COVID-19 has emerged as the biggest crisis that this generation has faced. The impact on public health is undeniable but you cannot overlook the fact that it has changed businesses too. Most of the domains have witnessed a shift towards remote working models while many have been disrupted. The challenge for the construction domain is immense as projects cannot progress without enormous project teams in the field. Still, businesses are gradually limping back to the normal, with lockdowns being lifted and people coming back to work (though social distancing norms will continue to be there).
Speaking about construction projects, things are way different and challenging than they ever were and given the global economic disruption, it is nowhere near slowing down. Given the circumstances, completing the projects within budgets and timelines is going to be tougher than ever. One of the ways to minimise and deal with the new world order is by leveraging technology to streamline tasks and process.
Zepth, the powerful AI-driven construction project management software solution, is the one that you can effectively shift the responsibility to. It offers a range of features, some of which can be specifically helpful for limiting the pandemic’s impact.
Let us explain how it can empower your business during the COVID-19 crisis.
Clear communication and collaboration
The biggest after-effect of the pandemic is the disruption of normal workflows. This makes all the difference in construction, where regular status meetings, project progress updates and team check-ins, are vital to completion. Hence, there is a need to explore other means of communication that are simple, reliable and uncomplicated. Remotely managing the on-site activities and coordinating certain aspects without any site visits can potentially land the project in jeopardy. This can be best dealt with virtual communication that keeps the entire team connected and in touch regularly. As a Project Manager, constant communication empowers you to identify and resolve issues and ensures that the deadlines are met and the projects are delivered on time.
With Zepth, you get a robust communication and collaboration tool that can help the team in closing the remote working gaps with its own video conferencing tools and other advanced tools to issue task-based MoMs. Managers can invite participants and see who is coming and also ensure that everyone is on the same page with MOMs after the meetings. It is also possible to add, upload and record your private notes. It also enables a consolidated platform to share documents and collaborate alongside the entire project data.
Data centralisation
Another major challenge that construction project managers face is missing or unreliable data stored on disparate databases. With multiple teams working on different Excel sheets and various paper forms collecting and synchronising all the data can prove challenging. With the lockdown in place, having a centralised database of all project documents (worksheets, reports, communication and other relevant files) can aid remote teams to work in tandem with the site remotely with the necessary data while keeping up with the site progress. Unless there is a centralised information system, you cannot expect the project to be under control.
Zepth offers an amazing solution with its data centralisation feature. The Project Manager can easily log in and see data in real-time to track the progress of each team and project and ensure that everything is on track. Having the entire project data at a unified platform enables the team members to know their specific responsibilities and deadlines, while project managers can allocate tasks remotely and see through their completion. Similarly, team members and sub-contractors call all collaborate remotely to track progress and discuss alternatives as everything is visible at one place.
Efficient monitoring
Like data centralisation, monitoring project status more closely becomes the need of the hour. Even when things are normal, a single-day delay could result in a massive butterfly effect. In the current downturn, extra costs, missing resources and delays are the last thing that companies would want to face as they can translate into colossal ROI losses ahead. More than ever now, monitoring becomes vital to efficient project management. The potent data centralisation tool offered by Zepth also enables you to achieve efficient reporting. The monitoring and centralising systems are well-synchronised, which means that you can get real-time information that empowers you to take quick action when needed.
With this feature, you can define the project KPIs, leverage contextual monitoring dashboards and visualise the data in real-time. For example, Zepth offers interactive charts and visualisations which make it easy to understand the analytics that matter. You also get access to detailed cashflow statements, budget analysis reports, cost control management tools, change order reports and reports on contracts and certified payments. What’s more, these are one-click, ready to share reports that you can easily share with the clients as a part of the progress reporting. These can be of great help during the crisis as they keep the managers on track with monitoring, even while reducing their reporting workload.
You will notice that these factors have a key role in determining project success. Effective communication, analytics, monitoring and reporting are some very crucial aspects for completing and delivering the project efficiently and on-time. With the features it offers, Zepth enables you to build a team that is supported, connected and empowered to ensure that the projects move on at their pace even during such troubled times like the pandemic situation right now. Getting these success factors- namely communication, centralisation and monitoring-right will help you weather the storm.
Additionally, it can also drive long-term improvement and empowerment for your organisation. If you have always been considering on-boarding a construction project management solution, there couldn’t be a better time to do it than right now. Taking quick action right now would make you capable of reaping its benefits in the coming time, even while ensuring survival through the pandemic. Surely, Zepth is a solution you can trust to take your business on the right track.
