Let’s face it, no matter where you sit in a construction organization, you will meet administrative tasks when performing your job functions. Maybe it’s the accounting team validating codes for actual hours to ensure they get routed to the appropriate cost items or schedulers capturing the actual starts and finishes for activities to the project controls team generating weekly performance and productivity reports. Wherever they fall, these tasks are so pervasive that job proficiency is often measured in how quickly team members can plow through them.
And to deal with the sheer amount of tasks, how many of us have found ourselves turning their completion into little personal games, racing to see if we can finish the job quicker than we did the last time? The reality is that these everyday tasks appear virtually everywhere, and that means your ability to complete them effectively and efficiently is crucial to keeping your project going.
Fortunately, the right technology solution tools can help reduce the number of administrative tasks that require your direct attention. But first, you have to know how to approach it.
Four Major Categories Of Administrative Tasks
The vast majority of administrative tasks fall into four key categories. The first and most prominent grouping is old-fashioned data entry; working with disparate point solutions, you find yourself copying data from one system into another to facilitate a data transfer.
Second is reconciliation, meaning the information is captured without stern guard rails, so you must reconcile information that meets predefined criteria to be used further. Not performing this reconciliation step can lead to numerous negative knock-on effects.
Third, there is automation. Without it, and much too often, a person has to sit in the middle of a data processor where automation could easily handle the task.
The fourth and final grouping is reporting, or how much time is spent generating daily, weekly, and monthly reports and issuing these reports to the larger project organization.
Let’s break these groupings down and see how a connected platform can help reduce some of the biggest stressors in each category.
Reducing Repetitive Data Entry
Leveraging connected technology solutions can help reduce the amount of repetitive data entry if it’s done correctly. A connected platform can significantly reduce the burden of reconciling data by streamlining the process and increasing efficiency. It also integrates traditionally stand-alone tech solutions and tools used by an organization and allows them to communicate with each other, exchanging data seamlessly.
A connected platform can also automatically exchange data between the various endpoints, eliminating the need for manual data entry. This can significantly reduce the time and effort required to reconcile data, making the process more efficient and less prone to errors.
Such solutions can also ensure that data is in a standardized format, making it easier to reconcile. Standardized data formats ensure that data is consistent across all areas of the organization, reducing the need to reformat data or correct errors and assures that all parts of the organization can communicate with each other seamlessly, further streamlining the reconciliation process.
Finding Truth in Reconciliation
Reconciling data can be time-consuming, challenging and prone to errors, making it an additional burden for many organizations. However, there are ways to eliminate this burden and ensure data is accurately reconciled.
One of the most effective ways to reconcile is to create a standard reconciliation process. A standardized process should define the steps in reconciling the data and provide explicit instructions on completing each step.
Ideally, this process should also be documented and communicated to all relevant employees, ensuring everyone follows the same process. Why? Because a well-documented process can also help to identify potential errors and inconsistencies, allowing for timely resolution.
Destination Automation
One of the most effective ways to reduce the burden of administrative tasks is to automate as many tasks as possible using the right technology. Many tasks, such as data entry, can be easily automated using technology solution tools, and automating these tasks can save time and reduce the risk of errors.
Even after working on automating your process and providing employees with adequate training, old habits are still hard to shake. Employees still grasp how things are, even when technology solution solutions are available. This is where defining a new process comes into play.
Where are my Reports?
A connected platform provides real-time data visibility, allowing organizations to identify discrepancies and errors as they occur. This enables organizations to resolve issues quickly before they become more significant problems. Real-time data visibility also provides insights into the organization’s health, allowing them to make informed decisions based on accurate and up-to-date information. You don’t need to send out reports when everyone on the job has real-time access to all the data and reporting.
Keeping the tools connected enables enhanced collaboration between different teams and departments within an organization. By enabling real-time data sharing and collaboration, teams can work together more efficiently, reducing the burden of reconciling.
What’s the Overall Payoff?
Reducing the burden of administrative task by reducing manual data entry, eliminating data reconciliation nightmares and automating your processes and reports provides a wealth of benefits for the team members and organizations. Benefits experienced will include:
- Efficiency is enhanced as automation saves time and reduces turnaround times, also helping to ensure that deadlines are met more predictably.
- Greater visibility and risk mitigated due to connected data platforms promoting greater collaboration, which in turn promotes greater project certainty.
- Increased productivity can now be measured in the reduction of human hours needed to manage tasks, freeing-up employees to focus on more challenging, revenue-generating tasks.
- Clean data is now possible due to eliminating errors which, if allowed to propagate, would have had multiple knock-on impacts that could adversely affect your business.
Ready to take a deeper dive? Schedule a one-on-one consultation to find out how InEight can help you succeed in your construction digitalization journey.
Sign up for our monthly blog newsletter today and stay up to date on the latest industry news.
