Living Our Values Through Smarter Project Management
As a 100% employee-owned company, every person at Woodruff Construction has a stake in our success. This ownership mindset is guided by our core values—Family, Service, Purpose, Dependability, and Enjoyment. To truly live up to these principles, we recognized our project management needed to evolve.
As our work grew more complex across our five Iowa offices, it became clear that traditional scheduling methods were creating friction, not flow. We needed a better way to build—one that empowered every owner on our team.
The Challenge: When Old Tools Don’t Align with Values
Construction projects are dynamic, but our previous scheduling processes felt static and disconnected. This created friction that went against the grain of who we are as a company of owners.
A Disconnect That Challenged Our Dependability: Our field and office teams were often working from different versions of the schedule. This information gap made it difficult to make and keep the rock-solid commitments that are the hallmark of our dependability.
An Obstacle to True Teamwork: Reactive problem-solving became the norm. Delays in information meant we were constantly catching up to issues instead of getting ahead of them, creating stress that undermined our values of Family and Enjoyment.
When "Ownership" Didn't Extend to the Plan: For a company where everyone is an owner, it was frustrating that our software limited who could meaningfully contribute to the schedule. This created a gap between the people executing the work and the plan itself, hindering our sense of shared Purpose.
We needed a solution that would give every employee-owner a voice in the project's success. Our search led us to Outbuild, a construction scheduling and planning software that felt like it was designed for a culture of shared responsibility.
The Solution: A Tool That Empowers Every Employee Owner
Adopting Outbuild wasn’t about chasing new technology; it was about finding a tool that amplified our culture. It provided a shared blueprint for success that bridged the gap between our offices in Ames, Fort Dodge, Iowa City, Waterloo, and Spencer, and our jobsites across the state.
A successful transition, however, isn't just about the software—it’s about the people. Our first priority was ensuring our teams in the field felt supported and empowered.
The implementation process focused on hands-on training, but more importantly, on communicating the ‘why’ behind the change. We showed how this new tool would help them own their part of the project more effectively and make their work more rewarding. The result was enthusiastic adoption from day one, proving our belief that when you invest in your people, you get the best results.
The platform has transformed how we approach planning, strengthening our core values in tangible ways:
Driving Dependability: Outbuild’s real-time updates ensure that everyone is working from the same plan. This transparency allows us to make reliable commitments to our clients and trade partners and see them through with greater accuracy.
Elevating Service: With collaborative lookaheads and roadblock tracking, we can identify and resolve potential issues long before they become delays. This proactive approach leads to a smoother, more predictable building experience for our clients.
Fostering Purpose and Enjoyment: By simplifying the scheduling process, Outbuild removes administrative headaches and allows our teams to focus on what they do best: building with purpose and skill, which brings a greater sense of enjoyment to their work.
“As employee-owners, every person at Woodruff has a stake in the success of our projects,” says Zach Phillips, Senior Project Manager, Woodruff Construction. “Outbuild gives us the shared visibility we need to truly work as a unified team. When our field leaders can update progress directly and flag potential issues in real time, it empowers everyone to contribute to the solution.”
Building the Future, Together
Since implementing Outbuild, we’ve seen an improvement in collaboration, a reduction in communication-related delays, and stronger alignment across all project phases. For a company built on relationships, this has been invaluable.
Our trade partners are more engaged, our teams are more connected, and our clients benefit from the increased efficiency and transparency.
At Woodruff Construction, our history is the groundwork that supports our progressive culture. Investing in tools like Outbuild is another step in our journey, ensuring that we continue to honor the legacy of our past while building a stronger foundation for the future.