7 things to include in your daily activity briefings (DABs)

Whilst it may sometimes feel tedious, your daily activity briefing (often called DABs or start of shift briefings) is one of the most important procedures on site. These daily meetings help make sure that you (and everyone on your team) are fully up-to-date on the project and everything that’s in play.

In particular, these meetings are essential to keeping everyone on the project safe and out of harm's way. As you know, big projects have a lot of moving pieces, plant is constantly coming and going, new hazards pop up overnight, and what was a green route yesterday is no longer safe to walk around.

It’s for those reasons that you need to be thorough with your construction DAB and that everyone is properly kept up to date.

What to include in your construction daily activity briefing (DAB)

Teams on different projects will likely approach the DAB in slightly different ways, as each project will have its own protocols and challenges. But these meetings should typically take no more than 30 minutes and include the most vital information that people working on site need to be updated on.

In most meetings, you’ll find some variation of the following:

1. Safety Updates

As mentioned above, safety is one of the main reasons for having a DAB. So to kick things off, it’s important to make sure that you address any safety-related concerns and make sure people are up to date on any major hazards on site.

This is a good opportunity to re-emphasise the importance of adhering to safety protocols and discuss any specific issues or precautions relevant to the day's work.

• What routes are safe to use?
• Is the plant being moved?
• Has something happened overnight that people need to be aware of?

All of this information can help reduce injuries and keep people out of harm's way.

2. Project Progress

Whilst safety is a major concern, your DAB is also a great opportunity to make sure that everyone is up-to-speed with the progress of the project. You might want to provide a summary of how the site is coming along, highlight completed milestones, and let people know of any changes in the project schedule.

This is also a good time to make note of any upcoming targets or deadlines.

3. Daily objectives

Clearly communicate the specific tasks and objectives to be accomplished during the day.

Take a moment to make sure everyone understands their priorities and deadlines, and make sure everyone fully understands the tasks at hand.

4. Work Coordination

Once everyone has a clear idea of how the site is progressing and what their day's activity looks like, it’s important to make sure that they understand what’s happening around them.

It’s for that reason that it may be a good idea to discuss the coordination of work activities between different teams or departments.

Here, you might also want to address any dependencies or potential conflicts that could occur as a result of planned works.

The more everyone collaborates, the less likely it is that you’ll have unexpected issues that arise throughout the day.

If you’re using Aphex during your meeting, then you can quickly see what works other teams have planned on your Gantt and in map view.

5. Challenges and potential bottlenecks

During this time, it also makes sense to gather as much information as you can about any major concerns that people on the team have.

Try and encourage people to flag any challenges, bottlenecks, or issues that they might be worried about and work together to mitigate delays and blockers.

This is worth taking a bit of extra time for (if need be) as a few extra minutes here could prevent much larger delays down the road.

6. Material and Equipment Updates

In order for days' planned activities to be successful, it’s essential to make sure that everyone has access to the necessary tools and equipment.

Have team members use the meeting as an opportunity to flag urgent requirements and make arrangements for specific materials that they might need for upcoming works.

If there are any delays, shortages, or changes in availability, then this is also a good time to address those problems and make alternative arrangements.

Again, teams using Aphex can easily track and manage resources whilst building out their plans.

7. Communication Updates

Last but not least, make sure everyone is aware of any updates or changes in communication protocols, reporting mechanisms, or documentation requirements.

Doing this on a regular basis helps maintain effective communication between teams and helps make sure that everyone on the ground understands what they need to do.

Conclusion

These daily meetings are crucial to keeping things running smoothly on your project. But to get the most out of them, it helps to have a solid routine in place. That way, you can deliver key information in an effective manner.

It’s also helpful if you have the right tools at your disposal. Different parts of the meeting may benefit from different tools (Sticky notes, maps, scheduling software etc.), but having everything ready to go before the meeting kicks off can help people quickly get up to speed and out on site.