ConstructionOnline Blog

Depending on who you talk to, the term “Change Order” can solicit a broad range of reactions. The most common reactions might include heavy sighs, eye rolls, or pursed lips, while some uncommon ones could have you ducking for cover as every object within reach comes flying at your head. For many, Change Orders have done more than enough damage to a bottom line to warrant the type of disgust merely whispering the word can invoke. For others, however, Change Orders are the golden goose; these select few have mastered the art of the Change Order, and these are the ones you should be paying attention to. 

A favorite adage of mine is “you can’t improve what you don’t measure.” But you have to know what you want to determine before you can know what needs to be measured. In construction, the industry with the lowest start-up survival rate nationwide*, what most business owners need to know is as simple as this – are we going to make it?

Manually managing where employees and subcontractors need to be is a time consuming task. With intuitive, automated solutions, construction management software can help to eliminate these types of tedious, routine tasks - saving you time, money, and hassle.

Read on to see an illustration of how construction automation software - like ConstructionOnline's GamePlan™ - can benefit any construction company:

At UDA Technologies, we frequently recommend working with templates in construction management – estimate templates, schedule templates, document templates, even complete project templates – because we know that building repeatable, reliable processes supports the growth and success of your construction company. However, many construction professionals scoff at the idea of templates when first introduced, thinking that these types of tools only apply to certain types of builders. You’ll be happy to learn that templates – particularly construction estimate templates – are actually beneficial tools for almost all types of builders. Read on to learn more about why you should start using estimate templates today at your business:

Your company may have started small, with little to no infrastructure to support the successful scale of your business. However, as you begin to experience periods of rapid growth, you will encounter challenges impairing the profitability, visibility, and quality of your company's jobs. Software plays a major role in helping you navigate these tricky times with ease, efficiency, and effectiveness.

John Wooden is a legend. During his 12 year tenure as the head coach of UCLA’s men’s basketball team, he won 10 national titles, including a record seven in a row. To put this in perspective, no other team has ever won more than two titles in a row – including national powerhouses like Duke, UNC, and Kentucky. Wooden’s success on the court will long remain the gold standard in the basketball community, but outside the sports world, his legacy is the incredible leadership that he displayed and passed along to others.

Navigating rapid growth at your construction company can be tricky business. All too often, companies experiencing rapid growth fall victim to common mistakes which can deliver catastrophic results, like business failure. American business executive and author, Beth Comstock, reminds us that scaling successfully “isn’t just about driving growth. It’s about staying in business.”

As a UDA Product Specialist, I spend a majority of my day working with construction professionals who are looking for construction management software. These professionals range from Residential Home Builders to Commercial General Contractors, Design-Build Firms to Multi-Family Developers, and large to small in company size and project scope. Every business is different, and while UDA's construction management software is designed to help just about anyone in this industry run a better business, we don’t take a one-size-fits-all approach with our clients. My job is to learn about the clients and their businesses, and act as a consultant to make the best software recommendation to fit their specific business needs. Sometimes, my recommendation ends up having to be that they need to take a step back and do some serious thinking before they will be ready to successfully implement project management software at their construction company. 

There's never a need to go reinventing the wheel, but sometimes it's interesting to try anyway. Hear the songs you already know reworked and reimagined into something new with this playlist interesting covers from UDA Technologies!

UDA Technologies is the fastest growing provider of construction management software. With over 750,000 users worldwide and exceeding $85 billion in jobs managed every day, our goal remains the same: your success. This post is part of an ongoing series that deep dives into features of our ConstructionOnline project management solution.