A Beginner’s Guide to Learning about Lean Construction

In this blog post, I will share my guide for beginners. I will focus exclusively on what a beginners needs to focus on during the first 6 months of their lean journey.

High-Performance Leadership #7 - The Structure of Stakeholder Engagement

The traditional project management approach assumes that decisions should be made by top managers in each of the various trade and technical/managerial disciplines. When decisions affect others we assume that senior leaders will use their expertise to sell others on their ideas.

Construction’s 9th Waste – Conflict!

As Construction companies throughout the US and Canada focus on implementing Lean Construction methods to reduce Lean’s 8 wastes, more focus is needed on the construction industry’s 9th waste – Conflict!

Creating Flow in Pull Planning for Design

Pull Planning is used in Lean Design to plan and organize work to maximize efficiency and minimize waste. It involves setting specific goals and objectives for a project and then breaking those goals down into smaller tasks that can be completed in a specific order.

Capital Project Owner Decisionmaking is a Shared Responsibility

A common complaint on capital projects is that owners cannot quickly make decisions, and this delays progress on work. This is particularly true on projects where the ownership group includes multiple stakeholders that must align on key parts of the project design.

Better use of Data makes better Managers

One Wall Street CEO claimed, “That today’s businesses are drowning in data.” Managers have more data than ever before and more powerful computers to crunch the data, but they still lack the ability to turn the measures into meaningful actions.

You can't be successful with lean design and construction without being part of a community

If you have been practicing lean design and construction for several years, you will realize the importance of being part of a community. Why is community involvement crucial?

Emerging Digital Tools for Visual Management in Lean Construction

Lean manufacturing principles emphasize visual management as a means of improving productivity, identifying problems, and encouraging continuous improvement in construction sites. Traditionally, visual management has relied on manual tools such as a whiteboard, charts, and posters.

High-Performance Leadership #6 - Stakeholder Engagement

Even great facilitation skills are not enough if you can’t get the right people together to address the right issues at the right time. We need sound agreements that drive action.