Searching for the right applications and programs for the construction industry can seem a little intimidating.  I have searched it a fair amount of times, and what I find is the advances that most sites brag about have high monthly or annual costs.  They also tend to be geared toward corporate giants in the industry.  I wanted to provide our customers with some practical information that would apply to the average general contractor running a small to medium sized business.

My suggestion to you as a business owner is to get a little more specific in what you are looking for.  One of the most important places to start is with an application like "Dropbox" or "Flow."   These apps allow employees to share large folders of photos, and create purchase lists available to all.  This way all of your employees can periodically add what they need to  purchase lists as you get low or run out of supplies.  You can even keep a log of purchases, and have your employees take a photo of receipts and upload them for easy tracking. 

Ideally you want to avoid running out of essential materials, or having two employees on the company dime driving out to get supplies because of a lack in communication.  In this day and age general contractors need to be looking at how these free or cheap apps can improve their bottom line.   Organization and communication need to be improved in the industry, and embracing the technology available to us all is one of the best ways to do that without inducing the stress of micromanagement upon yourself as a business owner.

I know everyone is familiar with drones and it might seem overkill to have to learn to fly one just to check on a job site, but if you have a large job site then it might be beneficial and less invasive to observe things using a drone.  It would allow you to monitor your work force and their progress without interrupting.  This is a good option for business owners that have independent employees who are diligent in their work and confident in their trade.  You can supervise from afar without hindering productivity.

If your employees have company phones then you can set them up with trackers to monitor where they go on the company dime, and how much time they spend at those locations. There are even apps that can alert you when a certain employee arrives at a job site.  There are apps that allow your employees to take photos and edit them before sending, to show problem areas.  Take a look at what is out there!  Trust me, the money you save on team building will pay off reducing your frustration with unnecessary redundancies and employees wasting time.