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Clear and efficient communication is essential for any construction project, large or small, to be delivered effectively and completed within the agreed timescale and budget.

With multiple phases to complete within each project, and usually multiple teams, subcontractors, and stakeholders working remotely on specific areas of responsibility, any delay, miscommunication, or information flow can quickly escalate, threatening to derail the project timetable.

To collaborate successfully, everyone needs to be on the same page and communicate confidently and accurately. Since each member of the team is integral, trust and respect for each other's timely input, and ongoing feedback, are critical.

Who is responsible for collaboration?

Working together and driving collaboration is the responsibility of project managers, consultants, the design team, and the rest of the core leadership. However, all stakeholders’ suppliers and subcontractors have a crucial role to play in establishing clear lines of communication and respect between themselves and their colleagues. This should form a core part of onboarding for new contractors, training and development for existing team members, and individual and project team KPIs.

Are meetings enough to ensure good collaboration?

To ensure that the project is completed on time, all key stakeholders should meet virtually or in person on a regular basis to discuss progress and monitor teamwork. On its own, however, periodic meetings are often not sufficient to identify emerging problems and take remedial action to control information flow, design development and programme to ensure that projects remain on track.

Meetings will, at best, provide a limited snapshot of performance and progress, not an ongoing ‘video feed.’ A real-time collaboration interface, such as a construction project management platform like Milestone, from Cube, mitigates contract risk by helping prevent mistakes and misunderstandings from escalating unnecessarily between meetings, and may make it easier to achieve your outcomes with less meeting time away from the site.

When should organised collaboration start?

It is essential for stakeholders to start collaborating as early as possible in the project planning process by involving the key players on a project, such as the business owner, architect, engineer, general contractor, and key subcontractors. Doing this can facilitate successful decision-making for the project, including improved designs, a realistic and achievable timeline for deadlines, enhanced reporting content, representative progress reviews, and better interpersonal relationships within the team.

Accountability and transparency.

Good communication helps build trust and respect among your teams and departments. However, for these good communication channels to translate into better collaboration, there must be clear areas of responsibility and ownership for stakeholders involved in every aspect of the project, expressed as clear time-delineated KPIs. Consistency of approach and information exchange is key. Centralising all aspects of project management within a unified software interface reduces ambiguity about who is doing what within the project and avoids the idle time, misunderstanding, and duplication of effort. With increased ownership comes a greater culture of accountability and transparency within your team, leading to more efficient working practices and stronger outcomes.

Can project management software improve collaboration?

Yes, while software will never replace the value of face-to-face and phone communication between project stakeholders, it is possible to drive better consistency and facilitate collaboration with the help of specialised software solutions and the right training. Collaboration is enhanced when all team members have access to the same source of truth in real-time, so there is less miscommunication and fewer delays.

Construction project management services from Cube.

At Cube, we offer a range of customisable services to help contractors improve collaboration and communication within their projects. Among these services is our independent construction project review service, which can help highlight specific areas for improvement in the field of collaboration and on-site delivery, amongst other aspects.

We also provide a unique construction team collaboration tool as part of our Milestone project management platform, helping all stakeholders in your project interact within a convenient cloud-based interface, streamlining collaboration and helping project teams to interact more efficiently. To learn more about how we can help you, please click here to contact one of our team.