Is Your Construction Project Running Behind Schedule? Find Out Why!​

Is your construction project running behind schedule? If so, you’re not alone. In this blog, I’m going to explain why your project might be delayed and what you can do to get it back on track. Would you like to know why projects often fall behind and how to speed them up effectively? If yes, you’re in the right place. Let’s dive in.

It’s Not About Pushing Work, But Making It Ready

The common belief is that pushing work will help projects move faster, but that’s not true. Instead, it’s all about making work ready. Let me explain: When you push work, thinking it will accelerate the project, you end up facing more problems down the line. What we should focus on is preparing work before pushing it forward, a concept that’s often overlooked in construction.

The Bungee Effect: Understanding Delays

There’s a concept I call the “Bungee Effect,” which is key to understanding why projects get delayed. Picture this: You’re working in three different zones in a project. Let’s call them Zone 1, Zone 2, and Zone 3. 

Now, if Zone 2 faces a delay, this will inevitably push back the timeline for Zone 3. What most construction managers try to do is stack work from Zone 2 into Zone 3 in hopes of catching up. But this approach is flawed.

When you stack too many trades in one area, it’s called “trade stacking.” When one trade covers too many areas, it’s known as “trade burdening.” Both lead to productivity losses because adding more workers doesn’t always mean faster completion. In fact, it often results in the opposite.

The Negative Effects of Adding Resources

When you add resources thinking it will speed up the project, what you’re actually doing is introducing “batching” and “context switching.” These slow down work because workers are trying to do multiple things at once, losing focus in the process. Studies show that context switching can add 15 to 45 minutes to each task.

Additionally, as your team size increases, so does the complexity of communication. More people mean more communication channels, which can lead to misunderstandings, delays, and mistakes. 

Moreover, bringing new people on board requires onboarding, which takes time—often up to seven days before they’re fully productive. Then, there’s overtime. While it might seem like a quick fix, overtime leads to worker fatigue, which further decreases productivity and increases the risk of mistakes.

Handling Delays Effectively

So, what’s the right approach? Instead of trying to force work into a tight schedule, you should cascade your timelines to allow for better flow between different trades and phases. Think of it like a river flowing smoothly rather than being choked by debris. You should also ensure there are buffers built into your schedule, which can absorb delays without affecting the entire project.

The Importance of Trade Flow

Trade flow is one of the most crucial elements in ensuring productivity in construction. It’s better to have a steady, even flow of work rather than trying to rush and stack tasks. When you push too hard, the bungee effect kicks in, and your project stretches out even more.

Why Adding More People Doesn’t Help

You might think that adding more people to a task will make it go faster, but that’s a misconception. Here’s why: Every task has a set duration, and adding more workers doesn’t shorten that duration. Instead, it introduces variation and productivity loss. Even though the activity time may decrease slightly, the overall project time can actually increase due to inefficiencies.

For example, if a task typically takes four days, adding more people might reduce the activity time, but the variation and productivity loss often result in a longer overall duration—sometimes up to five days instead of four. This is another aspect of the bungee effect.

The Relationship Between Capacity, Utilization, and Cycle Time

There’s a strong correlation between capacity, utilization, cycle time, and work in progress (WIP). As you increase utilization (adding more work or workers), cycle time increases, meaning tasks take longer to complete. This happens because you exceed the system’s capacity, leading to bottlenecks and delays.

Imagine driving on a freeway. As more cars enter, especially during rush hour, the traffic slows down. The same thing happens on a construction site when too much work is crammed into a limited space. Just like traffic jams, too much work in progress extends the overall time it takes to complete the project.

Bottlenecks: The Real Culprit

Your project’s speed will never exceed the pace of the slowest phase or bottleneck. Pushing more work through a system that already has a bottleneck only worsens the situation. It’s like adding water pressure to a kinked hose—it won’t flow faster until the kink is removed.

Throughput and Work in Progress

Another factor that extends project duration is an increase in work in progress. The more work being processed at any given time, the longer it takes to finish everything. This is why construction schedules that try to cram too much in too soon often finish late. The key is to balance work, control your work in progress, and ensure smooth trade flow.

Conclusion: Fixing Delays the Right Way

So, why do construction projects fall behind? It’s not just missing materials or workforce issues. The real reason lies in the bungee effect and our tendency to rush, push, and add more people without fully understanding the consequences.

To prevent delays, you need to focus on production scheduling, managing work in progress, and respecting the flow of trades. By doing so, you’ll minimize delays, avoid bottlenecks, and ensure your project stays on schedule.