Software is supposed to make our work easier.
But a recent internal discussion brought up a frustrating question: how much complexity are we adding in the name of making things simpler?
Across our projects, drawings, RFIs, approvals, daily reports, addenda, accounting, and communications can be managed through different combinations of software and platforms. Some functions may live together, while others require a separate system. And just when you get familiar with how one project handles everything, the next may do it differently.
Working with the same general contractor doesn’t necessarily mean working in the same systems, either.
Each of these tools may do exactly what it was designed to do. But someone still has to keep track of where each piece of information belongs, how it needs to be submitted, and which system needs to be checked for updates.
Multiply that by several active projects, and it becomes a lot to keep up with.
Before someone can answer a question or submit information, they have to remember how that particular project handles it. Knowing how to do the work is only part of the job. Knowing where and how to document it has become another.
There are real benefits to these tools. But those benefits can get harder to see when the combination changes from one project to the next.
If the purpose is to make information easier to find, share, and manage, I’m not sure that’s what we’re accomplishing when every project requires a different combination of tools and processes.
We certainly have more ways to manage the work. I’m just not convinced we’ve made the work easier to manage.
October 23, 2026