Maximising efficiency
With mounting pressure to achieve government housing targets, councils are finding themselves under increased strain in the face of issues such as restricted budgets, high staff turn-over and changing goal posts.
It can be difficult for councils to gain clarity over the solutions at their disposal and where to begin when implementing them.
At the heart of all housing initiatives, sits a stringent combination of people, process and technology, collectively driving progress within local government.
Investing into the people elements of an organisation and re-aligning the workforce can be pivotal for councils in achieving housing targets, helping to propel stagnant projects and create lasting change.
1. Upskill with targeted training programmes
Training programmes tailored to different teams are key to optimising efficiency at each step of the housebuilding process. Investing into training for practical roles, such as builders, plumbers and carpenters, holds the potential to catalyse completion rates of local projects.
Where practical skills shortages are not addressed early, the risk of project progress stagnation increases. Addressing these skills gaps at early stages of a development will help to prevent obstacles such as time-consuming repairs due to faults, later down the line.
2. Streamline internal processes
While administrative operations can be overlooked, ensuring these processes are streamlined and accurate is essential to freeing up staff capacity.
For housing projects, ensuring property management data is kept up to date can help councils to respond to issues in a timely manner. Similarly it can help them better maintain their current stock.
Organised and efficient administrative operations will widen capacity considerably. This will allow staff efforts to be re-aligned onto higher value tasks that can progress housebuilding directly.
3. Invest in modern technology
Investing into digital change holds real value for housebuilding efforts and can create lasting impact throughout the process. New systems and updated tools can be used for administrative tasks and storing data. Ultimately this will free up staff time spent on day to day admin and allow efforts to be re-aligned.
Digital tools such as AI can also improve engagement with communities. In turn this will prevent obstacles that may decelerate housebuilding rates. Tools such as user-friendly website features and predictive analytics can help staff to quickly understand local concerns that require attention.
It can also be used to better communicate development plans with local residents. This is essential for councils to ensure a smooth journey to their housebuilding targets.
4. Prioritise budgets for lasting change
It may feel daunting for councils under financial pressure to prioritise investment into people. But when it comes to hitting housing targets, its long-term pay off can help to loosen the constraint on time and resources.
Through streamlined operations, new technology and targeted training, investment into people is an investment into efficiency across the board.
When prioritising budgets, councils should keep in mind the lasting value that this can bring to projects. Subsequently, re-aligning their workforce could well be what’s needed to bring targets into closer reach.