Why the time is now
for transformationin construction– and how to achieve itContents
Introduction

3

Improved collaboration

6

Focus on proactive safety

8

Using mobile for integrated
project management

10

Embracing automation

12

Before you buy

14

Conclusion

15©2021. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet Inc.

– 2 –www.smartsheet.com

Introduction
COVID-19 and Brexit have forced the construction industry
into a period of rapid digital transformation. Having an
impact on everything from workforce numbers to profit
margins, technology has had to be embraced to operate
efficiently and remain competitive.

Incredibly, many projects are still planned on paper,
creating a disconnect between the office and thefield that has only been amplified by COVID-19.
According to the JLL 2020 Construction Tech Report,
67 percent of construction companies have now
enabled remote working, splitting teams on andoff site. According to their June Worker Preference
Barometer, 63% of construction employees would
like to maintain this workplace flexibility.

But as pressures on the construction industry
grow, companies are transforming the way
projects are planned and executed. The JLL 2020
Construction Tech Report states that most new
funding has been concentrated in categories
that have grown because of COVID-19 – like
technology. The most innovative companies areintegrating technology into their daily processes,
choosing a partner that provides intuitive toolsthat every team member can use.

What’s more, a serious shortage of affordable,
skilled labour (the number-one problem of 82
percent of building firms, according to the National
Association of Home Builders) means that many
companies are operating with skeleton teams.
This can also have a significant impact on safety,
increasing the likelihood of cutting corners todeliver work on time. It’s clear that streamlining
efficiency is more crucial than ever; and digitaltransformation is the way to do this.

©2021. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet Inc.

As changes and shifts continue to take place,a number of key industry challenges present
opportunities for construction companies to
use technology to improve their efficiency.

– 3 –www.smartsheet.com

Embrace technology,
improve efficiency
By embracing technology, construction companies can respondto increasing demand by completing projects faster, more efficiently,
and with greater flexibility.
The right technology also allows business owners who do not necessarilyneed access to the granular day-to-day operations of a given project
the appropriate level of visibility, thanks to real-time dashboards
and rollup reports.
“The industry is at a technological tipping point,” says Stephanie Viers,
construction industry expert at Smartsheet. “We talk to hundredsof our customers in construction, and we hear the same story: evolveor die. The competitive pressures are just too great to forego theadvantages that technology can offer.”
And with growing pressure to hit ambitious sustainability targets,the construction industry should be looking to streamline processes
such as managing delivery routes to reduce carbon footprint.

2018 TechValidate survey of Smartsheet customers and users

1©2021. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet Inc.

– 4 –www.smartsheet.com

Make technology work for your organisation
Streamline workflows

Improve efficiency

Construction projects typically go
through a series of phases before
completion, with the timing of thesephases varying greatly. At any point
during a workflow, a bottleneck
can occur, presenting a valuable
opportunity to use technology to
expedite processes and save time.
By using Smartsheet, 47 percent ofusers in the construction industry reportsaving at least six hours every week.1

Companies not currently using digital
tools must begin integrating technology
platforms into their processes in order toremain competitive, while those who haveadopted tech to should look for additional
ways for it to increase efficiency.

Improve agility
As the industry struggles with askilled labour shortage, meetingthese rising expectations will become
increasingly challenging. COVID-19
has taught construction teams thatthey need to be able to flex andadapt to constantly shifting priorities
and changing circumstances.

Provide project visibility
Collaboration between office workers,
such as project managers, and field
workers, such as foremen, is crucial.
When everyone has access to all project
documents and up-to-date timelines,
construction projects are more likely to
be completed on time and on budget.
And with teams split between on-siteand at home, mobile compatibility
ensures all workers have access toproject information anywhere, any time.

Streamline scheduling
Even the slightest schedule change
can affect multiple people, and they
all need to be informed in a timely
manner. With a real-time work execution
platform such as Smartsheet, schedulechanges can be made on a smartphone,
and all affected parties can accessupdated information in real time.

I think there’s not a better program on the market to be able to streamline processes.
In a C-level position in any company, regardless of the industry, you have to haveinformation you can crunch, and you need to know that it’s accurate. The nice thing
about Smartsheet is, once you get the information in, you can have your dashboards
with your KPIs and company benchmarks all preset on one side and actuals on
the other half. You can make your projections with numbers, graphs, or whateverworks for you, and in five minutes you can get the health of your company.
John Kenney, Chief Operating Officer, Sutter Roofing©2021. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet Inc.

– 5 –www.smartsheet.com

Improvedcollaboration
Many construction companies have broadened their offerings toinclude additional aspects of projects for clients, and complete
this work using internal teams or subcontractors. To see a
project through to completion, construction managers are
now dependent on more people, teams, and companies.

I think one of thebiggest wins for
Smartsheet was thatthe client was able toget different groups
that were siloed within
their own company
to start collaborating
more effectively,
which was having
a positive impact
on the projects wewere executing.

But an over-reliance on paper for project planning means field crews
don’t have the same project visibility as those in the home office,creating time-consuming delays and disconnects. To address theseissues, construction companies are changing their processes andmindsets to encompass a much more collaborative approach byreplacing spreadsheets, emails, and meetings with cloud-based
work execution platforms that keep everyone on the same page.
The 2018 TechValidate survey of Smartsheet users foundthat before they implemented Smartsheet, 86 percent
of respondents experienced poor collaboration acrossstakeholders, resulting in delays and incorrect decisions.2

Betsy Solomon, Accounts
Operations Lead, JLL

By choosing a platform that allows everyone access to themost recent documents, data, and work status, all people
working on a project – from architects to project managers
to builders in the field – can instantly access information
about blockers, dependencies, deadlines, and resources.

2©2021. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet Inc.

– 6 –2018 TechValidate survey of Smartsheet customers and users

www.smartsheet.com

Make technology work for your organisation
Real-time collaboration

Punch list and changeorder management

By using cloud-based technology,
all team members can access realtime project information when
and where they need it, including
inspection logs, project timelines,
budgets, and dependencies.

Instead of using a spreadsheet or
handwritten list, move your punch list
into an online platform that provides
transparency, in addition to real-time
information. By sharing statuses inreal time, all team members are moreaccountable for their incomplete tasks.

Quality control

Collecting signatures

Reduce testing and inspection
errors, accelerate close-out time,and improve job satisfaction by
maintaining transparency between
client and site crews. By choosing
a work execution platform with
granular sharing permissions, suchas Smartsheet, you can easily share
only the specific information you
want a client or contractor to see,and keep private data private.

Many documents need signingduring a construction project,including subcontractor contracts,
invoices, change orders, and client
contracts. By using the Smartsheet
DocuSign integration, you cancollect digital signatures andthen automatically update project
documentation in Smartsheet.

©2021. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet Inc.

– 7 –www.smartsheet.com

Focus on
proactive safety
In recent years, the rate of safety violations and worker deaths has
risen dramatically in the construction industry, partly due to theincreased demand for speed (and in some cases, companies cutting
corners to meet mounting competitive costs). According to 2020 Healthand Safety Executive government statistics, the construction industry
sees 61,000 non-fatal injuries a year, and a further 37 fatal injuries.
Construction companies are now spending more time and money
on proactively improving safety conditions for their workers.
Because 20 percent of construction worker deaths happen in
the first two months on the job, construction companies are
improving safety training during the onboarding process.
Companies are also performing self-inspections and encouraging
employees to self-report safety issues as they observe them, using
technology to more quickly capture and address safety issues.
COVID has raised new challenges for safety. For example, on-sitemanagers now have to track the arrival of every single worker orvisitor. Using the customised template from Smartsheet, this canbe done quickly and efficiently alongside managing PPE inventory
such as hand sanitizer and gloves. While hopefully, the need to
track and trace won’t be with us forever, there’s no denying how
valuable it is to have clear records of who is on site – and when.

©2021. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet Inc.

– 8 –One of themost important
requirements fora major construction
project is regulatorycompliance. We
use Smartsheet tocapture project details
in real time via live
dashboards, so healthand safety teams canconfirm checklist
requirements and deal
with potential safetyissues promptly.
Stephen Agla, Health, Safety
and Security Manager,
Mosaic Transit Groupwww.smartsheet.com

Make technology work for your organisation
Shorten response timeWorkers are often the ones who spot safetyissues or violations. However, they may behesitant to report them, or simply forget
to make a report at the end of their shift.
By placing QR codes on safety signs instrategic locations, workers simply scan
the code with their mobile devices to start
the reporting process using Smartsheet.

Keep comprehensive logs forsafety and inspection tracking
You can only resolve safety issues thatyou know about. By keeping digitalrecords, you can increase documentation
accuracy during inspections, maintaincomprehensive logs without additional steps,
and accelerate resolution by connecting
the right people at the right time.

©2021. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet Inc.

– 9 –We have around
50 COVID-related
solutions built in
Smartsheet. That
includes sheets,
metrics, reports,
dashboards. To be
frank, we couldn’t dowithout Smartsheet.
It allowed us to build
our daily COVID survey
in around an hour.
There are no special
developer inputs. Justa simple, elegant, fitfor-purpose solution.
Gavin Cheetham, Group
Building Information
Modelling (BIM) Manager,
A.G. Coombs

www.smartsheet.com

Using mobile for
integrated project
management
Many construction professionals still write notes in the field on paper,or on their phones, and then log into project management software
to update status, timelines, and budgets when they have access to acomputer. Others use their phones to call in status reports to construction
managers. Using these methods means that some decisions must wait
until a team member reports in, which can lead to additional costly delays.
More construction professionals are now using mobile
technology to provide real-time communication. And more
recently, thanks to the flexible working practices COVID-19
has generated, this need has increased even further.
Instead of waiting for people to call in, or spending time trying tosolicit updates, team members can complete status updates inseconds on their mobile devices, and quickly get back to work.
This increases productivity dramatically, and is a major reason that
construction professionals will continue to increase the level andsophistication of mobile technology used in their organisations.

©2021. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet Inc.

– 10 –

www.smartsheet.com

Make technology work for your organisation

Receive updates
from field workers
Instead of waiting for phone calls, use platforms
with mobile components to empower workers
to instantly provide project updates. With
Smartsheet, workers can provide updates
by submitting a simple form or uploading aphoto, which directly updates the project sheet,eliminating errors and speeding up the process.

Track data and financials
Instead of data being stored in various
tools, on paper notes, and within diverse
documents, you can improve efficiency byusing a work execution platform to create asingle, centralised source of truth for sharing
important company and project information.

Integrate other tech
The construction industry has
recently begun to make use oftechnology such as drones andwearables. Any data collected via
these devices can be integrated intoa Smartsheet dashboard, providing
your team with real-time information
to gain the necessary insights.

©2021. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet Inc.

– 11 –

www.smartsheet.com

Embracing
automation
According to the Institute for Public Policy Research’s (IPPR) study,
the construction industry is facing a significant skills shortage,
with more than 750,000 workers set to retire in the next 15 years.
More recently, migration restrictions as a result of both Brexit
and COVID-19 mean that number is reduced even further.
Construction companies now must maintain the same speed
and efficiency with a smaller labour force. With increased
competition in the field, mistakes – which happen more often
when teams are stretched thin – are even more costly.
Companies are now turning to automation to improve efficiency
and accuracy. By automating repetitive tasks, companies can
reduce human error, miss fewer deadlines, enforce processes,
and collect the right data from the right people at the right time.
Business owners and management can analyse their businesses
and processes based on accurate, real-time information.

©2021. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet Inc.

– 12 –

Automation is justgoing to continue
to be increasingly
important for
construction
companies. They
need to overcome
labour shortages, andother companies are
increasingly going
to be buying more
and more solutions
that incorporate
automation.
Jack Crane, CEO of Cybercowww.smartsheet.com

Make technology work for your organisation
Automate repetitive
tasks and actions
Waiting for approvals or project updates
can cause costly delays. The right software
can speed sales discount and procurement
approvals, time tracking approvals, status andschedule update requests, hiring approvals,
and more. Create automated approval andupdate requests – without help from IT – thatare triggered based on pre-set rules, so yourteam gets the information they need quickly.

After seeing how muchtime has been taken
off their plate, [teams
are] pushing for more
automation throughSmartsheet... The timeit took for all this datato get to our main
headquarters — it’s all
gone. It’s phenomenal.

Collect error-free information

Raylene Dufresne, Directorof IT, Miller & Long

A work execution platform with automation
features enables you to collect errorfree, consistent, and organised data fromanyone via easy-to-configure forms.

Eliminate bottlenecks
With easily configured alerts, you can set up
your projects to automatically notify you whena task or process is running behind scheduleor over budget, speeding up the pace ofimportant decisions – and the overall work.

©2021. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet Inc.

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www.smartsheet.com

Before You Buy ook for a connectedL
platform, not a single tool

Consider how your teamwill use the platform

Construction projects involve manydifferent people and processes. When
companies select a single tool for a single
task, they create a silo, which makes it
impossible to share information across theentire project. Using functionalities suchas Smartsheet’s 10,000ft, and integrations
with existing technologies, construction
companies can see a complete pictureof the project from one place.

Different viewing options will ensure thatteams feel comfortable and in control,whatever their tech skills and language
preference. With Smartsheet, you canchoose from four views: grid, card, Gantt,and calendar. Grid offers the classic
spreadsheet layout, while card – inspiredby Kanban boards – provides a clear, visual
way for your team to collaborate. With
comprehensive admin controls, you canalso make sure you’re sharing the rightlevel of information with the right people.

Find a platform that delivers
real-time information

Get buy-in fromthe team

On job sites, the project status changes
constantly. Leveraging the power of thecloud is critical; but because job sites
often don’t have wireless internet access,you should also choose technology that isaccessible on mobile devices over internet
hotspots or that offers a mobile app. By
purchasing technology with a strong mobile
component, employees can report issues
or access training information from the job
site, the office, or even a client’s office.

Construction professionals can be resistant
to digitisation. Involve them in the processof evaluating your workflows and selecting
the appropriate technology to reflect
how your team actually works. Focus
discussions on how new technology
will make their jobs easier by reducing
errors and improving productivity.

©2021. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet Inc.

– 14 –

www.smartsheet.com

Conclusion
Building your businessfor tomorrow
The construction industry is ripe for disruption,and technology is spurring this revolution, withnew and emerging cloud-based platforms
becoming a cornerstone.
For an industry as traditional as construction, this change
represents a big shift, both in technology and mindset. But by
taking the time to invest in digital processes and new ways ofworking now, construction businesses can enjoy benefits including:• Greater efficiency and agility• Enhanced safety standards across sites• Better collaboration between teams• More effective use of mobile tools• Productivity gains, with more automation
All of these benefits are well worth pursuing, particularly as
the industry prepares to tackle a hugely busy few years amidst
labour and supply chain issues. And with the right technology
in place, the process of digital transformation doesn’t have to
be a strain. Instead, it should leave construction businesses
free to focus on what they do best: building the future.

©2021. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet Inc.

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www.smartsheet.com

In the construction industry,
efficiency is critical to staying
competitive. Smartsheet is thework execution platform thatleading construction companies
rely on to increase productivity
and performance, enable
collaboration, and track every
step of every project — so they
can make better decisions, faster,and say yes to more customers
and more revenue.
For additional information on
how Smartsheet can help yourconstruction business improve
efficiency and productivity, visit
www.smartsheet.com/industries/
construction©2021. All Rights Reserved Smartsheet Inc.

www.smartsheet.com