A Picture is Worth a Thousand ...

Four out of five construction companies in legal disputes found they had insufficient or unavailable documentation of projects according to a survey done by Robert Kreuzer, VP of Travelers Insurance Co.  According to Kreuzer 80% of the time critical documents, photos, change orders, inspections and approvals of onsite work “are either not there or inaccurate.”    Now take into account that the average defect claim can take more than 7 years to go through litigation when proper documentation isn't available.   Suddenly the phrase a picture is worth a thousand words becomes a picture is worth a thousand dollars. 

It’s AboutTime to invest in a Mobile Resource Management Solution that can help you track and keep accurate documentation of all aspects of every project. 

Join an AboutTime Webcast to Learn More. 

Allocation with Automation

Allocating employees and where they spend their time isn’t easy.  You probably have multiple jobsites that are scattered across your state or even multiple states.  Each jobsite requires multiple tasks to be completed in order to finish a job.   Sometimes it is important to complete one task before the other.  Maybe project A has to be completed 2 weeks before project B.   You know what needs to be done and when but how do you communicate this to your field employees? 

I recently heard a story about a business owner who would print out 10 – 30 pages of instructions, calendars, forms, and anything else he felt like his crew managers would need in order to stay on top of their tasks and employees for the week.    So, Monday morning each crew manager would receive a packet.   The owner started realizing that things weren’t going according to his plan.  Instructions and timelines he detailed in his packet weren’t being followed.  He came up with a brilliant plan to find out which mangers were actually reading the packets and which managers were just tossing it aside.   One Monday morning he put a bonus check for two thousand dollars in the middle of the packet.  Can you guess how many checks were cashed?   NONE!!!!!

What did he do?  He purchased AboutTimes mobile resource management software.  When an employee clocks in using AboutTime they are given a list of task codes.  They simply choose the task that they are working on and clock IN and they are off to work.  The beauty of the system is that the office can restrict employees to only the tasks that they want them to work on.  When the employee clocks OUT at the end of the day, they submit how much of the task was completed.  WOW!  Now the owner knows exactly how far the job progressed that day.  Alerts can be sent out to his managers if a job is going over the budgeted hours and adjustments can be made.  No more huge packets of paper that get discarded.  No more misunderstandings on what projects should be worked on that day.  Instead the business is operating smoothly.  Everyone is on task and projects are completing under budget.  

ConExpo Musings

Last week, over 130,000 attendees and thousands of exhibitors descended on the Las Vegas Convention center for the 2014 ConExpo conference.  Held every 3 years, ConExpo is a massive event that brings in contractors and suppliers from all over the world for a week of education and business collaboration. 

As an exhibitor, it was fascinating to be a part of the event, get a pulse of the current state of the industry, and see first hand what companies of all types, throughout the world, are looking for to improve their productivity and profitability.  As a technology provider to the industry, we were honored to have so many crucial conversations with hundreds of people from all types of companies and trades. From those conversations, we were able to discover some valuable information about the current state of the industry:

1.  While the economy has seemed to rebound recently, the rough stretch of the past several years has produced smarter, savvier business owners who are focused on doing more with less and boosting productivity.

2. Technology of all kinds is gaining traction throughout the industry.  Handheld devices, IT staff, and business process applications isn’t just for the big boys anymore.  Companies of all sizes are looking to leverage technology and improve their workflows, processes, and accuracy. 

3.       Contractors are looking for out-of-the-box technology solutions that can quickly integrate with their existing systems and provide customized results to any company regardless of size.

We are excited to see the progress the industry has made over the past several years and look forward to observing and contributing to the promising trends we observed at this year’s conference.

If you didn't get the chance to speak with AboutTime at ConExpo or would like more information follow the link below and a sales representative will contact you.  Click Here.  

Paper vs Automation

Paper... Paper ...and more Paper!!! 

From collecting time cards to managing employees in the field paper is in hand.   Have you ever wondered how much of that Paper is misplaced or lost on it’s way back to the office?  According to a survey done by Price Waterhouse Cooper the answer is 7.5% of all documents are lost!  That means your company is losing money and wasting time trying to find lost or misplaced documents.

Believe it!  It is expensive every time a document is lost or misplaced.  In fact, according to the same study it can cost an average of $220 per document.   WOW!  That is a lot of money.   Imagine how much money and time your business could save if all of your documents and forms could be completed on the jobsite using smart devices instead of paper.  Imagine how much time and money your company could save if these same documents could be sent electronically back to the office where they are securely attached to all the documents associated to that jobsite and stored for easy retrieval when they are needed.  

  

Gathering field information using today's technology rather than using pen and paper,  provides many benefits including saving time and money …Isn’t it AboutTIme to get rid of outdated pen and paper strategies and automate? 

Asking Questions

Touching base with mobile employees is often hard to do.  When your workforce is scattered across multiple job sites sometimes asking the simplest questions like, “Are you coming to the company Christmas Party." is difficult.   However, communication is the key to a successful relationship, and that includes having a successful employee – employer relationships. 

There are some important aspects of communication that when utilized increase employee engagement, which means lower levels of turnover. 

1  Create a culture that encourages communication:

We understand this is especially difficult with a mobile workforce, however it can be done.   Stopping by job sites on a regular basis and speaking with employees on an informal level is important.  It helps to foster relationships and creates an environment of teamwork, not employee vs. employer.   Of course, when your job site is running smoothly then it frees up more time to visit with employees instead of only talking shop.  Using technology such as a mobile resource management solution can free up enough time to make this happen for you.

2  Make sure your message is heard:

Sometimes what we say or write isn’t interpreted by others how we meant it to be.  It is important to make sure that we are direct and to the point when sending out news or instructions to your mobile workforce.  Also, it is important for your workforce to have a means to communicate back to you accurately and efficiently.  A response of some type should be expected to make sure that your message was heard and understood.  Using FormsXPress allows your employees to sign off on important instructions.  This allows the office to know that the instructions were read and understood.

3   Listen to your employees:

When your employees are working from remote job sites it is easy for them to feel like their voices aren’t always heard.  It is important to provide formal feedback mechanisms for open communication.    Then it is important to take their input seriously.   AboutTime allows for feedback questions to be asked at the end of every shift.  It is an easy way to make sure information about company events is provided to each and every employee in the field.  Questions like “Are you coming to the Christmas Party.”  Keeps everyone in the loop.   

Time 4 Fun - 6 Phases of a Project

I saw this joke recently.  It’s one of those jokes that everyone tenuously giggles at because it hits really close to home. 

6 phases of a project

1.  Enthusiasm 

2. Disillusionment. 

3  Panic 

4. Search for the guilty 

5. Punishment of the innocent 

6. Praise and honors for the non-participants.

Can you see my Point?  We have all been thorough these stages.  Probably repeatedly with each new project.  

Wouldn’t it be better if it looked more like this?

6 Phases of a project

1.     Enthusiasm

2.     Organization

3.     Progression

4.     Improvements

5.     Completion

6.     Praise and honors for the participants

This may not be as funny but I bet the smiles last a lot longer.

So how do you take your project through the correct 6 phrases?  Mobile Resource Management is the answer.  Today’s technology allows you to collect, track and document everything that happens on your job site.  You can then send that information back to your office in Real-Time where you can make critical decisions that affect your project.  Having information readily available lets you manage effectively through every phase of a project.