1. Make visibility part of the way you lead
Visibility goes beyond dashboards and status meetings. It’s about aligning roles, spotting risks early and enabling timely decisions. The goal isn’t to report more — it’s to surface what matters, so leaders can act on change before it becomes disruption.
Create one view of job health: Combine cost position, unresolved RFIs, submittal status and field activity in a single snapshot. Include KPIs like open change order value, unresolved issues over 7 days or submittal turnaround time to spot risk before it affects schedule or margin. Executives, PMs and supers should all reference the same view.
Bring field input into cost reviews: Schedule weekly meetings between accounting and project management that include job cost forecasts and field progress updates. Make risk reviews part of regular planning — not just something you do when things go wrong.
Standardize status reporting: Use a single format for daily reports, markups and site documentation across projects. That consistency enables portfolio-wide comparisons and removes variation that slows down analysis.
The payoff: Shared visibility leads to faster decisions, earlier risk detection and stronger alignment between field and leadership.
2. Treat change as a workflow, not a fire drill
Scope changes are routine. What creates unpredictability is the lack of a consistent process to manage them. Instead of reacting to each change, set up a repeatable agreement with your team on how you will interact with each other to drive change and accountability.
Log changes at the source: Require teams to document potential changes as soon as they’re identified in the field. Attach drawings, notes and impact details up front.
Route every change the same way: Use one workflow for change approvals that covers every step — from field issue to final financial approval. Include required documentation, pricing history and handoff to accounting to keep project and finance teams aligned in real time.
Keep change exposure visible: Use a live, centralized log for pending and approved changes. Tie it directly to job forecasting conversations so financial impact is clear before billing.
The payoff: When change handling is repeatable, project executives gain control over margin impact, reduce billing delays and make more accurate project forecasts.
3. Build collaboration into the workflow
Coordination shouldn’t depend on memory or follow-up. It should be built into how work gets done. When updates, assignments and approvals are structured from the start, it takes less effort to stay aligned.
Define clear expectations for recurring workflows: Make RFI, submittal and punch item handling part of the project plan early. Assign owners, deadlines and escalation paths up front — tailored to your team’s needs — so no one’s left guessing.
Set a baseline for version control: Define how drawings, specs and documents are tracked, updated and shared. Everyone should be able to see what changed, when and who approved it, so teams aren’t building from outdated information.
Simplify access by role: Use configurable roles to tailor how people interact with workflows and documents. Make it easy for the field to log issues, and just as easy for leadership to see the big picture without chasing down updates.
The payoff: Coordination becomes faster, follow-up improves and executives spend less time mediating between teams and more time steering project delivery.
What this means for project executives
The most effective project executives aren’t chasing updates or troubleshooting surprises. They’re leading with structure, rhythm and connected information.
The solution isn’t replacing what already works — it’s extending it with repeatable processes and shared systems that turn daily activity into dependable project outcomes. Learn more about how Trimble can help you build that foundation for consistent, confident delivery.
