Lydon Solutions

Construction Project Management Software Solutions

Project management software

How Adaptive Cards Can Turbocharge Your Construction Project Management Processes

How-To |

Wouldn't it be great to get more of your project management workflow done in Microsoft Outlook and Teams without needing to log into other enterprise systems? Adaptive Cards technology enables you to do just that by providing an open, lightweight, and flexible framework to integrate user experiences into other applications, including Outlook, Teams, and more.

Technology is changing at a fever clip, and construction organizations are having to adapt to survive. Owners, contractors, and construction management organizations are all scrambling to implement the latest whiz-bang IT solution for managing their projects. Unfortunately, project managers and users are often left having to learn and navigate many different systems and processes on top of just trying to do their job. So how can you move the technology forward without leaving your team in the technology wake?

Adaptive Cards are a JSON-based and platform-agnostic way to deliver app data into a native UI. We use it to extend the functionality of Construction Viz, our turnkey construction project management solution, into Microsoft Outlook and Teams. With Construction Viz and Adaptive Card technology, organizations can collect data from users via email (e.g., filling out an RFI or managing approvals) without requiring them to log into another system. We also leverage Adaptive Cards to enable Construction Viz users to share dashboards and reports via email or Teams, again without needing the recipient to log into any other system.

Check out our blog describing how Construction Viz takes advantage of Adaptive Cards. You can also learn more about Adaptive Cards here and here.

Adaptive Card approval embedded in Email from Construction Viz

Why Adaptive Cards matter for construction projects

The number and complexity of systems in construction will only continue to increase. Adaptive Cards take away the training, double-entry, errors, and inefficiencies that can come with multiple systems and new technologies. It allows your team to focus on what is essential for them to do their job and provide the data you need to manage your project's success.

So, no matter which systems house project-related data at your organization, you can flatten the IT learning curve by using Adaptive Cards to provide your end-users with a streamlined and simplified way to get their job done.

Learn how Adaptive Cards can streamline your projects

Find out more about our Adaptive Card technology by submitting a free consultation request.  If you prefer a turnkey project management solution powered by Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, check out Construction Viz and our extensive lineup of construction apps.

How to Start Managing Construction Projects in Microsoft 365 – Part 1

How-To |

This is part one of three in a series of blogs called How to Manage Your Construction Projects in Microsoft 365.

More and more construction organizations are moving to Microsoft 365 to manage their businesses and provide their employees with the tools they need to get work done. Logically, one of the first questions in a construction company is: "Can we run our construction projects from Microsoft 365?"

The good news is that Microsoft 365 has many features that are ideal for managing projects. The not-so-good news is that identifying the right mix of Microsoft 365 tools for your organization to use for projects can be overwhelming with so many service options available.

So, where do you begin? In this first installment of our latest blog post series, we will help you navigate your way into managing construction projects in Microsoft 365. In future posts, we will dive deeper into your options.

Five tips to get started managing construction projects in Microsoft 365

Do these things first to manage your construction projects with Microsoft 365 successfully:

  1. Start small and build on wins

We recommend starting small in your approach and focusing more on upfront planning. It's best to pick a pilot project and phase the work as much as possible.

  1. Plan, plan, plan

We always recommend spending as much time as you can in the "planning" phase before moving forward with any real development. If you have not already, check out our four-part blog series on implementing a Project Management Information System (Planning, Evaluating Technology, Implementing, and Supporting) to get the big picture.

To get started, consider the following:

    • Define the problem. Make sure to clarify what problems you are trying to solve. By documenting and agreeing to a problem statement, you will keep the team focused on solving that problem. You will also be able to develop a cost-benefit analysis for implementing a solution.
    • Establish the budget and schedule. Before embarking on your journey, make sure to set aside a budget and a deadline as to when you would like to have this solution in place.
    • Assemble your team. Identify and build a team of subject matter experts who will use the solution. It would be best if you involved this team to some level throughout the entire process, from requirements gathering to implementation.
    • Define your requirements. This step is the most critical in any software implementation. Take the time to document your as-is business processes (what you are doing now) and your to-be processes (what would you want to do). There are multiple ways of collecting requirements: interviews, surveys, use cases, etc. Check out our blog posts on requirement gathering in general, as well as how to use case studies.
    • Develop document controls processes. Invest in developing your document controls processes to ensure that you standardize the data you collect and how you use it for reporting and search.
  1. The best way to signup for Microsoft 365

If your organization is already using Microsoft 365, you are all set. If not, be wary of reaching out to third-party Microsoft 365 licensing providers to set up your environment. We have seen some providers lock down their clients' tenants and restrict access to many services available in Microsoft 365. Our recommendation is to contact Microsoft directly to set up your own Microsoft 365 company tenant. If you need help, check out our Microsoft 365 managed services.

  1. Research your options

Depending on your license, there are many tools and services available in Microsoft 365 (e.g., Teams, Planner, To-Do, etc.), some of which provide overlapping features and functionalities. If your organization prefers to work in one service over another, that service should be central to your design. For example, if your team likes to work in email, then explore forms, reports, workflows, and so on that can be made available within Outlook.

  1. Understand your licensing

Microsoft licensing is always changing and can be very confusing and potentially expensive. Ensure you have the right licenses to deliver all aspects of the proposed solution, from reporting to workflows. Make sure to monitor licensing continually to ensure you are paying for what you need.

One thing to note is that Microsoft 365 provides for guest licenses, which lets you provide limited access and share information with users outside your organization. Guest licenses can be handy when working with subcontractors that you wish to allow access to your projects. Allocating guest licenses does not incur a charge, but there are limitations to this feature. Also, make sure to document any access given using guest licenses to make sure internal or confidential information is not unwittingly shared.

Are you interested in managing your construction projects with Microsoft 365?

We will dig deeper into the Microsoft 365 services available to manage your construction project in our next blog post. Stay tuned!

If your construction organization needs help setting up your Microsoft 365 environment, you can request a free one-hour consultation. If you are looking for a turnkey construction project management solution or a specific construction app for Microsoft 365, check out ConstructionViz.com.

Check out more blogs from How to Manage Your Construction Projects in Microsoft 365

The FOCUS Methodology: A Solution-based Consulting Framework

Case Study |

Lydon Solutions developed the FOCUS methodology, a step-by-step approach for delivering information management solutions to our clients. Read on to find out how our FOCUS methodology helped one client ramp up their efficiency without increasing staffing or cost through the smarter application of information technology and streamlined business processes.  

The construction industry is undergoing a massive shift. Information management, both the technology and the processes surrounding it, are becoming critical for project delivery. We recently had a client that was ramping up a major maintenance and repair program, and their management tasked them with executing five times the number of projects while keeping their staffing level and cost the same.  A classic case of delivering more with less.

Helping this client meet their management's new goal involved more than just creating efficiencies through an improved business process. It required a holistic information management solution. We worked with the client to determine how they should collect, store, handle ownership, and report on their data while also helping them create the tools and processes required to support this new strategy. 

Delivering information management solutions like the above that work starts by following an established methodology. Lydon Solutions has been developing and implementing business solutions in and around construction information management for over eleven years. To tackle the challenges our industry presents, we developed the FOCUS methodology.

What is the Lydon Solutions FOCUS Methodology?

FOCUS is our custom step-by-step methodology applicable to any process but ideal for delivering information management solutions. As with the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) approach, the FOCUS methodology is adjustable depending on the project's size, budget, and schedule. The steps, which are most effective when followed sequentially, include inputs, processes, owners, and outputs.  As we complete each step, results are reviewed with the client to ensure everything is in-line with their requirements.

Focus-Methodology_1

Here is a breakdown of the five steps in our FOCUS methodology:

  1. Formulate. First, we begin with fact-finding to gather high-level business requirements. This step helps us formulate the problem statement, provide a preliminary solution, and develop a rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimate and schedule.
  2. Organize. Once all parties understand the preliminary project scope, schedule, and budget, the next step is defining detailed requirements. Here we evaluate "as is" and "to be" business processes with the client (for more on this, see my blog post on documenting as-is processes). Taking the time to do this thorough assessment and documentation ensures that all requirements are well understood and expectations clear. At this point, we may need to revise the budget and schedule before building out the solution.

Together, the Formulate and Organize steps make up our envisioning process, which leverages our experience and a series of proven templates required to provide a business case. These templates include assets covering a project charter, risk assessment, governance, solution concepts, project staffing plans, and cost estimates.  Having these deliverables enables our clients to be more confident in the successful outcome of their project. They also demonstrate to their stakeholders and senior leadership that the requested budget is realistic with minimal undefined assumptions.

  1. Construct. Lydon Solutions takes the outputs from the previous envisioning process and moves into building out the solution. We hold bi-weekly review meetings with the client to go over status, monitor scope, address questions, and ensure the solution development progresses efficiently. We have found the agile development approach to be the most effective way to manage the build process since it provides the most flexibility to change due to shifts in scope and definition.
  2. Utilize. Once we complete the development of the solution, it then needs to be implemented. Implementation is more than just handing over the finished product; it entails training, knowledge transfer, effective communications, and regular follow-up meetings to ensure the deliverables meet the client's needs.
  3. Support. Once we complete implementation, we establish a feedback loop with a system or a process to ensure that the solution meets the client's expectations. Doing so allows us to manage issues, questions, updates, and requests for changes in a timely and efficient fashion. Having a support channel in place is essential to the solution's ongoing success as it becomes a mainstay for a client.

So what does the FOCUS process mean for you, a potential client? In short, it means if you work with Lydon Solution, there will not be any surprises. Because we focus on solutions and have a formal delivery methodology, you will have a better idea of what exactly you are getting, for how much, and when you can expect it.

Find out how Lydon Solutions can help your organization

Lydon Solutions has been delivering customized and compelling solutions for our clients since its founding in 2009. From integrating a range of technologies and solutions to providing rock-solid hosting in Microsoft Azure, all the way through to the development of our own React-based Construction Viz apps for Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, we strive to provide the best advice, direction, and strategy at every turn. We do not just do IT; we provide information management solutions. Our team knows the construction industry. We have boots on the ground, a can-do attitude to tackle big challenges and a commitment to delivering world-class solutions.

Let us help your organization take your construction project management to the next level. Schedule your free consultation today.

How to Use Microsoft Teams for Construction Timekeeping and Shift Management

How-To |

The Microsoft Shifts add-in for Microsoft Teams is a no-frills time management tool. If you need a simple way to manage your small construction team's actual time worked, Shifts offers you a straightforward solution. Here are some things to consider when evaluating this tool for your team.

Microsoft released the Shifts add-in for Microsoft Teams as a simple schedule management tool for first-line workers in 2019. Shifts enables workers to track their hours and tasks right in Teams and even supports features like requesting time off and balancing workloads with the "move to open shifts" option. The add-in has a clean and intuitive interface, with daily, weekly, and monthly views. You can add users, groups, and shifts in just one or two clicks. The tool works with Excel, letting you import and export schedule data.

The Shifts add-in integrates tightly with Teams. You can pin the Shifts icon to the Teams navigation, making it easy to access and update. Each Team can have a Shifts schedule associated with it. If you have downloaded Teams for your mobile device, you can also access Shifts from inside the app.

Is Microsoft Shifts a good fit for construction teams?

So how could you use Microsoft Shifts for construction? If you need a simple way to manage a small team's actual time worked, the add-in is a straightforward solution, providing a no-frills time management tool. It finds a sweet spot in making sure you have coverage on your project when needed while letting you visually see gaps where you might need to move resources around.

However, there are a few limitations to keep in mind:

  • Unlike Microsoft Teams, which stores data in a SharePoint site collection, Shifts data resides in Microsoft Azure. Therefore, you cannot directly access your Shifts data.
  • Hourly rates for cost projections and planning are not part of the current functionality.
  • There is currently no integration with Microsoft Planner or Project.
  • You cannot consolidate schedules created in Shifts from multiple teams.

If you are looking for a simple timesheet tracker for smaller construction projects or a simple time tracking solution for facilities maintenance, give Shifts a try. Just understand the tool's limitations.

On the other hand, if you need support for billing, cost tracking, Gantt scheduling, or the ability to customize forms and UI, I suggest considering other Microsoft 365 services and applications which would better fit your needs.

Want to do more with Microsoft 365?

Microsoft 365 is an incredibly powerful suite of enterprise tools. If you need help setting up your Microsoft 365 tenant for your construction organization, check out our Managed Services and submit a free consultation request.

Need a turnkey enterprise construction management solution? Check out Construction Viz and the available apps for Microsoft 365 at ConstructionViz.com.

Plan the Work and Work the Plan with Microsoft Planner

How-To |

Microsoft Planner is a task management application that is part of Microsoft 365, both as a desktop and a web app. Like SharePoint and Teams, Microsoft designed Planner for team collaboration. Where Planner shines is the board view, which uses a Kanban-style UI to manage tasks. Kanban is a visual signal to trigger an action and translates literally to "card you can see." Kanban is used heavily in software development as part of the Agile Project Management process but can also work well for construction projects. Let's take a look at how you can use Microsoft Planner for your projects.

How Microsoft Planner Works

When a user creates a new plan, either from Planner directly or within Microsoft Teams, the applications automatically includes prebuilt tabs for a board, chart, and schedule views. It also offers the ability to add other related tools such as a OneNote notebook. You can even add your plan to Outlook or export it to Excel. Also, each plan you create has an Office 365 group automatically created. To find out more about Office 365, groups read our prior post – "Office 365 Groups - What are They and How Are They Used?"

The board tab is where you define buckets, which are logical groupings of work for your project. This view is where you will spend most of your time. Within each bucket, you add tasks, set due dates, assign the responsible people, track progress, and establish sub-tasks with the checklist functionality. Once created, each task stacks under its associated bucket, but you can quickly drag and drop items between buckets to reorganize, as needed. You can even move tasks between statuses and the responsible person when you change the board's groupings, which is pretty powerful. Tasks get a visual strike through as they are marked complete.

MS Planner

The charts view displays the progress of the tasks in a straightforward and easy to understand dashboard. You can use this view for load balancing to see which resources are assigned more tasks than others and adjust accordingly. You could also see all open tasks' status, click through to see the person responsible, and make updates all from the same chart view. The schedule tab displays tasks in a calendar view by week or month. You can edit or even add new tasks easily within the same calendar view.

MS Planner 2
MS Planner 3

Reasons to Use Microsoft Planner for Construction Projects

Microsoft Planner offers several compelling benefits for construction project teams:

  • It's free. Your Microsoft 365 subscription includes the Planner App.
  • Share plans with your team. You can determine who has access to your plan so you can share it with your entire project team.
  • Add your plan in Teams. You can easily create or add an existing plan to a Microsoft Team to track and share all of the tasks with your project team(s).
  • Collaborate in SharePoint. If you are using SharePoint Online to manage your projects, you can quickly add your plan to a SharePoint web page to track your tasks and collaborate with your team(s).
  • View all plans and your tasks. If you create a new Team for every project, you may be assigned tasks in many plans. It seems like this would be cumbersome to manage, but Planner includes a "My Tasks" view where you can see your specific tasks across all plans and even update those tasks in your board, charts, and schedule Views, which is quite handy.
  • Do more with Microsoft Power Automate. Plan data is accessible in Microsoft Power Automate flows. So, you could build a workflow that alerts users when they have a new task, when approval is needed, or even send Planner data to another application that you frequently use, like Excel.
  • Mobile app. There is a Planner app with all the features of the web version.

Some Limitations of Planner to Consider

While Planner is an excellent tool for task management, especially if you are using Teams, there are a few things to consider:

  • Which Microsoft 365 task management tool is best for you? Organizations need to evaluate the best software application to manage tasks. Microsoft 365 comes with many different task management applications. Outlook has a "My Task" feature, and To-Do is a stand-alone app for task management. The new Lists app for Teams may also be used as a task management tool, while SharePoint has its own issue tracker. Microsoft Project tracks tasks in a Gantt chart, and you can also track tasks in OneNote.
  • Planner does not link tasks to forms or documents. There is typically content in construction, such as a form or a document, that stakeholders need to review as part of an assigned task. Unfortunately, Planner is a stand-alone application that does not natively link tasks to forms and documents. To achieve that capability for a Planner task, you will need to configure or customize a solution using the Power Platform or SharePoint.
  • No consolidated plan. There is no consolidation of plans across your project teams to allow you to view all your team members' tasks in one place. You can view your tasks across all the plans but not each team member, creating additional steps for overall project/program management. You could create a single plan and use it for all your teams so that there is a consolidated view across all of your projects, but you will have to assign it to every user, and there is no metadata to relate it to a specific project or team.
  • Planner data is not available in Power BI. As of now, Planner data is not available for Power BI, so you would have to look for a third-party tool to provide that reporting or build a Power Automate workflow to send the data to a SharePoint List for reporting.

Microsoft Planner is an interesting task management and collaboration tool with a lot of great functionality. Like most Microsoft products, it will continue to become more robust with new features over time.

Get Help with Microsoft Office 365 for Your Organization

If you need any help with Microsoft 365, check out our Managed Services and sign up for a free consultation. If you are interested in a prebuilt enterprise-ready construction project management solution integrated with Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, Construction Viz is our offering. Find out more about Construction Viz or submit a demo request.

Eight Tips to Successfully Implement a Project Management Information System

How-To |

This is part three of four in a series of blogs called Tips on Deploying Construction Project Management Software for Your Organization.

Are you about to deploy a new Project Management Information System (PMIS) at your construction organization? Hopefully, you have done the upfront planning to ensure a successful project, and you have carefully evaluated the available technology platforms out there. Now comes the hard part: implementation.

Over my many years helping deploy multiple enterprise PMIS at various construction organizations, I have seen that the implementation phase is a big stumbling point for most teams. You can do all the right planning and select the best technology platform and still fail if you have an inexperienced or under-resourced implementation team.

What do I mean by implementation? This phase includes solution deployment, training, ongoing product management, organizational change management, scope change control, data migration, lessons learned, closeout, archiving, and making sure the ship launches without hitting an iceberg.

A Project Management Information System Implementation Checklist

Here are eight things to consider when implementing your PMIS:

1. Start planning for implementation on day one. Make sure you budget for sufficient resources to support implementation as this is the one area where you do not want to cut costs. Prepare an implementation plan that defines roles and responsibilities, timelines, scope, risks, and change processes.

2. Establish management support. Getting senior-level sponsorship from the initial planning stage through implementation and ongoing support is crucial to your PMIS deployment’s success. Construction organizations are typically matrixed organizations that are highly resistant to change. Having a senior manager as a champion for your PMIS will help cut through bureaucracy, gain buy-in where needed, and clear a path to success across your organization.

3. Address politics. Although a new PMIS should bring organizations closer together, they frequently surface the political strife within a company and expose inefficiencies and mismanagement. Deploying a new PMIS forces change, so prepare for the fallout. While a new system should make everyone’s life easier, it may also mean that some people, even whole departments, lose their power or their jobs. Have these discussions during the upfront planning so that managers have time to align their departments and express concerns.

4. Incorporate organizational change management (OCM). You can never over-communicate during a PMIS implementation, so be sure to incorporate OCM into your implementation strategy. Deploying your PMIS will almost certainly affect other processes, systems, and departments across your organization. And their processes might, in turn, affect your PMIS. Regular communication throughout the entire PMIS selection and deployment process will ensure that your users, and the overall organization, stay informed and aligned.

5. Plan for obsolescence. When I was a project controls manager, I always dreaded when a new senior manager came on board and decided to change everything in their image, which often meant switching to their preferred PMIS. The problem was that the incoming PMIS never dropped anything off our plates. The same processes continued but were now more complicated as the new systems required redundant steps because nobody had the authority to end-of-life the old PMIS. To gain more commitment from your teams, find ways to make their lives easier with the new PMIS by removing redundant tasks, re-engineering outdated processes and systems, and automating when possible.

6. Find the right team. Implementing a PMIS is complicated, and unless you have done it many times before, you should probably look for an external consulting company to support the effort. When selecting an external consulting company to provide implementation services, make sure that they specialize in the technology you are using. Many consultants claim to be experts in every PMIS, but they are just casting a wide net to get any business they can. Take the extra step to evaluate consulting companies; speak to clients that have completed an implementation with the vendor, and give the vendor a test so you can assess their approach as well as their general knowledge of the product. Then compare vendor responses.

7. Avoid staff augmentation vendors. If you choose to contract out your implementation team, avoid staff augmentation. While that may sound like a pretty bold statement, I have never seen a group of staff augmentation contractors pull off a successful implementation. Staff aug companies provide individuals with a limited skill set, and whether it is a successful project or not, they are getting paid. Service companies leverage a more comprehensive range of skills, and they typically structure their contracts around deliverables and milestones, which at least ensures some level of accountability.

8. Pilot first. We recommend this to every one of our clients. Start with one project and get a win before you roll out to an entire organization. Shotgun enterprise-wide deployments often fail. By piloting a single project successfully, you can get buy-in from the project team, who can then help promote it across the rest of the organization. You might also find that the software you chose or the team you selected to implement is not up to snuff during the pilot. Piloting gives you a chance to course-correct before you make too much of a time and monetary commitment.

Get Experienced Expert Help Deploying Your PMIS

I hope the tips above help you with your PMIS journey. If you have not already, be sure to check out our previous blog posts on pre-planning and selecting the right technology for a new PMIS. Stay tuned; in future posts, we will provide tips on best supporting a PMIS.

If you have any questions or are looking for an enterprise PMIS, contact us for a free consultation. Good luck!

Check out more blogs from Tips on Deploying Construction Project Management Software for Your Organization