INEIGHT PROJECT CONTROLS
Beyond Basics: 3 Advanced Project Controls Practices
Learn how a shift in your project controls approach can help your organization pull ahead in a competitive environment.
Shift Your Approach
The evidence is in. With only 8.5% of capital construction projects being completed on time and on budget,[1] it’s clear that the current approach to project controls isn’t getting the job done. But what if you could uplevel your project tools and practices to ensure better cost predictability, mitigate risks, and increase overall project performance? Then you could:
- Increase efficiency, productivity, and profits
- Take on more complex and first-of-its-kind projects with confidence
- Gain competitive advantages through innovation
Realizing these benefits requires more than incremental change. This e-book explains why organizations looking to pull ahead in a competitive environment make a fundamental shift in their project controls approach, moving beyond business-as-usual methods to a more integrated approach to project oversight.
Upping your project controls game goes beyond simply adopting new tools—it’s about fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Successful project outcomes for complex projects depend on moving beyond standard practices to embrace a more strategic, innovative approach. Organizations achieve the outcomes they need when they evolve the mindset of the entire project team, refine and standardize processes, and focus on advanced analytics and insights through:
- Process standardization — Establishing consistent workflows to drive efficiency and accountability across all phases of the project.
- Real-time data insights — Using accurate, up-to-the-minute information to make informed decisions and anticipate potential risks.
- Productivity optimization — Streamlining operations to enhance resource usage and team performance.
By focusing on these key areas, construction teams can build a solid foundation for success—preventing cost overruns, delivering on time, and setting up their organization for sustainable, predictable project outcomes.
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2023/04/28/infrastructure-projects-time-budget/
SWAP SPREADSHEETS FOR AN INTEGRATED SOLUTION
An InEight Project Controls solution streamlines project cost and schedule management with a unified system that ensures accurate, component-level tracking of quantities, costs, and changes. It integrates seamlessly with contracts and schedules, eliminating the need for spreadsheets or redundant processes. The platform centralizes change management with a master issue log, enabling consistent percent-complete data, trend analysis, and performance reporting for all stakeholders.
Designed for both lump-sum infrastructure projects and time and materials contracts, InEight enhances control and flexibility. It supports executive-level views, continuity in reporting, and confidence in project performance, helping project owners maintain pace, mitigate risks, and meet expectations.
Find out more about InEight Project Controls.
STANDARDIZE YOUR PROCESSES FOR HIGHER QUALITY PROJECT INFORMATION
Disparate systems, inconsistent processes, and reliance on manual spreadsheets are a recipe for inefficiency, errors, and missed opportunities, especially as capital construction projects become increasingly complex. The foundation for overcoming these challenges? Process standardization, which will not only streamline workflows but enable accurate, higher-quality project information.
However, standardization goes beyond adopting a single tool or platform. It requires a holistic approach that integrates:
- Technology adoption to centralize and connect project data
- Training to ensure all team members understand and apply standardized practices
- Regulatory support to meet compliance requirements while driving consistency
- Cultural change to foster buy-in and commitment to continuous improvement
Together, these elements create a strong framework for improving efficiency, reducing errors, and ensuring quality. Working in one centralized platform that everyone across departments can understand and use—such as InEight—is a foundational component of this transformation. Look for a system that serves as a single source of truth, consolidating all project data—from planning and execution to forecasts and budgets—enabling real-time insights and informed decision-making so stakeholders can act with confidence and agility.
“In the past, I had to juggle multiple systems to handle tasks that I can now easily manage with InEight. From making back-charges to vendors to updating invoices, it’s all streamlined in one system.”
-Matthew Beemer, Kiewit
WHY STANDARDIZATION MATTERS
Managing data from diverse sources and formats can be complex, time-consuming, and prone to errors, making it difficult to achieve comprehensive project oversight. It’s essential to work from one unified source and to standardize what is working well, revise what isn’t working to reduce inefficiencies and errors, and continuously improve processes to address:
- Planning and communication gaps
- Opportunities to eliminate rework
- Strategies for optimizing teams to achieve more with fewer resources
Standardization isn’t just about efficiency; it can be the key to competitive differentiation. How your organization adapts processes to solve problems and evolve with industry trends is what can set you apart from your competitors. Advanced use of project tools and insights ensures your team is prepared to meet the demands of today’s—and tomorrow’s—construction projects.
MAKE YOUR DATA WORK HARDER FOR YOU WITH REAL-TIME INSIGHTS
Used correctly, data offers you more than information. It’s the key to better decisions, proactive problem-solving, and driving project success. Yet, too often, data is left underutilized, trapped in static spreadsheets or siloed systems, preventing teams not just from gaining the full picture of their projects, but from gaining strategic insights. Project controls teams that move beyond basic operations:
- Gain granular visibility for proactive decision-making — Continuously monitor project budgeting, execution, and forecasting to identify “at-risk” items early. Address potential delays or cost overruns before they escalate by using detailed performance insights.
- Incorporate lessons learned to drive continuous improvement — Analyze real-time data to uncover what’s working well and where challenges are emerging. Apply insights from completed projects to optimize future initiatives and improve outcomes.
- Foster transparency across the entire project lifecycle — Utilize flexible data integration tools to go beyond traditional spreadsheet limitations. Drill down into data at various levels, from high-level summaries to specific cost and component details.
- Ensure seamless alignment between data structures and project schedules — Connect detailed project data to the contract statement of billing (SOB) for a unified system. Maintain accuracy and consistency with shared percent-complete tracking, trend analysis, and performance reporting.
“The increased sharing of information helps us work dynamically and efficiently. My inspector can work from a tablet to verify the quantities claimed by the contractor, verify the percentage completion, and share that information against the schedule of values and activities. When we consolidate that information at the end of the month, there’s no debate.”
-Aidhean Camson, VP, Global Program Controls AECOM
STAY ON TRACK WITH REAL-TIME INSIGHTS
An integrated project controls solution from InEight helps you make smarter decisions faster by seamlessly providing insights to guide decision making. Insights cover:
- Cost monitoring — Prevent budget overruns with precise spending insights.
- Schedule adherence — Monitor milestones to ensure projects stay on track.
- Workforce productivity — Identify and resolve bottlenecks to optimize labor.
- Safety metrics — Track incidents to maintain a safe, compliant work environment.
- Weather impacts — Adjust schedules to mitigate weather-related disruptions.
- Equipment utilization — Reduce downtime with proactive monitoring and maintenance.
- Regulatory compliance — Adapt seamlessly to evolving standards and requirements.
- Risk assessment — Identify and mitigate risks early to avoid escalation.
EMPOWER YOUR TEAM TO DO MORE
Construction spending could reach $22 trillion by 2040, up from $13 trillion in 2014.[3] However, productivity and workforces stretched thin across many projects are major concerns as to whether the industry will be able to deliver on that number. Technology is playing a pivotal role in helping the capital construction industry overcome the challenges of tight staffing and challenging projects by improving efficiency, reducing reliance on manual processes, and managing resources more effectively.
“The two key advantages with InEight are that it’s a single suite of tools that all work together consistently, and that I can get anybody from my extended project team to be part of any project.”
-Wes Horwood, Head of Future Energy Projects, CS Energy
Many types of technological advances offer increased efficiency and productivity, but in the project controls space, integration and automation offer the most promise for taking frustrating, mundane tasks off overworked employees’ plates. By turning to an integrated solution that results in smooth data flows, forward-thinking teams:
- Improve collaboration by removing the bias from gathered data
- Address risk before it becomes rework
- Give all stakeholders up-to-date project views that reduce the need for investigation and problem solving
Automating routine manual tasks and syncing data between the field and the office means all stakeholders have instant updates on project performance. With less time spent on tedious, routine project controls tasks project teams have more time to focus on high-value activities like analyzing data and risk management that drive project success and innovation.
One way to increase productivity is to reform project management. Traditional project delivery lacks integrated thinking, prioritizes short-term costs, and discourages innovation. Focusing on production metrics fosters adaptability and problem-solving.[4]
[3] and [4] Jan Mischke, Kevin Stokvis and Koen Vermeltfoort, Why construction productivity growth is lagging — and what to do about it, Construction Dive, January 2, 2025
COUNT ON IMPROVEMENTS
InEight automates the flow of your data and slashes routine manual tasks to empower your team to get more work done without additional resources to achieve:
%
30% faster contract and change order processing
%
50% faster project performance analysis
%
25% faster contract creation and setup
DRIVE ON-GOING SUCCESS WITH ADVANCED PROJECT CONTROLS
Unlocking the full potential of project controls is essential for organizations seeking to streamline operations, mitigate risks, and drive innovation. Advanced use of project tools enables greater efficiency and profitability, ensuring consistency, transparency, and control across all project phases.
READY TO IMPROVE YOUR PROJECT CONTROL PROCESSES?
ABOUT INEIGHT
InEight is a leader in construction project controls software, empowering over 850 companies taking on challenging projects in industries including construction and engineering; transportation infrastructure; mining; water; power and renewables; and oil, gas and chemical. Uniquely suited to capital construction and other complex work, our integrated, modular software manages projects worth over $1 trillion globally, taking control of project information management, costs, schedules, contracts, and construction operations, and delivering insights with advanced analytics and AI. InEight’s solutions adapt and scale to meet the dynamic needs of modern construction, driving operational excellence and successful project outcomes. For more information, follow InEight on LinkedIn or visit InEight.com.
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