Building and construction projects are growing more complex, so the tools to manage them are developing and growing, too. Subcontractors, as specialty contractors delivering vital trades and services, are a key part of any construction project. With that said, any subcontracting business that is aiming to grow along with the rest of the building industry has to evolve in real-time with the industry in many ways. This includes the move towards cloud-based software and industry-specific construction management software for operations management.
The best construction project management software helps medium and small businesses to fulfil their part of the construction process for clients. Construction operations management software needs to include tools to manage the scheduling of staff and equipment, to collect records of work on site with a digital site diary, and to make paying the team easy with payroll system integration.
Choosing the right software starts with knowing which features are important to your kind of business. What project data you need to collect from and share with team members to provide a comprehensive solution for the business to gain the productivity boost it needs to compete. From time tracking to document management, from efficient resource allocation and job scheduling – understand the project management areas that can benefit your business.
In this article, we’ll review the key features and capabilities you should look for when choosing the right software for your business.
Key features to look for in construction operations management software
- Easy scheduling with SMS communications
Managing the work teams for projects across multiple sites and rescheduling them as needed must be easy and visual, ideally with drag-and-drop functionality. Everyone has a mobile device, so sharing the schedule with the team by text to a mobile phone needs to be built into the system so it’s done with the click of a button.
- Payroll and entitlements integration
Streamlining the evaluation of staff entitlements and making payments quickly and accurately is a great way to save time and effort each week. Quality construction management software will include an award interpretation facility built into the software and integrate timesheets to make payroll calculations fast and correct.
- Digital site diary
A construction site is a busy place, and a digital site diary is crucial for keeping daily logs of activities on the job site. From recording deliveries to photographs of work done and taking notes of important changes as annotated PDFs, a digital site diary gives the ability to capture information via a mobile device and record it in the context of the job. With cloud-based software, document sharing is instant so that other users can benefit from the latest information. Make sure you’ve got your site diary requirements covered off, download our free Construction Site Diary Checklist.
- Third-party integrations
Construction operations management software that integrates with a wide range of other software to share vital information also saves you money, in admin time and in reducing errors from manual data transfer.
- User friendly interface
Software that everyone needs to use needs to be accessible and easy for the whole team. Look for a user-friendly interface that caters to the needs of project managers, administrative staff, supervisors and field workers alike.
How the right project management software helps subcontractors
- Increased productivity
A project management software package that makes the daily tasks of scheduling and communicating with the team faster, easier, and more accurate reduces errors and increases the productivity of the whole team.
- Financial accuracy and compliant payroll
Construction operations management software can make payroll a smooth and problem-free process, with easy interpretation of entitlements and reduced errors in staff pay. Accurate time tracking on mobile devices is one part of an efficient software solution to move timesheet data through approval and to the payroll office quickly and easily.
- Reduced risk
Digital site diaries are crucial to capture details of the many tasks that happen on site, and serve to improve accountability and mitigate risk. Managing construction teams across multiple job sites, with different sets of project information used by different project teams – its a lot to keep track of. The most valuable of all the tools on site are the daily logs. Detailed records on a wide range of activities – from deliveries, to stages of work, to weather conditions. Instant sharing of information through effective document sharing, can reduce project and business risks.
- Save time
Managing project and staff communications via one system, with integrations to other specialised systems, saves valuable administration and management time for all team members. Having a comprehensive suite for all aspects of construction project management in the one place supports good access to information for all users – from administration to supervisors and field workers alike.
Real life examples of subcontractors using operations software
Highrise Carpentry wanted a single system for the whole team to use that also suited the specific needs of their trade. Having a system that was built for the kinds of workflows that all subcontractors need to follow, but with the ability to customise it to suit, brought it all together. “Our operations management system is like a bridge between the site and the office that streamlines communication and ensures everyone is on the same page. It is a construction management program because that’s really what it is. It manages all our work on one platform, from admin to site.”
SG Formwork experienced administration problems that threatened its growth. Its manual payroll system was time-consuming, prone to errors, and required significant effort from the payroll officers. “When we got bigger, it became impossible to maintain accuracy for myself and our team and accounts and payroll. We had to stop and breathe and see what we could do to make it more efficient and accurate.” By choosing a construction operations management software that could streamline the process, the company now saves a huge 80% of their payroll processing staff time.
What to look for when choosing operations software
- Scalability
The software you choose needs to fit your business as it grows so that you are not distracted by the need to change systems as your business grows from 20 staff to 800. Having a cloud-based solution that includes mobile apps helps your business to grow without expensive desk-based infrastructure.
- Industry-specific
Construction project managers have a shared set of needs, and the construction operations management system you choose should be suitable for businesses from concreting landscaping to plumbing and formwork while remaining customisable.
- Cost vs benefit
Evaluate the return on investment of the software to ensure its cost suits the scope of work it does for your business, and be sure you are not paying for features you will never use. Construction project managers do important work but are not launching rockets into space, so construction software that helps with project planning, staff scheduling, task management, keeping site records and handles time sheets is good, but calculating projectile trajectories is not required!
- User experience
Choosing a system that everyone in your team can easily use is important, as the system works best when all team members actively use it for their part of the service.
Construction operations management software can increase productivity in a subcontractor business by reducing the time and effort it takes to manage the day-to-day while increasing the flow of communication between different processes and team members. Choosing a software package that includes key features such as a digital site diary, easy scheduling facility and in-built staff communication features that are easy to use can help the businesses to become more successful and grow.
Consider the specific needs of your subcontracting business to start evaluating what would make the best construction management software for your construction business. Book a call with the friendly team from Neo today to get your hands on a solution fit for businesses like yours.
