Managing Dependencies and Grow Profitably

As projects and contractors grow in complexity it becomes increasingly more difficult to manage all the dependencies between tasks.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share

 It is those connections between tasks and people that are often the culprit of delays rather than the actual speed of task completion itself. 

Quote: Unacknowledged dependencies remain the number one cause for project slippage. John Doerr.
  • When a business or project is simpler it can be easily managed using a task list.  
  • As it grows in complexity tools like Gantt Charts and the Critical Path Method are required for sequencing.
  • Relatively quickly you get to the point where a project or process becomes so complex that not all the dependencies can be seen by the person doing the planning and management.  
  • Even if all those dependencies could be seen by the person managing the overall project or process it is very important for the critical front-line supervisory level to deeply understand these dependencies.  

Additional tools and operating rhythms are required to develop the people that are necessary to develop the project and the company.  

Project:  The Last Planner System

Company:  Objectives & Key Results (OKR)


Learn more about how we help contractors develop the management systems required to grow their businesses profitably.




Questions for Continuous Improvement
Construction projects and business are full of unexpected outcomes - some good and some bad. How effectively teams investigate these largely determines the trajectory, sustainability, and profitability of their growth.
Over and Under Billing Metric Trend
No amount of excellence in collections will help you get close to 100% if you are continuously under-billed on your Work-in-Progress (WIP) as a whole.
Talent - Sustainably Integrating the 4 Priorities
When assessing the strategic importance of investing in your talent acquisition and development processes at the field leadership level it is important to understand the depth of the talent shortage over time.