[Webinar Recap] 6 Steps to Technology Adoption in Construction

If you missed it, we had a webinar a while back titled Technology Adoption in Construction . If you didn’t miss it, well you are a special person and deserve all the praise in the world. For those of you who missed it, here’s a quick recap.

The Construction Technology Struggle

Modern technology is changing the construction industry at an accelerated rate. Unlike times before, one can no longer buy an ERP Solution and think it will last for 20 to 30 years. This change means you need to update how you evaluate the tech needs of your company, updating how you view this technology and updating how technology is utilized in your company.

Updating How You Evaluate Needs: Annual “Tech Stack” Audit

You need to be making sure your tech stack (your tech stack is basically your “collection” of software that operates your business) is up to date, evaluating it every one or two years. There are two main reasons behind this evaluation:

  1. Digital Technology in construction is changing very rapidly
  2. Most tech companies, especially mobile app-based companies, stop supporting phones older than 3 to 5 years

When you are looking through your tech stack, you should ask yourself these questions:

  • Are we the same company we were when we adopted this new construction technology?
  • Are we getting the most out of the technology we already have?

Updating Your View: The Importance of Technology in Construction

Ten years ago, smartphones were a luxury, but today, smartphones are a necessity. It is another tool in your belt and must be utilized as such. This is true for much more than just smartphones. All technology can give you the true story of what is happening in your company. Going away are the times of guess-timations and prayers for profits. Come to stay are the times of SMART jobsites (jobsites with specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and timely goals), data, and up to date daily budgets. In a world asking construction to do more with less, technology helps you protect profits, meet expectations, and do so without having to miss dinner crunching the numbers.

Updating How You Use It: Getting the Most Out of Your Technology

Technology underutilized is technology wasted, but technology fully utilized can change everything about your business. You’ve established processes around the work you do and that process has gotten you where you are today. In order to succeed, you are going to have to also establish a construction technology adoption process around how to find, assess and adopt your technology. If you don’t you will run the risk of failing at adopting new construction technology. Here we will discuss how to implement technology adoption in construction in 6 steps.

6 Steps to Technology Adoption in Construction 

Step 1: Rollout Plan

The first step is coming up with a rollout plan. This plan will help you predict difficulties in rolling out your tech as well as help your employees see that the implementation is not a spur of the moment but rather thought out and planned. When coming up with this rollout plan, ask yourself the following questions:

  • How long do you expect the implementation to take?
  • Whose daily life will be affected by this technology?
  • Who will help with any problems that arise in the implementation?
  • What results are you trying to reach with this new technology?
  • Who can help collect Smart Jobsite Data?
  • How should employees report questions and suggestions for improvement during and after implementation?

Step 2: Train Your Organization Leaders First

When it comes to implementing technology, you will need advocates within your company who will support the transition. Key people to target for early training are Owners, Head of Field Operations, and Head of Job Costing. By taking the time to train these people more in depth, you can avoid the pitfall of being the only person in your company advocating for change. When problems inevitably arise, having a support team will change everything.

Step 3 – Getting Teams On Board

Over and over, we work with companies where the owner or VP of operations gives the go-ahead to purchase and implement a software. They pass the implementation off to someone in the office just have the person they hand it off to fight tooth and nail to get the rest of the company to comply.  An important part of rolling out any new change in a company is to provide the people implementing the change, the support they need to get the job done. These same players play a critical role in holding users accountable.

    • Estimators
    • Project Managers
    • Projects Supervisors

Watch the Webinar For the Rest

For the rest of the webinar, click here for the recorded version. Implementing technology adoption in construction will help you and your company be better at what you do.