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Tom Richert
Tom’s coaching as a member of RisingTerrain LLC equips enterprise and project teams to magnify their impact through higher levels of performance. His focus is on helping team members connect personal aspirations with team purpose, cultivate a shared leadership culture, and build new capabilities for peak results; all aligned with an aspirational impact meaningful to the team. This alignment is fundamental to cultivating the mood of ambition necessary to maintain the rigor lean practices require.
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Why Use the Last Planner System
As a superintendent, The Last Planner System is the most useful tool in my tool box. It forms the structure that allows me to develop a culture of trust and respect within my project teams. Allowing everyone involved in the project to feel like a valued part of a team that looks out for each other and works together for what is best for the project.
An Abridged History of the Last Planner System®
Lean principles and practices initially developed independently within the construction industry. The early contributors to Lean Construction include Greg Howell, who learned the value of collaborative work from the commanding officer of a construction battalion on which he served.
What is the Last Planner System?
Its full name is the Last Planner System® of Production Control. Production control is necessary on projects to support working toward planned accomplishments, doing what can be done to move along a planned path, and when that becomes impossible, determine alternative paths that accomplish desired goals.
Daily Huddle 101
A superintendent once told me that he did not need a daily huddle. He was confident that he already knew everything that was happening on the project. I explained to him that the huddle was not for him. It was for the people leading the field crews.
The History of Lean Construction - Part 1
It was hot, humid, and downright unbearable that afternoon in the Southeast Asia jungle. But despite the stickiness and frayed nerves, the construction battalion’s work needed to get done.
The History of Lean Construction - Part 2
In 2002, at a meeting of the Project Management Institute in Seattle, Greg Howell presented a paper he had co-written with Lauri Koskela in which they compared the Last Planner System with the Critical Path Method.
Courageous Leadership for Highly Productive Team Cultures
A courageous leader is one who not only takes actions that instill a foundation of trust, but cocreates a community where the wellbeing of the humans who work there are at the core of workplace excellence.
What is the Last Planner System?
It’s full name is the Last Planner® System of Production Control. Production control is necessary on projects to support working toward planned accomplishments, doing what can be done to move along a planned path, and when that becomes impossible, determine alternative paths that accomplish desired goals.
The History of the Last Planner® System
The roots of the Last Planner® System reach back before the word “Lean” was coined by the International Motor Vehicle Program and made famous by the book The Machine that Changed the World.
What Can be Learned About Lean from an Arts Perspective
Have you ever thought about adding to your perspective on Lean and your Lean practices in design and construction? Most of what we understand about Lean is based on observations made by people with an engineering and scientific perspective on work.
Enthusiasm for Lean: Improving Project Team Buy-In
For many lean leaders and coaches a primary concern is obtaining the full engagement of everyone on a project team in lean practices. Despite best efforts at directing people toward lean behaviors universal lean buy-in is hard to achieve. What people are looking for is a way to create enthusiasm for lean.
Aligning The Many Voices on a Project Team as a Foundation for Lean Practices
As many have observed, lean projects need to “go slow to go fast.” One of the most effective ways to align a team for any mission, whether it’s consistent lean practices, or whatever is important to the team, is to intentionally develop a baseline of trust.
Weekly Work Planning Guide
This guide is provided to identify the essential components of a quality Weekly Work Plan along with additional actions that strengthen the value of the practice.
Rising Terrain Daily Huddle Guide
The Daily Huddle is a fundamental coordination practice that keeps people alerted to the current state of planned work and how that work may have been influenced by unplanned events. For project teams implementing the Last Planner System® the Daily Huddle serves as an initial step to learning to plan work more reliably.
A Practical Planning Strategy for Reducing Project Time 20 Percent
A 20% schedule reduction is consistent with the performance observed by me on a range of projects. One example is the Lakewood Family Health Center project. The team delivered the 65,000-sf Emergency Services / Medical Office Building facility with an initial schedule of 19 months in 14 months, a 24% savings of time.
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.