Five Steps To Implementing Your Construction Software

Having researched the massive benefits to be gained from employing an end-to-end, fully integrated Construction Software solution and having selected your business partner to provide it, there are 5 key steps to implementing your construction software and begin to reap the benefits as smoothly and quickly as possible. Change in any organisation can be met with resistance from the ‘old guard’, it is only natural to have an element of fear regarding the unknown so plan ahead and follow these simple guidelines.

Goal setting and Strategy

It is incumbent on any serious business owner or operator to have specific goals and milestones to achieve in order to set out and reach commercial targets. The strategic elements of how to get there and the tactical actions that break this down further should be aligned to reaching those goals and will be a pivotal part of the processes and procedures that are put in place for the departments and teams to be able to deliver. Construction software is specifically designed to provide the functions and capabilities to manage, track and report on these processes so make sure your goals and strategy are clearly defined at the outset before embarking on the implementation of your software solution.

Pull Together an Implementation Team

Implementing software that is going to have a significant impact on your organisation is not to be taken lightly. Appoint stakeholders from each of your departments to be involved in the implementation. These need to be individuals with the commercial experience to understand how each segment will be impacted and will need to allocate an appropriate amount of time to the project. Having input from key figures throughout the process from initial contract tendering, estimation, finance, project management, sales, finance (and every other department) will ease the transition and ensure potential issues are addressed and thought through at the early stages rather than firefighting after the event.

Executive Buy in and Support

Introducing Construction Software is not an IT project alone and will have wide reaching implications and benefits across the entire organisation. Although it is technology based, the software solution is going to be a user friendly integrated system that will pull all departments in the same direction as one team. This is business transformation and an enhancement that should be embraced as a positive game changer from everyone from the top down. Executive teams should lead by example and actively encourage all team members to understand the benefits and improvements that will be gained from implementing the systems and ensure everyone is completely on board. Positive engagement at all levels will significantly ease the transition. Removing some of the fear of change and replacing it with excitement would be ideal to make sure everyone is talking about business transformation rather than change.

Phased Roll Out

Planning the roll out with a definite timeline and clear roles and responsibilities will be important in achieving the implementation on time. Planning how it will be embedded in sequence will ensure that the adoption is done at a manageable pace and with minimal disruption. Create a ‘road map’ to monitor and report progress along the chain to all stake- holders to keep everyone on track and fully engaged.

Change Management

Depending on the size of your organisation, you may or may not have a change management team in place. Adopting Construction Software is going to introduce a great deal of change (thankfully positive ones) that will impact efficiency, profitability, workflows and transparency. These changes are also going to make project management and completion significantly easier and, in most cases, eminently quicker (the administrative side and removal of process delays combined with maximized effective deployment of resources will deliver these enhancements, we are not trying to suggest that the software will speed up the actual physical construction elements). There are likely to be continual improvements, additions and enhancements to follow the initial implementation so consider appointing an internal team to manage these going forward, as well as to manage the implementation itself. The experienced and reputable construction software providers in the region will be able to assist you in this so make sure to include these discussions in the software selection process. The most experienced providers will have successfully embedded their software into companies just like yours and will have a wealth of knowledge and advice to share with you.

Good Luck

You have made the smart choice to improve and streamline your processes. With the right construction software provider working with you, your business will be able to successfully report the return on investment in the swiftest time frame and smoothest transition.

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