How to Build a Data Strategy That Doesn’t Sit on the Shelf: A Guide for Property and Construction
- Nick Wright
- Jun 2
- 4 min read
Most property and construction businesses don’t have a data problem. They have a data action problem.
The strategies get written. The reports get built. The dashboards get launched. And then it all sits in the background while teams keep using spreadsheets, chasing updates, and making the same manual decisions they always have.
This article is for business leaders in Australia’s property and construction sector who want to stop wasting time and money on data efforts that don’t deliver. If you’re the kind of leader who wants to turn data into something that drives real action across projects, sites, and teams, keep reading.
Why Most Data Strategies Fail in Property and Construction
Let’s start with the hard truth: most data strategies are too high-level, too slow to implement, and disconnected from frontline needs. In the construction and property industries, that gap is even wider.
Why?
Too many systems across development, finance, project management, and ops
Heavy reliance on spreadsheets and disconnected tools
Low trust in data accuracy
A culture of reacting instead of planning
Without a clear link to business outcomes, your data strategy ends up as a slide deck or a consulting report no one uses.
The Real Cost of an Unused Data Strategy
Think of the hours spent collecting project updates manually. The money lost from missed billing cycles. The decisions delayed because no one trusts the numbers.
In this industry, where margins are tight and timelines are everything, an idle data strategy is not just wasted effort. It’s a risk.
You can’t afford to run $100 million projects from siloed spreadsheets.
What a Working Data Strategy Looks Like
The goal of your data strategy should be simple: get the right people the right information at the right time to make better decisions.
In practice, that means:
A single source of truth for financial, operational, and project data
Standardised metrics across business units
Dashboards people actually use
Automation to reduce manual work
A data culture where insights drive action
5 Steps to Build a Practical Data Strategy for Property and Construction
1. Align to Business Outcomes
Don’t start with the tech. Start with the problems.
What decisions are you trying to improve?
What bottlenecks are slowing down progress?
What risks are you trying to reduce?
Examples:
Faster site forecasting to avoid project overruns
Real-time cash flow tracking across developments
Reporting that lets execs see financial and operational status in one place
2. Map Your Data Ecosystem
You can’t fix what you can’t see. Map:
What systems you use (e.g. Procore, Xero, MYOB Advanced, Cheops)
What data they produce
Where data gets stuck or duplicated
This is where we often find 20+ disconnected systems and spreadsheets. Clean this up before investing in any new tools.
3. Prioritise Use Cases
Don’t try to solve everything. Pick 2–3 high-value use cases:
Weekly billing accuracy
Project margin tracking
Forecasting resource utilisation
Solve real problems that matter to commercial and delivery teams. Show quick wins early.
4. Build the Right Infrastructure
Your systems need to talk to each other. That might involve:
Integrating Xero and Procore into a data warehouse (e.g. BigQuery or Azure)
Using tools like Fivetran, Weld, or Make for data sync
Connecting it to a BI tool like Power BI or ThoughtSpot
The tech needs to be scalable and fit-for-purpose.
5. Train and Support Your Teams
A great dashboard means nothing if no one knows how to use it. Invest in:
Training tailored to your business
Simple documentation
Feedback loops with users
Your goal is not just reports. It’s decisions.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Overcomplicating it – You don’t need to boil the ocean. Focus on business value.
Ignoring frontline staff – The people closest to the data should help shape the solution.
Not planning for scale – A quick spreadsheet fix today can become tomorrow’s bottleneck.
Leaving it to IT alone – Data strategy is a business function, not just a tech one.
Real Case Study: A Property Developer with 26 Systems
One of our clients, a national property development business, was struggling with growth. Each division used different tools. Reporting was manual, and insights were delayed.
What we delivered:
Mapped and assessed their data ecosystem
Facilitated workshops with finance, operations, and delivery
Built a single source of truth using Google BigQuery
Created board and exec dashboards showing pipeline, revenue, margins, and risk
Impact:
Monthly board reporting reduced from 8 days to 2
Unified view of all active projects and budgets
Clear commercial insights to support faster decisions
The Role of Leadership
If you are a CEO, COO, or CFO in the property or construction space, you play a crucial role.
Your team will follow your lead. If you treat data as a strategic asset, they will too. But if reporting is an afterthought, your data strategy will never take off.
Make data part of every conversation. Ask the hard questions:
How long does it take to close out the month?
Do we have a single version of the truth?
Are we forecasting accurately or guessing?
Practical Next Steps
Identify one high-impact use case to solve with data
Map the systems and processes involved
Bring in the right expertise to help
Roll out in phases, show quick wins, and iterate
A working data strategy does not have to be expensive or complicated. It just has to work.
Ready to Build a Data Strategy That Works?
We help Australian property and construction businesses design and implement data strategies that deliver real outcomes.
Our work has reduced reporting time by days, unified project and financial data, and supported smarter decision-making across organisations.
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