Trust is paramount for any company to function. It is the confidence, between individuals and between companies, that the work gets completed in the best possible way.

Construction projects are the backbone of economic growth for many countries. Each year a magnitude of funds is funnelled into infrastructure projects – think HS2 and Crossrail in the UK. But often because of the sheer scale and complexity of these construction projects (the number of phases and contractual links, and the government involvement), scope for corruption in the industry is high. However, trust issues often also arise from much less nefarious circumstances. Usually, because of miscommunication i.e. something not being noted down in minutes, minutes being distributed later than expected, change orders not being acknowledged etc.

The collapse of Carillion in early 2018 shook the UK construction sector to the core and brought the trust conversation to the forefront. Brexit, the housing crisis and sustainability issues also present the industry with hefty obstacles. Having a solid foundation of trust is now more critical than ever.

In the words of Laurence Peberdy, a freelance Project Manager for the construction industry, “The main function of trust in the construction industry, is that it allows for changes to the contract to be incorporated in a way that is not obstructive to the programme.”

In an ideal scenario, the instruction process used to alter construction contracts is usually as followed:

• The change order (CO) is issued by a Project Manager (PM) or Contract Administrator (CA) to a Contractor or Construction Company.
• The Contractor will then respond to the change order with an estimated impact of the change upon cost and time (it is a form that they fill out, for example they may advise, ‘this change would add 4 weeks to the programme and cost an additional £2000’).
• The Project Manager would then review this response and decide whether or not to instruct the change by issuing either a Project Manager’s Instruction (PMI) or Contract Administrators Instruction (CAI).
• Finally, the Contractor acknowledges receipt of this instruction.

In some scenarios, a project manager will need to issue an instruction without issuing a change order and waiting for advice regarding time and cost implications from the contractor – this requires the PM to trust the contractor.

The construction payment model is heavily reliant on credit. The cost of materials and labour can be substantial, and the need to float this cost can be detrimental. This credit-based approach extends along the entire chain of work. In many cases, a company’s own bills can’t be paid until payment is received from parties higher up on the contracting chain. Stresses for lower-tiered stakeholders can create problems and risk for those on the top-end too. There’s room for money to slip through the cracks all the way along this chain and, thus, the likelihood of disputes is high.

In construction projects, clients are very inclined to change their minds. The process of formalising this change is by sending a contract administrator or project manager the instruction via email to the contractor. These emails can often be missed and you end up with changes not incorporated. This can lead to big mistakes causing trust to breakdown if both (or either) parties feel the other can’t be responsible for the communication procedures.

Similarly to the payment situation, general job information can be lost or missed along the chain of contractors and subcontractors. It’s normal for the work to be concealed and the cost and difficulty to see that the work has been done according to standards makes it appealing for contractors to do a poor job and bribe officials to certify their work. There is also a culture of secrecy surrounding costs and the true costs are often kept secret in the name of confidentiality.

Paying people on time engenders goodwill between two parties. One way to achieve this is by implementing a workforce management system that integrates with your invoicing system. This means, as soon as a job is complete, you can raise an invoice straight away – leading to faster payments and less disputes along the chain of work.

You could also improve trust by improving a company’s ability to quote, so the numbers come in right away without any unpleasant surprises.

Delivering on time and on budget means optimising the communication and decision making process.

Matt Voyce, Construction Director at Quintain says “We deal with issues in a very fair and quick way. We’re very streamlined in our management, we can take fleet-of-foot decisions that are in the interest of the job. We don’t allow things to fester; we deal with things head on.”

This means having a way to access all contractors and levels of management in real-time. Better communication between parties means a higher likelihood of carrying out the job in the best possible way.

Integrated workforce management systems like Okappy give stakeholders a better view of the status of jobs. Users have the ability to edit the job details as they’re updated and also view job history for each respective customer or subcontractor.

You could also improve trust by using information management technology for clearer version control, so you can track changes to a project as they happen and still access past versions. BIM 360 is a system that gives users the confidence that they are always working on the most current version, whilst also knowing that they can access older versions when required.

The effect of poor trust between industry stakeholders is the increased likelihood of failing a client’s needs. These stakeholder relationships focus on their respective self-interests rather than on mutual interests. Innovative collaboration systems are what provide the building blocks for a more trustworthy industry. The improved efficiency and communication that they bring will lead to an industry that thrives AND stands the test of time.

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This was a big year for Okappy and we couldn’t be more proud of the product we’ve been working hard on over the last 3 ½ years! Reflecting upon our journey, we thought we’d share a review of how far we’ve come this year.

Improved Performance

On the technology side, 2018 has seen improvements to the reliability and performance of the system as usage has grown dramatically. Part of improving performance is understanding where the bottlenecks are.

Over the year we’ve implemented better monitoring so we can improve our understanding of the performance and reliability of the platform. This has allowed us to dramatically speed up certain aspects of the system and better handle large spikes in traffic. We’ve also implemented automated testing across the platform with over 1,000 tests now running each night!

New Developments

Highlights of the features and improvements we’ve rolled out this year include:

• The ability to link jobs
• A more in-depth auditing to the system
• Improvements to reporting functionality
• Enhancements to search throughout the platform
• Improvements to the calendar and scheduling
• Improvements to the performance of the iOS app when in poor network conditions
• Enhancements to Android app for more consistency with the iOS app

Over the next quarter we’re planning to work on the following:

• Optimising our onboarding through the website and apps
• Allowing customers to add/edit their own templates
• Enhancing invoicing, calendar and scheduler
• Improving location functionality within our apps
• Improving performance across the platform
• Automating and promoting referrals

Thought Leaders

This year we’ve been invited to give over 8 seminars to industry leaders on how companies can adapt to the changing world of work. This included speaking at UK Construction Week and being shortlisted to speak at the Mayor of London’s TechInvest event for smart city technologies. We were also selected to be on the innovation trail at UK Construction Week. This year we’ve more than doubled our social media following and continue to generate interest across the Trades media.

Out and About

This year we attended 4 trade shows including the Facilities Management show at Excel, Construction Week at the NEC, Drain Trader show in Glasgow and HVAC show at Excel. These shows were a great opportunity to meet with industry leading companies and raise awareness of how Okappy is helping businesses to better collaborate.

In the Press

We’ve received a lot of coverage in the Trades press over the past year and have also taken part in a number of marketing collaborations with other businesses. We’d like to thank FM World, FMJ, Drain Trader, ThisWeekinFM, iOffice, Elevation Magazine and UK Construction Week for their support and promotion of our core work.

Seeing Our Customers Thrive

It has been very heartwarming to see our efforts reap benefits for customers. We have received a number of reviews from customers who have really benefited from the system. Here is a selection of our favourites…

“This app is superb, it’s changed the way my business operates. I run a building and maintenance firm. It has saved us a lot of time and money in the past 9 months. I can’t rate it highly enough. The support is also very good.” – Leo, Director LA Rosser Ltd.

“Okappy has reduced the amount of paperwork by about 90% and, on an even better note, it has reduced my workload by about 80% as a Service Manager who manages multiple engineers… The Okappy system has improved the service we provide whilst helping to make us super efficient and provide the best service for our customers.” – Lee, Services Manager at BEC Security Perimeter.

“With Okappy, we now collaborate in a whole new way! We get the job done far more efficiently than we’ve ever been able to, which has had a real positive impact.” – Anthony, Director of Convert Water Ltd.

“We can always see what is going on with each job at a glance. We get job information back straight away but I always have the option to change it if I need to.” – Mark, Managing Director, Maclin Pumps.

“Okappy helps us build better relationships in the industry. It’s not just job management, but a network to connect with our employees, customers and subcontractors!” – Kris, Director of MW Lifts Services Ltd.

The A-Team

And, of course, none of this would be possible without the hard work of team Okappy behind the scenes! This year the team has really grown. Earlier in the year we welcomed Joe who has been leading on the Sales front and  Zeeshan whose wealth of expertise on frontend development has helped us accelerate building a software we are truly proud of. We’ve also had a number of interns and short term employees including Noah who helped us work on our API and Ren who worked across testing.

Not only do we feel we have the right balance of creativity, technical know-how and fine-tuned business acumen, but a group of people who share the common goal of creating a product that really helps improve people’s working lives. We believe we have an opportunity to help millions of companies around the world collaborate and communicate in a better way. So on that note, we wish you all a happy new year and look forward to what 2019 has in store!

To end, here is a selection of some of our personal highlights and lowlights from the year…

Robin, iOS Guru 

“My low points involved

unnecessary anger

upsetting people

My highest point was

getting a sneaky haiku

onto the app store”

Joe, Chatty Sales Guy 

“My lowest point was when I gave myself whiplash whilst I flung my bag over my shoulder running for the train in my excitement to get to work. But the high point was that I found a good Osteopath…”

Naomi, Artsy Fartsy Person 

“My highlight involved working closely with Joe to work out the perfect coffee blend for our coffee breaks. My lowest moment was one day when the office manager announced there was no more coffee… we really lost the plot that day (a bit like this).”

Zeeshan, Frontend Dude 

“My highlight was speaking at a Raspberry Pi Conference about importance of AI and presenting a Raspberry based solution for loading bays at busy industrial units. My lowlight was sticking my car’s wing mirrors with scotch tape after motorcyclists broke both of them and I did not have time to go get replacements. Mind you, this could easily be a highlight as three months on, the scotch tape is holding strong.”

Richard, Everyone’s Boss 

“My low point was getting Robin angry when I noticed he posted a haiku onto the app store. My high point was seeing the look on Naomi and Gerry’s faces when they realised that Joe spent more time doing his hair in the morning than they did.”

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The mental health conversation has come to the forefront, and it’s about time! We discuss how the Facilities Management Industry can tackle issues of mental health in the workplace. 

Every year, approximately one in four people in the United Kingdom will experience a mental health problem. Roughly, 13,000,000 adults will suffer – often in silence –  afraid of the stigma that is attached to this complex issue. While still a taboo inducing topic, it is becoming more openly discussed, and recent research has revealed the depths of how poor mental health is affecting the facilities management industry today.

According to figures, 64 per cent of construction workers have claimed they want better physical and mental wellbeing support from their employers and nearly 400,000 worker-days are lost every year due to poor mental health. Research has also uncovered that male site workers in construction are three times more likely to die by suicide than the average UK man.

There is an evident lack of support for workers in the facilities management industry which is affecting not only their wellbeing but also productivity and effectiveness. Most businesses spend a sizeable amount of budget, time and effort guaranteeing the satisfaction of customers, so why wouldn’t they afford the same consideration to employees?

Guaranteeing employees are satisfied assures a longer tenure and fewer resources invested in recruiting. With the increase of mental health officers being appointed in the construction industry, it is essential to understand that employee wellness goes beyond typical health benefits. Companies must go all-in and foster a work environment committed to long-term employee wellbeing, making it easier to attract better workers, increase employee retention and nurture company loyalty.

However, despite mental health becoming an increasingly discussed topic, it is still one that proves challenging to tackle. 31 per cent of building engineering firms find on-site mental health issues “hard to manage” while CIPD research data indicates that the number of people saying they have experienced mental health issues while in employment has increased from a quarter to a third from 2011 to 2016.

The industry would greatly benefit from more transparency and an open channel of communication. A common source of angst for workers today is feeling like they cannot achieve a satisfactory work-life balance.

Mobility has the incredible potential to encourage a more direct level of communication and a more flexible workspace. When workers are not restricted to a physical space, and technology is used to streamline what used to be a long, chaotic process, it becomes a lot easier to achieve the work-life balance that many desire.

Job management apps can support workers’ wellbeing by improving efficiency and reducing stress. With apps that are location tracked it is possible for employers to monitor team members and identify any unusual behaviour, helping keep everyone safe. In addition, it is possible to follow when workers are being more efficient and based on that information, create a more time-effective scheme.

It is also critical, however, that employers support clear “off” times where employees can unplug and recentre, which can be achieved by encouraging small pauses during work hours. These could be in the form of lunch breaks, “brain breaks” but also equally important, taking time off work – and remaining genuinely disconnected. Incorporating relaxation into the daily routine as opposed to promoting it as a reward is key.

While mobility supports a flexible workspace, employees can feel more inclined to keep working at all times and in all places. The capacity of working from a mobile device creates an environment where workers are expected to respond to emails and resolve issues during non-work hours, leading to unhealthy expectations and a veiled obligation of always being available.

Other actions that can be taken to guarantee a happier, more motivated workforce include providing workplace therapy, creating “safe spaces” and making sure HR is working for the best interest of the workers. Emma Dallimore, facilities manager at Hull and East Yorkshire Min, has invested in a quiet area room which staff can use for up to half an hour to sit and think, catch up on emails or make a call.

Modern technology – when used with discernment – can allow workers to do less without affecting the quality of the outcome. Communication tools, such as real-time job management applications, automate processes so employers can spend more time and energy focused on the more human-related aspects of the job. As a result, workers will experience better mental clarity, and fewer instances of stress, anxiety and depression.

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