As someone who has worked with project management software for the last year, I can tell you I love it.

The software I use at work is PlanGrid, which Autodesk owns.

While imperfect, it offers some capabilities I think any medium to large construction company could benefit from.

We are at an exciting point with this technology in the construction industry.

There are numerous companies that offer project management software for construction. All competing to have the best product for us.

Which means the software is constantly evolving to make our jobs easier. I'm all for that!

One update that Autodesk has made is the phasing out of PlanGrid. They call the new version the Autodesk Construction Cloud.

The funny part is that they have not carried over all the features of PlanGrid. Why did they release it? Your guess is as good as mine.

With this week’s newsletter, I want to provide you with my experience with project management software. I hope you get a chance to utilize these tools in your career.

I can't imagine any company will go far without using some kind of software.

What Makes Project Management Software So Great?

The best feature you should look for is construction drawing collaboration.

Drawing collaboration is one thing that PlanGrid got right. You can upload your drawings for everyone on the project to view from the software.

Once uploaded to the cloud, you can view the drawings from you desktop or mobile device. Get yourself a tablet to bring the drawings into the field.

You’ll even get some markup tools to make notes on the drawings. It’s so powerful when creating redlines on the plans for as-built drawings.

Here's a screen shot of what this feature can do. You can see all the marking that are on the page, this is visible to the entire team.

Sure, there’s a bit of a learning curve, but it’s so simple that most people can pick it up.

The workflow improvements alone make it such good software.

If you’ve ever had to perform redlines by hand on paper, it’s not fun. Plus, you need someone on the job site to record any plan deviations. That’s more money your company needs to spend!

Anyways, all this is to emphasize how much I love this feature. If you’re looking for PM software, ensure this is first on the list.

Document Management with Project Management Software

You might already know, but information is vital in the construction industry.

The hard part is getting the necessary information to your field crew. They also need to understand the information to complete their job correctly.

PM software lets all your documents be uploaded into the cloud. Anyone with the application and project access can view the documents to complete their job.

I know it’s not as simple as uploading the documents. You’ll need to create some processes for your company to use the software effectively.

A term my boss often says is “garbage in, garbage out.” If everything you input into the software is unorganized and unusable, you’ll get nothing from the program.

The processes will take some time to complete, but I’m sure the payoff will be worth it.

These are some items that I think should be your baseline features when looking for PM software.

What Improvements Could Be Made?

To be blunt, it's the lack of support.

Sure, there’s technical support, but they don’t help much. I am looking at you, Autodesk!

I can’t speak for the other companies that offer PM software tools.

I have been dealing with Autodesk trying to kill the PlanGrid software. Their support team has stopped providing solutions to issues that I find.

I am told to use the latest and greatest program. I’m not saying the new version is terrible, but our company must be ready to transition.

Some guys are just getting the hang of using the old software; now, they will push us off it. Safe to say, I am unhappy.

As a project manager, I need the team to understand how to use the application so my jobs succeed. Transitioning will create a new bottleneck until we can get in the hang of things.

At this point, I am ranting about the issues that Autodesk is creating for the company I work for.

You can send your guys to training, but I have found that these could be better.

Mostly because they fly through the features. Unless you’ve spent some time with the software, getting lost is easy.

That said, I still like where we’re going with the software. The new tracking capabilities, collaboration tools, and document management surpass their poor support.

The software is here to stay.

Well, you have heard my take on construction project management software.

Have you ever had any experience with a tool like this?

Which one was it? Did you enjoy using it? Any dislikes?

I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks,

Alex