Comparing collaborative construction management with construction management

Complexities of construction projects ask for collaborative communication, leadership, and planning – Linarc explains this approach and why it is beneficial

A construction project requires collaboration among its stakeholders. It is about sharing their pool of knowledge, information, and cooperation in getting the work done with quality and on time. Within the realms of project management, some may argue that collaborative construction management is a recent term as compared to the well-embraced concept of construction management. Let’s explore the difference and why a collaborative approach is vital in construction.

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What is construction management?

Construction management is the planning, organizing, and supervising of all activities involved in the construction project, including preconstruction and on-site activities. The objectives of construction management are to produce a project that meets client requirements within budget and schedule and at acceptable risk, quality, and safety. A construction manager is responsible for meeting these goals while coordinating with others throughout the building process.

What is collaborative construction management?

Collaboration is an essential component of construction management wherein team members join their resources and knowledge with structured interactions to meet customer needs successfully. Collaborative construction management is an approach to project management involving multiple stakeholders working together towards one project goal. Everyone can access the main plans and objectives of a project at any time.

Generally, the project manager is at the top of the construction process and wholly responsible for the project. While in collaboration, the whole team is equipped to make decisions and respond rather than waiting for a project manager to respond.

Features of collaborative construction

Collaborative construction supports all the core competencies, including planning, preconstruction, construction, and post-construction phases. Here are some key features unique to collaborative construction management: 

• A central database is a single source of truth, providing the latest information to all project members. Construction managers have long relied on manual efforts to conduct critical, time-sensitive tasks such as field updates or email documents. The method often results in inaccurate information, duplication of data and inconsistent record-keeping. It results in inefficiency and added stress on project teams.
• A role-based interface to access a central database allocates clear responsibilities while promoting transparency, ensuring improved planning and reliability.
• Automated workflows encourage prompt resolution of queries by utilizing project teams’ intellect across disciplines and specializations.

• Real-time connectivity ensures instant field sync with the timely distribution of critical information with features purpose-made specifically for project management communications. 
• Project dashboards consistently auto-update to allow an at-a-glance view of the details in statistical and graphical formats to aid decision-making across various milestones and checkpoints in the project’s lifecycle.
• Finetuned WBS(Work Breakdown Structure) mitigates the time of spending budgets on materials and resources by drawing inferences from the details of deliverables, work packages and individual tasks.

Benefits of collaboration in construction

One of the essential advantages of collaborative construction management is that it provides a more advanced way to manage projects throughout their entire lifecycle. To note a few advantages of collaborative construction management, 

• Improves productivity with the use of technology built to streamline project management tasks
• Optimizes time and resources spent on information sharing, thereby increasing efficiency. 
• Boosts accountability by allowing participation for each member involved in the project.    
• Provides a comprehensive understanding of the project’s status during each phase and in totality as a guide for decision making

Our collaborative future ahead

Adopting collaborative construction management has many advantages that are hard to ignore. First, an efficient cloud-based software solution is a source of unified data that facilitates and improves collaboration in construction projects. Further, it functions as a workflow platform for contractors, architects, and builders to collaborate on construction projects. Also, collaboration software optimizes the exchange of project-related paperwork such as documents, drawings, and invoicing. All relevant project data accessible via the internet makes decision-making prompt and accurate. 

Collaborative Construction Management combines the elements of construction management with project management teams’ core responsibilities, such as information sharing, to produce better results than traditional methods. A future of collaboration in construction is coming. Is your team ready?

Find more on adopting Collaborative Construction Management with Linarc.