Failure to Change – Lessons We Can Learn

David Lawrence is the Vice President for Fonn Construction in the UK. In this article, he writes about the importance of adapting to new technologies and making sure your business is open to change.

Change management is one of the biggest hurdles that everybody faces, whether in their personal life or their business life. We make thousands of decisions every day and, as humans, we are creatures of habit. Doing what we know makes us feel comfortable. Most people are generally risk averse.

In construction, this mentally is magnified because of the way we are educated in a 'passed down' manner.  Apprentices and newcomers are trained by our expert tradesmen, and they were trained by those before them. Nobody wants to be different, and the industry suffers from 'casual bullying' for anyone bold enough to do something different. I saw a guy get a load of grief at break time because he had a red hard hat.

When I explain to people outside of construction how a project is typically managed, they wonder how anything ever gets built. Disjointed teams, remote workers and poor information flow have plagued the industry for as long as I can remember. And the change is slow.

Taking a step back, one of my favourite cases of change failure is the story of Blockbuster Video – a company that failed to see the writing on the wall, failed to see a genuine opportunity and ultimately added itself to the history books. Here was a company that was by far the market leader – globally! And 2nd place wasn't even close. Their attitude was borderline arrogant given their dominance.

They failed to see the threat of new disruptive companies like Netflix, who at the time were struggling to establish themselves. So much so, that Netflix approached Blockbuster for an acquisition that would see the brands merged and Netflix renamed to Blockbuster.com for just $50 million. Today Netflix has a revenue of $24 billion (2020). And Blockbuster is just a memory.

Construction is in the midst of a similar revolution. BIM is fast becoming the new way of doing things, and most companies are yet to start their digital journey, finding clients who still work the 'old way' – but times are changing. Clients are starting to see the benefits of working in a new technological world, time and cost savings, accurate records, real-time data to improve decision making and better ways of managing a remote workforce. Until now, it’s something that’s only been available to the elite companies with deep pockets. But the last few years have seen the emergence of tech disruptors like Fonn who are aiming to target those construction companies who want to change but don't know where to start.

Luckily, there are a variety of platforms and solutions on the market that are suitable for the construction industry, and many of the new software companies on the market are 'disruptive' – offering low pricing and superior user interfaces that make them feel familiar before you even start using them. Generic tools like Monday, Slack and Zoom have now become commonplace in many companies, even in construction. Specialist tools like Fonn focus on the AEC sector, building in key features like revision control, audit history and project visibility that can all add huge value to the project and company.

In a recent report, McKinsey said that investing in the correct project tools can see a dramatic increase in productivity and margins. Adopting a digital strategy also forms part of a strong organisation structure. Clients, end-users and financial institutions are increasingly looking for cutting edge companies to manage their projects – companies with superior processes and procedures are favoured over the more traditional approach, and this desire has intensified over the last 12 months with added pressure from the global pandemic on remote working and safe delivery of projects.  

Careful consideration should always be taken when making a change, and the process and results are not instant, but now is the time to start exploring ways to improve the way your business operates to ensure it is correctly positioned for the construction industry of the future.

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