How Vibe Streamlines Collaboration for the SBW Construction Team

Jonathan WongP.Eng, PMP | Smith Bros. & Wilson, Ltd.

The whole point is the Vibe Board would be more of a conversation piece to make sure everyone's on the same stage. It's more like an environmental feeling of 'This is me sharing it with you,' instead of sitting at a computer.

Jonathan WongP.Eng, PMP | Smith Bros. & Wilson, Ltd.

GoalsWin more projects and clientsCut project delays and miscommunicationBoost team productivity without the learning curve

Why chose Vibe3x better value than (Microsoft) Surface HubZero setup headachesIntegrate with Teams, Procore, Bluebeam, and more

Use casesHost interactive presentationsPlan construction site logisticsCapture, review and build on project ideas

GoalsWin more projects and clientsCut project delays and misalignmentBoost team productivity

Why chose Vibe3x better value than Surface HubZero setup headachesIntegrate with Teams, Bluebeam, etc

Use casesHost interactive client presentationsPlan construction site logisticsCapture and build on project ideas

IndustryConstruction Management

HeadquartersBritish Columbia, Canada

Products UsedVibe Board S1 55″

Learn more about Vibe BoardSee use cases, features, tech specs, etc

Meet Jonathan Wong

IndustryConstruction Management

HeadquartersBritish Columbia, Canada

Products UsedVibe Board S1 55″

Jonathan Wong, a planner/project manager for Smith Bros. & Wilson, Ltd., specializes in construction project management for a leading Construction Management company. With expertise in planning complex construction projects across remote sites, Jonathan focuses on finding collaborative solutions that enhance daily operations using emerging technologies.

Why Jonathan chose Vibe

Without the ability to work together or look at a co-worker's computer screen in person, adopting new practices was necessary. SBW wanted to add digital whiteboards to their workflow prior to the onset of COVID-19. But the pandemic hastened their search, as did the company's move to a new office.

"We were rolling out on Microsoft Teams and trying to get everybody up to date. And really, working remotely made the situation similar for everyone," Wong said. "The gap between trying to convince people to use collaborative tools was really no longer there."

The search began with Smart Board, a type of interactive board found in many classrooms. But while these are popular in the education sector, the team had a realization. According to Wong, "We said, 'Well, classrooms had those 10 years ago,' and we didn't want to go back and look at 10-year-old technology. We wanted to look at something that's a little more in our time."

Wong also looked into Samsung and the Microsoft Surface Hub. The Surface Hub, in particular, was more expensive than what the team wanted. With further research, Wong discovered that the Vibe Board had a lot of benefits. Not only did it have the best value and make the most economical sense (the company could purchase three Vibe Boards for the price of one Surface Hub), but it was also the lowest risk option for the company's needs. Another selling point: the ease of getting right to work.

We didn't have to assemble anything. The touchscreen capability is more seamless than someone clicking a mouse and keyboard. When you're in the thick of things, moving around on the page or on the screen, it's easier instead of scrolling or adjusting your window.

Without the ability to work together or look at a co-worker's computer screen in person, adopting new practices was necessary. SBW wanted to add digital whiteboards to their workflow prior to the onset of COVID-19. But the pandemic hastened their search, as did the company's move to a new office.

"We were rolling out on Microsoft Teams and trying to get everybody up to date. And really, working remotely made the situation similar for everyone," Wong said. "The gap between trying to convince people to use collaborative tools was really no longer there."

The search began with Smart Board, a type of interactive board found in many classrooms. But while these are popular in the education sector, the team had a realization. According to Wong, "We said, 'Well, classrooms had those 10 years ago,' and we didn't want to go back and look at 10-year-old technology. We wanted to look at something that's a little more in our time."

Wong also looked into Samsung and the Microsoft Surface Hub. The Surface Hub, in particular, was more expensive than what the team wanted. With further research, Wong discovered that the Vibe Board had a lot of benefits. Not only did it have the best value and make the most economical sense (the company could purchase three Vibe Boards for the price of one Surface Hub), but it was also the lowest risk option for the company's needs. Another selling point: the ease of getting right to work.Within three months of opening his office, he had his first Vibe Board up and running—and he's never looked back.

We didn't have to assemble anything. The touchscreen capability is more seamless than someone clicking a mouse and keyboard. It's easier instead of scrolling or adjusting your window.

How Vibe elevates construction project management

A well-defined onboarding process makes it easier to embrace new methods. Wong explained, "Part of my job is to convince people of the technology, what its use is, and what it can do above and beyond our standard practices."

For example, the company does a lot of work using Bluebeam, a popular brand of construction PDF software. While they'll continue to use the software for constructability and drawing reviews for their projects, the Vibe Board offers more opportunity for freeflow brainstorming on their way to review or mark-up construction documents, such as construction blueprints. As Wong noted, "Sometimes it's nice to just scratch something on a piece of paper, and now it's on a whiteboard. It's fluid and more flexible."

Employees attended a session to learn what Vibe could do for team collaboration and ask questions about the board's functionality. Then, Wong tasked the company's summer intern with creating a playbook. Or rather, two playbooks: one for beginners who only needed the Vibe Board for simple tasks, and an advanced version for the team's more tech-savvy users.

Favorite features

Construction site logistics mapping

One of the ways in which the SBW team uses the Vibe Board is for navigating construction site logistics. The annotation feature, combined with the infinite canvas, lets them quickly map the potential layout for a new project. This can include where to park the equipment, where to station the flagger, and the location of access points in and out of the site.

"It's kind of like making basketball plays," Wong said. "Where are the players, where are we moving, and everybody just puts their notes on the board. Sometimes that's just the conversation piece that you need with some illustration…it's a productivity tool, which is what I try to illustrate it as."

Client meeting

Productivity often comes up with client meetings. Wong found that preparing on the Vibe Board beforehand not only helps him but his clients, too. He can clip notes, take screenshots, and add drawings, then annotate directly on the board throughout the meeting. Afterward, he can send a full account of what they discussed from the board, which he says clients always appreciate.

Screen casting

The team uses Microsoft Teams, Procore, and Bluebeam regularly in their communication and planning. The screen mirroring ability of the Vibe Board makes sharing their work a seamless event, especially with the split-screen feature.

"We use Procore BIM for 3D modeling, so we can cast the model on our tablet to the Vibe Board," Wong said. "As a group, you can see it all together and annotate before moving on. It just flows. There's no, 'hold on, let me take a picture,' or 'Let me save the picture and annotate it.' It’s very fluid.

"And the good thing is a lot of people can view it, or I can share it across multiple screens, so people in a larger office and still see what's happening while I'm on the back end of the room, drawing on the Vibe Board."

Idea preservation

Wong and his team are still discovering everything Vibe can do. But he said that so far, "The one thing that I find the best is that you don't need to really lose any of your ideas, even though you may not know what to do with them right away. You just kinda put it on the Board and can be like, 'Let me go take a look.' Maybe there's something here and you can expand on it, versus, 'I don’t remember where I put that piece of paper.'

It's a productivity tool.
The digital whiteboard just flows.
There's no 'Hold on, let me take a picture,' or 'Let me save the picture and annotate it.'
It's very fluid.

Construction site logistics mapping

One of the ways in which the SBW team uses the Vibe Board is for navigating construction site logistics. The annotation feature, combined with the infinite canvas, lets them quickly map the potential layout for a new project. This can include where to park the equipment, where to station the flagger, and the location of access points in and out of the site.

"It's kind of like making basketball plays," Wong said. "Where are the players, where are we moving, and everybody just puts their notes on the board. Sometimes that's just the conversation piece that you need with some illustration…it's a productivity tool, which is what I try to illustrate it as."

Client meeting

Productivity often comes up with client meetings. Wong found that preparing on the Vibe Board beforehand not only helps him but his clients, too. He can clip notes, take screenshots, and add drawings, then annotate directly on the board throughout the meeting. Afterward, he can send a full account of what they discussed from the board, which he says clients always appreciate.

Screen casting

The team uses Microsoft Teams, Procore, and Bluebeam regularly in their communication and planning. The screen mirroring ability of the Vibe Board makes sharing their work a seamless event, especially with the split-screen feature.

"We use Procore BIM for 3D modeling, so we can cast the model on our tablet to the Vibe Board," Wong said. "As a group, you can see it all together and annotate before moving on. It just flows. There's no, 'hold on, let me take a picture,' or 'Let me save the picture and annotate it.' It’s very fluid.

"And the good thing is a lot of people can view it, or I can share it across multiple screens, so people in a larger office and still see what's happening while I'm on the back end of the room, drawing on the Vibe Board."

Idea preservation

Wong and his team are still discovering everything Vibe can do. But he said that so far, "The one thing that I find the best is that you don't need to really lose any of your ideas, even though you may not know what to do with them right away. You just kinda put it on the Board and can be like, 'Let me go take a look.' Maybe there's something here and you can expand on it, versus, 'I don’t remember where I put that piece of paper.'

It's a productivity tool.
The digital whiteboard just flows. There's no 'Hold on, let me take a picture,' or 'Let me save the picture and annotate it. 'It's very fluid.

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Meet Jonathan Wong

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How Vibe elevates construction project management

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