6 Methods to Improve Tech Adoption in Construction
It still feels like yesterday, I was a young estimator for a large general contractor and got one of those calls for a quick chat about an “opportunity.” Ever get one of those?
Next thing I know, I’m on a team of subject matter experts tasked with guiding a $10+ billion company through a complete digital overhaul that will revolutionize their systems.
Little did they know it would also require a few restarts and nearly 5 years to complete.
That was 15 years ago now. And while I could have never guessed it at the time, it led me on an entirely new path in my construction career. There have certainly been a few bumps, bruises and even battle scars collected along the way, but each has come with a lesson to be learned.
So, after leading or consulting on hundreds of digital transformations over the last decade and a half, here are my top six things to know about tech adoption in construction.
Introduction to Tech Adoption in Construction
First, a level set. Why is technology adoption important in construction?
Well, if we’re being honest, construction has never been accused of moving too fast when it comes to adopting new technology. Notepads, whiteboards and inboxes full of RFIs are our comfort zone. But the industry is at a crossroads. Everyday the challenges grow through tighter timelines, rising costs, labor shortages and increasing regulatory demands. The old way is no longer just inefficient, it’s unsustainable.
That’s where technology comes in.
I’m not talking about the shiny object that is unhelpful, but the real solutions that are transforming how we plan, build and deliver projects. From improving jobsite safety and communication to driving faster, data-backed decisions, the benefits of embracing construction tech are no longer hypothetical. For those willing to adopt, they’re becoming a competitive advantage.
So where do you begin?
1. Build Stakeholder Buy-In and Engagement
If there was anything I wish the team could do over again from the first few attempts at adopting new technology, it would be to start with the people first. Unfortunately, they began by selecting the software and got around to building buy-in long after the project was well underway. As you can imagine, this caused some pushback.
Construction is a people business, forest and foremost, and your people can be either the heroes (or villains) in your story of tech adoption. If you like the sound of heroes more, I suggest creating buy-in early with your most influential people.
Think of your high achievers, early in their careers and looking for a voice. By involving them early, they become internal champions for the change.
That involvement starts with the tried and true “what’s in it for me” details.
Build awareness of the benefits of the tech you are working to adopt, share regular updates and be sure to invite their feedback. The more your people feel heard and involved, the stronger the buy-in will be for pushing through the adoption curve.
And no, I didn’t forget about naming an executive sponsor. However, often the executive sponsor is misunderstood. One thing the team got right was how leadership engaged in their tech adoption. You see, it wasn’t about driving the change down the food chain, rather it was about creating buy-in amongst their executive peers.
2. Assess Organizational Readiness for Tech Adoption
While I wish I could say that putting the technology in front of the people was the only thing the team got wrong, it wasn’t. They also selected the tech before they truly understood their readiness for adoption.
If your processes were perfect you likely wouldn’t be looking at a new technology to begin with. So taking those same Frankensteinian workarounds and backdoors into a new system is detrimental to your success. First, you must question everything, challenge the “we’ve always done it this way” status quo and get lean.
The good news is, at this point you’ve built buy-in with a team of influential champions. Put them to work. Identify the bottlenecks in the way you currently do business, focus on key steps that take significant time and determine if your current steps are a limitation of the current tool.
With a lean set of processes and influential champions at the ready, change management becomes more of a race than a slog. People are excited to decide what tech to adopt next.
3. Identify the Right Technologies for Your Projects
In a perfect world, there would be an out-of-the-box solution just waiting for you to select it and move forward. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Some platforms might get you close, but you’re often left wanting more.
The first key is prioritization. Again, going after the tasks that take the most time and not sweating the small stuff will create big wins right out of the gate. The more you can do that, the better chance you have at spreading the buy-in throughout the organization.
From there, with a flexible solution that adapts to your way of doing business you are able to evolve as your adoption grows. The team learned the hard way. Trying extra hard to conform everything they did to how their new platform worked, they created a number of significant workarounds and custom-built apps outside of the core system. Remember, tech is meant to enable the process, not the other way around.
Research and Evaluation of Tech Solutions
Quick side note on evaluating software. If you feel like you don’t know where to start, begin by asking your people what they know. Chances are they’ve heard of solutions from friends in the industry or even past employers.
Also, be open to learning from the solution providers you are evaluating. They have been working with hundreds of customers across the industry and might have learned a thing or two about how to streamline difficult processes.
And above all else, listen to the feedback you receive. When the evaluation scores come in, don’t make changes to cut costs or appease leadership. The fastest way to kill buy-in is by not listening to the feedback received on the solutions.
4. Implementing Technology: Best Practices and Phased Rollouts
Now that the hard part of selecting a solution is out of the way, implementation can begin.
It is important to know, running a technology project is not the same as running a construction project. Trust me, no matter the experience you may have, it is worth it to consult the vendor or their partners. In most cases, your vendor will have best practices for the path to adoption.
However, a choice you will typically face is whether to go “big-bang” or take a phased approach. There are pros and cons to each, but the size of your organization may play the biggest factor in your decision. As will understanding your availability of resources. In my experience, phased rollouts may take longer, but lead to better long-term success.
One last item to consider, whether or not to interrupt active projects mid-build and transition them to the new technology. The team took the path of least resistance, allowing active projects to finish on the old solution while ensuring that new projects launched on the new solution. This led to a few people feeling left behind as their long duration projects rolled on, so be careful to keep them feeling included in the change.
Measure Success and Adjust Strategies
The success of your adoption will largely depend on the problems you set out to solve, so be sure to create metrics that are relevant to the original goal. The last thing your team needs is to be graded on a curve they didn’t know existed.
Also, be cognisant of the learning curve for anything new. In the beginning, you may actually see a dip in production as your teams assimilate to the new technology. This is normal. Be ok with the early dip and don’t pull the plug too soon, the more you show confidence in the solution the more engaged your team will be to push through the change.
5. Comprehensive Training and Ongoing Support
Finally, something I’m thankful the team got right the first time was building a detailed training plan that accounted for ongoing support. It’s one thing to run all of your people through an intense curriculum to learn a new technology, it is something else entirely to build a community of tech evangelists that will promote and enhance the training long after go-live.
They built the latter by developing a dedicated group of “super users” early on and allowing them the flexibility to continue on with their innovation center post implementation.
Not only was this team vital in standing up new projects on the solution (deployed to large projects for quick onboarding), but their enthusiasm for improvement led to ongoing enhancements to the technology stack for years to come.
6. Overcoming Common Barriers to Tech Adoption
Of course, adopting new technology isn’t as simple as flipping a switch. Resistance to change is real. In an industry built on “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” budget constraints and integration headaches only add fuel to the hostility you’ll face.
But these challenges aren’t insurmountable.
Remember where we began, start by involving your field teams early in the decision-making process. When people help shape the solution, they’re far more likely to use it. Also, consider that phased rollout approach to ease the learning curve, and pair it with hands-on training tied to real job tasks, not just theoretical use cases. And don’t underestimate the power of integration-ready platforms, systems that play well with existing tools rather than fighting to replace them all all at once.
At the end of the day, overcoming these barriers isn’t about pushing harder, it’s about leading smarter.
Get Up and Running Fast with Kahua
As you can see, if I had it to do all over again there is a lot I would have done differently as a part of my first tech adoption. The last thing I wish I knew back then was the benefit of utilizing a platform as a service, like Kahua.
Built with all these lessons already in mind, Kahua deploys out-of-the-box quickly with the foundational project management elements in place. That gives you the quick win. From there, the platform hands you the power to extend applications in a way that works for your business. That allows you to overcome the challenges of trying to conform to a process that’s not yours.
If you are looking to adopt new tech, why not select a platform that enables a new way of developing, implementing, maintaining and ultimately growing your technology solution? That may just keep you from having to learn these same lessons the hard way.
