Project Management: Better Execution = Greater Profitability

Missing goals is rarely the result of lack of skill. According to our research, more often it’s a lack of discipline under pressure. That’s one of the key findings from part two of our 2026 Project Management Study: 

• Just 24% of contractors use their project management playbooks consistently across projects.
• Contractors meet or exceed schedules 80% of the time when they have a highly consistent change order management process in place.
• Firms with the highest forecasting rigor achieve budgeted profit objectives 92% of the time.

The contractors who perform best protect profitability by relying on four proven practices: 

1. A structured, operational playbook used for every project
2. Disciplined change order management flow
3. Prudent financial management, including cost-to-complete forecasting
4. A framework for capturing insights from every job to propel improvement 

Let’s take a closer look at each element.

Playbooks guide practice, improve processes and enhance productivity. Though 90% of  contracting firms have a defined “company way,” less than a quarter (24%) actually put these guidelines to use consistently from project to project. 

When every project is treated like a one-off, standard practices become optional, and you lose the predictability and productivity that comes from proven processes. The result is execution chaos and unnecessary fire drills that stymie workflow, slow timelines and sink performance. Successful firms use playbooks to scaffold a culture of accountability and produce better profits across the board. 

Action items: 

• Define the playbook.
• Train with it regularly.
• Measure compliance to stated expectations.

Consistent change order management shapes schedule performance and profit margins. A poor change-order management system is an engine of chaos. Contractors with less-disciplined approaches only meet or exceed schedules two-thirds of the time. 

Our research shows that standardizing change order workflow is the fastest way to protect margins and client relationships. When you have visibility into how changes impact contract value, project costs, schedule commitments and risk, you have the opportunity to act early and intentionally, rather than reacting in a constant state of crisis. Change-order discipline allows general contractors to meet or exceed schedules 80% of the time, and helps specialty contractors meet or exceed project profit margin targets 87% of the time. 

Action items: 

• Look at how change information is captured, analyzed and shared.
• Explain and train the process frequently.
• Allow trades to explain scope and constraints directly to the owner.

Forecasting drives profit reliability. Without forecasting discipline, contractors fall back on  lagging indicators and after-the-fact corrections. When project managers lack the tools to mine current and clean data, variances are revealed too late in the process to address effectively, lowering leaders’ confidence in PMs and their reporting. 

Firms with the most forecasting rigor hit their budgeted profit objectives 92% of the time, thanks to accurate and consistent cost-to-complete forecasts — but just 8% of project managers believe cost-to-complete forecasting is a critical development need for their teams. 

Action items:

• Transform analytics into actions.
• Train PMs to do better forecasting.
• Review monthly quantity-based, cost-to-complete forecasts for every job.

Training and learning undergird strong performance. You can’t develop a strong playbook, change-order management system or forecasting process without capturing critical information from every project. Doing a rigorous post-job review, analyzing findings and integrating them into day-to-day operations creates the foundation for continuous improvement. 

In spite of this universally accepted industry knowledge, surprisingly, our research found that most contractors (61%) conduct these reviews rarely, if ever. It’s been widely established that contractors who choose to close out projects in a manner that will positively inform future training and learning models earn a competitive advantage.

Action items:

• Implement information gathering up front, through phases, quantities, productivity and planned-versus-actual. 
• Capture what was learned, what to repeat/not repeat on future jobs and who else in the organization could benefit from these insights.
• Feed learnings into a searchable database to support estimating, planning and execution across jobs.

To learn more about how you can improve your firm’s execution to ensure progress on predictability, productivity and profitability, download the full report. And be on the lookout for Part 3, which looks at how the project manager role must evolve to handle more complexity, tighter margins and rapid innovation.