Takt planning is a powerful method for reducing construction times. But relying solely on Takt software, whiteboards and Excel? That can backfire.
Most takt tools force your project into a rigid model that falls apart the moment real life kicks in.
Here’s why. 👇
1. You can’t run your entire project with Takt
Real construction projects don’t follow just one method, but they need a mix of many.
For example:
- Gantt charts for the overall project plan and tracking.
- Takt for phases with a lot of repetitive work, like interior phases
Not all work fits into a takt plan. Contractual constraints, short tasks, or one-off work often require a different approach.
➡️ If your tool only supports takt, you’re forced to switch between tools. That means fragmented schedules, missed updates, and no single source of truth.
2. One takt rhythm doesn’t fit the whole project
Most takt tools require you to lock in one takt time — like a day or a week — for the whole plan.
But reality doesn’t work like that. Earthworks might follow a weekly rhythm, but interior tasks need something tighter, like a two-hour window. Whereas MEP work might fall somewhere in between.
And it’s not just takt time. Many tools make you predefine your takt trains: what kind of trains you have, how they move, and in what order.
If one location falls behind, your whole takt train is thrown off. And updating it usually means reconfiguring from scratch or hiring a takt guru to do advanced takt control manually.
➡️ Your tool should allow you to optimise the flow of work flexibly. Not set ridiculous rules that don’t work on real-life projects
3. One zone setup makes coordinating work hard
In most takt tools, you define one set of zones during planning. That zone setup then becomes the foundation of your whole takt schedule.
But let’s be honest: your electrical crew probably works across different zones than your interior team. And logistics? That’s a whole different zone setup again.
A single, static zone plan can’t support all that. You either end up with a pretty schedule that no one on-site can (or wants to) follow, or you’ll have multiple disconnected schedules for different zonings.
➡️ What you actually need is one production schedule with the ability to create multiple views based on different zones — so everyone sees what’s relevant to them, in real time.
With Sitedrive, you can generate various views with different location breakdowns. This allows you to focus on tasks occurring specifically in areas like dry rooms or bathrooms
4. Subcontractors get left out of loop
Subcontractors keep your projects moving, but many takt tools make it difficult or expensive to share the plans with them.
Here’s what we hear from the field:
- User-based licenses discourage real-time sharing. The crew ends up working based on prints, and updates and delays are not instantly visible to all.
- Crews have to hunt for their tasks on joint master views.
- There’s no way to send simple task lists directly to the crew’s phones.
When it’s this hard to stay informed, the plan gets ignored. And the schedule gets outdated. Fast.
➡️ If everyone can’t see and update the plan, it’s not a real, actionable plan.
Conclusion: Takt is powerful — but only if your tool is flexible enough to use it
You shouldn’t need a different tool every time your project shifts gears. You need one tool where all scheduling methods meet.
Sitedrive combines:
✅ Gantt for project-wide planning and tracking
✅ Takt for flow optimisation
✅ Line of Balance for spotting overlaps and sequencing work
✅ Multiple zone views with one real-time production schedule
✅ The ability to mix takt times and update takt trains on the fly
✅ Unlimited users — so everyone gets access, from the office to the site
All in one tool. All in sync.
Takt isn’t broken – your tool is. Switch to Sitedrive and manage real production
Sitedrive is built for how construction actually happens — flexible, fast, and collaborative. Book a demo and see how Sitedrive helps you manage production for the whole team.
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Don’t just take our word for it – Get a demo of Sitedrive and see how it helps you execute Takt with real control.
