Amid economic disruptions and industry-wide labor shortage pains, it’s more important than ever for you to evolve your approaches to leadership and overall business strategy. Construction is shifting every day, in the office and the field, and it’s vital to stay ahead of the game to survive. We’ve provided you with five steps to stay agile and innovative to start 2024 ahead of your competition.
1. Get a Strong Hold on Your Finances
Meticulous financial foresight will be the locking pin for your success in 2024. You’ll want to:
- Determine average costs for certain jobs and locations using real-time regional cost data in your preconstruction process.
- Reevaluate overhead costs and fine-tune the balance between investment and yield.
- Prepare for market swings with a financing app like Billd to access funds that meet the immediate needs of your business.
- Review 2023 estimates vs actuals for insights into patterns of strengths and weaknesses to reassess how you’re bidding work.
2. Adopt the Right Technology Right Now
Finding the right technology for your business should be your number one, immediate priority. With increased pressure on bottom lines, there is little wiggle room when it comes to unplanned expenses. Contractors need to look long and hard at areas that can be improved – and that starts with tech. Don’t wait until hell breaks loose to evaluate your tech stack. Leverage your digital assets to give your teams the right tools to do more with less. The right tech will increase collaboration, streamline processes, and should integrate with your existing workflows and business systems to ensure data integrity and increase productivity.
3. Know When To Hold ‘Em: Top-Notch Employee Retention Efforts
See Step 3. Retention truly starts with a great leader. But it also comes with organizational standards and career advancement opportunities. What do you have in place for ongoing success and growth for employees within your company? The next generation of the workforce is already prepared for the jobsite of tomorrow – aka a tech-stacked company. Be prepared with the right tools for them to maximize efficiency and productivity – from the office to the field.
Make sure your business is ready to anticipate growth needs with programs in place like mentorships and apprenticeships, ongoing tech education resources, and frequent, engaging training opportunities. Help your teams update their skills, bridge the gap between theory and practice, and build a strong workplace camaraderie.
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4. Build A Culture of Innovation to Drive Organizational Change
You can’t create change without building a culture of empowerment to innovate – and that starts with agile leadership. If you want your business to be able to scale and achieve ambitious goals, you’ll need to create a supportive environment that drives creative thinking, allows people to take risks (with guidance and boundaries), and inspires collaboration from the “collective genius” that is your team.
Start with a 360-degree feedback process for 2023. Encourage the entire company – from leadership to entry-level – to analyze performance metrics and how they can mirror what’s working for a more efficient 2024. Give teams the power to execute new ideas and the digital tools and data they need to innovate. When team members see themselves as integral to your company’s success, there is a shift in perception that propels long-term performance and the development of leadership skills. Be the leader among growing leaders.
5. Take Advantage of Artificial Intelligence
We guarantee you’ve seen something today that was created using AI – an article online, a BIM drawing, a preassembled wall. AI has huge potential to alleviate manual work and help you make better-informed business decisions in the construction lifecycle. Whether it’s AI in your preconstruction software performing automatic counts on plans, using Chat GPT to increase efficiency in marketing and sales communications, or AI using data analysis to reduce risk and improve operations, it’s an essential tool every contractor should be leveraging to accelerate (but not replace) important business workflows.
STACK is the Right Tech, Right Now
STACK gives you MAJOR capabilities for your business to succeed!
- 100% cloud-based
- Robust, open API to streamline workflows
- Real-time cost data integration with 1build
- Extremely collaborative connecting the office to the field
- Industry-leading in data security
- OS flexibility
- Lightning-fast takeoffs and estimates
- Improved productivity and mitigate risk in the field
