Every company, within every industry, can benefit from having more efficient systems in place to handle their primary processes. How many times have you thought, “we could do this better” when analyzing a certain task? Business is all about problem solving, and not working to improve operations is one of the biggest problems businesses face. There are always problems to be solved, some unique to an organization, and others that are common to all. We spend a lot of time here at DealforceCRE thinking about how to help commercial real estate professionals solve some of these problems.
Another commonality every industry faces is that many are reluctant to seek out increases in efficiency simply due to the fact that they’re afraid of the time it will take to implement them. It is an understandable initial reaction, because after all, the daily operations are what pay the bills. There are many paradoxes that businesses face, but we believe the innovation paradox is the most detrimental. This is ultimately why so many developers are reluctant to adopt a new commercial real estate project management software.
Question:What is the innovation paradox exactly?
Answer: A company’s failure to innovate, caused by the fear that the time it takes to do so temporarily decreases productivity.
Put bluntly, many companies are too afraid to spend eight hours learning a new software for their projects, even if it means they will save 80 hours a year. Companies that stay stagnant begin to fall behind their now more efficient counterparts. Don’t fall behind, take action today. Companies that prioritize new software adoption see an increase in efficiency, which when done carefully, outweighs the cost of the resources it takes to implement it.
The Problems
So what are the problems technology can solve? This is sort of an open-ended question, because we believe that technology can solve most problems. But we’ll stick to the typical problems that organizations face. The problems of an organization come in a myriad of ways. Some professionals complain that obtaining important signatures takes too long for execution. We’ve heard horror stories of missing files, or even worse, two working drafts of the same document. We’ve all encountered frustrations caused by some level of miscommunication. Perhaps the lesser talked about problem within a company is the fact that many managers are simply unaware what their employees are, or are not, working on.
All of these issues cause unwanted friction within a team, friction that just so happens to be unnecessary. Organizations always want to solve these problems in theory, but only the top competitive tier are working actively to solve them. Seeing as how a commercial real estate software can solve all of these problems and more, It’s time for the industry to be more open-minded toward the adoption of these programs.
So What Gives?
Maybe this theme is familiar to you: you get into work on Monday, you check your calendar, you begin to stress about everything you must complete before EOD on Friday, and you convince yourself that you have no time for any efficiency innovations whatsoever. You, your boss, and your stakeholders are all busy. Too busy, you tell yourselves.
We live in a world of increasingly shorter attention spans, and in the commercial real estate industry, a company’s success so frequently comes down to timing. Even though commercial real estate developers are especially predisposed to factors of timing, the alternative of falling behind your competitors should never be an option. In the words of Harvard Business Review, when speaking about technological legacy systems, these legacy systems “hinder an organization from achieving its full potential efficiently.” If one of the primary purposes of business is to succeed, then not adopting new technology causes you to lose a competitive advantage, which of course works adversely toward your success.
Making a Decision
A decision is always made. Your organization either actively makes a decision to adopt new efficiency systems, or your organization passively makes a decision to stay the same. As we know, it tends to be the innovative organizations that succeed, and the stagnant ones that begin to fall behind. Remember what happened to Sears? They failed to adequately adjust their business model to focus more on online sales, and by 2016 they were falling behind their competitors. By 2018, they had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In this example, Sears made a decision to not adopt new technologies, and the result for them was catastrophic. Compare that to one of their prime competitors at the time, Amazon, who figuratively wrote the book on e-commerce. We all know how they are doing today.
Competitive Advantage
At the same time – every industry and even every commercial real estate developer is different. Your company might be the exception to the rule, your business might continue to do the things the old fashioned way and yet still see adequate growth. But for most developers, such a choice only works for so long. And on the other side of that token, not all project management softwares are created equally. Some programs do little for an organization in terms of competitive advantage. But, when a company finds a program that is the right for them, it has the potential to transform them into a well-oiled machine.
Both the private and public sectors exist to serve some purpose, and these companies have processes in place to manage their primary operations. Over time as new technologies are invented, your competitors begin taking advantage of these technologies. If your organization fails to do so, you’re already operating at a net loss.
The commercial real estate industry has been slow to adopt new technology, due to being constantly occupied with higher priorities. All businesses have competitors, and that of course means that all businesses need to do what they can to increase their own market share. Not all competitive advantages come in the form of technology, but arguably, most competitive advantage comes in the form of increased effectiveness. Not every team will adopt new systems. Technology isn’t for every team, even though it should be. If your team is ready to start looking into becoming more efficient through an innovative commercial real estate project management software, we’re ready to.
The Takeaway
When you begin to dread over the time and resources it will take to adopt a new information system, remember, the return on investment comes in the form of efficiency, which equals time, which equals money. If someone promised you an extra two weeks in the year, in exchange for eight hours of your time, you’d probably accept such an offer. And yet, there are so many companies fighting to hold on to archaic systems that have been proven to slow them down. When it all boils down, what companies need today are systems that solve their problems faster, increase efficiencies and ultimately, save time. Just imagine what your organization could achieve if you had more time.
