The building blocks of better collaboration

MeetingZone’s Sam Coomber explains how unified communications (UC) can help construction firms improve their productivity, efficiency, reputation and innovative potential.

A lot of expectations are being piled on the UK construction industry at the moment. With housing in short supply and commercial development central to the country’s hopes for economic growth, the sector is under pressure to ramp up production and efficiency. Independent industry researcher Leading Edge forecasts the sector will grow 4.2% this year. Meanwhile, in its “Construction 2025” report, the Government expects the industry to grow by 70% in the next decade. 

It wants to see project times cut in half and costs slashed by a third, with simultaneous improvements in quality, sustainability and safety. 

Clearly, this will require an unprecedented level of innovation in the way the industry operates. But before it can rise to these challenges, the sector first needs to improve the way it communicates and collaborates, both internally and externally – and that’s where UC can help.

Construction, more than most industries, depends on effective co-ordination of a wide range of suppliers, tradespeople and stakeholders. To avoid project bottlenecks, plans must be signed off in a timely fashion, communities must be consulted, environmental concerns met, health and safety approvals granted, materials delivered on time to the right place. People must be on site when they’re needed. And any issues or problems need to be communicated among the relevant parties quickly and efficiently to minimise disruption and delays. 

Yet, for the most part, this isn’t happening today. Most firms in the sector still rely on the phone, email and face-to-face meetings to co-ordinate activities, with all the inefficiencies that implies – lots of back-and-forth exchanges, missed messages, confusing email chains, difficulties getting everyone together at the same time, paperwork going AWOL and so on. 

Unified communications brings together a series of well-established technologies designed to improve communication and collaboration among individuals and groups, for example audio and video calling and conferencing, instant text chats, file sharing and ‘presence’ (the ability to see at a glance whether someone’s available). 

All these components work together seamlessly and simply – whether someone is sitting at an office desk, using a laptop at home or out and about with their mobile phone. People can quickly and easily arrange and join meetings, access schedules, plans, permits and other files.  

They can use a shared whiteboard during a call to communicate points more visually with a quick sketch on their touchscreen. Someone on site can instantly share photos or plans with other parties via their mobile phone. In terms of collaboration among a diverse and dispersed workforce, the benefits are huge.

All external parties need to join meetings is an app on their phone or tablet, or a web browser. And if they’re in a location that doesn’t have an Internet or mobile data connection, they can still join in via a traditional phone call.

As well as improving operational efficiency through better collaboration, UC can also improve an organisation’s relationship with the general public. For example, consultations over planned developments typically involve a public meeting in a town hall or community centre, and little else. With UC, firms can give members of the public the chance to attend these meetings virtually. 

Using a standard camera and laptop, the meeting can be broadcast live over the Internet, and people can ask questions and voice opinions remotely. They would also be able to show schematics and why not even prepare a series of visual aids that show the progress of the development stage by stage. Not only does this help firms better gauge community opinions and avoid objections further down the line, but also improves their public reputation as a company that takes the community’s views seriously.

So why aren’t more companies in the sector making use of the technology? Probably because they’re not aware how far it’s come in the last few years. Implemented in the right way, UC is now just as reliable as more established methods of communication such as the telephone and email, while being both less expensive and much more versatile. Of course, we know you can’t always replace traditional ‘face-to-face’ interaction, and UC isn’t the only way. But when an industry like construction is based on getting projects completed within time and budget, collaborative technology will undoubtedly go towards making the sector more effective and efficient in the long term. 

They may also fear that the cultural change it helps promote – i.e. a less hierarchical, more collaborative way of working – will be hard for people to adapt to. Even some of the larger firms that have invested in UC generally aren’t getting the most out of it, either because staff don’t understand how it can help them or because external contractors and suppliers won’t use it.

That’s why it’s important to select providers that won’t just implement UC and leave you in the lurch. Although UC is simple to use, it’s vital to ensure all users are given sufficient training and support so they’re comfortable with it, else they’ll default back to their old, inefficient ways of working. 

But if you’re serious about making the kind of improvements and innovations “Construction 2025” outlines, and ensure you select an experienced, helpful provider that will steer you through implementation, UC can give you a great foundation to build on.

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