Management Blog and case study

In recent years, all sectors have been shaken up by the forced revision of their business model with the advent of the web and mobile technologies.

With new possibilities for the project manager and the site manager to increase their management efficiency and the quality of their deliverables, the construction industry is no exception.

Whether it is the rigorous management of subcontracting and purchase orders via the web, the entry and validation of working hours directly from the construction site, or documents and notices of change management, everything becomes more fluid with web and mobile technologies.

However, as with any technological shift, let us stress that the presence of these new possibilities should not sound like "the transition is happening on its own".

Deploying your management to users in the field involves significant training challenges that should not be overlooked, to begin with.

While in the past, adherence to new technological tools was mainly the panacea for financial managers, then for project managers and estimators, now technological deployment targets the field resource.

Without neglecting this resource's capacity to tame and exploit new technologies, it is necessary to understand your organizational change's initial context: your site manager has many other challenges daily than having issues with IT.

Therefore, it is essential to define a structured deployment and training plan for your computerization project as early as possible. This plan should take into consideration a few key aspects:

• An initial analysis and grouping of your potential users by level of knowledge and comfort with web and mobile technologies. You will then have an overview of your future users' state of knowledge and design a more effective training program.
• A pilot project with two users, a first more comfortable with the new technology and a second less comfortable. This pilot project will quickly show you the strengths and weaknesses to be corrected in your training plan.
• Choose the users involved in the pilot project with the prospect of eventually turning them into "super users", that is, they are the ones who could become your internal trainers. You will thus be able to reduce your external support costs to a minimum.
• After that, your deployment process should proceed step by step, in a sequence that does not interfere with the day-to-day management of your projects. You will ideally choose a project without glaring issues, so a project that is going well. This context allows the employee to invest a little more time in their learning process, which increases the absorption of knowledge while not destabilizing the project's evolution.
• Ensure you put in place the necessary internal communication mechanisms to support new users as much as possible in their learning process. For example, by clearly identifying an internal point of contact for them if necessary and by providing them with a list of additional information resources at their disposal.

A structured management approach to your computerization process will guarantee optimal return on your investment. A strategic investment to propel your business into a new growth phase thanks to web and mobile technologies.

Good management.