The shift from hindsight to foresight: why data-driven decisions will accelerate construction's next productivity gains

Construction has a longstanding productivity challenge. But while conversations often focus on labour, programme and output, productivity is ultimately shaped by the quality of decisions made throughout a project. 

Every day, project teams make hundreds of decisions relating to programme, risk, cost, quality and delivery. The real value lies in turning that information into timely insight that can influence outcomes. 

Better use of data can help unlock productivity gains by giving teams better visibility, better insight and greater confidence to act sooner. 

Productivity starts with certainty, not speed 

Consider two projects with identical programmes, similar teams and comparable budgets. One delivers with minimal disruption, manages risk proactively and maintains commercial performance throughout delivery. The other, experiences late design changes, delayed decisions and repeated rework. The difference is unlikely to be how hard people are working. More often, it comes down to confidence in the information available to teams.

Confidence enables decisions to be made earlier. It helps project teams identify risks before they become issues, coordinate activities more effectively and focus attention where intervention is needed. Conversely, uncertainty creates friction. Teams spend time validating information, reconciling conflicting reports and responding to problems that could have been prevented, with valuable time diverted into establishing responsibility rather than resolving the issue. 

Improving productivity therefore starts with improving visibility of true project performance and what affects it. When project teams have access to consistent, reliable data, they are better equipped to identify emerging risks, make informed decisions and maintain momentum throughout delivery. 

Turning data into better decisions 

Project teams have never had access to more information. Yet too much time is still spent finding data, validating reports and moving information between systems before decisions are made. 

Our digital transformation programme, Project LIFT, was created to support that change. Its mission is simple: deliver predictable performance through reliable data and improved productivity.  

Project ‘LIFT’ stands for: 

• Lighten the load 
• Improve the way we work 
• Focus on what's important  
• Transform project delivery.

A key part of that is the Digital Compass and Project-in-a-Box approach. Construction is not a one-size-fits-all industry, and neither is digital delivery. Different projects have different client requirements, levels of complexity and information needs. Rather than asking every project team to determine its own systems, processes and reporting requirements, projects are assessed against their complexity and assigned an appropriate digital delivery scope from day one. 

Think of it as starting with a digital toolkit rather than a blank sheet of paper. Depending on the project's requirements, teams are provided with the technologies, reporting frameworks and digital capabilities needed to manage productivity, safety, project controls, sustainability, digital engineering and handover. 

Projects are categorised as Core, Evolve or Explorer, ensuring they receive the right level of digital support. A straightforward scheme may only require robust digital foundations and standardised reporting, while more complex projects can access enhanced capabilities such as benchmarking, predictive analytics and AI-enabled progress tracking. 

This approach supports a broader shift from project-by-project digital delivery towards a more consistent platform model. Standardising how data is structured, how core processes operate and how information moves between systems allows improvements developed in one area to be adopted more readily across the business.   

The focus is on using technology more consistently, so information can be captured, shared and applied more effectively across the business. By aligning digital tools and project reporting, Project LIFT aims to reduce duplication and give teams earlier, more consistent insight to support decision-making throughout delivery. 

From reporting performance to improving it 

Historically, production planning and control (PPC) has involved information being managed across multiple systems and reporting formats, often requiring significant manual effort to consolidate and review. As projects become more complex, that can make it harder to access timely insight and take action quickly. 

Part of LIFT’s initiative is the introduction of Digital PPC. By bringing project teams and supply chain partners together through a collaborative digital platform, Digital PPC provides earlier visibility of constraints, delays and delivery trends. This allows teams to intervene sooner and spend more time improving workflow reliability rather than gathering information. 

We have already piloted the approach across several projects, where early feedback suggests it can save several hours per package review each week. That time can then be redirected towards higher-value activities, helping teams improve workflow reliability, tackle constraints earlier and maintain momentum throughout delivery. 

The greatest productivity value emerges when structured information can flow directly into downstream activities, reducing interpretation, manual re-entry and avoidable rework. This connects digital improvements to delivery outcomes rather than measuring success through technology adoption alone. 

More importantly, it lays the foundations for the next stage of digital transformation. As AI capabilities continue to evolve, reliable and structured project data will be critical to unlocking greater value, helping teams surface insights faster, identify risks earlier and move from reporting performance to improving it. 

Building foundations for AI 

Much of the conversation around AI focuses on future possibilities. But the most important work is happening now.  

Through initiatives such as Digital Compass and Digital Reporting, Project LIFT is helping establish those foundations. 

The effectiveness of AI will depend on the quality of the information available to it. Structured, governed and trusted project data provides the foundation for producing consistent outputs and surfacing insights that teams can use with confidence. 

Across the business, we are already exploring productivity-focused AI solutions, including automated reporting narratives and intelligent assistants that can help teams access information faster and reduce administrative effort. 

Used effectively, AI can help people spend less time searching for information and more time applying their judgement to it. 

By reducing the time spent on repetitive, detailed and administrative tasks, AI and automation can give teams greater capacity to focus on technical judgement, problem-solving and the decisions that have the greatest impact on delivery.  

Over time, this creates a stronger digital thread across project delivery, connecting information from design and planning with cost, programme, risk, quality and handover. Better-connected information reduces repeated data entry and gives teams a more consistent view of performance. 

The power of foresight

A significant opportunity for productivity lies in helping project teams move from hindsight to foresight, using better information to anticipate issues and make earlier, more informed decisions. 

The organisations that perform best will be those that can identify risks sooner, spot trends earlier and make informed decisions faster. Data on its own does not improve productivity. The decisions it enables do. 

Through Project LIFT, we're building the foundations for that future: creating better visibility, stronger insight and greater confidence across project delivery. Because the most productive projects are rarely the busiest. They are the ones where the right decisions are made at the right time.