005 - Prioritization Basics for Construction Contractors

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There will never be enough resources to fix every problem and chase every opportunity. Building a successful construction contracting business requires prioritizing finite resources across nearly infinite demands.

We cover most of the basics including the math of prioritization and exercises you can use to evaluate, align, and develop your team. Over 3 hours of practical examples with 40+ additional resources (tools, books, training, and articles) to keep your career and company growing.

Video Speakers

David Brown Profile Picture
Sue Weiler-Doke Profile Picture

Video Timestamps

  • 00:00:00 - Strategy, Planning, People, and Priorities
  • 00:01:36 - Prioritizing Finite Resources
  • 00:03:26 - Discussion Overview and Resources
  • 00:10:29 - Basic Math of Prioritization
  • 00:16:47 - Prioritized Development: Companies > Teams > Individuals
  • 00:20:45 - Improving the Machine
  • 00:34:30 - Theory of Constraints
  • 00:39:57 - Where Are Your Bottlenecks & Constraints?
  • 00:44:55 - The Human Side
  • 00:48:51 - Workflow Mapping
  • 00:55:21 - Priority #1: Strategic Market Choices
  • 00:57:10 - Project Value Stream (Extended)
  • 01:06:22 - Break Even + Diminishing Returns
  • 01:13:35 - Continuous Improvement: It's a Journey; Not a Destination
  • 01:18:48 - Questions for Continuous Improvement
  • 01:27:52 - Major Improvement Categories
  • 01:30:38 - Put First Things First
  • 01:37:12 - Clifton Strengths
  • 01:58:47 - Prioritizing Small Continuous Improvements
  • 02:08:35 - P.I.C.K Prioritizing Major Improvements
  • 02:12:12 - Group Exercise to Identify Priorities (The Setup)
  • 02:13:37 - Exercise: 3 Bottlenecks + 2 Opportunities
  • 02:15:25 - Exercise: Examples
  • 02:16:29 - Exercise: Sorting and Grouping
  • 02:24:56 - Exercise: Consolidate
  • 02:27:11 - Exercise: Drivers
  • 02:28:11 - Exercise: Impact
  • 02:32:18 - Exercise: Control
  • 02:35:55 - Exercise: Cost
  • 02:36:50 - Exercise: Risk
  • 02:42:13 - P.I.C.K Prioritizing Major Improvements
  • 02:44:19 - S.M.A.R.T. Improvements
  • 02:47:38 - Growth Changes Return Curves & Priorities
  • 02:50:47 - Contractor Growth Cycles + Decision Points
  • 02:57:16 - Balancing Modes of Prioritization and Career Progression
  • 03:02:23 - Developing Talent by Prioritizing
  • 03:06:45 - Prioritizing Talent Development: Planning Talent Needs
  • 03:09:30 - Coming Next
  • 03:10:27 - Thank You

Resources Referenced

Tools


Definitions

Capability

A team or company’s combination of skills, competencies, knowledge, processes, tools, and behaviors that allows them to Carry Out particular activities or achieve certain goals. Capabilities create the outcomes that customers are paying for.

Capacity

How Much of something (capability) a person, team, or company handle. Consider this in ranges of comfortable (sustainable) and peak (sprints).

Desire

Strong feeling of Wanting something.

Development (Talent)

Longer-term refinement of someone’s current capabilities Towards Mastery while preparing them for future roles and the ideal Career Path for them.

Discipline

Consistently Doing what needs to be done even when you don’t want to do it. Motivation is doing what needs to be done when you want to do it – related to desire.

Organizational Development (OrgDev / OD)

Organizational Development is an effort that focuses on improving the organization’s capability through the alignment of strategy, structure, people, rewards, metrics, and management systems.

Training

The process of Increasing the knowledge and skills of someone, typically shorter-term and in the context of being able to perform in their current role at a competency level that meets standards.


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Talent Value Stream (TVS) Roadmap: Never Let Talent Constrain Your Growth

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Improving Field Productivity

Build a roadmap to improve your field productivity by at least 10%. Learn the most impactful strategies, tactics, and tools sparking conversations and ACTION across your whole team. Training is tailored specifically for your team and project dynamics.


Related People


Related Books

The Goal - Eliyahu M. Goldratt
The Essential Deming - W. Edwards Deming
Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink
The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg
The 4 Disciplines of Execution - Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, Scott Thele, Jim Huling, Beverly Walker

Other Resources