority. Instead of managing the project on a day-to-day basis, they need to look at the bigger picture and continually evaluate if the project is meeting its targets and milestones. If you’re still running into issues, it may be time to bring in the big guns and hire a construction consultant.
5. IMPROVE COMMUNICATION
How do you make your entire team committed to meeting deadlines? By regularly communicating the importance of it to the team and getting everyone involved in the process. Since the workers are the people directly involved in the work, they know what happens on the ground better than anyone else. Their feedback on the main reasons for delays and how to avoid them can be highly valuable to the company.
Apart from that, effective communication and collaboration between the entire team are essential for the timely completion of projects. There are different software designed for this purpose. Using these can allow supervisors to immediately inform the manager of any event that could affect the completion of the project.
6. PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY
It is a great way to motivate employees to achieve the performance standards that you require from them. When employees know that they will be answerable for poor performance and rewarded when they meet deadlines and targets, they are likely to put in more significant effort to improve efficiency and productivity.
You can set various performance goals such as reporting to work on time, meeting task deadlines, working according to quality standards, and taking the initiative to solve problems on time. These performance goals must communicate to all the team members and small financial incentives attached to each one.
The Bottom Line: Do What You Have To Do To Get The Job Done
In the construction industry, failing to meet deadlines can be both frustrating and costly for the business. Timely completion of projects is something every customer expects from a contractor, which is why it is essential to make it a priority from the planning stage. Follow the above guidelines, and you are sure to see a significant improvement!
