What Is The Future Of Construction?
This seems like a silly question. Silly, because I have actually been asking myself this for a very long time. It all started about 22 years ago, when I was working for a Construction Management Company in the Bay Area. A typical summer school project gone wrong TIMES THREE. What do I mean? The Construction Management firm had hired a bunch of college graduates to manage different campuses within the same school district and now three sites where behind schedule. These “cheap” butts in seats with no experience, where left to flounder on their own in a tank of seasoned construction sharks. On top of this chaos, the popular delivery method of the time was prime contracting so each of those projects had a minimum of three prime contractors, sometimes four or five. Thankfully? I had the confidence of the School District Superintendent, so my boss moved the oversight of the three projects under my preview to manage with my own project that I had underway. My nine hour days quickly turned to 14 hr days, management of over 12 prime contractors, a mobile office rushing from one site to the next, a $1200 cell phone bill, oh, and I was getting married. Needless to say, a summer never to forget. All sites opened for school on time but not all pretty. Only one of the graduates was retained and moved to a job at another school district. So – why the story? Because the Construction Industry is in a constant fight – between the disparity of cost for Technology Experience vs. Hands On Experience.
Technology Experience
Granted not all of the graduates that are being released into our industry these days have the level of technology experience that is going to change the operation or process of the construction future. However, the majority of them have a distinct advantage over the hardworking construction experience of our construction forefathers. These students of construction, are able to propel themselves into a construction management job for a few reasons: they have a degree, thus use to schoolwork and can write reports, maintain important project records, they cost less, they have adequate to desirable computer skills, and they have grown up in a world with rapid adaptability – they can process change and updates with fluency.
Hands-On Experience
Finally in a position of working their way up the ranks, its time for a little less back-breaking work and time to go take charge of the job. Tell everyone what to do the way they have been told for the past 15 years. Usually, very little training on how to manage the project and thus lead your team to victory. This lends itself to a reputation of no soft skills, typically, got into construction because they didn’t like school work – so no degree, their level of experience deserves to be paid well but now they are older and a higher insurance risk, and they would as soon walk off of a 30 story building then update their phone and risk loosing their contacts for a few days while they figure out the “new setup”.
Generalizations
I know not everyone fits these two sides of the construction industry, and maybe it’s only me that hates to see an “update”….on ANYTHING!!! However, we are in a cross roads right now. We can either ignore what has been going on and be blessed that today – we are ESSENTIAL WORKERS ….. OR we look at how the industry has been moving and how that has prepared or suppressed us for this current challenge. Technology will play a key role in the management of projects in the future. Does that mean that the old guys (and not so old) get put out to pasture and have no hope for “climbing the ladder” into a rewarding management position after years of backbreaking work in the field? – ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! Companies are becoming more aware of the importance of training their own pipeline of employees. It is critical for technology and hands-on experience to teach each other the short falls. Now, more than ever, it is critical to put an ORDER OF PRECEDENCE in place, pay your dues scenario, so that the world of construction does not get top heavy. It is no fun (for some of us) working in 100 degree weather, carrying heavy lots, smashing your finger under a rusty hammer head …. but the experience gained during those hours of hard work is more valuable than one could possibly describe. Not only is it saving costly mistakes from happening (usually unknowingly paid for by the Owner), its not only teaching the hard skills of estimating, scheduling, management & how to build miraculous projects. It is teaching resilience, respect, patience, desire, empathy, appreciation, gratitude, problem solving, communication, teamwork, and leadership.
I will go one step further to say – that those that learn through the power of order of precedence, do so with an established foundation that projects success at a much faster rate then someone that enters the ladder somewhere in the middle and then tries to climb to the top. So if you want to know – What is the Future of Construction – assess where you are and what you will do, to contribute to the educational growth of our Construction Industry Pipeline.