How to Monitor Progress on a Construction Project

Have you ever had a construction project just get away from you? Maybe you took on a few too many jobs. Or maybe you just had complications with scheduling. Either way, it’s one of the perils of being a small contractor.

Monitoring jobsite progress is a core part of construction operations management and determines whether your schedules, labor budgets, and quality standards stay aligned from start to finish.

Let’s look at how to monitor progress on a construction project without wasting valuable time.

How do you track the progress of a construction project?

Construction is about transparent processes and clear communication. Construction progress tracking is similar. At the beginning of a project, take the time to develop a clear idea of the project’s flow. Document everything you need to do to complete the project. Document everything you need to do to complete the project, from reviewing construction drawings to confirming construction specifications before work begins.

Once you have a framework in place, tracking the construction project’s progress is just a matter of accurate and timely reporting.

Step One: Establish milestones and tasks

Your first step is to break your project into major milestones, then divide each milestone into specific tasks. Breaking a large project into smaller pieces makes the entire project more manageable. And, if a particular milestone is taking much longer than you thought it would, you’ll already know that it’s likely the project will be delayed.

Digital scheduling tools help centralize milestones, tasks, and reporting in one system. For example, Workyard’s construction management smart forms allow teams to manage multiple employees, worksites, and projects more efficiently.

For more complex projects, you may need a scheduling strategy. There are five major strategies for monitoring the progress of a construction project: 

1. Network Diagrams
2. Critical Path Method (CPM)
3. Gantt Charts
4. Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT)
5. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

These strategies provide a framework through which you can lay out the milestones and tasks of each project. But most smaller contractors can get by with a flowchart or a spreadsheet. It all depends on the project’s complexity and how many projects you’re managing.

A clear work breakdown structure also supports accurate construction production tracking throughout the project lifecycle, helping you measure labor output and task completion against planned milestones.

Step Two: Check on progress at intervals

Schedule time to check progress at each worksite. While it’s time out of your day, it’s time well spent. Checking in often will help you identify potential problems early. Consistent check-ins also strengthen construction photo documentation, ensuring progress is verified with time-stamped and GPS-tagged records.

But not everyone has the time to visit every worksite physically. Workyard’s GPS technology provides a bird’s eye view of where your employees are. Remotely monitor your employees’ progress—and check on their tasks—from anywhere.

Strong progress tracking also improves the quality of your field reports, giving office teams real-time visibility into site activity and reducing gaps between the field and office.

Step Three: Plan for issues and delays

No matter how well you plan, there will always be some problems. Keep lines of communication open with the client so they know what to expect—and be prepared to address any issues proactively. If delays result in scope adjustments, you may need formal construction change management procedures or issue a change order to stay contractually protected.

Workyard’s task management features make it easy to document and track problems as they arise. Proper documentation reduces the risk of future construction defects or unresolved latent defects that could surface after completion.

Within seconds, you can pull up a report and see which tasks are behind schedule. 

The more you do to track your progress, the more predictable your projects will become. But you also don’t want to spend all your time following up with employees and tracking down progress. Not only do you need to know how to track the progress of a construction project, but you need to know how to do so effectively.

Tips for efficient construction project progress tracking

Save time by tracking progress more efficiently. Consider the following tips and best practices: 

• Lean on your technology. Accurate field data collection supports better job costing, accountability, and measurable performance tracking. Keep your tasks and milestones in an app and check in on employees remotely. Technology is there to make you more productive.
• Communicate with your team. Don’t just make sure everyone knows what’s expected of them, create a communication culture. You don’t want team members afraid to report delays because they think it will cause issues for them.
• Hold regular meetings. Reviewing progress photos and updates together helps ensure alignment between the field and office teams. Teams that understand how to take progress photos consistently create clearer documentation and reduce misunderstandings. Find out from your supervisors and team members where projects are and whether they need anything to complete them.

There are only so many hours in the day. If you spend too much time tracking construction progress, that can make it difficult for your business to scale.

FAQs

What is construction progress monitoring?

Construction progress monitoring is the process of tracking the milestones and tasks associated with a construction project. At the same time, a supervisor may also ensure that the project has been developed up to the required quality standards.

How often should you monitor progress?

You should monitor progress as often as is necessary to keep the project on track. For some projects, that might be daily, but for others, it might be weekly. 

What tools can I use to monitor progress?

There are various tools you can use to monitor progress, including project management software, task tracking software, and construction accounting software. If you’re weighing your options, review our Workyard vs. Fieldwire  comparison to see how both platforms stack up for construction progress tracking.

Still wondering how to monitor progress on a construction project? Workyard can help

Construction progress tracking becomes significantly easier when your scheduling, time tracking, and reporting tools work together in one system. Centralizing your jobsite data reduces delays, improves accountability, and keeps both field and office teams aligned.

For example, companies like TR3 Group improved jobsite visibility and labor tracking after implementing Workyard.

Workyard is a GPS-powered workforce management app that helps business owners and project managers track employee hours, schedule shifts, and monitor jobsite progress from anywhere. With Workyard, you can: 

• Track employee hours and jobsite progress with payroll integrations like ADP Workforce Now
• Get real-time insights into your construction projects
• Manage your project budget more effectively
• Easily schedule your team members