Now, let’s change seats. Pretend you are the Superintendent. You have been doing this for years, and maybe even for decades, you always bring the project in on time somehow, and you always have control. Now, someone on your team, after one training, is telling you in mild tones that you are doing it wrong, and that command and control is bad. “What in the world just happened?” you think to yourself. “Why would having control of the project be bad?” The fact is that Supers are placed into difficult, if not brutal situations with unruly trades, insufficient project budgets, unrealistic deadlines, and a lack of resources. They not only have to keep control; they are incentivized financially to do so. No one will ever know the stress of being a Super unless they have been one.
So, here is our problem. Supers must maintain control to survive, and everyone else wants them to give it up. What is to be done? That answer is two-fold. More training for Superintendents who have been largely ignored for a century now, and using and having a better understanding of the right system on site. What is needed is an Integrated Control System, not command and control. Integrated Control is the collaboration and decision making of an integrated team who then acts with total participation to create control, stability, and flow on the project. This is the way! One person deciding and controlling is not the way, and neither is team collaboration with chaos in the field because there is no control. A good job is a clean job. A good job is organized. A good job is safe, lean, and stable, and a good job has total participation. Yes, a Super must have control of his project, but must do it with the team, and through the team.
To do this, we must have training and awareness. There is little or no training, at least in book form, for Superintendents, and yet there are countless books and trainings for project managers of all types. There are even books for field engineers, the position just before getting to a Super role, but still, nothing remains for the career Superintendent. Until Now! Elevating Construction Superintendents was written as a first in a series of books titled, “The Art of the Builder.” The first book, which is out now on Audible, Amazon, and Kindle, provides fundamental training for Superintendents. Other books now available:
-Elevating Construction Takt Planning
-Elevating Construction Field Engineers
-Elevating Construction Senior Superintendents
-Elevating Construction Foremen
-Elevating Construction Surveyors
To name a few. The concepts in the first book will teach and enable Supers to respect people and resources, create stability on their projects, successfully work with an integrated team, and to continuously improve. Builders who have read and implemented this have cleaner, safer, and more organized projects, with better schedules, and healthier and happier environments and cultures. This comes from a fundament understanding of builder principles, and the ability to implement step-by-step on their project as guided by the book.
Supers will be taught to:
Be Involved with Intentional Pre-construction Efforts
Write Lean into Contracts
Win over the Workforce
Build the Project Management Team First
Orient People Well
Design Remarkable Interaction Spaces
Create Self-sustaining Logistics Systems
Use the Meeting Systems to Scale Communication
Stabilized Procurement & Deliveries
Implement an Effective Quality Program
Being a Daily Issue Correction System
Manage a Roadblock Removal System
Implement Zero Tolerance
And, Grade contractors
The Integrated Control System presumes that the project team’s first priority is to create respect and stability for the workers, and that from there, they can then continuously improve.
Workers need to know/have:
What s/he is building
How to install it
Where to put it
The materials
The equipment
A clean environment
A safe environment
In order to succeed.
The Last Planner System has changed the industry for the better. What kind of builders will enter and use that system? The answer is Lean Builders that know The Art of the Builder. Take this journey with us as we prepare the next generation to lead remarkably in construction.
About:
Jason Schroeder is a former Field Operations and Project Director. He has worked as a construction leader for 22 years through positions that range from field engineer, to project superintendent, general superintendent, and field operations director. He is the Owner and Lead Consultant at Elevate Construction IST, a company focused on elevating construction from coast to coast by providing insights, solutions, and training that create respect in the field, through trained leaders, which ultimately preserves and protects families in construction. He is the creator of the Field Engineer Boot Camp and Superintendent Boot Camp, which are immersive courses that train field leadership. He is a husband, and a father of eleven. Their family has focused their finances, time, and future to serving others in construction through their business.
Jason has been involved with Lean since 2011 when he was introduced to it through Paul Aker’s book, 2 Second Lean. Since then, he has experimented with lean as a superintendent, general super, and director on multiple projects. His training includes a DBIA certification, CM-BIM certification, CM-Leancertification, Lean Leader Certification through Leancor, and multiple training courses for professional development. Hundreds of books later, and through practical implementation, Jason has been able to scale operational excellence from project to project, and throughout entire companies. Jason is an expert on Takt Planning, Team Balance & Health, Personal Organization, Field Engineering, and what he calls The Integrated Control System. Jason hosts a podcast, The Elevate Construction Podcast, a blog through elevateconstructionist.com, and trains, consults, and coaches throughout the country.
If you want to learn more we have:
-Takt Virtual Training: (Click here)
-Check out our Youtube channel for more info: (Click here)
-Listen to the Elevate Construction podcast: (Click here)
-Check out our training programs and certifications: (Click here)
–The Takt Book: (Click here)
