Innovating with Our Canadian Clients
Last week I had the opportunity to join six of our Canadian clients at a Procore Innovation Lab where we focused solely on solutions that would positively impact the Canadian construction industry. Construction is a hyperlocal industry, so it’s important to focus on the obstacles that are pressing in specific regions such as language, financials and regulations to name a few.
Procore has been serving the Canadian market for the last several years to help meet the demand for an innovative solution that will help improve the way Canadian construction professionals get work done. Taking our commitment to the region to the next level, we organized a Canadian-focused Innovation Lab.
“The goal of this Innovation Lab is to create a clear action plan for development efforts including identification of the top priorities that will have the most significant near-term impact for your business and the industry as a whole.” Dani Moreno, Procore Product Coordinator
The event lasted three days. Clients were invited to share a meal, get to know one another and then we quickly moved into workflow discovery. This entailed diving into different patterns users had in applying Procore to their everyday responsibilities, what they found useful and what they found to be barriers within the tool.
“Many construction companies struggle with working within silos and building trust amongst those silos. This is a big problem resulting in a lot of redundancy and overlap. Procore will absolutely help everyone collaborate and break down those walls.” Mike Wagner, Scott Builders Operations Manager
We host these labs in order to gain first-hand perspective on how the platform is used day-to-day by our clients. If we find that there is a functionality that is limiting within the tool or creates a roundabout rather than a direct solution, we want to know this and do something about it. We believe the key to enhancing the platform is working side-by-side with the end-user, hence the concept of Innovation Labs.
Over the course of the Innovation lab, we focused specifically on the Project Management Essentials tools as well as the Quality & Safety product line.
Project Management Essentials. Within Procore’s Project Management tool, we examined workflow barriers or obstacles and brainstormed ways to create actionable solutions.
Quality & Safety Product Line. We wanted to understand existing barriers that prevent client project teams from fully utilising Procore’s Quality & Safety tools.
While attendees saw the value of the event through the quick solutions that were reached collectively, they also expressed enjoyment in working directly with Procore employees, getting more of a feel for the employee culture and work ethic.
“The Innovation Lab is great in the sense that you get to see the amount of work everybody puts in and just how much they love working for Procore. You have the opportunity to sit down and have your opinion heard. It is a collaborative environment and you are building the application together. Our concerns that we expressed over the past three days seem to already have been met with solutions that can be implemented within a couple of weeks." Tang Lee, Magil Construction BIM & VDC Manager
It was exciting to experience and see, first-hand, the excitement of clients in their close involvement with building upon Procore. In attending the event, I think one of the key takeaways from our clients was how much we are investing in the product to meet the needs of the Canadian market. It's not one or two people, it is groups of teams coming in, interacting and collaborating on features and processes that help make their job easier. We look forward to continuing to work closely with Canadian clients in creating a tool that suits their needs helping projects in this region get done safely, on time and within budget.
Here is an example of how Procore is changing the way construction is done in Canada with client Pitt Meadows.
