Smart Job Scheduling Programfor Construction Crews

Timing is the key at construction sites. When people with the proper equipment, resources and skills are at the right place, at the right time, work rolls forward. If the schedule fails to go according to plan, a well-planned project can lose days or weeks. That's why job scheduling is one of the most critical aspects of construction workforce management in Australia today.

For businesses, this can be a daunting task, but a well-defined job scheduling program can help to make it easier and repeatable.

No matter whether it's one or 20 sites, every construction business relies on the fundamental rule: the right people should be in the right place at the right time with the right equipment and materials in place to get the job done. Once this principle is lost, it's not just on that day but throughout the entire project.

• Right people, equipment and materials at the right site on time.
• Real-time schedule updates shared across crews and supervisors.
• Multi-site visibility without whiteboard or spreadsheet chaos.
• Scheduling linked to timesheets, safety and reporting.

The scheduling of jobs involves determining which jobs are scheduled for which workers, which workers are scheduled to do which jobs, and how long each job will be scheduled. It addresses the assignment of crew to a site, the timing of the jobs on the site and the sequence of the jobs.

Well-organised scheduling ensures that each trade gets what it needs before beginning work and no two trades are on the same job or at the same location.

It's not simply an office job for construction companies. It has a direct impact on the time it takes to complete a project and the cost of completing the project.

A schedule is indeed a plan for the allocation of labour, time and money over the course of a project, and when it doesn't go to plan, it becomes evident very early on the site. By adopting a suitable job scheduling system, instead of an "ad hoc" approach, this gap will be filled from the start.

The scheduling element of a job is involved in nearly every aspect of a construction business. It identifies the time that subcontractors should be employed, materials delivered and equipment accessed. A schedule that considers all these moving parts allows a project manager to have control over the build, instead of responding to the problems.

If it's scheduled properly, the impact of job scheduling can be felt throughout the project and not just from day-to-day.

• Better success rate for a timely delivery: Keeping each trade moving in the sequence eliminates the little delays that pile up and cause missed deadlines.
• Steadier project quality: Tasks will be less rushed and less repeated if they are finished in the proper order.
• More accurate budgeting: A good project schedule helps to accurately anticipate the project cost and detect any cost overruns early, before they impact the project's net profit.
• More effective utilisation of all resources: When effective scheduling is done, labour, equipment and materials are far less likely to become idle.
• More precise objectives for the entire team: Overall performance improves across the site when all workers are aware of the expectations and when.

To summarise, the scheduling of a project is not only a way to stay on track, but it also has to be effective. It influences the effective outcome, efficiency, and management of the entire build. Those projects that regularly complete on schedule and budget will almost always have a scheduling process integrated as a fundamental element of project management and not as an add-on or a last-minute activity.

This effect is even more pronounced in larger or multi-stage projects, in which one delay will cause all tasks that rely on it to be delayed. It can take a lot longer than one day off early in a project to get caught up when the project is in its final stages because there are lots of trades that depend on the trades that came before them.

A workforce management system (WMS) consolidates all scheduling information into one. All updated plans are shared with all supervisors, workers and managers simultaneously. Thus, there is less confusion and potential issues on the job site, like crews showing up before a site is ready or having two crews booked for the same equipment.

A decent WMS scheduling tool will certainly have the following characteristics:

• Simple task creation: A task can be made by the supervisor, with a selection of job type and assignment of suitable workers, in just a few steps.
• Calendar view: A visual calendar is used to identify all planned work and look out for clashes at an early stage.
• Search and filters: Quickly locate a task by project, worker or by date.
• Real-time changes: The schedule is automatically updated whenever the weather or site conditions change, and workers are notified immediately.

In addition to these core capabilities, an HRM system can also eliminate a lot of the guesswork that is associated with manual planning. The system provides an instant view of current availability, not relying on any assumptions, but based on actual data, thereby eliminating the need for a supervisor to try to remember who is available, or to check on several spreadsheets.

This is particularly important in peak times when many projects are vying for qualified manpower.

The introduction of job scheduling software on the construction site is not only about planning, but it's also about how the entire team works. The greatest benefits are:

• Faster task assignment: Less time on the supervisors' part to determine the free roster and more time on supervising the build.
• Optimisation of resources: Labour, equipment and materials are used appropriately to the task at the correct time to minimise wasted hours.
• Visible live projects: Any party to a project can view the project's progress without needing to create a separate update or call.
• Improved collaboration with team: All parties (crews, subcontractors, office personnel) are using the same plan, minimising back and forth and confusion.
• Cost control: Scheduling is more effective with costs being controlled.
• More trust with clients: When a client can see and be assured of the progress, it builds trust in how the project is being managed.

These advantages combine to make scheduling software more than just a planning tool, it can be the key to project efficiency. The most significant benefit for businesses that use scheduling software is not necessarily any one of the features but the decrease in aggravation throughout the entire team that happens every day.

Quieter, less hectic, and less last-minute surprise work environments, fewer phone calls chasing updates, and less double-up equals a better, more balanced life. There's also a transformational benefit that can't be overlooked, one that comes with time: improved scheduling information over time.

The more a business has done it before, the more it is able to learn and use that experience to predict the time it will take for a new project and to estimate crew performance.

For a long time, the issue in the building industry was to ensure workers and administrators are on the same page, particularly when working in various locations with distinct daily activities. Scheduling software can solve this problem by providing each group with tools appropriate to how each group operates.

When working onsite

The system streamlines the work for workers, eliminating unnecessary manual tasks. They can see their job details and mark attendance in seconds, instead of writing them down or reporting by other means. This saves time at the beginning of each shift, and will minimise the number of errors made when manually entering information.

Employers are also made clear. They are not going to have to be briefed verbally or hear about it secondhand; they know which site they will be assigned to, what they're expected to do and how long it's supposed to take. This minimises the little problems that can cause time to be lost early in a shift.

For administrators and supervisors

Administrators have much more control of work organisation. Common tools may be:

• Assign tasks and set up tasks: Creating tasks, specifying job type, and assigning a worker(s) with clear start and end time, maintaining accurate cost tracking.
• Calendar-based planning: Having a shared calendar is easy to use and allows supervisors to see all the tasks scheduled at a glance and thereby avoid any problems that may arise from overlaps.
• Efficiently filters and searches: It takes seconds, not minutes, to find them with any given task, worker or project, which can save time during busy times.

Working on a connected system makes day-to-day operations faster, more transparent and far less prone to mistakes, as workers and administrators share the same system. The same visibility also enhances accountability as it is instantly obvious who's responsible for a task, when it should be done, and whether it was done as planned. Project Task Management keeps that shared view clear across every site.

The advantages and disadvantages of these two strategies become more apparent as a company expands. While a whiteboard or spreadsheet can work well for a single site, they don't scale beyond that.

Manual approaches work well for one site, but once a business starts to operate more than one location, they are not going to be able to keep up. By comparison, a workforce management system grows seamlessly by adding another site or crew simply by adding data to the same system, not a new system. Sites & Projects gives that multi-site view in one dashboard.

Job scheduling works in conjunction with other processes. It is closely related to other aspects of workforce management.

Scheduling and timesheets

Planned hours can be compared to actual hours in conjunction with scheduling and timesheets. This can help to make payroll quicker and more precise, and can also highlight trends like regular overtime on specific tasks, indicating possible scheduling adjustments.

Scheduling and safety

A good system ensures that a worker is licensed or inducted before being scheduled for a task. This is to ensure safety requirements are being met without the need for manual checks in addition, and to minimise the likelihood of the worker being assigned to a task for which he or she is not certified.

Scheduling and reporting

Scheduling data can also be used in reports to provide managers with an insight into the performance of their labour costs in comparison to the budget and the progress on each project. This reporting over time allows a clearer picture to be gained of which tasks tend to be over time or over budget and allows for more realistic time frames to be planned in the future.

In addition to scheduling data, when it's integrated with these three areas, a construction business can get a much more complete picture of project performance.

A system designed for Australian construction companies links scheduling, HR management, safety compliance and reporting, meaning supervisors always have the most up-to-date, accurate information.

Having scheduling functions that enable businesses to manage crews from various locations from a single dashboard is particularly beneficial for companies with multiple projects underway simultaneously. Plans are typically configured for various crew sizes and are designed to be easily scheduled by the business, regardless of the crew's size or if the business operates multiple sites.

Scheduling software must also consider local conditions, such as seasonality, weather influences, and the fact that construction crews are frequently required to relocate from one project to another, depending on the current demand from the field for staff.

For Australian construction teams, this is particularly true. A platform built with these points as the core goes a long way to integrating with the way that Australian construction companies already work, rather than making the businesses alter how they do their jobs to suit the software.

When selecting scheduling software, construction companies need to look for the following capabilities:

• It automatically updates in real time on all devices.
• Monitoring of licences and certifications.
• Single view for all sites and crews.
• A functional link between scheduling and payroll.
• A user-friendly mobile application for use at the site.

These features can be important in avoiding future issues as a business grows, which is why it's important to choose software that possesses these features. The ability of a system to be easily adopted by workers who may not be used to complex software is also important to consider, as a scheduling tool is only effective if it's actually used in the field every day, not just when there's time to spare.

One of the biggest issues that most construction companies encounter is job scheduling. It not only saves time but also helps to lower costs and maintain a project on schedule. A good workforce management system can help Australian construction companies to plan better, prevent common construction delays and ensure that all crews are in the right place at the right time.

Businesses where scheduling jobs is a core part of the business and not a backlog chore will be the most primed to get solid results project after project, as workforce becomes more and more scarce, and deadlines are still tight.

Start your 14-day trial with WMS and see how smart job scheduling keeps every crew on track.