What is Change Management in Construction?

by Micheal Williams Business Development Executive

Change management is integral in construction projects. We discuss why it is crucial and how it can be made possible.

 

The construction industry is mostly project-based. And construction projects pass through multiple stages, which include planning, estimation, bidding, contracting, designing, and engineering, down to the actual building of the project and finally delivering a finished project.

 

And throughout the project, multiple decisions, both small and big are taken, some fully baked and some half baked. Despite the size, scope, and complexity of a project changing, there will be an element change in every project. And that makes change management in the construction project highly crucial. Change management is an integral part of the success of construction projects.

 

Not all changes are for good. But some changes, especially taken after considering multiple factors are for good. It will help make the company work better. Having the proper systems and procedures in place is crucial if you want to set your team up for success and mitigate risk.

 

What does it by change management?

Change management is a term meant to signify the preparation, guidance, and tools that a construction company gives to its employees to successfully adopt practices that bring in positive organizational change. All changes in an organization will be unique. And same are the employees. However, there are structured approaches that will help influence people and support any changes that your organization might face.  

 

What Might Cause Construction Change?

The various reasons that pave way for construction change in an organization include:

·         Projects that overrun

·         Differing site conditions

·         Regulatory changes

·         Missing information from contract documents

·         Project Delays

·         Labor Turnover

·         Internal Restructuring

 

How is it possible to manage change?

If you are a project manager in a construction firm, the worst thing you can do is doing nothing. A good manager will realize where changes are required and will anticipate things that will come up requiring the company to make changes. He will prepare the team to face changes that may come up in the future.

 

Here are the five steps you should take to best manage change in a construction project.

 

·         Identify

The timing of change during a project has a significant effect on its impact. If you succeed in identifying the change in the feasibility phase, the impact would be the minimum. Using technology, your team can visually document job site conditions from mobile devices in the field and get access to related documents anywhere in real-time.

·         Assess

When you realize that change is unavoidable in the project, you must consider four primary factors that are going to be affected.

 

v  Time

v  Cost

v  Scope

v  Risk

These four factors are collaborated among the team along with planning to mitigate the risks that may pop up. Do you need to ask a few questions, such as how will it affect our project timeline? What will be the overall cost to make these changes? What is the scope of the work that needs to be done to execute these changes? And lastly what risk will these changes cause my business?

 

·         Approve

Once you realize the consequences of the change, you will need approval for a plan to face this change. It should happen within the team and outside. It is also crucial that you document the change orders so that no dispute will happen in the future. 

 

·         Formalize

Once you have a plan, you need to formalize it. Effective communication is mandatory because every team member should know what is going to happen. Always formalize the work and document the changes.

 

·         Execute

The next step is to execute the plan which makes the change formally implemented in the company. Multiple obstacles you face during the process will be added to your repertoire and help you to be prepared for anything.

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Created on Jun 25th 2021 06:14. Viewed 379 times.

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