For many people, Microsoft Suite is a staple of their working lives. When drafting an email, creating a presentation, organizing data, and more, professionals go to those familiar icons on their desktop. However, the friendship between construction project managers and Excel is tenuous.
Many construction management software platforms offer much more flexibility and customization than Excel provides. Project managers are saving time and intuitively bolstering their complex processes by adopting platforms like Quickbase. Here are 4 reasons that flexible construction management platforms are leading project leaders to end their reliance on spreadsheets.
Customizable visualizations and dashboards
Visualizations do the heavy lifting for any raw data set. They supply context, make data digestible, and give clear indications of operational trends. Spreadsheets can contain thousands of pages of data but creating a clear visualization of what data matters is limited.
Flexible construction management software gives project managers the ability to easily and quickly build visualizations and dashboards that present the exact information they need in a singular view. A flexible platform prevents project managers from needing to scroll through tabs and tabs of data by assembling all project and portfolio information in a central location. Construction software can also surface valuable information from the field in real-time, allowing stakeholders to make informed decisions anytime.
Integrations with existing system
Many companies have different systems of record for HR, contract management, compliance, project coordination, logistics, inventory management, scheduling, and more. Data housed in each of these places is critical to operations and paints the picture of organizational health. So naturally, lines of business export data from each system of records, place it in spreadsheets, and try and manipulate it to tell a cohesive story. This is incredibly time-consuming and creates data visibility and reliability problems.
Construction project management software will integrate directly with ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning), CRMs (Customer Relationship Manager), and construction point solutions. A platform like Quickbase easily integrates with systems like Procore, Autodesk, Primavera, Teams, Outlook, and more and surfaces data directly from those sources. Project stakeholders save time normally spent pulling data and can find real-time results in a singular location.
Mobile accessibility
One of the most critical functions that a construction management software plays is keeping project teams in the field connected with stakeholders in the office. Mobile accessibility is a requirement for any productivity app today, however Excel’s UI (User Interface) makes data entry very difficult on anything other than smaller than a laptop.
A mobile-focused UI is prioritized in many construction project management programs, like Quickbase, and benefits visibility for field teams and in-office personnel alike. For project teams on-site, mobile apps allow for dashboards and project information to be available to them regardless of their location. Flexible platforms also make data entry much simpler and enable workflow automation. For management distant from projects, mobile connectivity ensures real-time data is available and any decisions can be made with the latest insight.
Data governance
Mistakes happen. The problem is a typo or errant press of the ‘delete’ key in Excel can result in entire systems of record being ruined. Additionally, shared spreadsheets present security issues when granting access and sharing links. Any user with edit access in your spreadsheet can make changes to pages regardless of the owner’s intention.
Quickbase’s construction management platform prioritizes governance through role-based permissions, data entry forms, and audit logs. While holistic dashboards are accessible to managers and key stakeholders, task-specific forms and tables are only shared with the team members, subcontractors, and suppliers that need them. Project members can track their project and enter data they handle without needing to comb through other data. This focus on data governance also saves project managers from spending time and effort creating and tracking multiple spreadsheets for different parties.
In closing
Shaking your reliance on spreadsheets can be daunting and strange. But the risk of losing critical data and the time consumed by manually pulling data from multiple systems is killing productivity of construction project managers. Your complex projects require a time-saving, customizable solution. That solution is Quickbase’s Construction Management Software.
See for yourself how easily you can demolish your spreadsheets and save time with Quickbase’s flexible construction management platform!