8-step guide for prioritizing construction projects

Too much work can’t be a bad thing, right?

Not so fast. As you know, every job requires building materials, talented labor and, most of all, time. In fact, our 2023 economic outlook showed 53% of Buildertrend customers have more work than they can handle compared with non-Buildertrend customers.

What’s surprising is that builders who had more work were more confident increasing profits going into the new year. But an overflowing lead pipeline wasn’t the only factor keeping these businesses optimistic. They were all focused on implementing new processes and focusing on growth.

We expand on these processes in our 2023 economic outlook. It’s more than a report – it’s a free guide for your success. You’ll learn essential strategies from leading industry experts to boost your business’ efficiency, productivity and profits.

But what do you do if your inbox is already full of bids?

The answer: Prioritize.

You need to be more strategic about pursuing jobs. As you know, not all projects provide the same return on investment. And with economic challenges haunting every headline, being prepared to say no to a potential client can help your company come out on top.

Why should I prioritize construction projects?

Prioritizing projects can be a challenging task — but calculating your construction ROI is necessary for sustained success. You have many factors to consider. If you’re taking on every job that comes down your lead pipeline, you’ll find yourself under a pile of proposals wondering where to begin.

However, with the right approach and tools, you can effectively determine which projects are worth starting and what gets moved down the job queue.

To help you find the right jobs for your construction business, we’ve developed an eight-step guide to prioritize projects.

Step 1: Clearly define project objectives

Before you begin prioritizing your construction projects, it’s important to have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve for your company. This means knowing where you are and where you want to be.

As you look through jobs, determine if the project best fits your business needs. This includes identifying goals, objectives and desired outcomes.

Step 2: Assess project difficulty

Once you have a clear understanding of your project objectives, you should assess the difficulty of each job. Before starting, it’s recommended to conduct a feasibility study.

The different types of feasibility include:

Technical feasibility

Determine how well-equipped crew and stakeholders are to provide the resources needed for the project.

Economic feasibility

At the end of the day, you want to make a profit. This type of study will conduct an analysis of costs and what impacts are made to your bottom line.

Legal feasibility

All contracts, regulations and legal aspects of the construction project must be examined. Are updates required before taking on the project?

Operational feasibility

Take a bigger look at the outcomes of the project. Make sure the goals are achievable and identified problems can be overcome.

Scheduling feasibility

A poorly planned project results in extra costs, errors and delays. Is the projected timeline possible?

Step 3: Identify critical projects

After this assessment is completed, you’ll have to decide if this fits your business goals. Taking on difficult projects can provide a jump in revenue but ask yourself what will be sacrificed for the project to be completed. How does this line up with your objectives?

For example, if your goal is to increase profits, consider rating a job by profitability. Using 1-10, score your potential jobs, 1 being the least and 10 being the most. Then compare profitability against the project difficulty. You’ll have a clear system to see which jobs are worth taking and ones that aren’t.

Step 4: Determine resource availability

Once you’ve identified your critical projects, you should determine the availability of resources such as talented labor, materials and equipment. This will help you decide which projects can be completed simultaneously and which projects will require additional resources.

Buildertrend features, such as Estimates, help you determine the materials and costs associated with each project. You’ll be able to use Takeoff in order to tally needs without manual measurements and time-consuming calculations.

If you have similar project data in the platform, you’re able to see previous To-Do’s and know how many crew members were needed to finish a task. This can help you determine the need for subs, too.

Step 5: Develop a project plan

Next, you should develop a project plan that outlines the steps and timelines for each project. This will help you stay on track and ensure that each project is completed on time and within budget.

You should measure each phase at the start and stop points that make sense. If measured consistently over time, the feedback is incredibly helpful as an evaluation of your systems, processes and performance.

You can also find early indicators of problems. For example, if you know you’ve had a hard time securing lumber, you can proactively reach out to vendors before framing begins. Using Buildertrend tools, like the Schedule, helps you plot out those hard deadlines and react if issues come up.

Step 6: Monitor progress

As your projects move forward, continue monitoring the progress of each job and proactively identify potential issues or delays. This will help you plan toward a solution early on.

You’ll also be able to determine if you have the capacity to take on additional work. If you notice a project has slowed due to circumstances like acquiring materials, take on jobs that require less time commitment.

Step 7: Communicate effectively

Communication is key to the success of any construction project. It’s important to keep all stakeholders informed of progress and any potential issues. This includes regular updates, as well as any necessary changes to the plan.

Buildertrend helps you improve your communication by centralizing all exchanges to a single platform. Plus, everyone who’s part of the project can see updates without calls or meetings.

Step 8: Continuously evaluate and improve

It’s important to continuously evaluate and improve your approach to prioritizing construction projects. Identify what worked well, what didn’t and make any necessary adjustments to your approach for future projects.

After you’ve completed a project, take a moment to see how your workflow can improve. You can do this by looking back at the scheduled tasks and updates in Daily Logs.

Use the right tools for prioritization

Prioritization of projects becomes more important to prevent your business from becoming overwhelmed. But with the right process, you can effectively manage your builds and ensure that they’re completed on time and within budget.

For Buildertrend users, it’s easier to do this. Schedule a demo today to see how.

In the midst of a possible economic downtown, it’s important to know what processes to implement and what projects to prioritize. It’s becoming more evident each day that preparation is key. Our 2023 economic outlook gives you the strategies to stay ready.

In our report, we revealed 53% of Buildertrend users have more work than they can handle. The next step is to decide which projects to take on. But what if you’re not part of that percentage – what do you do? We spoke with industry experts to gather strategies and tips to help you stay ahead of the competition.

Download your free copy of our 2023 Residential Construction Outlook.