Joke:  What is the definition of a project manager?  The conductor of an orchestra in which every musician is in a different union.

Most jokes are funny because they are true.  So if a project manager is a conductor and the crew he is managing is a symphony how does he keep every musician from playing their tune in order to create a beautiful melodious harmony?  Or in other words, how does the project manager organize all the different tasks to ensure everything completes at its scheduled time?  Use a Resource management solution like AboutTIme. 

Download this Free White Paper to see how you can manage your project pro-actively instead of re-actively. 

What type of software are construction companies looking for and why?

A study done by SoftwareAdvice (http://www.softwareadvice.com/)  found that buyers were looking to find software that would increase efficiency.

Why?
The answer is pretty easy.  The more efficient your business runs, the more profit you can make.

Efficiency becomes especially important when profits begin to reflect the fact that time is being wasted, and extra expenses are being incurred because projects are being run poorly.  In fact, 47% of the buyers surveyed were still using manual forms of field data collection, such as pen and paper, to manage their mobile projects.   In past blogs we have talked about how inefficient using paper can be.  

What features were buyers looking for to help their business run more efficiently?

1.    Project Management
2.    Estimating
3.    Accounting/job Costing

Why? 
Again, the answer is pretty easy.   SoftwareAdvice found that firms who use a mobile resource management software complete more projects on time and on budget than those who don’t, meaning their businesses run more efficiently.

Check out this infographic by AboutTime to see the difference between companies who use a Mobile Resource Management Solution and companies who don't.  Click Here

4 ways smartphones and tablets benefit contractors: Part 1

Everywhere we look tablets and smartphones are being touted as the next best “tool” in construction.  This comes as no surprise when study after study has shown that companies who take advantage of the technology smartphones and tablets provide are seeing higher profits and faster turnaround times on projects than companies who haven’t embraced the benefits of technology.  

What are the benefits that smartphones and tablets provide?

 #1.  Real-Time Information Transfer

Getting information from the field to the office and office to the field has always been a huge task.  The biggest problem’s being timeliness and miscommunication.    By the time the information has been collected, delivered, deciphered, and evaluated it may be too late to make critical decisions that could have kept the project on time and under budget.   

Once decisions have been made the directives must be relayed back to employees in the field, and this is where miscommunication rears its ugly head.   Did you want 5 employees on project A or B?  The paperwork for the change-order is missing?  Are we behind schedule?  The game telephone we all played as kids got its start from real life situations like this.  

Tablets and smartphones provide real-time communication from the field to the office and back again.  With software programs like AboutTime, apps can be downloaded onto smartphone and tablet devices providing real-time connectivity between the office and the field.   Reports showing accurate time, attendance, job cost, productivity, budgets and more can be immediately downloaded, and critical decisions can be made.  All this is done in a timely fashion, keeping your project on time and on budget.   

Standing Around

Tracking, documenting and managing a project from start to finish is a huge task.  It takes multiple people to complete a single project.  Each person has a specific role to play from design through completion. Everyone involved in a project cannot be at the project site full time to make sure that it is progressing correctly.   At the same time, everyone on the project needs to know what is happening on the job site to make sure it is progressing correctly. 

It goes without saying, standing around and watching workers do their particular job is the least effective way to manage a project, especially when there are multiple projects running simultaneously.    Not only is this ineffective but it is impossible. 

So how is it possible to proactively manage remote job sites without actually being on the job site?  TECHNOLOGY!  Using mobile resource management software in conjunction with smart phones and other mobile devices, information can easily be gathered and documented in the field and delivered in “Real-Time” directly to office staff.  This allows various staff members to make immediate, sometimes critical, decisions regarding the project.  

With the use of technology, the office can easily communicate with field staff, keeping the flow of communication open.  “Real-Time” means that the information is delivered “as it happens,” completely doing away with the need for office staff to physically be on site.