How to Keep Up with Construction Market Volatility

The Oxford dictionary defines volatility as “the liability to change rapidly and unpredictably, especially for the worse.” 

It seems volatility is a near-perfect word to describe our current construction economy. The use of “liability”, “unpredictability” and “worse” to define volatility speaks volumes!  

Construction has always been a challenging business because every project is different. But labor shortages, supply chain woes, increased commodity demands and so many more factors are creating unprecedented volatility. In an industry where margins have always been thin, these issues exacerbate an already difficult set of challenges.  

Take for example the rapid deployment of funding that the US government is deploying for infrastructure projects. Our industry was already labor challenged when the Feds decided to push several trillions of dollars into additional projects. And all this funding comes with new tracking and reporting requirements, much of which remained undefined as the initial round of funding came out. 

All this means that project owners and constructors must be incredibly agile if they are going to succeed in this economy. Kahua is in the construction management software business supporting these owners and constructors. Traditionally, software vendors tout that their products are flexible and can be adapted to changes. But in this volatile market, that’s not enough. Software needs to also be agile. 

The difference between flexible and agile is important. A freight train and a tractor-trailer are both flexible. They can both handle turns and twists. They can both have freight added to and subtracted from themselves. But a train is not agile like a tractor-trailer is. It can’t turn around in a parking lot and go in a different direction. It cannot easily pivot. There are many places where trains can’t go. Today’s construction owners and constructors will need software solutions that are both flexible and agile and have partners to help them implement and manage those solutions. 

For decades Project Partners has empowered teams to accelerate project delivery, get business insights and take immediate action within budget. In 2022, the company brought their experience to the growing family of Kahua partners. Plan to join Kahua and Project Partners on Jan. 24 for an informative conversation about lessons learned that could empower your organization to thrive in these unprecedented times. We will be talking with Project Partners’ Tamim Kulaly, VP of Project Execution Solutions, and Terri Maginnis, Practice Director.

Discover specific challenges and how the Project Partner team helped their clients overcome and succeed. See you then!