Creating Potential and Delivered Value for Contractors

We are contractors and the contract is a tangible representation of potential value. That value is delivered when the right information, materials, and equipment come together at the right time in the hands of the right craftsperson for installation.

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Once your strategic decisions are made about your markets, operations, and talent, the business of building is largely about winning work and building work. This will be the focus of most of your people and management systems

"Eighty-Five Percent of the reasons for failure are deficiencies in the systems and processes rather than the employee. The role of management is to change the process rather than badgering the individuals to do better." - W. Edwards Deming


 

Identify priorities, bottlenecks, and constraints in your business by focusing on two critical milestones—the contract and field installation. Use this simple checklist for each to start your continuous improvement process

The Contract (Potential Value)

  1. Identifying and choosing the right opportunities to pursue (BizDev & Executives)
  2. Defining the right scope, design, and schedule to deliver maximum value to the project owner (Precon / Engineering)
  3. Accurate quantity take-off (Estimating)
  4. Accurate costs including materials, equipment, subcontractors, and crews (Estimating)
  5. Accurate unit production rates given the conditions (Estimating)
  6. Right terms and pricing for the risk (Executives)

 

Field Installation (Delivered Value)

  1. Right field workforce—trained for the task(s) including field leadership
  2. Right tools and equipment
  3. Right information
  4. Right materials
  5. Clear work area
  6. Stretch goals

Achieving this in the field comes down to Effective Tasking, The 6 Pillars of Productivity, Short-Interval Planning (SIP), and ABC Daily Planning

 

 




TOOL: Leader Standard Work (LSW) Template for Field Managers
Excel format that you can use to standardize work across your field managers and synchronize that work internally and externally for optimal effectiveness. This tool will help develop your team faster and deliver projects more consistently.
Lean Principle - 3 Enemies of Lean
Profitable growth comes from operating within a target capacity and capability range - and continually increasing those ranges. Operating with consistent overload, consistent under capacity, or with consistently high variability is not sustainable.
Construction Labor Budget - Alternate Perspective
Improving craft labor productivity in construction will significantly reduce risk while providing a long-term competitive advantage for the contractor and every team member. This alternate labor budget perspective shows different opportunities.