Success is found in teamwork and communication in construction
In an industry where every project is a balancing act of time, cost, and quality, success doesn’t happen by chance. It’s the product of strategy, culture, and consistent best practices. Inspired by Stephen R. Covey’s timeless principles and refined through decades of industry insight, Trimble has distilled the essential habits that separate top-performing general contractors from the rest.
If you’re part of a construction team aiming to improve project outcomes, efficiency, and team dynamics, this guide to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Project Teams will serve as your strategic compass.
1. Create Accountability
High-performing contractors don’t pass the buck—they own their projects. The best project managers treat each job like their personal business. If it fails, they fail.
Effective project teams foster a culture where accountability is clear and consistent. Instead of pointing fingers when things go wrong, top-performing contractors expect project managers to take full ownership—from budget to subcontractor performance. Accountability is reinforced through regular, in-depth job status reviews that cover costs, cash flow, profit projections, and risk areas, all in an environment of honest, blame-free communication.This habit shifts the team from a reactive mindset to a proactive one. When everyone knows they are responsible and supported, they’re more likely to raise issues early—while they can still be fixed.
Key Practices:
- Conduct regular, in-depth project reviews with senior management.
- Focus not just on costs, but on:
- Change order status
- Customer concerns
- Cash flow
- Subcontractor performance
- Profit projections
Why It Matters: Open, honest evaluations (without fear of blame) allow issues to be spotted early—before they turn into expensive problems.
2. Be Proactive
Are you managing your project—or constantly reacting to it? In the construction world, reacting to problems after they’ve snowballed can cost time and money. Highly effective teams take a forward-looking approach. They track leading indicators like potential risks, estimated completion metrics, and two-week lookaheads to anticipate problems before they escalate.
By spending more time on important, strategic tasks instead of daily firefighting, teams reduce chaos and improve outcomes. Proactive leadership empowers teams to focus on long-term success rather than being consumed by last-minute emergencies.
Proactive contractors:
- Focus on important, not just urgent, tasks.
- Use leading indicators to prevent problems, not just react to them.
Telltale Signs You’re Being Reactive:
- Constant “firefighting”
- High volume of urgent emails
- Frequent surprises in change orders or budget overruns
Switch to Proactive Mode With:
- Two-week lookaheads
- Cash flow forecasts
- Estimate-at-completion (EAC) reviews
- RFI tracking
- Risk assessments
Why It Matters: Proactive teams prevent chaos and build predictability into every project.
3. Forecast Completion
Best-in-class contractors don’t rely solely on outdated monthly reports. They embrace real-time data to make informed decisions throughout the project. When risks, RFIs, and change orders are flagged early and correlated with financial impact, teams can act fast to adjust budgets and timelines.
Modern forecasting tools allow teams to see issues as they arise—not weeks after. This habit gives everyone from field staff to stakeholders a clear view of where the project stands now, enabling quicker resolutions and better outcomes. Stop waiting for end-of-month reports to understand project health. Historical data has its place, but real-time visibility is what drives success in modern construction.
Best-in-Class Tactics:
- Use cost-management software that tracks risks as they arise, not after.
- Identify potential change orders early.
- Correlate RFIs with budget impacts in real time.
Why It Matters: Real-time forecasting enables faster, smarter decisions—keeping your project on track and under budget.
4. Automate to Operate
Project managers today are buried in data. But too often, they spend more time generating reports than making decisions. Time is a limited resource, and too much of it is often spent on repetitive, low-value tasks. From chasing signatures to manually compiling reports, these inefficiencies bog down project teams. Effective contractors automate routine processes, freeing up their project managers to focus on leadership and problem-solving.
Automation reduces human error, speeds up decision-making, and ensures everyone is working with up-to-date information. It’s about working smarter—letting technology handle the busywork so the team can concentrate on building.
Biggest Time Thieves:
- Manually crunching numbers for updates
- Chasing signatures for change orders and invoices
Solution: Automate routine tasks. Use integrated platforms to streamline communication, approvals, and reporting.
Why It Matters: Freeing up your PM’s time lets them focus on leadership, strategy, and performance—where they add the most value.
5. Empathize, Adapt, and Overcome
Construction is dynamic—plans change, conditions shift. Top teams embrace change with flexibility and empathy. Even the best-laid plans require adjustment. Top contractors know that success often hinges on flexibility and empathy. They actively listen to input from field teams, subcontractors, and support departments like accounting or engineering to fine-tune processes and technology rollouts.
By taking the time to understand what different stakeholders need—and what’s slowing them down—teams can adapt more effectively. This collaborative, open-minded approach leads to better buy-in, smoother implementation, and more resilient projects.
Best Practices:
- Get stakeholder input before rolling out new tech or processes.
- Listen to boots-on-the-ground feedback.
- Involve accounting, owners, architects, and engineers in planning.
Why It Matters: Your team will adopt new systems more smoothly when they feel heard and involved, leading to greater efficiency and morale.
6. Collaborate to Accelerate
Lack of communication leads to change orders. Period. Communication breakdowns often lead to costly change orders and delays. To combat this, highly effective teams emphasize collaboration across all stakeholders—from owners and architects to end users. Using tools like Building Information Modeling (BIM), they simplify complex information and make it accessible to non-technical participants.
The result is better engagement, fewer misunderstandings, and fewer surprises down the line. When everyone is informed and aligned, projects move faster and finish stronger.
Best-in-class contractors build bridges between all project participants—especially the end users.
Smart Strategies:
- Use Building Information Modeling (BIM) to make complex designs understandable to all stakeholders.
- Enable non-technical users to visualize and provide input on the design.
Why It Matters: Greater engagement leads to fewer surprises during construction and a better final product.
7. Improve Relentlessly
The best contractors never stop evolving. After streamlining their processes and capturing data from the field, they use that information to continuously improve. Applying frameworks like Six Sigma’s DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control), they analyze bottlenecks and optimize workflows.This relentless pursuit of improvement turns data into action and lessons learned into better results. It’s not about perfection—it’s about consistently getting better with every project…..No system is ever perfect. Even with automation and collaboration tools in place, the best teams keep evolving.
Apply a Proven Framework:
- Use Six Sigma’s DMAIC process: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control
- Use collected project data to identify bottlenecks and optimize workflows.
Why It Matters: Continuous improvement isn’t just a goal—it’s a competitive advantage that compounds over time.
Final Thoughts: Building the Habit of Excellence
Construction is complex, but success doesn’t have to be. By embedding these seven habits into your organization’s culture, you’ll build projects—and teams—that are more productive, resilient, and profitable.
Invest in tools, foster open communication, stay adaptable, and never stop improving. That’s the blueprint for a highly effective project team.
