An astonishing 91.5% of projects in construction either go over schedule, over budget, or both, due to a wide range of factors–from cost overruns to supply chain delays. But there are also many ways to mitigate these issues, streamline operations, and improve efficiency and profitability.
Effective project management is essential for successful delivery. Poor project management can significantly affect outcomes. We’ll explore the ways it wrecks project progress and then dive into key strategies to optimize project delivery in construction.
How Poor Project Management Impacts Delivery
Poor planning can lead to a whole host of problems. Some of the most common issues:
- Delays: Failure to set clear tasks and timelines, scope creep, and lack of resources can all delay projects. What’s more, external factors like supply chain issues and shortages are common, so not forecasting for these pushes your completion date back even further.
- Increased costs: Failing to properly cost out a project and manage budgets or resources can lead to unexpected costs. You may have to hire more staff to get the job done, buy materials at a higher price, or work with a vendor who gives you a high estimate because you didn’t plan ahead.
- Compliance issues: Missing crucial compliance guidelines can result in rework, paying costly fines, or even legal action. This can have a damaging impact on your company’s reputation.
- Dissatisfied customers: With all these issues, it’s no surprise that customers often get frustrated with contractors. Having to pay more or wait longer than originally expected damages trust with clients. This could result in them choosing not to work with you in the future or worse, canceling your services mid-contract.
Challenges in Construction Project Management
Construction project management is complex. Here are just a few common challenges you’re likely to face. Being aware of and prepared for these puts you in the best position when they do occur, allowing you to manage the situation more effectively and limiting any damage.
- Lack of clear objectives: When stakeholders and clients are unclear about what they want, it makes the project team’s job significantly more difficult. If you don’t work together to define goals, you’re likely to waste time and resources.
- Budgeting constraints: Errors in cost estimation and ineffective cost control can have a knock-on effect on resources and timelines. Even after establishing a budget with project stakeholders, external factors like supply shortages and economic conditions can impact costs, place further constraints on your budget, and force you to re-evaluate initial estimations.
- Communication issues: With so many moving parts, it can be tricky to ensure everyone involved is on the same page. You have to be aware of which stakeholders need to be updated about what and when. If you don’t communicate regularly or when everyone has a hard time getting on the same page, it’s likely to cause mistakes, delays, and poor-quality work.
- Safety regulations: From heavy materials to complex machinery, there are a number of safety hazards in construction. Project teams must always be aware of and implement necessary safety measures, protocols, and procedures according to individual project requirements.
6 Strategies to Optimize Project Delivery in the Construction Sector
You can take steps to plan ahead and improve your processes despite the challenges. This will take extra time and investment initially, but in the long run it will help you deliver projects successfully.
From adopting new technology like EAM (Enterprise Architecture Management) to implementing additional safety protocols, here are six strategies to optimize project delivery.
Plan Effectively
To get things off to a good start, you need to establish clear objectives and outline the project scope.
Conduct site assessments to determine what safety and compliance requirements you need to meet. Doing this together with stakeholders also gives you an overview of the costs and timelines involved in delivering the project.
This will allow you to estimate resource requirements, set a budget and realistic timeline, and start breaking down work tasks for your team. Take a closer look at your workflows, too, as this might reveal opportunities to optimize project delivery. For example, creating templates or checklists for recurring tasks like permit approvals or safety checks saves time and ensures the process is consistent.
Having this plan also gives you a reference as you monitor progress throughout project execution, so you can proactively manage issues before they arise and make necessary changes.
Collaborate
Promoting collaboration helps to reduce conflict, misunderstandings, and poor-quality work. Encourage stakeholders to work together to make decisions and share knowledge to ensure project success, not to mention the happiness of your teams.
To improve collaboration, consider setting up internal communication channels like Teams or Slack, schedule regular team meetings to monitor progress, and document information so all teams are aligned. Integrating enterprise search functionality within your project management systems can enable teams to quickly find critical documents, previous project reports, or communications.
It’s important to keep an open line of dialogue with clients as well. Being upfront and honest will help build a strong relationship, manage expectations, and resolve concerns promptly.
Fix Supply Chain Issues
You can’t predict or avoid every supply chain issue. But the best thing you can do is thoroughly vet and research suppliers before entering into a contract. Once you’ve chosen a vendor, maintain regular contact so you’re aware of any potential disruptions.
It’s also good practice to set up contingency plans if your chosen supplier fails to deliver. This could mean having backup suppliers, stockpiling critical materials in advance, or rearranging your timeline of tasks.
Embrace Technology
The construction sector has seen a huge uplift in the use of technology in recent years. With so many solutions available, from project management software to Enterprise Architecture Management, organizations that don’t take advantage will fall behind competitors.
Having a centralized solution helps teams to improve collaboration, ensures you stay on track with project objectives, and enhances overall project efficiency.
Leveraging these tools can save you a lot of time and hassle by eliminating manual tasks, streamlining workflows, facilitating real-time progress tracking, and enhancing resource allocation.
Additionally, automation reduces the risk of human error and can free up time for your staff to spend on higher-value tasks. The solution architect role is critical here, as they help design, customize, and implement the right systems to fit your specific construction project needs.
Train Your Team
Offering training and growth opportunities allows your workforce to learn different skills, utilize new technology, and understand changing market trends. This makes for a much more successful project, informed by new practices and tools that will help you maximize construction efficiency. Plus, well-trained employees are happier, more productive, and 80% more likely to stick around in the long run.
Improve Safety Measures
After establishing project safety requirements during the planning stage, ensure necessary measures are in place to enforce these on site. This keeps everyone safe and prevents disruptions to the project, keeping delays and additional costs to a minimum.
There are a number of ways businesses can improve safety measures and protocols. This includes carrying out regular inspections and audits, providing appropriate uniforms and safety equipment, promoting safety amongst the workforce through training and communications, and consulting experts to identify any gaps in their protocols.
Optimizing Project Delivery for Strategic Success
Optimizing project delivery in construction requires careful planning, collaboration, technology integration, supply chain management, team training, and safety improvements. If you can implement these strategies, you can avoid delays, unexpected costs, and unhappy clients—all while improving project efficiency and increasing profitability.
About the author: Diana Nechita is the Director of Product Marketing at Ardoq. Her passion lies in fostering a deep understanding of Ardoq’s value in delivering tangible results for organizations navigating the complexities of digital transformation. Here is her LinkedIn.