Construction is the backbone of first world countries. Immigration, suburbia, wealth and increases in the standard of living all drive construction. If a country wants to grow it builds.

Construction has undergone many reforms and changes which have been driven by regulations, scientific discoveries, entrepreneurs and industry leaders, alongside these changes our desire for size and complexity has risen and the industry is being pushed to its limits.

We now operate in an industry that has increasingly lower profit margins, lowest bidder is near certain of winning and competition rampant.

Large and small construction companies are being pushed, governments are with holding funds and suppliers and subcontractors are getting more urgent to have payments released. Construction companies are wedged in between a rock and a hard place.

What does the future of construction hold and in which direction can the industry turn to find its release from these ever increasing demands. Like anything the answer lies within, the answer is within the construction firms.

Construction companies have to turn from a project based outlook. Projects come and go, they are important but they are not the company, projects are the source of the growing complexity, late payments, increasing costs and rise in competition. They are the means but they are not the end.

The purpose, the vision, the strategy, the culture, the values, the people, the roles, the responsibilities, the processes and the systems all lie within the company and these are where those companies who wish to survive and build in the coming decades need to focus. This is where projects are won or lost.

When someone has a purpose someone does something and the more inspiring that purpose the more pulled they are to do fulfill the purpose. What inspires people and builds a purpose is a dream, why did you start your company? It is because you have a dream of a better future, this dream is what drove you and it gives you purpose. Now to communicate this dream you need to share it. People need to see this dream and find how they can fit in and this is a vision. Many companies don’t give a vision to their people and work relationships quickly boil down to pay.

Visions are hard to keep because with a vision you need to have a plan of how you are going to achieve it, you need to put your money where your mouth is and this is a strategy. 

However many strategies fail because people don’t believe in the dream and therefore lack purpose or because the strategy is disconnected from the day to day.

People focusing solely on projects disconnects the strategy from the day to day, the vision is the project, the purpose is the project, strategy is the schedule, projects come and go and soon that vision becomes monotonous a bridge does not inspire and a road doesn’t motivate, these by themselves are weak visions and must to be connected to a wider company purpose.

How does a company connect to a project, how does a strategy affect and drive a person. This is the key to the future and it is systems and processes.

Systems and processes are a companies proven path to success. They say if you do this, this and this you will achieve your desired outcome, they are the backbone of any company for they pull people together and allow them to achieve success and make money. Without systems and processes everyone does what they think best and you can never improve. Systems and processes need to be structured and revised by the people, who use them regularly to ensure they are still the proven and best path to achieve the strategy, allow the people to fulfill their visions and achieve their purpose.

Construction Companies that master their systems and processes will be companies that build in the decades to come.