🔗LinkedField⚡️

From a non-believer of outsourcing work to obsessed with it. 📢 I did not believe in outsourcing when I worked for a general contractor I initially viewed outsourcing in construction as time-consuming and challenging, not worth the time, and preferred to handle tasks personally. Then reality set in as I accumulated more work than manageable, leading to tasks left unattended. I became reactive and not proactive. I had to spend more time at the trailer to get the work done. This worked when I was single, but then I got married and had kids. Then I pushed to get more help from my bosses and VPs since I’d thought hiring full-time employees was the obvious choice. However, we soon struggled with finding qualified candidates for recruitment in the construction industry and it took too long! It wasn’t until I realized there were similarities between balancing personal life and outsourcing in construction. I looked at my personal life and started to notice how I was leveraging outside resources to manage my workload efficiently. For example, I look at spending time fixing things myself like gutters or outsourcing those tasks so I can take back my time to do more valuable things. Well, I chose to spend more time with my family and kids with that time I saved. I’m not saying I would always outsource everything, but I will encourage construction professionals to be open to these new services and tools that are now available to construction. Outsourcing certain construction tasks like the collection of documents like submittals and change order pricing is going to be a strategic decision you can make to allow your team to focus on critical tasks rather than mundane paperwork  and other administrative tasks. This is why LinkedField’s collection service is the most used product to help construction teams pre-collect all the documents they need for the next month so they can do their jobs! If you like this content, please like, comment and share this post. Subscribe to construction’s 1st flexible work newsletter where I analyze crucial indexes and bring you the latest construction industry insights. Here → https://lnkd.in/giE7Ez6S #flexiblework #remotework #worksmarter

This construction company has 60% of their employees REMOTE!?!? 🌏 💻 Highlighting Remote Work Pioneers of the Industry: Landmark Structural Builders is a Texas based company but does a lot of work in Florida. It hasn’t opened a Florida office yet because their remote policies made it unnecessary to open up an office at this time. They are using remote talent as a bridge to establish a stronghold in a new region before investing heavily in opening up a brick & mortar office in Florida…. https://lnkd.in/ga6Gb4Ni i. 60% of their employees are remote and employee retention is above average. ii. They truly believe remote policies are a huge benefit and an edge to recruiting top talent. #constructiontrend #happyemployees #flexiblework

What does the industry REALLY say about Remote or Hybrid work? 💻 Though the physical nature of construction work hasn’t changed, the industry’s office employees increasingly have stayed home since the COVID-19 pandemic..... https://lnkd.in/eyWe4t4y TLDR: Today, 17.9% of US employees are working from home/remotely. What about construction? 2019 vs 2021 2019 Construction Industry i. Mixed/hybrid - 3.15% of construction employees ii. WFH - 8.01% 2021 Construction Industry i. Hybrid - 3.41% ii. WFH - 10.16% Takeaways i. WFH numbers increased since pandemic - makes sense ii. Overall WFH numbers for construction is lower than the national average for all sectors - makes sense due to the physical nature of construction. Two construction companies speak out about why and how they incorporate remote or hybrid arrangements into their operations. i. Landmark (Texas based, but operations in norther/southern California)  ii. Messer Construction (Cincinnati based firm). Do you agree with what the Supporters of hybrid or remote work say?: iii. “Offering hybrid or remote work can be a valuable differentiator for employers,” Squibb said, which can help contractors attract top talent, and foster a “dynamic, forward-thinking workplace culture.” iv. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Do you think having the option to go remote is worth a 8% pay raise? If you like this content, please like, comment and share this post. Subscribe to construction’s 1st flexible work newsletter where I analyze crucial indexes and bring you the latest construction industry insights. Here → https://lnkd.in/giE7Ez6S #constructiontrend #IndustryAnalysis #flexiblework 

The industry is heading down the toilet bowl 🚽 What I mean is we are in a downward spiral and by early 2025, we are going to be in deep *hit. I came to this conclusion by studying and analyzing the industry and market reports/indexes. I focused on these 3 pillars and I summarize my findings for the next 6 months, then 12 months and project out to the next year. See illustration below. a. Architecture Planning / Design pipeline b. Construction Starts / Momentum  c. Contractor Backlog / Confidence Here’s why I believe this: TLDR: First half of this year: Architects are concerned Strong construction activity, and Contractors are feeling good. 2nd half of this year Architects go from concerned to really worried Construction activities are decreased, Contractors are a little concerned about how they will end 2024 and prepare for 2025. What about next year 2025 - Prediction is that the Bubble is going to burst. All 3 pillars are looking bad for 2025. Architects will not be picking up new projects fast enough thr pipeline. Less new projects are entering pipeline to feed the construction activity Today, Contractors should be concerned because architects are not seeing new projects entering the pipeline in Q1 2024. Why is this happening? a. Interest rates are still high - Need the government to do something but we should see something in the next quarter since the elections are this year in November. Interest rates are predicted to finally decrease in 2024 by industry market experts. b. Labor shortage is getting worse. This is making a lot projects stay on hold due to high costs of construction - so if you are a contractor dealing with white-collar labor shortage, come check out LinkedField. We built a taskrabbit for construction with on-demand construction white-collar pros. If you like this content, please like, comment and share this post. Subscribe to construction’s 1st flexible work newsletter where I analyze crucial indexes and bring you the latest construction industry insights. Here → https://lnkd.in/giE7Ez6S #constructiontrend #IndustryAnalysis #flexiblework

Contractors feeling good about 2023 but are they wrong? ABC’s Construction Confidence Index (Nov 2023) - link here: https://lnkd.in/g3f_j_8R This ABC report gives you a 6 month forecast of what contractors are expecting around sales activity, profits and their staffing outlook. A number over 50 means things are generally improving in the industry and a number under 50 means deteriorating conditions. TLDR: i. All 3 categories are over 50 so this is signaling contractors are expecting the next 6 months to be good. ii. The 2nd half of this year will also be ok, but 2025 is not looking good because we are not able to keep adding to the backlog due to architects reporting less projects entering the planning pipeline. If you like this content, please like, comment and share this post. Subscribe to construction’s 1st flexible work newsletter where I analyze crucial indexes and bring you the latest construction industry insights. Here → https://lnkd.in/giE7Ez6S #constructiontrend #IndustryAnalysis #flexiblework

Backlog of work is a finite resource and we are not creating much new projects. 👷♂️ Construction Backlog/Confidence Update - Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Backlog & Confidence Reports 🚧 Construction Backlog Indicator (Dec 2023) Remember, the ABC report gives you a forecast of how many months of backlog that companies in the US are tracking. TLDR: It's still busy, but it's slowing down. 1. We are at 8.6 months in Dec 2023, which is essentially the same as the previous month. 2. This 8.6 months means contractors are feeling good about what this year looks like. The Contractors were actually reporting an uptick in optimism during the holiday season, but I believe they are wrong. 3. First, this backlog should be closer to 10 or 12 months. That is when you have enough buffer. 4. 2nd, Backlog is a finite resource so if you don’t constantly feed the backlog, you will run out of projects. 5. And right now, we are note able to keep adding new projects into the architects pipeline. If you like this content, please like, comment and share this post. Subscribe to construction’s 1st flexible work newsletter where I analyze crucial indexes and bring you the latest construction industry insights. Here → https://lnkd.in/gCtNkRbA #constructiontrend #IndustryAnalysis #flexiblework

Construction starts soaring and is burning through our limited backlog. 📉 📢 Construction Starts / Momentum Update - Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) - As of December 2023: 📈 DMI is a monthly measure of the value of projects that were started which translates to construction activity for the next 12 months. This tracks the projects that moved forward from the Architecture Billing Index, from the design/planning pipeline to the construction pipeline. TLDR: 1. Construction starts increased in last month of 2023 against high interest rates. 2. Projects in the construction planning pipeline will continue to feed working well into 2024. Although we finished 2023 strong, 2023 was still weaker than 2022. Construction pipeline looks good but the pipeline won’t be filled in 2023 because the architects are reporting less projects entering their design & planning pipeline. If you like this content, please like, comment and share this post. Subscribe to construction’s 1st flexible work newsletter where I analyze crucial indexes and bring you the latest construction industry insights. Here → https://lnkd.in/giE7Ez6S #constructiontrend #IndustryAnalysis #flexiblework

Darker times for the construction industry

99.9% of start up founders are working on the wrong aspect of the business. 📌 StartUp Series: Why is it so hard to build a successful startup EVEN when you have a Great Idea and Product? ⬆ i. Having an idea and a great solution is only 10% of what you need to build but we spend all of our time there. ii. The other 90% of what is required to be successful are unknown to most people and first time founders (this includes me!!!). Let me explain: i. Imagine you have bad eyesight and you spend years developing an eye drop that gives you 20/20 vision overnight. ii. That is an awesome invention and it solves a huge problem right? There are millions of people with bad eyesight and everyone wants to see better. You will be rich! Maybe, only if you do a series of thousands (maybe more?) of things right for the next 7-10 years. For example: 1. You need these people to put a mystery potion into their eyes.  2. Someone may be allergic to your potion chemistry or it just won’t work on certain people so you need to research this. 3. You may need government agency approval like FDA, etc. Lets just take the example challenge that you have to overcome: getting someone to put a mystery liquid into their eyes. 1. Imagine your first 3 potential customers - how will you get them to do that? 2. Now imagine your next 300 customers - will all of them be ok with putting something in their eye? What percentage will? 3. Now how will you reach 3 million customers and will they all be ok with your mystery potion? Along the way, you WILL have you experienced your first customer they had a severe side-effect to your potion. What do you need to do to resolve that issue and how will you move forward? Figuring out how to market and deliver your solution is the real challenge, not just the idea or the solution you spend all of your time and energy on. 1. I found that this is the real reason why even with a great idea and product, it’s still hard to raise money from investors. The reason is because you haven’t proven you figured out the business aspect of your idea. a. How will you help your potential customers overcome their fear. b. Do you know how many people are ok with Lasik and how many people with bad vision still refuse to do lasik even though they know there are millions of people that have already “survived” the procedure?

What is 4D? And are there other types of Ds? (Please look at the comment section for the diagram) 📈 Why You Should Make 4D Construction Sequencing ‘Business as Usual’ – and How To Do It 💹 Technology is increasingly driving almost every sector to new heights and efficiencies; the construction industry stands at a pivotal juncture.  Incorporating 4D construction sequencing into everyday operations isn't just a technological upgrade; it's a business imperative for forward-thinking firms.  📌 What is 4D? So, 2D is the physical axis X and Y; think 2D drawing plans 3D is the physical axis X, Y and Z, think 3D models 4th D or 4D is Time or Schedule so its seeing the 3D models being built over time. 👍What are the benefits being claim? ➡️ Plan activities for delivery so that there are no overlaps or gaps ➡️ Understand the logistics of how things are going to come together over time ➡️ Plan for access, safety, and resource management ❓ Questions for the industry: ➡️ Why hasn’t this caught on yet? ➡️ Is it really as good as it sounds? ➡️ Is this even possible at this point in time or is it still too early for mass adoption?