How to track construction project progress more effectively

Building construction is akin to solving an intricate puzzle, where every piece must align perfectly. Within this puzzle, construction progress tracking is the crucial key that unlocks the path to successful projects. By providing valuable insights and knowledge, progress tracking eliminates guesswork and empowers you to maintain project momentum.

This article will explore the top-notch practices in progress tracking that can elevate your building projects to new heights. So let's delve in and discover the path to enhanced construction management.

1. What Is Construction Progress Tracking?

At first glance, construction progress tracking may appear straightforward, but its significance in building projects must be balanced. It involves continuously monitoring and evaluating the advancement of your construction project, playing a crucial role in keeping you informed and in control. With progress tracking, you can make well-informed decisions that ensure your job stays on the right path. It encompasses tracking the progress of individual trades and overseeing the overall project timeline, serving as a vital component of effective project management.

Gone are the days when relying solely on on-site visits and meetings sufficed for progress tracking. Today, technology offers many innovative tools like AECIS - a construction project management platform that streamlines and enhances progress tracking. Mobile apps and cloud-based software are just a few examples of the myriad options available. However, it's not just about embracing the latest technology; it's about leveraging it to align with your team and project dynamics.

2. Why does effective progress tracking matter?

Construction is a complex process involving multiple stakeholders who must coordinate and collaborate effectively. Here are the reasons why tracking progress is crucial:

• Avoiding delays and rework

Allowing project managers to identify potential delays or issues early on, enabling prompt action to minimize their impact. By staying informed about schedule changes, weather conditions, supply chain disruptions, or site problems, project leaders can mitigate delays and prevent costly rework caused by falling behind schedule.

• Enhancing communication and collaboration

Ensuring all project team members are aware of their tasks and deadlines. This streamlines collaboration among contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and project managers. With a clear understanding of the project schedule, everyone can work together to complete the job on time and within budget.

• Accountability and transparency

It provides an objective record of project advancement, fostering accountability and transparency. This is particularly important for projects with multiple stakeholders or complex supply chains, as it builds trust and confidence in the project management team.

• Effective budget management

It monitors the project budget and expenses more effectively. It allows them to identify areas where costs exceed estimates and take corrective action to avoid budget overruns. Additionally, progress tracking enables resource optimization and waste reduction, contributing to better budget control.

• Improved quality control

Progress tracking empowers project managers to oversee the performance standards of contractors and subcontractors. It helps identify improvement areas and enables timely corrective action to ensure the final project meets the required quality standards.

3. Challenges in construction Progress Tracking

Construction progress tracking poses significant challenges, especially when relying on traditional methods that involve paper documentation, manual processes, and on-site visits. Even with some digitalization, there are three primary reasons why monitoring and reporting efforts can fall short:

• Complexity and Interconnectedness: Construction projects involve multiple teams in different places, such as offices and job sites. Tasks are interdependent and time-sensitive, making coordination crucial. With design changes, supply chain disruptions, and unpredictable weather conditions, tracking progress becomes even more challenging due to the complexity and constant changes involved.
• Lack of Transparency: In order to track progress effectively, visibility is essential. However, it hinders transparency when data is fragmented across various systems, such as paper records, spreadsheets, or limited-access communication channels like email or text. With access to up-to-date project information, stakeholders can gain a comprehensive view of the project's status, making informed decisions difficult.
• Limited Real-Time Communication: Delayed sharing of progress updates renders them obsolete. If information from a site visit is recorded on paper and manually transferred to spreadsheets or reports, valuable time is lost. When the information reaches the broader team, it may need to be updated in several days. Such delays result in an inaccurate representation of progress, impeding effective decision-making.

Overcoming these challenges requires modern solutions enabling streamlined communication, real-time collaboration, and centralized data management.

4. Applying AECIS for Effective Progress Management:

AECIS offers a range of features designed to support schedule management and contribute to overall project success. Discover how AECIS empowers project teams to achieve their objectives of Progress management: 

4.1.  Daily Report Module

AECIS's Daily Report module plays a vital role in schedule management by enabling seamless communication and collaboration among project team members. The module ensures that relevant stakeholders receive timely updates on project progress on a daily basis, allowing them to identify potential delays, track milestones, and make informed decisions. By providing real-time access to critical information, the Daily Report module enhances schedule visibility and enables proactive measures to mitigate risks.

4.2.  Issue Module

Managing project issues efficiently is crucial for maintaining schedule adherence. AECIS's Issue Module offers a transparent platform to track and resolve all project issues. It enables team members to document and assign issues, track their progress, and set due dates. By centralizing issue management, AECIS facilitates timely resolution and ensures that potential schedule disruptions are promptly addressed.

4.3.  Submittal Management

Smooth document processing is essential for schedule management. AECIS's Submittal module streamlines the submission process, ensuring that all relevant documents are tracked, reviewed, and approved efficiently. By providing visibility into the status of submissions, including approvals and works in progress, AECIS minimizes delays caused by document-related bottlenecks, enabling uninterrupted project progress.

4.4.  Milestone Module

AECIS's Milestone module offers a high-level overview of the project's schedule on the dashboard. It allows project managers and stakeholders to compare the original schedule with revised versions and track the current schedule. By providing this comprehensive view, AECIS empowers users to identify schedule variations, assess their impact, and make data-driven decisions to keep the project on track.

Applying Issue Module to manage construction project more efficiently

5. Conclusion

AECIS's comprehensive schedule management features, including the Daily Report module, Issue Module, Submittal module, and Milestone module, play a critical role in supporting project success. By improving communication, streamlining issue resolution and document processing, and enhancing schedule visibility, AECIS empowers construction teams to achieve efficient schedule management and deliver successful projects within budget and timeline constraints.