When we released PlanGrid’s Admin Console, our goal was to make life easier for PlanGrid administrators. Back then, admins could view users, manage licenses, and purchase new ones from our website — but they’re responsible for a lot more than just software licenses. A large part of their role also involves project administration: making sure that projects are set up and archived correctly so that the right people are working on (and have access to) the right projects.
Today, we’re excited to announce that PlanGrid’s Admin Console allows administrators to manage projects. We listened to your feedback, and made some significant updates:
On the project list page, admins can see projects linked to their organization and view project details (i.e. number of sheets, number of users, last activity date).
All new projects are linked to an admin’s organization by default, and existing projects can be linked manually.
Admins can now view all the projects linked to their organization in Admin Console.
Admins can add and remove team members in batches, and when a project is complete, remove everyone in just three clicks. The project still shows up on an admin’s list, so if it needs to be re-opened at a later date, team members can be re-added.
Admins can add and remove users from a project in batches.
Admins can edit project details, remove a project from the organization, or permanently delete projects on the project settings page.
We’ve added a variety of fields, like project code, project status, and address, to make it easier to keep track of your projects.
Projects can no longer be accidentally deleted. Once a project is linked to an organization, it can only be deleted by an admin.
We’re working hard to continually improve Admin Console, and we hope these new tools make it easier than ever to manage your projects.
Ready to learn more about Admin Console and level up your PlanGrid skills? Sign up for our webinar on Wednesday, 15 February at 11AM PT:
Sincerely,
The Admin Console team: Ky, Chris, Cody, Heather, Barak, JP, Chantal, Chelsey, and Rob
Have feedback on PlanGrid’s Admin Console? We want to hear it: feedback@plangrid.com.
PlanGrid, the world’s most popular construction app, can help you manage your projects more efficiently. Find out more by visiting our website or by calling +1 (800) 646–0796.
One of ENR New York’s Top Young Professionals, Robert Kipp, talks career advice, construction industry trends, and more.
If anyone understands the value of using PlanGrid, it’s Robert Kipp. As lead superintendent for Tishman Construction, he’s responsible for managing 7 superintendents, 26 trades contractors, and 650 tradespeople — who are coming together to breathe life into the United States’ largest development and one of the most complex construction projects in history: Hudson Yards.
Robert discovered PlanGrid in 2012, when it was still in its infancy. He recalls the days of using basic tablets with simple PDF-reading software, which took forever to load, and his a-ha moment of trying PlanGrid for the first time:
“It just worked. I told the guys I was working with: this [PlanGrid] can do a lot more than you think it can do.”
With his iPad and PlanGrid always at the ready, Robert is known as the source of truth. Whenever he’s in a meeting and there’s a dispute, everyone looks to him and his iPad — thanks to the tough case he carries it in and its ability to resolve just about any issue, it’s known colloquially as his “magic box.”
We recently caught up with Robert when he was in San Francisco to ask him a few questions about his role, get some career advice for people looking to follow in his footsteps, and find out what keeps him up at night.
What does an average day look like for you right now?
I wake up at four o’clock in the morning, get my stuff going, get on the train at Rockville Center (that’s where I live — on Long Island). It’s about a 40 minute train ride into the city. I’ll check my emails, going through everything and making sure that nothing happened in the middle of the night that I wasn’t aware of.
Once I roll onto the site — I’m usually there between 5:30 and 6am — I’ll sit down and review my work plans for the day. Then, I’ll generally execute a superintendent’s meeting, with all the superintendents that work for me. We’ll come together in a little huddle and talk about the things we need to execute that day, or any issues that they need assistance from me with.
We’ll roll that out, and then it’s basically reigning in the chaos from around 7am until it starts to quiet down, around 3:30 or 4pm. Then I’ll sit back down at my desk, go over mini schedules, review documents, review change orders—I get caught up on all my paperwork. And then I generally leave between 5 and 5:30.
What (work related thing) keeps you up at night?
You can’t let it. It’ll drive you crazy. Construction is a very stressful environment, and you have to learn how to deal with stress. It breaks some people. Some just can’t handle it; when there’s so many expectations, it can be impossible.
So the way that I deal with it is to first take care of the important stuff. And if you can find someone better or cheaper than me, go ahead. I’ll go somewhere else.
What’s the best career advice you’ve received?
It’s not just construction related, but when I mentor my engineers, I tell them: no matter how much your manager cares about you, no matter how much your supervisor is a great supervisor and wants to help you excel, no one will manage your career as well as you will. You should take ownership of managing your career path — managing your individual development plan — every step of the way. And independently of your supervisors, have your own plan that you can show them, so they can understand your wants, needs, and expectations, and facilitate them.
What trends are you watching in the construction industry?
I think we’re going to see more automation, the advent of BIM systems. I don’t think it’ll overtake drawings because a lot of people find it very difficult to think in a 3D environment. You can get lost in the models. So everybody’s used to drawings — it’s the way we’ve been building for hundreds of years. You’ll see more robots, more drones… for example, just on my project, in Manhattan, we’re using a dragon line system.
Why should a person consider a career in construction?
It’s a tough industry, but the value I get out of it is that at the end of every day, I see what I’ve accomplished. So when you’re in an office environment — even in the construction industry, as a project manager or estimator — you can spend hours grinding through drawings, and at the end of the day, you look at it, and it’s just a stack of paper. What value do you gain from that?
At the end of my day, I’m walking the jobsite, and I see: we installed 300 feet of wall, there’s 5 more rooms built out, there’s 60,000 yards of concrete poured, we have 3 levels of steel erected — you just see it. And it’s probably because I’m a simple guy, but I get a lot of gratification from that.
Super Bowl Sunday is almost here. Let’s take a look at just some of the epic sporting arenas that were built with PlanGrid.
A stadium is the epicenter of any metropolitan area. It’s a place of dense occupancies, history-making moments, and a continuous effort of coordination before, during, and after construction.
Stadiums host international sporting events — it’s a known fact that once an arena reaches final completion, it will most likely entertain a Super Bowl or national championship within two years. Take the 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium as an example: they implemented some of the most cutting-edge arena technology, making it the perfect Super Bowl venue. PlanGrid was proud to be the mobile construction technology used on that project, and we even won a BICB award for our successful contribution to technology innovation.
As a construction professional, working on a stadium is a privilege, no matter which discipline you’re representing.
Architects aspire to design landmarks that awe occupants for decades, while contractors battle for the multi-million dollar project bid. Developers count every penny, while cities make sure builders meet codes, and the structure compliments the urban fabric.
With hundreds of people building for years at a time, arena jobsites often end up in chaos, especially when you end up with a pile of paper the size of Mount Kilimanjaro. Conversations around phasing, scheduling, and economic strategy are frequent. Emails often slip through the cracks.
Fortunately, PlanGrid calms the chaos by providing real-time updates to everyone on the project — wherever (or whoever) they are — making it the perfect platform for arena projects, all while reducing rework, change orders, and litigation.
PlanGrid has been used on many of the country’s latest state-of-the-art stadium projects. Here’s just four that were #BuiltWithPlanGrid:
Levi’s Stadium is home to the San Francisco 49ers, and features 165 luxury suites, 9,000 club seats, an open pedestrian plazas, community space, a 49ers team store, and a 49ers Hall of Fame. Super Bowl 50 was hosted here. Turner Construction, DevCon, and Cupertino Electric all used PlanGrid.
US Bank Stadium is a fixed-roof stadium in downtown Minneapolis on the site of the demolished Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. The stadium is home to the Minnesota Vikings. Construction began in December 2013, and the arena opened in July 2016. Wells Concrete used PlanGrid.
Sacramento Kings Arena: Sacramento, CA
Artists rendering of the Sacramento Kings Arena (image via Wired)
This project encompasses four city blocks, right in the heart of downtown, and will be a major catalyst for development in the surrounding area and in the entire region. The arena includes up to 1.5 million square feet of additional development, including 475,000 square feet of office space, 350,000 square feet of retail, a 250-room hotel, and up to 500,000 square feet for residential units. Turner Construction used PlanGrid on this project.
T-Mobile Arena is Las Vegas’ first purpose-built arena. It will be host to several mixed martial arts/boxing events, concerts, award shows, college basketball and hockey tournaments, among other events. Constructed by Hunt Construction and Penta Building Group.
The response to our 3rd Annual Badass Axe Contest left us feeling humbled. We’re always in awe of the incredible projects being built around the world with PlanGrid.
The quality of your entries gets better and better every year, making it harder and harder for us to choose a winner. However, after much deliberation, we’re happy to announce our grand prize winner: Erick Sanchez, from Houston, Texas!
Read what he and our two runners-up had to say about PlanGrid:
Grand prize winner: Erick Sanchez (Houston, TX)
Project: Montrose (image via Erick Sanchez)
“I have used other construction management software claiming to be the best. PlanGrid is still my go-to plan when I want to view a project on any platform whether it be desktop, tablet, or smartphone.”
Project: Alice Griffith Block 2 & 4 Redevelopment (image via Mitchell Doyle)
“In an industry where technology is playing catch up, PlanGrid is carving the path for simplified field management. It is a software that all trades can use and understand. Thank you!”
Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s contest! Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, and don’t forget to tag us in your #StaySharp t-shirts.
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