THE PREDICTING PREDICAMENT
Yogi Berra was famously quoted as having said, “It’s hard to make predictions, especially about the future.” Wit and humor aside, many construction management teams would agree with the former Yankee catcher/philosopher. At times, predicting business performance or project profitability can be a challenging endeavor. It’s little surprise that the overriding tendency among construction leaders is to rely almost exclusively on past and present indicators. As described in Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this guide, the traditional approaches to business visibility (reporting, monitoring, and analyzing) are important and can help you gain insight into what already happened and what is happening now. But considering the fierce competition and razor-thin margins that exist in this industry, that style of rear-view management simply isn’t good enough. To succeed in today’s climate, it’s important to understand what might happen in the future—so you can prepare for it, control it, and take action today to attain tomorrow’s goals. What follows are some tips, best practices, and basic steps you can take to develop more informed forecasts and what-if scenarios.
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