The pitfalls of scheduling in the Construction industry

Construction projects are challenging, complex, and sometimes volatile to manage given the number of moving parts needed to complete a project successfully. Everything from workers, equipment, and materials all need to be in sync with a project cycle to maximize each stage, but the dynamic nature of the industry can often see costly missteps in this process. All of these facets rely heavily upon efficient scheduling to execute projects on budget and on time.

Allocation of crucial resources is further complicated by the scheduling process. Despite the billion-dollar investments into construction projects across the country, the industry remains severely behind in the adoption of technology to streamline their processes. Most construction companies are stuck with increasingly large whiteboards that expand across their whole site shed or office, and their allocators are run down with texts and calls at all hours of the day to schedule their resources.

Often, allocators have each employee’s skill set ingrained in their memory, allowing them to schedule workers based on pure memory alone. This heavy dependence is a great weakness in the business process because it relies on one or a few people to be the source and communicator of all important information. Given how high stakes projects are, is this really the best practice to manage your deliverables?

If the whiteboard is the single source of truth in construction schedules, how can it be accessible to all stakeholders to action and amend at the last minute without costly consequences?

Digitise your allocation whiteboard

The text suggests that digitizing the allocation whiteboard can address many of these issues, making scheduling more accessible and less dependent on individual memory or physical boards. By moving to digital solutions, construction companies can improve communication, reduce errors, and ensure that all stakeholders have access to up-to-date information.