Charles Levitton, UK&I Enterprise Development Manager at SMART Technologies, looks at the state of digital adoption in construction and how small to medium-sized organisations can embrace cost-efficient yet powerful collaboration tools
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital adoption in construction. The industry, which had historically been slow to embrace workplace technology, was forced almost overnight to adapt its processes to allow for remote working.
Most large construction firms had already embraced technology before 2020, which simplified the shift to home working for many organisations. For these businesses, remote working was becoming commonplace, and the IT infrastructure was in place to support flexible working policies.
The Government’s 2016 mandate was the driving force of digital adoption in larger firms
This shift in adoption from the larger firms was driven, in most part, by the Government’s 2016 mandate which required all centrally-funded work to be undertaken using Building Information Modelling (BIM). The adoption of BIM spearheaded digital construction approaches within companies of a certain size and over, paving the way for the entire sector.
But for most small construction firms who had not undertaken the same levels of investment into digitising their processes, the COVID-19 pandemic was a challenge. The shift to remove working required a considerable overhaul to their ways of working, followed by sizable financial investments into new technologies.
Thankfully, construction’s SMEs have continued to see the benefits following the IT investments made in Spring 2020. As a result, project meetings are being held remotely, client meetings can be held via video calls, while internal processes such as HR management have become more streamlined.
Investment in workplace technology has slowed down since March 2020
Since the initial flurry of investment in March 2020, however, the adoption of workplace technology has understandably slowed down, typically owing to two common reasons – budgetary constraints and a lack of dedicated IT staff to take a business to the next phase of their digital transformation journey.
In today’s economic climate, with skyrocketing material costs, a cost-of-living crisis pushing employers to increase wages and inflationary pressures having an impact on construction projects, the focus on IT adoption has understandably taken a back seat for firms. Still, an increasing number of workplace collaboration tools are now available on the market that are budget friendly and easy enough to implement without the need for large inhouse IT teams driving it forward, to ensure organisations remain at the forefront of technology usage.
For example, providers are increasingly producing collaborative software that can easily slot into existing IT infrastructure that a SME will have, without the need to purchase often costly additional hardware. SMART Technologies’ TeamWorks does exactly this – providing construction firms with an end-to-end meeting solution, which allows teams to share screens, access personal cloud storage and open a collaborative whiteboard, all from a Windows 10 device.
The benefits of collaboration in the built environment industry cannot be underestimated. It supports the way architects, construction firms and engineering companies work together, ensuring communication is easy and ways of working optimised, irrespective of location. Files can be stored and shared seamlessly on the cloud with multiple users working from the same document too, speeding up critical paperwork. Crucially, TeamWorks can also support Building Information Modelling (BIM) software, allowing users to manipulate the software and get the relevant answers needed about their project plan or design instantly.
SME’s need to select the right collaborative solutions
The constraints felt by SMEs in the construction sector are not unique to the sector. In fact, in today’s challenging economic environment, most small to medium-sized businesses face the same challenges when creating IT strategies. To ensure value for money, SMEs need to select the right collaborative solutions. Seamless integration and ease of use are key here. Simple, intuitive interfaces will guarantee the adoption of tech amongst colleagues, in turn resulting in high usage and value from the purchase.
2020 was a challenging time for everyone, but there are huge learnings to be taken from the pandemic. Businesses showed great resilience, adaptability and strength, to continue operating during nationwide lockdowns to keep the country building. The adoption of digital technologies is just one part of that adaptability shown, however the embracing of versatile collaborative solutions will have a lasting – and positive – impact on the sector.
Having modern collaboration software and transformative technologies that have been designed to support the unique requirements of the construction industry, shouldn’t be benefits reserved for larger businesses. It’s time for the industry’s smaller businesses to reap their rewards too.
