The benefits of collaboration in construction (and how to achieve it)

Collaboration is crucial to deliver a project on time, within budget, and to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. Read on to explore best practices for building collaboration in your construction business. 

 

What does collaboration in construction mean?

Collaboration in construction simply means that everyone within a project works together towards a shared goal. When everyone understands what is required from them and how they impact the wider project, shared goals become everyone's top priority. 

Building a collaborative culture requires teams to have access to project plans, goals, and resources at all times. Often in the construction industry projects are split across multiple disciplines and locations. Without a centralised place to store data, information travels much slower between teams. Data becomes gatekept, lost, miscommunicated or misinterpreted. Breaking down these barriers is an essential first step to collaborative projects. 

Pooled resources and knowledge help to mould stronger relationships between separate team members. Seeing the impact of each contribution develops a culture that values everyone's input, which establishes a level of respect across different fields. Respect leads to trust in the quality of work produced. 

 

Why does collaboration in construction matter?

Current challenges with collaboration in construction

A ‘silo’ mentality in construction projects leads to uncoordinated work riddled with errors. This has a knock-on effect: from undocumented design changes to incorrect estimates to expensive rework to unhappy clients. A lack of visibility across projects limits the ability to learn from past projects. 

Traditionally, construction projects are completed via a design-bid-build method. Individual segments of a job are defined and come together in linear stages. This gives project stakeholders narrow perspectives and often cultivates opposing goals and solutions. Poor coordination between trades causes conflict, delays and slows cash flow.  

In such a competitive industry, stakeholders are pitted against each other. For example, subcontractors are often left out of initial processes and receive stringent contracts. This fosters a lack of trust between teams, creating indifference towards long-term project goals. Teams frequently focus on completing their part and moving onto the next project. 

How to increase data transparency in construction > 

Some of the main challenges with moving away from a silo mindset include: 

• Changing an entire workplace culture is intimidating. It often comes with resistance. Many companies are content with the status quo, or even want to change but are tentative to shake things up. Learn how to overcome resistance in your organisation > 
• Collaboration needs technology that gives different teams the ability to effectively share information. Putting these new systems and processes in place takes time and training needs to be provided. 
• Implementing new tools and delivery methods has potential for high upfront costs. These initial costs will end up with long-term savings through reduced rework, delays, and disputes. 
• All stages of the project need to buy-in to the new collaborative processes for it to reap optimal benefits. Gaining enthusiasm and engagement from all parties can sometimes be a difficult task. 

It is not all doom and gloom, continue reading for benefits of collaboration in construction… 

 

Benefits of collaboration in construction 

• Improved Work Quality - In a collaborative culture, people feel pressure to perform and not let others down. Holding team members accountable for the work they produce increases the quality, their confidence, and their commitment.  

• Reduced Rework - Transparency over other people's work prevents duplicating tasks. 26% of rework is caused by poor collaboration amongst team members.Collaboration throughout  a project means less confusion and requests for information. Tasks are completed faster and with fewer mistakes. 
• Less Resource Waste - In a collaborative environment, everyone has a shared goal. Each individual knows what they need to contribute to achieve it. This solves most issues surrounding time, money, and resources. Better communication between teams reduces bottlenecks and improves productivity. More efficient building and estimating practices means fewer  wasted materials. All the above means projects are delivered on time and without going over budget. 
• Better Client Relationships - Transparent communication extends to your clients. Keeping clients updated and including them in all project stages will help maintain a positive relationship and build trust. Performing on time and on budget is great for brand reputation. This will encourage repeat business and referrals. 
• Innovative Projects - Improved communication and trust between stakeholders results in sharing of ideas and knowledge. When collaborative practices are in place in the initial stages, such as design, more exciting projects may develop. Also, sharing expertise increases the overall skill level of a business. 
• Informed Decisions - A broader understanding of the wider picture and access to a range of expertise results in better decision making. Harnessing the power of your data enables deeper analysis into how you run projects. Decisions become backed-up by data rather than 'gut instinct'. 

• Increased Site Safety - Collaborating in early project stages can mitigate risks before they snowball into greater problems. Clear communication about compliance, onsite activities and safety risks will reduce uncertainty around proper conduct. 

 

Tools and processes to encourage collaboration in construction

Culture of collaboration

Trust is the foundation to building a culture of collaboration. Firms with higher trust levels are likely to have more open communication between teams. This prevents slow data exchange, fostering confidence in meeting project deadlines. Consistently meeting project schedules reduces costs of staff, equipment and materials. It also builds better relationships with clients, as they know they can count on you to deliver the project on time and on budget. Building trust with clients makes them more likely to want to work with you again. This will save time and money on onboarding processes, technology alignment, confirming billing, and background checks. 

Employees within high-trust collaborative firms are more likely to help their colleagues. 49% of employees, in the firms with highest trust levels, routinely exceed expectations in their work. This creates a more positive working environment and greater engagement. 

Another factor in building a collaborative culture is inclusivity. A diverse workplace is more likely to have diverse ideas and perspectives, driving innovation in projects. Within the UK construction industry around 14% of workers are women and only 5.4% are BAME. Such small numbers mean that recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce could be a competitive advantage. To retain a diverse workforce everyone needs to feel like they have a voice. In teams where English might not be everyone's first language, digital platforms and tools will ease the communication barrier. 

Roles and responsibilities 

When each employee has a clear task list for each project, processes become more consistent. Outlining how these tasks fit into a greater whole creates an appreciation for other departments and stakeholders. Everyone is incentivised to meet shared objectives as everyone’s success is tied to other people's performance. It becomes best practice to work and solve problems together. This creates a more positive working environment and greater engagement. 

Happier workers also means lower employee turnover. Retention rates directly impact financial performance. The cost of replacing an employee is estimated to be 33% of their base salary. So, if a construction worker earns £29,617 on average then the average cost of replacing them will be over £9773. 

Communication 

48% of rework is caused by miscommunication. From the very beginning of a project, the design and preconstruction stages, estimators, architects, clients and subcontractors should all be able to contribute their expertise. Any details that could impact the project at later stages will be highlighted early on. Making sure that the project runs smoothly. Risks become more manageable when everyone has sight of issues and work together to solve them. A real-life example of this is Balfour Beatty, who use an Early Contractor Involvement approach. This is where contractors are involved in early stages to advise on materials and the most efficient ways of constructing a project. 

Transparent communication requires accountability. Actively asking for feedback and open dialogue needs to be encouraged. One way of ensuring your employees are willing to speak up is by solving problems with solutions rather than pointing blame. Open and honest communication without the fear of judgement will prevent people hiding costly mistakes. Knowing that you will receive help will speed up responses to instructions or queries. 

Delivery methods

Traditional project delivery methods hampers team collaboration. Methods such as design-bid-build are too focused on individual roles. A collaborative culture is only possible by changing up this project process. A few suggestions of alternate delivery methods are: 

Building Information Modeling (BIM) - BIM is an intelligent 3D modeling software that enables collaboration from the design phase. Construction can be visualised and analysed by all stakeholders before breaking ground. Removing barriers to cooperation and allowing good ideas to be shared at optimal times. Everyone can see project changes in real-time, making sure they are consistent and coordinated. 

Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) - IPD is a contractual way of aligning various parties’ goals into one shared agreement. Expectations and shared goals of each group are outlined. This encourages continuous communication from start to finish. IPD increases efficiency and eliminates time, money and material waste. 

Lean Construction - Lean Construction is a mindset focused on optimising how project teams work together. It covers everything that has been discussed throughout this blog - building trust, opening communication and using collaborative delivery methods. Shifting to this process maximises stakeholder value whilst minimising waste. 

Technology

Successful collaboration in construction is often facilitated with digital tools and approaches. Sharing data becomes much easier with the right software in place, especially with teams based in different locations. When key players have access to real-time project data, it reduces the chance of mistakes and disputes. A few examples of different construction software solutions are: 

Resource Management - Construction resource management is the practice of planning, managing and allocating resources to ensure that projects are delivered on schedule and within budget. This software will track the capacity and available skills available on a project to make sure that workforces aren't over- or under-staffed. The right skills, materials and tools are available to complete each task. Allocating the right workforce is especially important with the ongoing problem of labour shortages within construction. 

Project Management - Project management software allows businesses to manage their project workflow, timelines and budgets. Project managers can follow each project throughout their lifecycle, from initial talks with clients to completion. This software simplifies complex procedures with multiple stakeholders. Everyone has access to the status, notes, reports and photographs linked to each stage of the project. 

Cloud-based software - Implementing cloud-based construction software makes it easy for teams to access real-time project data from anywhere at any time. With dispersed teams, often on sites without WiFi, it is important for everyone to still get the information they need when they need it. Cloud-based systems centralise project data so that it will always be up to date. Everyone has access to one single version of the truth. This reduces the chance of adversarial information spreading throughout different teams. Everyone is working off the same documents, notes and drawings, resulting in faster, better-informed decisions. Cloud-based software is essential for strong collaboration between teams. 

Check out our construction software solutions that will help your business become more collaborative.