The various processes and procedures involved in construction
project management demand the highest level of precision and management. A lack of good management could rapidly result in lost money and strained relations between all parties. As such, a project cannot succeed without communication.
However, communication is one thing, while fast and effective communication is another. The latter gets a project running well and on time, given all the intricate details, decisions, dependencies, and approvals typically involved.
The following statistics reveal how and why fast communication is vital in responding to project changes.
While engaged employees are typically enthusiastic and invested in their jobs and the workplace, only 36% of employees in the United States feel this way. Additionally, the percentage of actively
disengaged employees has gone up from 14% to 15%. The reason is that more employees are reporting poor management and miserable work experiences.
Communication is crucial to employee engagement. That’s because the clarity of expectations and the feeling that opinions count at work rank highly as critical drivers of engagement. Other workplace elements influencing engagement include customer service, productivity, profitability, safety, retention, and overall well-being.
With 67% of project managers communicating with clients using email, only 49% of clients prefer to interact with businesses using emails. Email is siloed because its isolated and disconnected nature hinders cooperation and communication. The result is often inconsistent sharing of information, lost or misplaced assets, and an overall frustrating client experience.
Other than email, 8% of project managers use phone calls to communicate with clients, 8% use online meetings, 5% use
face-to-face meetings, and 9% use project management software. Interestingly, as many as 25% of clients prefer to use project
management software to communicate with businesses or discuss project changes.
There’s a clear need for improvement in how teams collaborate, with 92% of people believing there was room for improvement. Indeed, just 16% of people always hit their deadlines, with more than 1 in 10 rarely or never doing so.
The implication is that shabby communication, late delivery, and overall poor levels of organization still hold back countless teams from hitting their full potential. However, optimizing your construction projectscan give you an edge over your competition while staying on time and within budget.
Software dedicated to project communication is critical in ensuring decision latency remains low while boosting the chances of the project's success. Indeed, as many as 49% of companies using project
management tools enjoy enhanced team communication. Additionally, 60% of businesses can more accurately estimate project timelines, as 55% benefit from using project resources more effectively.
Unfortunately, one-quarter of project managers do not have access to such software. But as any project manager knows, effective ommunication is essential to any project's success. Therefore, it’s time to invest in project management software if you’re experiencing ineffective collaboration. Other reasons include too many instances of siloed teams and information, inconsistent execution of processes,
and poor visibility into project or task status.
Compared to companies without mature value-delivery processes, only 11% (vs. 21%) of those building strong project practices are likely to suffer outright failure. You must discover your client's values, plan your project around them, and avoid miscommunications about project objectives.
Additionally, building strong project practices, such as taking an average of one hour to make decisions, increases a project’s
success rate to 58%. If it takes five hours for teams and leaders to reach a decision, project success rates drop to 18%.
Compared to 47% of companies that operate without a project management tool, 66% complete projects within their original budget. These tools help project managers keep track of tasks and deadlines. They also ensure no one falls behind and that your project comes in on time and under budget.
First, they provide a central repository for all project information, making it easy for team members to find the latest updates. Second, they offer built-in messaging and collaboration features that make it easy for team members to discuss project issues in real time. Finally,
many project management tools come with mobile apps that allow team members to stay connected even when they’re on the go.
Having a lot of website traffic can dramatically widen your pool of leads. But that means nothing if you’re among the 70% of businesses that do nothing to engage website visitors. Failure to engage will lead them on to your competitor, and you’ll lose the chance to convert 50% of your leads into sales.
Qualifying leads saves both you and your customers time and energy and offers clients relevant solutions during their initial contact. You’re more likely to increase conversions and book projects if you embrace convenient communication channels, as a sizeable 68% of customers claim. Surprisingly, 63% of companies don’t qualify their leads at all.
Project managers worth their salt know that communication is key to completing a project on time and within budget. After all, it's impossible to effectively coordinate a team of workers if you can't communicate with them clearly.
Luckily, many excellent communication tools are available that can make it easy to update everyone on any project changes. GigOver can help you and your team keep all project-related items in one place while keeping everyone informed and accountable. Try GigOver for free — Sign up today.