Q4: Does it Fit the Roofing Company’s Employees, Processes or Workflow?

By Karen L. Edwards, RCS Editor.

If you're employees aren't involved in the process, you might have a harder time implementing the solution.

Our friends at the Estimating Edge know software and they know roofing companies. They recently developed an e-book that helps roofing contractors ask the right questions when it is time to choose software for their businesses. Over the next few months, we’ll be answering one of the questions from their e-book that should help you when deciding. With all the options that are on the market, not every product is going to be the right fit for your roofing business. The fourth question to ask is, “Does it fit the roofing company’s employees, processes or workflow?” Read on for why this is an important question.

Fitting software to the culture of a company can be tricky. In fact, many contracting firms have had to look at the need to change culture and processes in order to adopt technology. As part of this process, it is important to include key employees in the process of deciding on the right software applications and all affected employees during onboarding.

One of the ways to do that is to have those key employees develop a list of “must haves” vs. “nice to have” features. They can look at their day-to-day work processes and provide input on what they must have to obtain higher productivity and communications and what features would just be nice to have. That helps decision makers as they are reviewing features and benefits of different software.

It is good to remember with an older workforce, that they may not know what will help productivity or communications based on years of doing things the same way without technology. Bringing in a multi-generational team to develop a needs list can start the process of improved communications and understanding on how technology can help increase productivity, communications and profitability.

After the internal team reviews a needs list, they also need to look at the software under consideration and determine will it work without disrupting current workflows. That is a tricky question in that sometimes change is needed, and workflows need to be disrupted. In those cases, it is best to wait for slower times of the year and be sure there is a high level of training and education so that any disruption can be minimized.

If you’re curious about the other questions you should be asking and don’t want to wait for the next article, download the full e-book here.

About Estimating Edge

Designed by experienced construction industry professionals, The EDGE is the most effective takeoff to estimate solutions in the industry. Not only is The EDGE completely customized to your trade, but it’s also customized to your business so that your takeoff sources the exact materials and manufacturers that your business utilizes.