A Digital Future
I had a problem growing up. I would often forget a key element of my homework at school. Sometimes it would be my notebook with my notes and the homework instructions, other times it would be a book. This continued through elementary and middle school, and it resulted in more than a few missed, or late, homework assignments and awkward conversations with teachers. I was living in a world that had information in one place. Being able to prioritize the management of that proximity of information to oneself was an essential skill and it did not come naturally to me. So, when the world began to offer digital options that allowed me to access information more easily, I dove in headfirst. When the moonshot of a "paperless office" began to be discussed, I thought it was a noble goal with many good possible outcomes, including improved access to information. But perhaps a paperless office is missing the mark. What if we focused on a digital future instead?
The idea of the paperless office has been around for what seems like twenty or more years. While there are undoubtedly offices out there who have achieved paperless status, I imagine they were not in the construction industry. There are many reasons why it has taken the industry longer than most, including demographics and decentralized structures on projects but I think one of the big reasons has been that the technology was not that great for what the industry needed. Paper does really well on a job site. You can drop it, get it dirty, leave it in the heat or cold weather without it affecting the content. You can write on it quickly. There is no latency when you grab your pencil and start sketching a solution on a piece of Sheetrock for all to see. It’s the original augmented reality technology.
While it is quick and easy to get to a simple solution on the job site or in the shop without a digital solution if you have a few parties involved, it becomes much more difficult to handle more complex issues, especially if various layers of decision makers are required. Communicating between those decision makers and then communicating to the periphery players tasked with carrying out the work and tracking it to its completion becomes more difficult to do from a hand sketch on Sheetrock.
With analog solutions so easily and readily available, it takes a shift in mindset if one ever wants to experience the benefits of digitization. I have found myself trying to think about the digital solution first and not relying on the traditional way of doing something. I have worked this way for about the last five years. Rather than printing a large drawing to review it with the team, I chose to spend a little more time researching apps on my computer or iPad that would allow us to still see the drawing and the details, while also capturing the key information and communicating the decisions in a clear, broad and auditable format.
We still have paper in our company, mainly in the shop. But every month or so a report or communication gets transformed from paper to digital. Not only is the office less cluttered physically, but our minds are clearer because a digital process also enables automation. We are able to maintain brainpower for higher level decisions while leaving the process following tasks to a computer. My day is no longer spent synchronizing the proximity of information to where and when I, or the team, might need it and my homework assignments are turned in on time.