Tools and Techniques to Keep Builders Organized: Define Your Process First

by Navid Foroughi, HELM Business Consultant

Is your work vehicle cluttered with paper? Are there little scribbles on paper containing critical information such as part numbers, subcontractor information, and/or decisions from clients? Do you feel overwhelmed by the constant swirl of information around you and unsure of how to manage it in a productive manner? How do you transfer this information to actionable next steps? How do you record this information for historical data points or legal reasons? How do you track all client decisions or discussions? Does this sound familiar? Well, you're not alone, as most small business owners grapple with this issue. Often, you are too busy to implement a process or develop business systems and practices. Even if you do create a system, does it seem to break down all the time?

Perhaps you belong to the camp that believes finding the right software will be the golden ticket to information management. Well, software can certainly help, but it can also be another source of frustration if you haven’t established the underlying workflows or organizational systems for your company. 

Let me share my own experience. In my 18+ years of being in the construction industry in a management and ownership position, I have experienced both hope and frustration with software. We implemented a well-known building software in its early days, with the expectation that it would streamline all our processes and improve job site management. Initially, I would say it was 40% successful, and eventually, this increased to about 60%. In complete honesty, you can't blame the software; it was us, the people who were onboarding and implementing it. Did we have a clear process that could be incorporated into the software? No. Did we have good habits to prevent bottlenecks or regressions in our habits? No. How often are we in the midst of juggling all our tasks and skipping steps because of stress or a perceived lack of time? In these moments, we fail to consider the long-term impact. There are systems out there that can help improve and streamline processes—absolutely—but the golden ticket lies in establishing practices and good habits.

So, how do we move towards more organization, structure, and system integration?

The approach depends on the stage and size of the company. As a company grows, it is often forced to confront the need for systems. If it doesn’t, everyone in the company lives in a state of frustration and confusion. Many times, key information is still held by one person, often the owner. In my experience, some owners respond by holding this information even tighter because they feel it takes too long to explain, so they just try to do everything themselves. Untangling these barriers to sharing information and establishing a workable and repeatable process takes time but is a key first step.

Let's first look at those businesses with papers strewn across the truck floor and dashboard. File management can be achieved through a physical file cabinet, either at the office, in a divided folder in the truck, or an online file system (such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.). Personally, I prefer moving to a cloud-based system so that we can access information from anywhere and easily share it with the team. Physical storage presents challenges when it comes to retrieving information from anywhere, but at this point, a system is a system and these techniques can work either way. Create folders for administrative, financial, and project-based documents, with sub-levels for each project, completed projects, etc. The options are endless and should be tailored to you and your company. As the company grows, sharing this process and documenting it so it can be repeated becomes important. It may also be important to start digitizing more items as you grow, making documents easier to share with your team. 

The key thing to remember is not to take shortcuts and ensure that every important attachment is uploaded to the relevant job document, and every client-signed contract is scanned and uploaded to the project's folder. Make time in your day for the time this task takes. The reason we constantly push for documenting these systems is so that if you decide to take a month-long cruise or embark on a hike in the Northeast Kingdom, someone else can step in and know where to find the information. As you develop these systems, you will gain a clearer understanding of each step, from sales to pre-construction to construction to closeout, and start defining who is accountable for each role and step. 

Check out our blog post on The Why and How of a Good Production Process Map by Paul Eldrenkamp

At HELM, we document all the steps and responsibilities in a given construction process in a Production Process Map. Each step, from sales to change orders to closeout is assigned to the person accountable; the deliverables are defined along with their file locations. As you develop a deeper understanding of your business and each step, it becomes easier to identify the roles that need more attention.

Isn’t there software out there that will solve all these problems for us? Knowing the steps and deliverables allows us to evaluate software with a critical eye. It enables us to ask whether a particular software fits into and enhances our current system. There is a better chance of integrating a system and gaining full team support if it doesn't drastically change the process you have established. Many people get excited about new software because it consolidates multiple systems for file storage, information conveyance, and schedule management into one hub. However, my note of caution: don't let the bells and whistles and shiny branding of software confuse you into thinking it's the golden ticket. You still need to polish up your systems.

While no single software does everything, understanding your needs will help you select the right software for your company. Software can increase accuracy and efficiency. These are the big tasks software can help with:

• Customer Resource Management (CRM)  - Keeps track of all your contacts.

• Lead Tracking - Keeps track of potential jobs, where the lead came from, and where they are in your sales process.

• Project Scheduling - Keeps track of evolving schedules, construction tasks and milestones, material ordering, and the impact of client decisions.

• Estimating - Tracks actual costs, applies mark-ups, and produces a schedule of values that can be presented to your clients. Good estimating software also supports change order creation and tracking.

• Take-Off Tools - Allows you to do your take-offs from digital PDFs of plans.

• Project Management & Client Management - Tracks design, product and finish decisions, change orders, job site photos, correspondence, daily logs, etc.

• Employee Time-Tracking - Tracks employee labor. This is critical for true job cost accounting.

• Construction Accounting - Manages your finances for the whole company as well as by job.

Evaluating software for your company is the next step. Asking yourself these questions will help:

• Who will be using the software and what are your system requirements?

• Is it you and only you? How computer/software savvy are you? Are you sitting at a desk or out in the field? If you have a need for multiple users to have full access to the software or are working on both Mac and PC, then you may want to consider using cloud-based software. If you believe it’s likely going to be one or two of you in an office, then a desktop version may work great for you.

• Will you be Estimating? 

• If you feel you already have a good estimating process, you are likely using some complex, customized Excel-based estimating spreadsheets. Maybe it works well for you and it’s not something you are interested in changing. This is a good thing to know when evaluating which software to select. 

• Is Scheduling important to you?

• Scheduling rivals Estimating as a top requirement for most companies. Perhaps you are using a basic Excel sheet for scheduling, but the improvements to the basics are usually well worth considering.

• Do you need Project Management/Client Management software?

• How do you communicate with clients? Do you want to be able to track meeting notes, client selections, daily logs, and photos all in one place?

• Who does your Accounting? 

• Who needs access to your books? Do you need automatic integration between your estimating software and your accounting software? 

• Communication with other software?

• Does this software integrate with other tools or systems you use?

• Does the software have strong support or training? 

• Does the software have a strong community or a well-established library of how-to’s? A strong library of how-to videos or Q & A’s may support your learning and onboarding. 

HELM is agnostic when it comes to software–we are much more interested in helping clients establish good systems. Secondly, software requires a substantial financial investment. We caution companies not to invest until they are ready. If you are ready, sign up for free trials and demos and find something that works for your process.

Get organized and good luck!