Strategy and Fighting the Fewest Battles

Nothing will have a bigger impact on a contractors business over the next decade than putting in a very rigorous process for strategy development and execution.

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The industry is changing rapidly due to technology, a massive shortage of management talent as well as major trends in project delivery and geographic expansion.  

Leadership Tools: Strategic Planning. A General does not plan how to win every battle; they plan how few battles they need to fight to win the war.

Strategic decisions along with the operating rhythms and the feedback mechanisms that ensure execution are the most highly leveraged decisions in the business. 

This is an area where an experienced 3rd party can add significant value.  Find someone that resonates with your team and has experience relevant to your company.  Change the facilitator every few years for fresh ideas. Unless they are really bad don’t change them every year so you have some continuity.  You might consider overlapping facilitators having the outgoing facilitator sit in on your side of the table providing additional continuity.  

Consider bringing in some of your key customers, vendors and subcontractors as part of your strategic planning process.  Whatever you do; don’t underestimate the value of this process.   

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Three Questions About Growth
A construction business can not be managed like a project even though the primary work of a contractor is building projects. There are three questions that illustrate these differences.
Management System Improvements (4 Interlinked Phases)
Many improvements fall short of expectations because steps are skipped in the earlier phases. Following these four phases will result in faster overall adoption of the changes, better outcomes, and most importantly, development of the team.
Tracking Change Progress (The Funnel): Basic Status Categories
Managing changes effectively means that you need clear visibility across all projects. While the workflow will vary by project, the key progress milestones in your internal process will remain fixed.