How to Leverage Intranet for Your Construction Firm?

COVID-19 has affected global communities like never before. While companies and governments globally are responding faster, there is much more to be done.

During this time when the pandemic is crippling various industries, the construction industry has been extremely important. From building hospitals in a few days to donating lifesaving equipment, the industry has played a vital role in responding to the crisis recovery.

With the continued growth and optimism in the industry, there are many attractive opportunities in the building and construction sector.

Unlocking the digital transformation in the construction industry

Regardless of the amazing industry opportunities, the building and construction industry is one of the least digitized sectors in the world. Now, it is high time for construction firms to act proactively in the digital world to take a leap to success.

The technology was always important but now it is going to be an even more critical component for construction firms. The companies that will implement managed digital solutions like intranet into their job sites and workflows are expected to gain a competitive edge in this rapidly changing environment. Additionally, it can also help ease the stress of construction firms like project cost management, the security of site workers, risk management, project scheduling, and time management, collaboration, employee engagement, and more.

Reviving the construction sector with a modern intranet solution

The building and construction companies are replacing the legacy back-office systems with the new systems and software to keep up with the dynamic pace of the industry. COVID-19 is putting pressure on the construction industry and there is no better time to respond to the challenges and set up a real digital strategy for your construction firm.

The formerly called “brick and mortar” industry is entering into the digital age even if the construction industry players are still hesitant to adopt new technologies. While there are existing industry-based systems to manage projects, they lack integration with other systems that are often plugged with the projects. These separate systems require multiple logins, high maintenance, additional training, etc. It can be a very tedious job for administrators and users. The modern intranet comes to the rescue here.

A modern intranet is a one-stop solution for users, employees, and other stakeholders to collaborate on projects, brainstorm ideas, communicate seamlessly, store and search vital records, publish important updates, coordinate for meetings with vendors and staff, and keeping everyone on the same page. It also provides a central place to store project portfolios, training videos, and review contract documents so that authorized personnel can access the right information at anytime from anywhere. Don’t wait to fast-track the digital adoption for your construction firm and be ready to succeed in the post-COVID-19 world.

4 ways to leverage intranet for your construction firm

1. Boost employee productivity with advanced information search and central document management

When you are working remotely with the site workers and staff, information and document management become one of the most tedious tasks. It becomes a daily routine to share the files via emails, chat application with some random file names. Sounds familiar? Then, you must also be familiar with the errors that occur while working with wrong file versions or corrupted files and the time taken to search for the right information in real-time.

BizPortals 365 intranet solution eliminates the error-prone and time-consuming systems with a comprehensive document management system. The inbuilt document management features ensure the latest version of documents, provide instant access to information across the company, with historical changes for reference, and advanced search functionality to boost productivity.

2. Enhance project collaboration regardless the involvement of multiple teams and locations

The building and construction industry is very dynamic by nature, every project has a unique set of requirements, assets, processes, teams, and locations. As we move towards a connected world, it is natural to deal with more people and companies on a remote basis. Similarly, the construction firms are also dealing with teams across the world as well as fully outsourced teams.

Collaboration plays a vital role to manage projects effectively. The utilization of a modern intranet solution helps you to organize your projects well, complete project templates, scale the projects according to dynamic requirements, access the project information at a central place. BizPortals 365 provides a separate overview of projects at an intranet level and develops the right role-based access for people. You can easily keep a track of all projects like tracking project blueprints, design planning, project schedules, resources, client reviews, and deadlines with real-time updates.

A modern intranet solution helps to connect your entire team, effortlessly streamline communications among key stakeholders, share important information, and always keeps you on the go. The path forward is to understand the impact of COVID-19 on every project, review, and adjust the project planning, understand the cost and time discrepancies, and communicate new milestones to the stakeholders.

3. Effectively manage workplace health and safety trainings, and industry-compliant practices

Almost one-third of workers consider workplace safety conditions as an important concern while working in construction firms. While the risks are unavoidable in their workplace, the right health and safety training can reduce the likelihood of health hazards and related incidents. The different facets of workplace health and safety standards make it a complex field. Some of the activities in workplace health and safety involve:

• Consideration of location, state, and federal laws
• Ensuring regular servicing of equipment
• Ensuring timely training of employees and site workers
• Conducting regular risk assessments
• Ensuring that the construction equipment is used correctly
• Filling out the comprehensive incident reports
• Ensuring the industry compliance and related practices

With a modern intranet solution in place, you can offer a dedicated workplace health and safety service that includes training to staff, automated reporting of the project status, digital forms for incident reports on any device for speedy reporting, WHS employee management with the on-site sign-on and sign-offs, risk assessment triggered by specific activities, equipment requests, etc.

4. Streamline communications and keep your remote teams across the workforce

An intranet is a common space where the entire comes together, learn new things, evaluate the project success, report the incidents, streamline communications across the teams, learn the latest information from upper management, and connect remote working groups.

COVID-19 impact has forced all of us to work remotely and induced a lot of stress and anxiety. Email is not sufficient for all types of official communications. Remote workers deserve a richer technology like video conferencing as it gives visual cues that they would get during face-to-face interaction. BizPortals 365 offer Microsoft Teams to encourage seamless communications. Additionally, the mobile-enabled intranet solution helps remote workers to collaborate easily and get time-sensitive information.

The modern digital workplace avenues mimic personal digital interaction avenues and cater to the new-found ways of life. With the right digital workplace solution, the construction firms can boost high employee engagement levels, indulge in workplace knowledge sharing culture, and be a part of a connected workforce.

Start leveraging intranet for your construction firm with BizPortals 365

As the COVID-19 crisis is accelerating the digital transformation across the world, the construction industry is not an exception. It is the right time to move forward from building information modeling and project management platforms to the adoption of a full-fledged intranet solution for construction firms.

This paradigm shift to digital technologies is a clear indication for construction companies to fast-track digital adoption by enhancing digital collaboration capabilities, sharing the information securely, automating business processes, reinventing the relationships with stakeholders, and taking insight-driven decisions. Schedule a DEMO to learn how BizPortals 365 can help your construction firm to catch this new wave of digital transformation