Poor communication, poor data management: Construction industry issues that technology adoption can solve

Continuing from the last blog post, we now move to discuss the still dominant construction industry issues that lead to wasted labor: poor communication and poor data management. Citing from the same study that we linked to in the previous article, 48% of all construction rework in US construction sites is due mainly to miscommunication and poor project data handling.

Poor communication, poor data management

According to the study’s respondents, 26% of rework is attributed to poor communication between team members. Here are the top three causes of miscommunication:

1. Unresponsiveness between and among project team members.
2. Inability to collaborate effectively among project stakeholders.
3. Lack of an effective platform where project stakeholders and members can easily communicate and share project information in.

Extrapolating from the same data (see the previous article), FMI estimates that poor communication is potentially costing the US construction industry $17 billion per year while poor project data is representing $14.3 billion per year. That’s a total of $31.3 billion annual losses.

For a more in-depth read on this topic, you might want to see our article that talks about the most common construction problems and how construction management software can solve them.

Construction professionals’ disregard for mobile and IT solutions

In the same research survey, 75% of the respondents furnish their project managers and field supervisors with mobile devices. Unfortunately, only 18% of these companies use apps or software other than email, spreadsheets, text and phone calls to retrieve and access project data or to collaborate with project members and stakeholders.

The results of this particular survey suggest that many construction industry leaders may be equipping workers in the field with technology but they are not getting maximum ROI on their technology investments. Construction companies are not properly using construction mobile solutions to reach their construction goals.

Construction technology can improve data management and increase productivity

The most common reasons for construction executives’ technology investments mirror the companies’ challenges with data integrity and accessibility, and demand for increased productivity. Here are the common goals of companies’ technology adoption:

1. To provide better access to data
2. To improve project productivity
3. To increase project information accuracy

Obviously, companies are investing with and for the correct reasons. The problem is, they might be missing out on involving the correct people in making their software investment work within their companies.

Related reading: Applying construction technology solutions for a safer worksite.

As quoted from FMI’s technology practice lead, Jay Snyder: “Poor communication among team members, and incorrect or inaccessible information that workers need to do their job, is costing the construction industry tens of billions of dollars annually.

The majority of industry stakeholders seems to be at a loss for how to remedy these systemic and expensive problems. While construction firms continue to invest in technology, the business-critical issues of communication and data management need more strategic attention than they currently receive.”

If you relate to the 75% of the respondents who have invested in a software solution but not maximising your ROI, we have a blog post discussing 4 tips in choosing the perfect construction software and how you can make it work for you. For an overall guide in construction productivity, we also have an ebook that you can download for free today!