The Importance of Including End-Users in Early Stages

When construction companies decide to jump in with both feet to find and procure a construction software package; whether to replace an existing system, or to implement a construction management system where none ever existed; they need to ensure that the team created for evaluating, designing, developing, implementing, using, and maintaining such a system are included in the mix.

Make certain that the end-user community Construction Procurement Software is represented and consulted, since it is they who are most likely to make or break any construction management software; whether they participate in selecting one or not.

End-users come in a variety of disciplines and system access privileges, but all end-users create some kind of system impact in their daily activities of data creation, input and manipulation; or in hands-on system maintenance.

For example: The construction workers who punch time via project-specific electronic time-stamping for a day’s work; or the Project Manager who divides daily charges to multiple accounts by way of electronic time-stamping or by direct construction accounting software system input; or the IT technicians who provide system advice and maintenance, security, and the like. All will play significant roles in a system’s overall health, integrity, usefulness, and even longevity, going forward.

Of course, if initial protocols are well designed and well established and well thought out as they relate to the software functionality, end-user impact should automatically be correct and up to the latest best-practices. This also means that construction company procedures, protocols, and practices need to be where they should be with regard to construction industry best-practices.

The more (correctly) automated a construction software system is capable of being, the better the chances of keeping the system healthy and well and useful to the construction company business in general.

If the end-user community is forced to swallow something they had no part in selecting or implementing, they will not only take much longer to learn the system, but they might also resist changes they were not considered important enough to be included in deciding upon.

End-users are also a very necessary part of ensuring a smooth implementation; since they are the ones who know best what their particular slice of the integration pie is all about. They are the ones who work with their specific departmental processes, procedures, and methodologies; and how those interface with other business practices.

In addition, it is equally important to begin software training as early as possible during the final design and development stages of system implementation, depending upon how many end-users are involved.

Training is one of the most critical aspects of successfully implementing and using a new construction management software. Of course, any training must include the particular construction company’s business procedures, protocols, integration strategies, data strategies and protocols, and other system functionality.