The construction industry is continuing to grow, and it is estimated that there will be over 300,000 additional construction jobs in 2029 compared to 2019. As demand keeps rising, this offers your construction business the perfect opportunity to thrive. 

Although growth is the goal for businesses, in reality, it can prove challenging when resources are stretched and project managers are working to full capacity.

In this article, we discuss some ways that you can streamline your admin work to free up time so you can focus on growing the business. 

How Admin Work is Slowing Down Your Growth

Those small admin tasks that crop up throughout the day may not seem like a big deal, but they quickly add up and take your attention away from the day’s main duties. In fact, project managers in construction businesses waste almost 40% of their time searching for project updates, writing reports, and attending unnecessary meetings.

If your business is not effectively managing its admin work, this not only wastes time, but it also costs you money. Time that is spent trying to organize a project or fill out paperwork is time that is taken away from billable work – a huge dent in your business’s profit margins.

By not utilizing the expertise within your business to its full potential and wasting time on ongoing admin work, your growth potential is being limited. Project managers should be able to focus their efforts on making sure clients are receiving a quality service that reflects the company’s values.

4 Ways to Streamline Your Admin Work

To cut down on the amount of time you need to spend on repetitive admin work, here are some different ways that you can streamline existing processes to maximize your time…

Implement a project management software

Having project management software in place to manage your construction project will automate tasks such as scheduling a project, managing employee rotas, and tracking progress.

This will take a huge weight off the shoulders of project managers as all processes can be managed in one central place, and the system will flag any issues that need attention. If there is a delay in a certain task, it will adjust dependent tasks to update the timeline and prevent significant delays to the project deadlines.

All employees involved in the project will also be able to access the project management software, so they can see what their responsibilities are and when each job needs to be done by.

Host regular project meetings

With a construction team often being spread out across sites, it can be easy for the project to become unorganized. If there is a lack of communication, it can quickly lead to mistakes and confusion since collaboration is limited.

By scheduling meetings before a project kicks off and at intervals throughout the process, everyone involved can get together to discuss progress. This ensures everyone is working on the same page and allows people to communicate any issues or holdups that they may be concerned about.

Use a collaboration tool

Communication continues to be one of the biggest weaknesses within construction companies. Since people are often on the move and working without frequent access to their phones, any communication tends to be done through WhatsApp chats or never-ending email chains. This can lead to important messages getting buried and mistakes being made.

Introducing a collaboration tool, such as Slack or Microsoft Teams, will allow your communication to be better managed. Since project groups can be set up and files can be shared, all messages will be kept in organized chats and be easily searchable when looking for key information.

Since collaboration tools can be accessed both on desktop and mobile devices, they are ideal for both office and site workers, allowing everyone to keep up with the happenings during a project.

Improve risk assessment processes

Carrying out a risk assessment is essential before a project begins, as it allows you to identify any health and safety hazards or potential issues that could lead to financial loss. Traditionally, this would have been carried out using a paper or spreadsheet-based system, but this is a time-consuming process that can often miss out crucial information.

Transitioning to a digital system means you can make the risk assessment process more efficient and less time-consuming. There are AI tools available that can analyze previous data and site information to raise any potential risks that may not have otherwise been considered.

Focusing on the Growth of Your Construction Business

As the construction industry continues to grow, make sure to utilize the opportunity to grow your business alongside it. The current landscape is a prime opportunity for you to expand your construction business and become a go-to for clients.

By implementing project management software, hosting regular project meetings, using a collaboration tool, and improving your risk assessment process, you can save hours of time across the business every single day. These hours can then be spent on what matters – providing the best possible project outcome for your clients.