Atul Gawande, the surgeon and best-selling author of The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, says, “Our great struggle in medicine these days is not just with ignorance and uncertainty. It’s also with complexity: how much you have to make sure you have in your head and think about it. There are a thousand ways things can go wrong.”
Now, swap the word ‘construction’ for ‘medicine’ and you have an accurate description of most commercial construction sites. In the midst of the organized chaos, compiling daily site logs is just one of the myriad tasks the job site superintendent is expected to accurately and thoroughly complete.
Using checklists delivers better results
Gawande makes a compelling argument that medicine can do better by using the simplest of methods: the checklist. General contractors can also do better. Using construction management software with built-in checklists helps ensure thorough daily site logs.
Flow + checklist gives you two chances to catch errors
Pilot and author Peter A. Bedell described in an article published on the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association website, that professional pilots have a flow for nearly every process. That flow is followed by a checklist. Bedell explains that flows typically work in a logical direction, for example from left to right and/or up and down in the cockpit. Then, after running through the flow, the pilot pulls out the checklist to verify that everything was done. By using both the flow and a checklist, you have two chances to catch an error.
Checklists minimize the danger of distractions
Experienced construction superintendents also have a flow to their processes. Questions, issues, deliveries, inspections and other distractions interrupt that flow numerous times a day. So, consider having a software platform with a built-in checklist for daily site logs. You’ll have essential reminders to record relevant activities and critically important info when the superintendent’s flow has been interrupted.
Flows and checklists help pilots arrive safely and on time. Likewise, accurate daily site logs help deliver your projects on time. Company leaders won’t waste time tracking down superintendents for project updates because all their notes are online. Above all, superintendents stay focused on the job site.
Learn more about the checklists used in GLXY’s Daily Site Logs module by clicking here to book a demo.