How do you use Woub alongside your existing construction programme?

What is the difference between a planning board and project communication?

The planning board shows who works where and when. Project communication establishes whether that work can actually start: are materials available, has the previous team finished and has the subcontractor confirmed the new agreement?

Moving a bar does not automatically answer those questions. Equally, a message saying the frames will arrive later does not show the consequences for installation, the decorator and handover. That requires both the programme and information from site operations.

Agree a fixed allocation of roles:

• The planner or construction project coordinator assesses the consequences for people, plant and other work, and updates the programme.

• The site manager reports what differs on site, which work is consequently blocked and what can still proceed.

• The subcontractor involved confirms whether the new agreement is workable and reports their own constraints.

• The project manager makes decisions within their responsibility and ensures outstanding choices are resolved in time.

At a smaller construction business, one person may hold several roles. Even then, distinguishing a notification, proposed solution and confirmed change helps.

With Woub project chat you discuss a change within the right project, share a photo of the situation and turn a message into a task. This keeps the reason and follow-up action together. Your existing scheduling system remains the agreed source for the construction programme.

How this works at Karel Kamp

At Karel Kamp, information from phone conversations did not automatically reach every colleague involved. In the current public customer case, construction project coordinator Roland Balk describes seeing what his colleague coordinated on site through summaries in the project chat. The business started with project communication and involved subcontractors too.

For scheduling, this is a useful approach: if the site manager hears that work cannot proceed, the construction project coordinator can find the captured outcome and assess its consequences. This is our application of the case insight to scheduling. The case does not demonstrate automatic recalculation or synchronisation of an external construction programme.

When is simple scheduling in Woub sufficient?

For daily tasks and straightforward resource allocation, Woub’s additional scheduling module may be useful. For example, it can show which colleague is expected at a project and when a specific task must be carried out. If you already use specialist construction scheduling, keep it authoritative and establish which additional information your team actually needs in Woub.

Woub Planning is a separate paid add-on for teams, tasks and project phases, among other uses. The knowledge base on project scheduling describes creating and moving planning items and scheduling colleagues, subcontractors and plant. The current Marketplace also describes linked tasks appearing in the mobile app.

Before setup, distinguish between two dates. The work date says when the work takes place. The action deadline says when someone must arrange something to make that work possible. If the frames are installed on Thursday, the deadline to confirm delivery may already be Tuesday. Treating both as the same agreement hides the preparation.

Test the setup with one real working day. Can the tradesperson find their instruction? Does the site manager know which preparation remains outstanding? Can the planner process a change without recreating the same construction programme? Use only the additional functions that simplify this.

When do you need specialist scheduling?

Specialist scheduling is needed when you must calculate the relationships: which work moves with a change, which milestone is at risk and where do conflicts arise between teams or projects? A calendar or task list alone does not answer those questions.

This arises, for example, when the same crane is needed on several projects, different trades wait for each other or a shifted activity affects the completion date. Choose and retain a scheduling application that demonstrably supports the required dependencies and capacity.

Woub remains complementary to that scheduling, just as it does to ERP, BIM, estimating and DMS. Its value here lies in information the planner can act on: what has changed on site, which party has confirmed something and which action remains outstanding?

If your existing scheduling and associated coordination already work well, extra software for this process is not automatically useful. If, however, the planner continually has to reconstruct separate phone calls, WhatsApp messages and emails to understand the current situation, that communication is the place to improve.

Where does Woub add value alongside these five scheduling tools?

The added value differs by package. Some tools already support communication, mobile progress reporting or tasks. Use Woub for complementary conversations and follow-up that still take place through separate phone calls, WhatsApp and email in your business. The situations below illustrate workflows, rather than measured customer results or proof of a software integration.

KYP Project: capturing coordination around a programme change

KYP Project brings project partners together around a shared programme and makes changes and progress visible. It also supports messages; the knowledge base describes, among other things, task-focused communication. Adding Woub simply to share the same programme messages again therefore offers little value.

Woub adds value when the solution first needs to emerge through separate conversations. For example, a façade team calls because a delivery is incomplete. The site manager discusses what is still coming with the supplier and agrees with the subcontractor which part of the work can proceed. Through Woub, those supported conversations can be summarised and identified agreements automatically become tasks: confirm the missing delivery, coordinate the sequence of works and report back to the planner.

The planner processes the chosen solution in KYP Project. Programme notifications and task-focused updates stay there. Woub helps people find the conversations, considerations and preparatory actions. If you already organise that coordination well within KYP, the same process does not need an extra channel.

Microsoft Project: giving the planner confirmed information from site operations

In Microsoft Project the planner records dependencies between activities. For automatically scheduled tasks, changes to predecessors can affect successor activities. The quality of that calculation depends partly on the information entered.

Woub helps the planner obtain the supporting basis for a change. Suppose the building services contractor reports by phone that a floor will be completed later. The site manager discusses which work remains, when the contractor expects to finish and whether the fit-out team can start elsewhere. The summary and follow-up actions from supported Woub conversations keep those outcomes with the project.

The planner can then process a confirmed remaining duration or new working agreement in Microsoft Project. Woub’s specific value here lies in handover from site to planner: less reconstruction of who mentioned which date and which confirmation is still missing. Dependencies and programme calculations stay in Microsoft Project.

Exact Online Bouw: connecting site agreements with planned resources

Exact describes employee and plant scheduling for its construction software, among other functions. Project scheduling can be based on estimated hours, with visibility by cost-control code; available functions differ by subscription. See the Exact scheduling functions for construction.

Woub helps with daily coordination behind those scheduled hours and people. A team is scheduled for two days, for example, but discovers additional remedial work. The site manager discusses what needs doing with the project manager and coordinates the resources required with the subcontractor. In Woub, those conversations and follow-up actions stay with the project: have the extent assessed, confirm a new allocation and inform the team involved.

The person responsible processes the approved consequences in the programme and project accounting within Exact Online Bouw. Woub captures the reason and follow-up; the conversation does not automatically book extra hours, change a budget or grant financial approval. The value lies in clarity about why the planned allocation changes and who handles the processing.

Powerproject: following up agreements on recovery measures around the critical path

Asta Powerproject calculates the critical path and available float, among other things. With Asta Siteprogress, progress can be reported from site. Woub does not need to duplicate that recording.

Woub adds value to discussions about what the team will do about a deviation. If a delayed activity affects the next construction phase, the project manager might discuss with the supplier and subcontractor whether a partial delivery is possible and which work can start earlier. A new date in the programme does not yet say who must confirm that partial delivery or when the site manager receives a definite answer.

Use Woub to capture these supported conversations and follow up identified actions as tasks. The planner processes confirmed assumptions in Powerproject and assesses the consequences for float and the completion date there. This keeps progress measurement and programme analysis in Powerproject, while agreements about the chosen recovery measure remain retrievable in Woub.

Robaws: bringing together external coordination around teams, plant and job sheets

Robaws distinguishes longer-term project scheduling and daily scheduling for employees, plant and assignments. Employees can see their scheduled assignments through Wappy and create job sheets from that workflow.

Woub helps when site operations depend on agreements with other businesses. An installation team and mobile elevating work platform are scheduled in Robaws, but the subcontractor reports by phone that the work area is not yet clear. The site manager agrees a new time slot with the subcontractor, plant hire company and their own planner. Woub keeps the conversations and follow-up actions with the project: confirm access, adjust the hire and inform the team. The planner updates the resource allocation in Robaws.

Woub also describes a Robaws integration: projects can be created in Woub from Robaws, with a checklist for the job sheet; tasks can be based on quotation lines. This can reduce rebuilding project information. The described data transfer does not prove automatic synchronisation of daily or project scheduling. Check the required direction and configuration of the integration for your workflow.

The same agreement applies to all five: use the existing package for the scheduling configured there. Use Woub selectively for complementary project conversations and follow-up. A created Woub task or summarised conversation does not automatically change that external programme.

How do you communicate programme changes?

For a change, communicate the cause, work affected, confirmed decision and resulting actions. Identify who updates the programme and who reaches the parties involved. For urgent matters, make direct contact, then record the outcome within the project.

From a delayed delivery to a workable agreement

The following example is illustrative, rather than a customer result. On Monday, the frame supplier reports that Wednesday delivery is not possible and Thursday may be possible. The installation team was scheduled for Wednesday; the decorator was due to start on Friday.

1. Report the deviation. The site manager records within the project which delivery is delayed and which work is affected. Thursday remains a possibility until the supplier confirms that day.

2. Assess the consequences. The planner discusses what is feasible with the installation team and decorator. Can installation take place on Thursday? Will the work then be ready for the decorator in time? Is the team required available?

3. Confirm the decision. After coordination, record the new delivery and start agreements. If the decorator can only start on Monday, that also forms part of the decision. Identify any conditions, such as the area that must be ready.

4. Update the programme. The planner enters the confirmed dates in the authoritative scheduling system and refers to the current version in project communication.

5. Make preparation specific. The construction project coordinator confirms delivery with the supplier. The site manager arranges access and checks that the work area is clear. Every action has an owner and an appropriate deadline.

6. Check the handover. Ask the installation team and decorator to confirm they can work to the new agreement. If a response is missing, the person responsible follows it up.

A useful change notification therefore contains more than a new date: this is changing, this is confirmed, this condition still applies and this person arranges the next step.

What does Wouby AI take off your hands?

For a phone call: start audio or video from the project chat. For supported communication, Wouby AI provides the transcript and summary and automatically turns identified agreements into tasks. An agreement about delivery confirmation, for example, need not be written down from memory after hanging up. See calling from within the project.

For a construction meeting or scheduling discussion: record the discussion using the designated function in Woub. Wouby AI processes the recording into a transcript, summary and action items. Use that output to review decisions and outstanding actions. See recording construction meetings.

Check particularly the items affecting the programme: is Thursday confirmed or merely mentioned as a possibility? Who calls the supplier? When is that feedback needed? An automatically created task does not turn a discussed option into an agreement. The planner remains responsible for processing the decision in the construction programme.

How do you avoid duplicate entry?

Keep the complete sequence of works and capacity allocation in the chosen scheduling system. Record conversations, confirmations and follow-up actions in Woub. Create an additional task only if someone actually needs to do something. Maintaining a second copy of every programme line mainly adds administration.

You can start without an integration: agree who processes a confirmed change and record the outcome within the project. Specific options are also available for calendar appointments. The Woub Marketplace lists a Google Calendar integration. The Outlook Calendar integration describes, among other things, showing selected Woub tasks as calendar appointments and synchronising changes back from Outlook.

That is a different data flow from calculating a construction programme. For a desired integration, check which task or appointment is transferred, which direction changes travel and who resolves a conflict. A listed calendar integration does not mean every specialist scheduling system is synchronised.

How does the site team learn the new workflow?

Use Woub for daily project communication in place of the separate WhatsApp group and any separate task app. This also reduces project email about short questions and actions. Agree with the site team and subcontractors where changes arrive and where they confirm they can proceed with them.

Practise this on one project: have the site manager report a deviation, the planner record the decision and a subcontractor find the new agreement. Include an incoming phone call or message through another channel in that workflow: whoever receives it records the relevant outcome within the project.

For broader handover, read how to improve communication between office, site and subcontractors.

After a week, assess whether the planner needs fewer follow-up calls, the site team finds the right agreement and actions are completed on time. Also record what remains cumbersome. This tests the added value against your own site operations.

Start small. Enjoy the peace of mind. Expand only then.

Try free for 14 days and follow one real programme change from initial notification to confirmed implementation. View the prices and subscription conditions and discuss what applies to your setup for any scheduling add-on or integration.