3 Ways to Boost Construction Productivity with Wireless Communication

Improving job site productivity is essential to taking advantage of a booming construction industry. Learn how wireless communication increases construction productivity for every crew member in the work zone.

The construction industry is booming. According to Dodge Data & Analytics, 2016 is going to be a $712 billion year. To take advantage of the boom, your employees in the work zone need to work at maximum efficiency.

Boosting construction productivity increases your overall efficiency. You can take on more projects to earn more revenue. When everyone is working smarter, your bottom line is the beneficiary.

Many sources accurately point out that improvements to jobsite layout, equipment maintenance, and materials management will boost productivity. But the greatest return on your productivity investment comes from enabling seamless team communication on the jobsite. Productivity suffers without clear communication.

The Wireless Communication Gap

Consider this gap in logic when you try to complete your next project without wireless communication. You spend hours and dollars on technology, equipment, and personnel to prepare a work zone. Then, you rely on hand signals, yelling, or handheld radios to communicate and maintain construction productivity. That’s like having Tom Brady as a quarterback but protecting him with a weak offensive line. Sure, you have a great game plan and a quarterback with a million dollar arm, but he can’t execute a 2-minute drill from the bottom of the pile.

Modern construction team wireless communication solutions improve construction productivity in three key ways by helping you:

Gain more control on the job site,
Experience fewer interruptions and work stoppages, and
Keep both hands working at all times.

Added bonus: While they’re boosting your productivity, these solutions also improve work zone safety. Here’s how they do both.

1. Gain More Control on the Job Site

Project management software, scheduling applications, and daily meetings help you gain control of construction management. When it comes to executing a work plan on the job site, improved team communication wins the day.

With wireless communication, supervisors can deliver clear instructions at the outset. Craftspeople can ask questions at any time and receive immediate answers without having to stop work. Teams complete the job right the first time. Fewer mistakes on the job result in higher quality; the level of quality you envision in your original plans and work hard to deliver at project completion.

Wireless communication also eliminates the need for hand signals and lets you control the conversation. Each team can have their own channel to talk to each other. And the boss can talk to them all.

Only wireless communication systems give you that level of control in your work zone. They make all construction crew members more productive and greatly improve your chances for success.

2. Experience Fewer Interruptions and Work Stoppages

Wireless communications let employees work without interruption, resulting in fewer unproductive hours. No one has time to waste chasing down a colleague on the job site. Equipment operators can clearly hear and execute instructions in real time without shutting down equipment. Supervisors can alter plans on the go with confidence that crew members whose jobs are impacted by those changes are clear on new instructions.

Why lift up earmuffs or remove foam ear plugs to hear, exposing yourself to dangerous noise levels in the process? Wireless communication headsets let you communicate clearly while protecting your hearing. Listen-through technology keeps workers from feeling closed off from their surroundings while wearing noise-cancelling headsets, effectively improving situational awareness.

This combination of enhanced communication and safety results in fewer accidents that can be catastrophic for the people, property, and equipment involved. They can also decimate construction productivity because they usually require full work stoppages to allow for investigations, cleanup, and comprehensive safety reviews.

3. Keep Both Hands Working at All Times

Two-way radios can be cumbersome if you’re trying to communicate while actually working. Noise-cancelling earmuffs or foam ear plugs require a worker to use a hand to lift the headset or remove the ear plug to hear instructions or listen to the surrounding environment. With one hand off the wheel or a jackhammer, saw or other tool, work is either stopped, inefficient, or unsafe.

Wireless communication frees up every worker’s hands, increasing mobility and efficiency. The flagger can hold a sign, wave traffic through, and respond to the crane operator all at the same time. The crane operator can communicate with his signaler and the flagger while maneuvering his load. And the truck driver can position her vehicle in the ideal location to land the crane’s load.

With wireless communication, all hands are always on deck.

Does your team use wireless communication in the work zone? Reach out through one of our social channels below to tell us how your productivity has improved.

Learn more about hands-free wireless communication solutions to improve the construction productivity of your team.