Jkath Behind the Business: Construction scheduling dos and don’ts (Part 3 of 5)

This week, we bring you the third in a series that highlights Jkath Design Build + Reinvent, a top-rated residential design and remodeling business based in the Twin Cities. In this five-part series, you’ll learn what the future of home remodeling holds, the rise of women in the construction business, scheduling dos and don’ts, how to attract the best clients and get an exclusive home tour with co-owners, Katie and Jesse Kath.

Construction scheduling can be a beast: A mess of tasks, notes and daunting deadlines that’s constantly transforming.

Let’s step back a minute and reframe how we view the schedule. Instead, think of it as a super organized member of your team. Or maybe a roadmap that follows your progress and points out areas where you went wrong.

Stop fearing it — let it work for you.

Katie Kath, partner and interior designer at Jkath, does just this.

“Using the scheduling tool to communicate with our subcontractors has been a game changer,” Katie said.

The schedule is so much more than a project planner. It keeps projects moving but also improves communication, gives buffer time for delays or mistakes, holds everyone accountable and saves you money.

For Katie’s team, the schedule keeps the team in sync on all projects.

Don’t let the scheduling monster rear its ugly head — be like Jkath. Read below for our construction scheduling dos and don’ts.

Don’t: Just use your schedule for project planning

With their abundance of jobs, remodelers should get the most out of the schedule because it’s so much more than project plans and deadlines. It’s your main source of communication. Forget those calls, texts and emails — let the schedule be your central communicator.

The Buildertrend Schedule tool has many communication features to maximize: Messages, online payments and Daily Logs. All these features can be linked to tasks on the schedule to keep things moving forward. 

It’s recommended to share your schedule with your subs, trade partners, crew members and clients. These individuals will use the schedule to meet their particular needs — crew members may use it to view daily tasks and clients may check in to see how the work is progressing without needing to make late night phone calls to the site manager.

Because everything is clearly outlined for all to see, there’s no need for additional meetings and emails. Everyone can access the schedule and easily view all developments.

The scheduling feature is Katie’s favorite aspect of Buildertrend’s software because Jkath maximizes its communication potential.

“We have to collectively communicate timely and efficiently on decisions because we aren’t just a renovation team. We have the design house and then we also have a cabinet team; all three of those components are businesses in themselves,” Katie said.

Do: Keep those projects moving

Motivation to meet shared deadlines keeps jobs on time and going in the right direction. A great way to run without micromanaging projects is by using Tasks. You can directly hold your team accountable for tasks completed and those outstanding without looking over shoulders.

These Tasks can be directly added to the schedule to assign who is responsible for what and which jobs have been completed. Stop constantly checking in on your subs and let the expectations be clearly outlined right in the schedule.

Are you guilty of scribbling dates, questions and project changes into a notebook and in no particular order? Instead, add this information to a central location for easy access.

Katie finds that putting all the task-oriented details in one spot is an effective organization method for Jkath.

“I’ve got this date, where am I going to put it? Do I just save it into my email folder? Do I write it on a piece of paper? Do I text it to the project manager? All of which could get lost, right?” Katie said.

Instead, she puts this information directly into the schedule.

“And then we use different codes that we’ve created to identify with our team what’s confirmed, what might be pending, and what needs to be scheduled with a showroom. It’s helpful,” Katie said. “In a lot of ways, scheduling is my favorite.”

Don’t: Think everything will move along without issue

Mistakes and delays happen. It’s all part of the business. When those mistakes happen, who pays for them? Who’s responsible? The best way to safeguard for these errors is to keep documentation of every signature and invoice.

There will be questions about project designs and who signed off on what. Katie uses Buildertrend to back her team up.  

“Now we can just go to Buildertrend, find that one document that has everything we need for the cabinet team and our clients have signed off on it, so there’s an electronic signature to support that decision,” Katie said.

“It eliminates any of the additional communication internally that would have historically happened again over the course of dozens of emails or maybe a few in-person meetings,” Katie said.

Do: Stay organized to save money

By maximizing a construction scheduling software, you’ll be able to seamlessly manage multiple jobs at once. This means you’ll be ready to accept more jobs — and more jobs means more money.

We know taking on additional work isn’t as simple as that. Each new project requires hours you may not yet have. Use your schedule to free up some of the time you spend checking on your team’s progress and keeping track of specifics.

“If we have six or eight open houses at once or open projects at once, it’s really hard to track all those details,” Katie said. “Just to have another set of eyes on what we’re doing feels like we found a real partner in Buildertrend — just to help align all the different showrooms and decisions.”

You can also save money by gaining greater visibility into efficiencies in your schedule and where things are slowing down. You’ll be able to maximize efforts on future jobs as your schedule acts as the official record of success for projects.

If there are questions on projects, keep all documentation in the schedule. This will not only keep your team organized and save you money, but it will also help you avoid expensive mistakes.

“Our cabinet team can go back and reference all those decisions that are made collectively. If we aren’t referring to those, it’s just one little error that can happen on the cabinet side — and it can be a very expensive,” Katie said.

Do: Use Buildertrend’s construction software

We’ve given all the do’s and don’ts of construction scheduling. Now, make sure you’re getting the most out of your construction scheduling software.

Schedule a demo today to learn about Buildertrend’s Schedule feature.

Check back for our fourth installment of our Behind the business series. We’ll be getting some insider tips from Jkath on how to attract the best clients. Did you see our last installment about the rise of women in construction? Check it out here.