Versatile, a construction technology company that captures critical data from project sites to help construction professionals improve production rates and support daily planning and reporting, recently teamed up with Dodge Construction Network to offer the industry a new approach to addressing key challenges at the jobsite. 

Versatile's new "Measuring What Matters" series utilizes automated data and measurement from construction job sites to help identify ways for contractors to improve productivity, safety and overall performance on projects.. The study discovered correlations that would empower contractors to plan overtime – and control overtime activities – to benefit the project.

Data and measurement of jobsite activities are key

Overtime, while a persistent occurrence at construction sites, can often be unpredictable. This increases costs, impacts skilled workers and could potentially impact safety and other key factors on a construction site. 

The research from this study identifies that overtime is predictable – at an 88% confidence level – when employing proper measurements. The findings reveal that data is key to best understanding overtime and its impact and through measuring site activities, it will help project teams reorganize work to minimize – or eliminate – overtime.  

Versatile's CEO and Co-Founder Meirav Oren states, "Unique insights derived from advanced data and analytics tools will empower construction crews to build better. Overtime can be a very effective tool on the jobsite. Through the power of data, general contractors gain the ability to minimize unnecessary overtime while maximizing its strategic benefits."

Four key findings from the study show that measuring overtime can provide valuable lessons on how to improve productivity on the jobsite:

• Overtime can be the most efficient and effective time of day when performing high-value activities
• Overtime predominantly is used to perform logistical activities, including crane activities like moving equipment and site organization, that do not contribute directly to project completion
• Measuring processes can empower project teams to eliminate unplanned overtime by revealing what makes overtime so effective and incorporating that into work plans during the standard workday
• Unexpected overtime is predictable and controllable through regular measurement of site activities, which reveal the behaviors that most frequently lead to unexpected overtime

"The goal of this report is to encourage conscious, intentional measurement of site activities and objective analysis to determine true best practices. This approach can help every kind of contractor with useful, actionable perspectives based on facts, rather than commonly held myths," states Senior Director of Industry Insights Research, Steve Jones, at Dodge Data & Analytics. 

Dodge and Versatile will continue analyzing job site data to find other ways for contractors to improve productivity, safety and overall performance on projects, with more research expected in 2022.

Download the full report, "Measuring What Matters: Overtime Efficiency".