Month: March 2026

Field Engineer Office Duties (RFIs, Submittals, Logs, And Documentation In Construction)

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 23 min

Field Engineer Office Duties (RFIs, Submittals, Logs, and Documentation in Construction)

In this blog, I’m going to talk to you about some of the office duties of a field engineer. And I do want to make the point that a project or office engineer can be field focused. So, there’s some mix there. And I want to talk to you as I start before I get to these topics about a pattern that I strongly believe in.

The Common Struggle: Assistant Superintendents Doing Engineering Tasks

I have encountered this almost countless times. That’s probably a little bit exaggerated, but where an assistant or area superintendent is overwhelmed because they are doing the job of the engineers. And I remember Dan Denen and Mike Redman from Hensel Phelps had really neat lists. They were general superintendents of a project in trouble. And one of the signs was that a leader is doing lower-level work.

Not that they’re not willing to, meaning they’re humble and they will if they need to, but consistently doing somebody else’s work. And that’s a problem.

If the Project Is Dirty, Superintendents Are Distracted

Let me just say this. If the project is dirty, there’s chaos, it’s unorganized, people are not safe, then that means that the superintendents either don’t know what they’re doing, they’re not fit for duty, or they’re distracted doing engineering tasks.

Although I’m not a huge fan of role segregation, meaning I do like overlap and cross training. I have often had to say, “Assistant superintendent, it is your job to be safety presence in the field, quality presence in the field and plan and execute work. I need these areas perfectly clean. I need them perfectly safe. I need them organized. I need the trades flowing.”

Send Trades to Field Engineers for RFIs and Submittals

If the trades are going to come and ask you questions, ask them. If it’s a request for information, if it’s a submittal question and you know your field engineers in your office and project engineers can answer it, ask them to go talk to them so that you can stay focused.

The 11 Kids Example: When It Gets Quiet, Someone’s Marking on the Walls

This is kind of a funny example, but I have a lot of kids, 11 kids. That’s a real story. They’re all mine and Kate’s. We pay taxes. They’re insured, so there’s no need to judge me. I take them out on the weekends all by myself. Or as Jack Sparrow said, “Oh, buy me onesies.” Like, I am a jamming dad. Like, I freaking love it.

Here’s what I’ve noticed. In my house, it’s noisy and chaotic. In fact, when I go on trips, I have to play like rain sounds, like white noise to fall asleep because I’m used to the noise. And in my house, if it gets quiet, I’m like, “Wait, what? What is going on?” And I’m like, “Okay.” And I’m going to go check. And sure enough, the kids are marking on the walls with markers or crayons, and they’re quiet because they don’t want to get caught.

Now, trades are not children, and I’m not disparaging anybody, but a superintendent’s got to be focused for when things get quiet and people are marking on the walls. Like, we have to have a presence, a leader in the field.

Field Engineers Free Up Time for Field Supervisors

And so, we must have field engineers and office and project engineers at the ready to do their job so that we can free up some time for field supervisors.

So, let’s talk about it.

RFIs: Field Engineers Write, Submit, and Post

A field engineer will 100 million billion trillion percent engage in writing and submitting and posting an RFI. In fact, when I was a field engineer, I loved and that was back before we did it digitally. I’d get my templates out, my little circle template, square templates, and my compass, and I would draw. I loved posting drawings. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s just that meticulous side of me.

Anyway, so like a field engineer will, especially because they’re doing lift drawings. You’re going to find missing information and then you need to write, submit, and post those RFIs. Now, some people will think it’s all the project engineer or all the office engineer’s duty. If you train the field engineer properly, there’s no reason they can’t do RFIs.

Submittals: Field Engineers Track, Review, Submit, and Distribute

The other thing is if the field engineer is assigned a specific task, they can track and then review and then submit and then distribute submittals. But I don’t find this happening all the time. But like they will review the submittals and it will go back into their lift drawings.

So, field engineers have a key part to play in there because submittals are a part of lifting information from other locations and putting it into that single drawing.

Trend Charts: Tracking Concrete Yardage and Progress

The other thing is I remember this very vividly. The first project I was ever on was a massive prison. I wasn’t in prison. I was helping build a prison. But the trend chart was tracking concrete. I thought it was like 65,000 cubic yard. It was something crazy. And then we had that so the amount of yardage was on the y-axis and time was on the x-axis.

And I remember tracking that trend chart all the way to the end and working with the super. That was one of the office duties that I very much appreciated because field engineers are in charge of quantity takeoffs and doing quantity surveys and making sure that we’re tracking progress in the field. So, the trend chart responsibility was really neat office duty.

As-Builts: Critical for CFO, Don’t Lose Them

And then as-builts. As-builts obviously for working with trade partners for surveying the inverts of lines locations, as-builting the coordinates of underground utilities, as-builts anything required by the authority having jurisdiction making sure that those are done.

Let me tell you just a quick story. I remember a project that was done beautifully and the project was about to finish a week early and the owner was just like a raving fan client. But the fields and I had nothing to do with this so I’m not blaming, Jocko Willink would not be mad at me, but they lost 50% of the sewer and underground storm drain as-builts.

So, they actually didn’t get their CFO week early. They actually had to go rip out hardscape and landscape. I’m not making fun of it, but rip out landscape and hardscape and go do new invert shots with a professional surveyor and get all of those done professionally and detailed out and then submit those to the city and then finally finished right on time.

It’s very frustrating, but as-built, we got to make sure that all of those are ready for CFO. In that case, you can finish properly and we have a happy owner.

Here’s what field engineers do in the office:

  • RFIs: field engineers write, submit, and post because they’re doing lift drawings – Field engineer will 100 million billion trillion percent engage in writing and submitting and posting RFI. Back before did it digitally, get templates out, little circle template, square templates, compass, draw. Loved posting drawings. Field engineer will, especially because they’re doing lift drawings. Going to find missing information and then need to write, submit, and post those RFIs. Some people will think it’s all project engineer or all office engineer’s duty. If train field engineer properly, there’s no reason they can’t do RFIs.
  • Submittals: field engineers track, review, submit, distribute and put info into lift drawings – If field engineer assigned specific task, they can track and then review and then submit and then distribute submittals. Don’t find this happening all the time. But they will review submittals and it will go back into their lift drawings. Field engineers have key part to play because submittals are part of lifting information from other locations and putting it into that single drawing.
  • Trend charts: track concrete yardage, quantity takeoffs, quantity surveys, progress – First project was massive prison. Trend chart was tracking concrete. Like 65,000 cubic yard. Amount of yardage was on y-axis and time was on x-axis. Remember tracking that trend chart all the way to end and working with super. One of office duties very much appreciated because field engineers in charge of quantity takeoffs and doing quantity surveys and making sure tracking progress in field. Trend chart responsibility really neat office duty.
  • As-builts: inverts of lines, underground utilities coordinates, anything required by AHJ for CFO – As-builts obviously for working with trade partners for surveying inverts of lines locations, as-builting coordinates of underground utilities, as-builts anything required by authority having jurisdiction making sure those are done. Project was about to finish week early, owner raving fan client, but they lost 50% of sewer and underground storm drain as-builts. Actually, didn’t get CFO week early. Had to go rip out hardscape and landscape and go do new invert shots with professional surveyor and get all those done professionally and detailed out and submit to city and finally finished right on time. Got to make sure all those ready for CFO.
  • Free up superintendents for field presence: send trades to FEs for RFI and submittal questions – Assistant superintendent overwhelmed because doing job of engineers. Sign project in trouble: leader doing lower-level work. If project dirty, chaos, unorganized, people not safe, superintendents either don’t know what doing, not fit for duty, or distracted doing engineering tasks. Assistant superintendent job: safety presence in field, quality presence in field, plan and execute work. Need areas perfectly clean, perfectly safe, organized, trades flowing. If trades going to ask questions, if RFI, if submittal question and know field engineers and project engineers can answer it, ask them go talk to them so can stay focused.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

A Challenge for Field Engineers

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Take on your office duties to free up superintendents for field presence. Write, submit, and post RFIs. Especially because you’re doing lift drawings, going to find missing information. If train properly, there’s no reason you can’t do RFIs.

Track, review, submit, and distribute submittals. Review submittals and put it back into lift drawings. Submittals are part of lifting information from other locations and putting it into that single drawing. Track trend charts. Quantity takeoffs, quantity surveys, making sure tracking progress in field. Y-axis is amount, x-axis is time. Track all the way to end working with super.

Make sure as-builts are done. Surveying inverts of lines locations, as-builting coordinates of underground utilities, anything required by authority having jurisdiction. Make sure all those ready for CFO. Don’t lose them and have to rip out hardscape and landscape to redo invert shots.

Send trades to you for RFI and submittal questions so superintendents can stay focused. Superintendents need to be safety presence in field, quality presence in field, plan and execute work. Need areas perfectly clean, perfectly safe, organized, trades flowing. As we say at Elevate, field engineer office duties: RFIs, submittals, trend charts, as-builts. Free up superintendents for field presence. Balance office work with field duties.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should field engineers write RFIs?

Yes. Field engineer will 100 million billion trillion percent engage in writing and submitting and posting RFI. Especially because they’re doing lift drawings. Going to find missing information and then need to write, submit, and post those RFIs. If train field engineer properly, there’s no reason they can’t do RFIs.

What do field engineers do with submittals?

If field engineer assigned specific task, they can track and then review and then submit and then distribute submittals. They will review submittals and it will go back into their lift drawings. Field engineers have key part to play because submittals are part of lifting information from other locations and putting it into that single drawing.

What are trend charts for field engineers?

Track concrete yardage, quantity takeoffs, quantity surveys, making sure tracking progress in field. Amount of yardage on y-axis and time on x-axis. Track all the way to end working with super. Field engineers in charge of quantity takeoffs and quantity surveys.

Why are as-builts critical?

For working with trade partners for surveying inverts of lines locations, as-builting coordinates of underground utilities, anything required by authority having jurisdiction. Got to make sure all those ready for CFO. Don’t lose them or will have to rip out hardscape and landscape to redo invert shots.

How do field engineers free up superintendents?

If trades going to ask questions, if RFI, if submittal question and know field engineers and project engineers can answer it, ask them go talk to them so superintendent can stay focused. Superintendent needs to be safety presence in field, quality presence in field, plan and execute work.

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)

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

Meet Jason Schroeder, the driving force behind Elevate Construction IST. As the company’s owner and principal consultant, he’s dedicated to taking construction to new heights. With a wealth of industry experience, he’s crafted the Field Engineer Boot Camp and Superintendent Boot Camp – intensive training programs engineered to cultivate top-tier leaders capable of steering their teams towards success. Jason’s vision? To expand his training initiatives across the nation, empowering construction firms to soar to unprecedented levels of excellence.

On we go

Field Engineer Duties In Construction (Responsibilities And Daily Checklist)

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 22 min

Field Engineer Duties in Construction (Responsibilities and Daily Checklist)

I’m excited about this topic because I have done a day in the life of a field engineer, but in this one, I’m going to do a day in the life of a field engineer for the different phases. So, I’m just going to get right into it.

Planning Phase: Most of Your Time in the Office

When you’re in pre-construction and you’re in project planning before the job starts, let me just get this for the whole thing here. Let’s just assume this is like 6:00 a.m. This is noon. This is the end of the day. If I put an end of the day, everybody would kill me on YouTube, so I’m not going to do that. But this is like the full day.

If you’re a field engineer in the planning phase, when you get into the office, you’re going to want to get some good quiet time. I’m just going to label this as production. And if you are with a team, this is going to be your check-in time. You might have a couple of meetings throughout the day. So, I’ll write down meetings. And this is pertinent information. I want you to know.

For the most part, you are going to do office work. So, you’re mostly doing lift drawings, and you’re mostly doing primary control activities, meaning like you’re detailing it out in Civil 3D or AutoCAD. And you could have this be office work, and I’ll say slash primary secondary work and control establishment.

By the way, this is a part of a 20-video series. In a previous blog, I talked about the job startup activities. And so really, most of this is job startup and getting it ready. So, you’re going to spend a lot of time in the office.

Concrete Phase: Work Everything Around Placements

Now, when you’re in job startup, you’re in the concrete phase. This gets a little bit different. And I think I’m going to bless you right now because I’m going to use my blue marker, and I’m going to also mention some of the things that you’ll experience, especially during concrete.

So, first of all, it’s probably not just six. You’re probably going to have shift work where you come in a little bit earlier. But a lot of what’s going to happen here is that mainly you’ve got to have a time in the afternoon to plan the next day. So, this is your planning time.

If you’re out doing concrete, chances are you’re going to be doing the concrete placement support early morning, if you’re doing placement. So I’ll write placement. If that is the case, then it would be later on in the day when you came in and you worked on lift drawings and when you did layout and control.

Non-Placement Days: Quiet Time for Lift Drawings, Then Layout

But I want to contrast that to non-placement days. You are probably going to want to get in here a little bit earlier. And work on, before you get bothered, lift drawings, and then go out and spend your time throughout the rest of the day doing layout.

And by the way, that planning meeting does extend. And make sure that you get as much quiet time as you possibly can to study these drawings. In fact, some job sites, even though it was early, like pretty early, I was like, you might come in at 4:00 a.m., 4:30, 5:00 a.m., where it’s super quiet and you can focus, focus, focus, and then go out when you get a little bit more tired and you’re moving and your blood’s moving.

The reason I move these to like mid-day and later day is because when you’re out in the field, yes, you’re a bit tired, but you’re keeping your brain awake through the blood circulation. So that’s planning and concrete.

Interiors Phase: Zone Control Walks and Inspections

And then, when you’re in the interiors, let’s say that you’re moving through that building, one of the things that you’ll really want to do is obviously attend the morning worker huddle. So, I will just write worker.

And then you will want to help the superintendent with what’s called zone control walks. That means wherever there’s a handoff from zone to zone, you are going to go help the lead person or the assistant superintendent to make sure that we’re clearing the way out ahead of the trade partners in their wagon or task, and that we’re punching as we go.

No Massive Punch List at the End: Punch as You Go

None of this punch list at the end of the job. In fact, I can just go ahead and say that right now. We do not want a massive punch list. I’m going to delete that from field engineers’ tasks. Now, there is some amount of punch list, incomplete work list, if like something’s missing. But basically, if we have a contractor working in a zone about to finish, let’s have them punch it out right there.

So zone control. And then what you’ll spend most of your time doing is in work prep and inspections. You’re talking about in-wall, above-ceiling inspections and solving problems with the trade partners. And then in the afternoon, obviously, you have your planning and prep for the next day.

This is a little bit easier on the soul than concrete because you have a little bit more balance to your schedule. But the bottom line is what we need to do is make sure that we’re adjusting to each of these different phases.

Here’s the daily routine by phase:

  • Planning phase: office work, lift drawings, primary/secondary control establishment – In planning phase, when get into office, want to get some good quiet time. Production time. If with team, check-in time. Might have couple meetings throughout day. For most part, going to do office work. Mostly doing lift drawings, mostly doing primary control activities, meaning detailing it out in Civil 3D or AutoCAD. Office work slash primary secondary work and control establishment. This is job startup and getting it ready. Spend lot of time in office.
  • Concrete phase placement days: early morning placement support, later day lift drawings and layout – Probably have shift work where come in little bit earlier. Mainly got to have time in afternoon to plan next day. Planning time. If out doing concrete, chances are doing concrete placement support early morning, if doing placement. If that case, then later on in day when came in and worked on lift drawings and when did layout and control.
  • Concrete phase non-placement days: 4-5am quiet time for lift drawings, then layout rest of day – Non-placement days: probably want to get in here little bit earlier. Work on, before get bothered, lift drawings, then go out and spend time throughout rest of day doing layout. Planning meeting does extend. Get as much quiet time as possibly can to study drawings. Some job sites, might come in at 4:00 a.m., 4:30, 5:00 a.m., where super quiet and can focus, focus, focus, then go out when get little bit more tired and moving and blood’s moving. When out in field, yes bit tired, but keeping brain awake through blood circulation.
  • Interiors phase: morning worker huddle, zone control walks, in-wall/above-ceiling inspections – In interiors, moving through building, really want to attend morning worker huddle. Then want to help superintendent with zone control walks. Wherever handoff from zone to zone, going to go help lead person or assistant superintendent to make sure clearing way out ahead of trade partners in their wagon or task, punching as we go. Spend most of time in work prep and inspections. In-wall, above-ceiling inspections and solving problems with trade partners. Then in afternoon, planning and prep for next day.
  • No massive punch list at end: punch as you go in each zone – None of this punch list at end of job. Do not want massive punch list. Delete that from field engineers’ tasks. Some amount of punch list, incomplete work list, if something’s missing. But basically, if have contractor working in zone about to finish, let’s have them punch it out right there. Zone control.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Summary: Adjust to Each Phase

And let me make this board a little bit prettier. I always get self-conscious about the boards. Planning phase, just to summarize, which you’re not supposed to do on YouTube, I’m sorry, is you’re going to spend most of your time in the office. In the concrete phase, you’re going to work everything around your placements. And if you have free time, you’re going to focus on the production of lift drawings in your quiet times. And then, when you’re in the interiors, you’re going to spend much of your time in zone control and helping with inspections.

This is a nice framework, and I think this will do you well.

Field Engineers Are Not Just for Self-Perform

This also goes back to the point that field engineers are not just for self-perform. They’re also for planning, and they’re also for the rest of the building. And you can add, you know, civil site work, central utility plants, roof exterior. It all applies here. These are the three frameworks.

A Challenge for Field Engineers

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Identify which phase you’re in and adjust your daily routine accordingly.

If you’re in planning phase, spend most of your time in office. Do office work. Mostly lift drawings, mostly primary control activities, detailing it out in Civil 3D or AutoCAD. Primary secondary work and control establishment. This is job startup and getting it ready.

If you’re in concrete phase on placement days, do concrete placement support early morning. Later on in day, work on lift drawings and layout and control. Have time in afternoon to plan next day.

If you’re in concrete phase on non-placement days, get in early. Work on lift drawings before you get bothered. Then go out and spend time throughout rest of day doing layout. Get as much quiet time as possibly can to study drawings. Maybe come in at 4:00 a.m., 4:30, 5:00 a.m., where super quiet and can focus.

If you’re in interiors phase, attend morning worker huddle. Help superintendent with zone control walks. Wherever handoff from zone to zone, help lead person or assistant superintendent make sure clearing way out ahead of trade partners, punching as we go. Spend most of time in work prep and inspections. In-wall, above-ceiling inspections and solving problems with trade partners. Planning and prep for next day in afternoon.

No massive punch list at end of job. If have contractor working in zone about to finish, have them punch it out right there. Zone control. As we say at Elevate, field engineer daily routine by phase: planning (office work, lift drawings, control), concrete (placements, layout), interiors (zone control, inspections).

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do field engineers do in the planning phase?

Spend most of time in office. Do office work. Mostly lift drawings, mostly primary control activities, detailing it out in Civil 3D or AutoCAD. Primary secondary work and control establishment. This is job startup and getting it ready.

What’s the daily routine on concrete placement days?

Probably have shift work where come in little bit earlier. Got to have time in afternoon to plan next day. If out doing concrete, doing concrete placement support early morning. Later on in day, work on lift drawings and layout and control.

What’s the daily routine on concrete non-placement days?

Want to get in here little bit earlier. Work on lift drawings before get bothered. Then go out and spend time throughout rest of day doing layout. Get as much quiet time as possibly can to study drawings. Maybe come in at 4-5am where super quiet and can focus.

What do field engineers do in the interiors phase?

Attend morning worker huddle. Help superintendent with zone control walks. Wherever handoff from zone to zone, help make sure clearing way out ahead of trade partners, punching as we go. Spend most of time in work prep and inspections. In-wall, above-ceiling inspections and solving problems with trade partners.

Should there be a massive punch list at the end?

No. Do not want massive punch list. If have contractor working in zone about to finish, have them punch it out right there. Zone control. None of this punch list at end of job.

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)

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

Meet Jason Schroeder, the driving force behind Elevate Construction IST. As the company’s owner and principal consultant, he’s dedicated to taking construction to new heights. With a wealth of industry experience, he’s crafted the Field Engineer Boot Camp and Superintendent Boot Camp – intensive training programs engineered to cultivate top-tier leaders capable of steering their teams towards success. Jason’s vision? To expand his training initiatives across the nation, empowering construction firms to soar to unprecedented levels of excellence.

On we go

Safety Leadership For Field Engineers (How To Influence Job Site Safety In Construction)

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 20 min

Safety Leadership for Field Engineers (How to Influence Job Site Safety in Construction)

Those of us who grew up at companies where there were field engineers learned about safety in the field engineering position. And it’s a mix of awkward, meaning you’re this young punk kid, and a mix of awesomeness because you’re working with crews that you love. And it’s this time to develop some bravery and really go out there and get it done.

And so, I’m going to talk to you about how a field engineer can affect safety because I always talk about field engineers helping with frontline quality and frontline safety.

Field Engineers Keep Track of Inner Office Safety Items

So, this is just the way I think. Let’s say that you have job site trailers. Field engineers are great at keeping track of the inner office items like your AED, making sure that it’s inspected, keeping track of fire extinguishers. I remember my first general superintendent put me in charge of that. I was great at it. I would keep them charged, inspected, order more.

Safety supplies. Probably don’t let me order safety glasses. I’ll get carried away. But I’m just kidding. Help under the direction of the supers and PM with the emergency response plan with any other standard documentation. The right to know area, SDS’s, like the overall office safety items, are a great task for a field engineer to be in charge of. I love it.

OSHA 10 and OSHA 30: Making Sure the Basics Are Implemented

Now the basics of OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 in the United States, when that field engineer goes out, like we are making sure that the basics are implemented. That means everybody on the site should be wearing their hard hats and safety glasses. They should be wearing their vests. They should have their proper clothing, have the right work boots, gloves, when necessary, the whole nine.

Field Engineers Are Our Safety Presence in the Field

And I want to make this point, field engineers and area superintendents or assistant superintendents are our safety presence in the field. In fact, I remember a time before I moved on to do other things, but at Hensel Phelps, where on projects they said they wanted a calendar with your safety presence in the field, and they would time block when they knew folks would be out and about.

So, there was never a time when a project delivery team member wasn’t out on the job site, and if they saw a gap, they were like, “Woo, we can’t do that, we got to make sure that we have safety presence in the field,” and they would identify that so there was always somebody out there. A field engineer is great for safety presence in the field.

Field Engineers Watch for Handrails, Tie-Off Points, Safety Signage

The other thing is it’s very easy for field engineers to look at things like handrail and make sure that that’s in place, that people are using proper tie-off points, that we have proper safety signage throughout the building. And basically, what I’m looking at is like we’re going to be looking at falls, trips, caught between equipment, electrocution, so they can watch for lockout tagout programs. I mean, anything there and above.

So not only are they watching from a supportive standpoint the on-site team and humans, but we’re also looking at the environment and we’re looking at processes and we’re looking at systems.

See It, Fix It, Act: Field Engineers on Field Walks

And so, a field engineer should be OSHA 10, OSHA 30 trained. And when they’re out there doing their walk, they see something, they do something. They see it, they fix it. They see it, they act.

The best way that I’ve seen this done, there’s a couple different ways. They need to get the training. But the other thing is they need to be part of field walks with the supers and sometimes with the safety professionals for training purposes. Through training and field walks, you can teach the field engineers to start to see the key items that we want them to see and be our eyes in the field.

J.W. Bowser Had Runners: Field Engineers Are Your Eyes and Ears

And I remember reading a book called Building the Empire State, and I think the lead superintendent’s name was J.W. Bowser. Oh yeah, I think I got that right. And he had runners. Like, it was such a big project. He couldn’t be everywhere, especially back in those days. And they didn’t have drones. So, they’re your eyes and ears in the field.

And we’ve got to teach these field engineers to be strong when it comes to safety in the field.

The Biggest Mistake in Construction: Weak Supers

And I’ll tell you why. The biggest mistake in construction is weak supers. We cannot have weak supers that are wimpy when it comes to cleanliness, wimpy when it comes to safety, wimpy when it comes to organization.

And if we wire a field engineer’s brain this way from day one, they will be wired and they will be on top of it when they’re a superintendent, when it matters, and they will learn to not tolerate it.

So, the best thing we can do is get field engineers out there helping us to do what they’re capable of doing to enforce, remind, and coach, and hold the line for safety.

Here’s how field engineers ensure frontline safety:

  • Office safety items: AED, fire extinguishers, safety supplies, emergency response plan, SDS’s – Field engineers great at keeping track of inner office items like your AED, making sure inspected, keeping track of fire extinguishers. Keep them charged, inspected, order more. Safety supplies. Help under direction of supers and PM with emergency response plan with any other standard documentation. Right to know area, SDS’s, overall office safety items are great task for field engineer to be in charge of.
  • OSHA 10 and OSHA 30: everybody wearing hard hats, safety glasses, vests, proper clothing, work boots, gloves – Basics of OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 in United States, when field engineer goes out, making sure basics are implemented. Everybody on site should be wearing their hard hats and safety glasses. Should be wearing their vests. Should have their proper clothing, have right work boots, gloves, when necessary, whole nine.
  • Safety presence in the field: calendar time-blocked, never a gap without PDT member on site – Field engineers and area superintendents or assistant superintendents are our safety presence in field. At Hensel Phelps, on projects wanted calendar with your safety presence in field, would time block when knew folks would be out and about. Never time when project delivery team member wasn’t out on job site, if saw gap, “We can’t do that, got to make sure have safety presence in field,” would identify that so always somebody out there. Field engineer great for safety presence in field.
  • Handrails, tie-off points, safety signage: watch for falls, trips, caught between, electrocution, lockout tagout – Very easy for field engineers to look at things like handrail and make sure that’s in place, people using proper tie-off points, have proper safety signage throughout building. Going to be looking at falls, trips, caught between equipment, electrocution, watch for lockout tagout programs, anything there and above. Not only watching from supportive standpoint on-site team and humans, also looking at environment and looking at processes and looking at systems.
  • See it, fix it, act: OSHA trained, field walks with supers and safety professionals – Field engineer should be OSHA 10, OSHA 30 trained. When out there doing their walk, see something, do something. See it, fix it. See it, act. Best way: need to get training. Other thing: need to be part of field walks with supers and sometimes with safety professionals for training purposes. Through training and field walks, teach field engineers to start to see key items we want them to see and be our eyes in field.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

A Challenge for Field Engineers

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Take charge of inner office safety items. Keep track of AED, make sure inspected. Keep track of fire extinguishers, keep them charged, inspected, order more. Help with emergency response plan, right to know area, SDS’s. Make sure basics are implemented on site. Everybody wearing hard hats and safety glasses. Wearing vests. Have proper clothing, right work boots, gloves when necessary.

Be safety presence in field. Time block calendar when you’ll be out and about. Never have gap without project delivery team member on job site. Always somebody out there. Look at handrails, make sure in place. People using proper tie-off points. Have proper safety signage throughout building. Watch for falls, trips, caught between equipment, electrocution, lockout tagout programs. Watch on-site team and humans, also look at environment and processes and systems. Get OSHA 10, OSHA 30 trained. When out there doing walk, see something, do something. See it, fix it. See it, act. Be part of field walks with supers and sometimes with safety professionals for training purposes. Learn to see key items, be eyes and ears in field.

Don’t be weak. Cannot have weak supers that are wimpy when it comes to cleanliness, wimpy when it comes to safety, wimpy when it comes to organization. Wire field engineer’s brain this way from day one, will be wired and on top of it when they’re superintendent, when it matters, learn to not tolerate it. As we say at Elevate, field engineers ensure frontline safety: office items, OSHA compliance, safety presence in field, handrails, tie-off points, signage. See it, fix it, act.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What office safety items should field engineers manage?

AED (make sure inspected), fire extinguishers (keep charged, inspected, order more), safety supplies, help with emergency response plan, right to know area, SDS’s. Overall office safety items are great task for field engineer to be in charge of.

What are the basics field engineers ensure on site?

OSHA 10 and OSHA 30: everybody on site wearing hard hats and safety glasses, wearing vests, have proper clothing, right work boots, gloves when necessary, whole nine. Making sure basics are implemented.

What is safety presence in the field?

Field engineers and area superintendents or assistant superintendents are safety presence in field. At Hensel Phelps, wanted calendar with safety presence, time block when folks would be out. Never time when project delivery team member wasn’t out on job site. If saw gap, identify so always somebody out there.

What safety hazards should field engineers watch for?

Handrails in place, people using proper tie-off points, proper safety signage throughout building. Falls, trips, caught between equipment, electrocution, lockout tagout programs, anything there and above. Watch on-site team and humans, also look at environment and processes and systems.

What’s the biggest mistake in construction?

Weak supers. Cannot have weak supers that are wimpy when it comes to cleanliness, wimpy when it comes to safety, wimpy when it comes to organization. Wire field engineer’s brain this way from day one, will be wired and on top of it when they’re superintendent.

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)

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

Meet Jason Schroeder, the driving force behind Elevate Construction IST. As the company’s owner and principal consultant, he’s dedicated to taking construction to new heights. With a wealth of industry experience, he’s crafted the Field Engineer Boot Camp and Superintendent Boot Camp – intensive training programs engineered to cultivate top-tier leaders capable of steering their teams towards success. Jason’s vision? To expand his training initiatives across the nation, empowering construction firms to soar to unprecedented levels of excellence.

On we go

Quality Leadership For Field Engineers (How To Prevent Defects In Construction)

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 28 min

Quality Leadership for Field Engineers (How to Prevent Defects in Construction)

I am excited about this topic because the other day, I had a very well-respected executive-level leader message me through Voxer, and I love this guy, and he was like, “Hey, my quality guy was teasing that you don’t have very many videos on quality control, and you don’t have enough videos on safety.” And my response to him was awesome. In fact, I was sitting next to Kate, and she was like, “Oh, no.” And I was like, “No, no, no. It’s going to be good.” And so, I sent a message that he loved.

Quality Assurance vs Quality Control: Cease Dependence on Inspection

I said this: when I read The Essential Deming that talks about the work of W. Edwards Deming and went to Japan, there was an interesting concept where they cease dependence on inspection. We know that the terms quality assurance are that you’re building quality from the start, that you have assurance programs, or you have built-in quality like poka-yoke, or the machines produce a quality product from the start, or the teams are trained to focus on it and will not let a defect down the line.

Quality control is inspection, checking it after the fact, and there could be rework, and you can find defects. I prefer quality assurance. I prefer quality at the source.

Safety and Quality Are Not Secondary They’re What We Do

And so, if you go to Japan and learn about Lean principles, safety and quality are a part of what we do. It’s not some secondary program, it’s not some other position, it’s the first thing that we do. In fact, Japanese companies are not goal- and finance-focused. They are quality-focused. Like, it is what we’re doing.

If it’s not safe and it’s not quality, we stop the line immediately. When I’m running my projects, when I was a superintendent or a field director or a project director, I will not do anything unless it’s beautifully safe. And if somebody’s not being safe, I do not tolerate it. I will escort them to a safe place just like I was taught at Intel, but in a very nice way.

The Bioscience Research Laboratory: Stop the Work, Rip It Out

And if it’s not quality, we don’t move any farther down the line. Anybody sees it, you push the button, pull the andon, metaphorically pull the cord, you stop the work, and we rip it out. That’s the project. It was called the Bioscience Research Laboratory. I said, “We’re not going to accept anything. So, if you think you’re going to leave it and we’re going to accept it, I will not ask the architect to accept it. If it’s a column that’s out of plumb, I’m ripping it out.”

And we held to that consistently. And so, I have it as a base, as a quality assurance-type thing, not as a post-inspection-type thing. And so that is the philosophy here.

Field Engineers Are Frontline: Prevent Quality Problems Before They Happen

And when it comes to field engineers, field engineers are frontline with crews to make sure that we don’t have quality problems after the fact. Do we do some after-the-fact checking? Sure. But a field engineer can get ahead of it, especially with checklists, because there’s not much difference between concrete getting hard and gray and us covering a wall with drywall. They’re getting covered.

But if we use our checklist before they’re covered, we won’t have to rip out concrete or drywall later. So there’s a couple of checklists that I want to really advocate for.

Placement Check Cards: Lift Drawing Plus Checklist

The lift drawing. Let me just use a wall. I love using wall examples. Let’s say that you have a wall form, and you have your walk plank with your handrail on the side, and you’re about to place concrete, and you got rebar coming up, and you’re jamming out, right? And it’s on a footing. You know, you got your stuff, and you’re going to climb up the ladder that’s extended 3 feet above, and it’s secured top and bottom, and it’s at a 4:1, and you’re going to go up there, and you’re going to inspect, right?

You’re going to take two things. You’re going to take the lift drawing, and you’re going to take your placement check card. I call it placement because concrete fanatics do not like the word “pour,” and I love them, and I’m a concrete human. I grew up doing concrete. We don’t pour it. We place it and vibrate it where it goes.

So the lift drawing will check the components, and you’re going to two-tape everything. You’re going to check elevations. You’re going to check plumb. You’re going to check line. But your placement check card is a checklist where you will check the normal requirements like spacing, proper ties. You’re going to have proper distance or clearance from the reinforcing to the formwork or to the earth, right? Do you have proper projection on the dowels? You know, just everything. You’re going to go through each of these one by one.

If We Get in a Hurry, Checklists Are First to Go Don’t Let Them

If we get in a hurry, this is the first thing to go, and it’s the last thing. You do not place that until we know it’s right because it’s going to get hard and gray. It’s going to be 10 times minimum the original cost, 12 times the original cost to rip it out and fix it than it would be to just get it right in the first place.

And I do want to say, for new field engineers, you got to have your super, your assistant super, out there helping you when you’re doing this. You can’t just throw a new field engineer out there to do this. So, you’re going to use your placement check card. So concrete placements and masonry grouting are going in properly. So that’s your placement check.

Feature-of-Work Boards: Visual Standards for Every Trade

Your feature-of-work boards. This is beautiful. When we go for any type of scope, let’s say that on your time-by-location format, your Takt plan, you’re about to start a scope working through the different zones 1, 2, 3, 4. And that trade is going to work from zone to zone to zone. Before they get to the first one and as a part of your installation work package, I want a visual. And it’s going to have pictures and some bullets on here.

Let me give you an example. One time we did this with flooring, and we had pictures of what the different steps were for flooring, just like Paul Akers’ cleaning-the-bathroom visuals, and it had some very specific bullet points, just what the crew needed, not a lot of text, not a lot of confusion, exactly what we were looking for, and every crew had it in their hand, laminated.

This goes back to you don’t just use field engineers for self-perform. So, the placement check is for concrete and masonry. The feature-of-work board is for everything else.

Why Bury It in Procore? Create Installation Work Packages

I want one of these for every new trade starting on the site. Why not? Why would I come to a pre-construction meeting or a preparatory meeting and just bury that in Procore meeting minutes? Why would I not just have an installation work package? And why would I not have it be visual? Something that we can use for the first-in-place, follow-up, and final inspections. I would.

Here’s how field engineers ensure quality assurance:

  • Quality assurance not quality control: cease dependence on inspection – When read The Essential Deming about W. Edwards Deming and went to Japan, interesting concept: cease dependence on inspection. Quality assurance: building quality from start, have assurance programs, built-in quality like poka-yoke, machines produce quality product from start, teams trained to focus on it and will not let defect down line. Quality control is inspection, checking after fact, rework, find defects. Prefer quality assurance. Prefer quality at source.
  • Safety and quality are what we do, not secondary programs – In Japan, learn about Lean principles, safety and quality are part of what we do. Not secondary program, not other position, first thing we do. Japanese companies not goal- and finance-focused. They are quality-focused. If it’s not safe and it’s not quality, we stop line immediately. Will not do anything unless beautifully safe. If somebody not being safe, do not tolerate it. Will escort them to safe place just like taught at Intel. If it’s not quality, don’t move any farther down line. Push button, pull andon, stop work, rip it out.
  • Placement check cards: lift drawing plus checklist before concrete gets hard and gray – Take two things: lift drawing and placement check card. Call it placement because concrete fanatics do not like word “pour.” We don’t pour it. We place it and vibrate it where it goes. Lift drawing will check components, two-tape everything, check elevations, check plumb, check line. Placement check card is checklist: check normal requirements like spacing, proper ties, proper distance or clearance from reinforcing to formwork or to earth, proper projection on dowels. Go through each one by one. Do not place until we know it’s right because going to get hard and gray. 10 times minimum original cost, 12 times original cost to rip out and fix than just get it right in first place.
  • Feature-of-work boards: visual standards for every trade, not just self-perform – On Takt plan, about to start scope working through different zones 1, 2, 3, 4. Trade going to work zone to zone. Before get to first one and as part of installation work package, want visual. Pictures and bullets. Example: did this with flooring, had pictures of different steps, just like Paul Akers’ cleaning-the-bathroom visuals, very specific bullet points, just what crew needed, not lot of text, not lot of confusion, exactly what looking for, every crew had it in hand, laminated. Placement check for concrete and masonry. Feature-of-work board for everything else.
  • Use AI to condense meeting minutes into checklists – At minimum, have checklist that’s distilled down. Not asking AI to create these things from scratch. Asking AI to take all of our meeting minutes notes and AI meeting minutes notes and condense them. At least use checklist for crew to use in that zone to install that work package on that Takt time.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

The Checklist Manifesto: Live and Die by Checklists

The other thing is checklist. If you don’t have visuals, at a minimum, we used BIM 360 Field for this. I know that Procore and other software can do it, but a standard even if you don’t get to the visuals at a minimum, have a checklist that’s distilled down. And, by the way, we are not asking AI to create these things from scratch. We’re asking AI to take all of our meeting minutes notes and our AI meeting minutes notes and condense them. At least use a checklist for the crew to use in that zone to install that work package on that Takt time.

And then the last thing I want you to know is you should read The Checklist Manifesto. Anything that needs to be done right on your project, whether it’s a safety inspection or checking the porta-potties or having standard work for our pre-kit area in our logistics queuing area to checking traffic control, we should live and die by checklists.

Your Brain Cannot Keep All of This: Pilots and Doctors Use Checklists

And so, I just want you to know that field engineers love checklists, and checklists love field engineers. The human brain cannot keep all of this up in their head. And in fact, if you look at great doctors and pilots and any other, like, really professional position, you’ll notice they use checklists.

I was with a pilot flying over Canada, and I was like, “Tell me the truth about checklists.” And he’s like, “Oh my, you do not want to be up here without one of those.” They have checklists for takeoff, for landing, for emergencies. Your brain will go into panic mode, and you’ve got lizard brain. You need checklists if you want to do it right.

How would you feel if your pilot didn’t use the checklist? How would you like it if your surgeon didn’t use a checklist? You wouldn’t. Why are we any different? We’re not. Checklists are our friend.

A Challenge for Field Engineers

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Stop depending on inspection. Start building quality from the start. Quality assurance not quality control. If it’s not safe and it’s not quality, stop the line immediately. If somebody’s not being safe, escort them to a safe place. If it’s not quality, don’t move any farther down line. Push the button, pull the andon, stop the work, rip it out.

Use placement check cards. Take lift drawing and placement check card. Two-tape everything. Check elevations. Check plumb. Check line. Check spacing, proper ties, proper distance or clearance from reinforcing to formwork or to earth, proper projection on dowels. Go through each one by one. Do not place until you know it’s right. 10 times minimum original cost to rip out and fix than just get it right in first place.

Create feature-of-work boards for every new trade starting on site. Visual with pictures and bullets. Just what crew needs. Not lot of text. Not lot of confusion. Exactly what looking for. Every crew has it in hand, laminated. Use for first-in-place, follow-up, and final inspections.

Use AI to condense meeting minutes into checklists. At least use checklist for crew to use in that zone to install that work package on that Takt time. Read The Checklist Manifesto. Live and die by checklists. Human brain cannot keep all of this up in head. Pilots have checklists for takeoff, landing, emergencies. Surgeons use checklists. Why are we any different? We’re not. As we say at Elevate, quality assurance not quality control: cease dependence on inspection. Field engineers use placement check cards, feature-of-work boards, checklists upfront.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between quality assurance and quality control?

Quality assurance: building quality from start, have assurance programs, built-in quality like poka-yoke, machines produce quality product from start, teams trained to focus on it and will not let defect down line. Quality control is inspection, checking after fact, rework, find defects. Prefer quality assurance. Prefer quality at source.

What are placement check cards?

Take lift drawing and placement check card. Lift drawing checks components, two-tape everything, check elevations, plumb, line. Placement check card is checklist: spacing, proper ties, proper distance or clearance from reinforcing to formwork or earth, proper projection on dowels. Do not place until know it’s right. 10-12 times original cost to rip out and fix.

What are feature-of-work boards?

Visual with pictures and bullets for every trade. Example: flooring had pictures of different steps, just like Paul Akers’ cleaning-the-bathroom visuals, very specific bullet points, just what crew needed, not lot of text, every crew had it in hand, laminated. Placement check for concrete and masonry. Feature-of-work board for everything else.

Why should field engineers use checklists?

Human brain cannot keep all of this up in head. Great doctors and pilots and any really professional position use checklists. Pilots have checklists for takeoff, landing, emergencies. Brain will go into panic mode, got lizard brain. Need checklists if want to do it right.

How does AI help with quality checklists?

Not asking AI to create these things from scratch. Asking AI to take all of meeting minutes notes and AI meeting minutes notes and condense them. At least use checklist for crew to use in that zone to install that work package on that Takt time.

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)

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

Meet Jason Schroeder, the driving force behind Elevate Construction IST. As the company’s owner and principal consultant, he’s dedicated to taking construction to new heights. With a wealth of industry experience, he’s crafted the Field Engineer Boot Camp and Superintendent Boot Camp – intensive training programs engineered to cultivate top-tier leaders capable of steering their teams towards success. Jason’s vision? To expand his training initiatives across the nation, empowering construction firms to soar to unprecedented levels of excellence.

On we go

Weekly Work Planning Explained (How to Increase PPC and Reliability)

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 22 min

Weekly Work Planning Explained (How to Increase PPC and Reliability)

The second thing that we do in the trade partner weekly tactical is the coordination and confirmation and commitment to the weekly work plan as a filter. So, we have already looked at the macro-level Takt plan and the procurement, meaning our supply chain and our overall strategic plan are solid. Now we’re in the trade partner weekly tactical and this is all after our pull plan.

We have a production plan now and we have done a make ready lookahead planning and now it’s time to create the plan for the next week as a part of the weekly work plan. And this is one of my favorites because we must have a communicated and coordinated plan for the trade partners to execute that they helped create.

From Macro Plan to Weekly Work Plan: The Filter Process

Remember, this is our base production plan and we go to the export button to work plan. Let’s just do it for one week out. And if you’re in a rhythm where you have to have two, meaning you’re in the middle of the week, super fine.

But in this weekly work plan, it is a filter. It is not a creation. You’ve already done the pull plan and you’re already making work ready. You’re already finding and removing roadblocks. That’s crucial. We’re already doing that. We’re already on track.

And this plan will show where each of the trades committed and plan to be. And it has the handoffs showing where flow happens. It’s at the intersection of when a trade leaves a zone and pulls another trade into that zone behind them as a part of the train of trades.

Diagonal Trade Flow and Vertical Alignment

Now this can be adjusted so they’re not locked in but we want that diagonal trade flow and we want that vertical alignment. So what happens in this meeting is that in the portion of the meeting where you’re going through this either your trades can declare themselves or in whatever fashion you’d like to do it. You go line by line and the specific thing is each trade partner is confirming that they can hit these handoffs.

Track Handoffs, Not Percent Plan Complete

It’s actually a better thing to track handoffs than it is percent plan complete. You’ll have a more accurate number.

So, as you go handoff by handoff, a trade partner is saying, “Yes, I am on track.” And if they are not, the problems that you’ve already put up on the board with these red stickies or magnets, we will put another dot up here to discuss as a part of the meeting. It’s absolutely phenomenal. And we’ll go through this entire plan and make sure that everybody has committed to their handoffs or the adjustments have been made.

What a Commitment Means: Roadblock-Free, Made Ready

What it means is that each activity that is promised in the weekly work plan does not have any of these foreseeable roadblocks. If something happens in the moment, we understand. But that means the trade partner has made it ready and it is roadblock free.

And we already know from the last blog that each of these 17 items for making work ready has been considered. That trade partner when they say they can hit this handoff, they are saying that they have a roadblock free activity that is made ready where there is an installation work package prepared for that zone for that crew and they’re ready to go and they can promise to the other trade not to the GC to trade but trade to trade that they will complete that activity on time.

That then creates the final plan that everybody uses to execute in the field.

After Look Ahead and Weekly Planning: Resolve Problems

Now, I want to briefly mention that now that you’ve done your lookahead planning and your weekly work planning, you will spend the rest of the meeting resolving and solving these problems. And if the trades can solve their own problems, you just take these little stickers or the magnets off. And if you can’t solve them, it has to go to the project delivery team or be escalated.

Escalating to the Project Delivery Team Scrum Board

This is what you’ll do. Wherever this board exists, whether it’s digitally or a physical board, if there’s an issue here that can’t be solved by the foreman and the superintendent, it will go on to the project delivery team scrum board as an item in the workable backlog or if it’s urgent in the sprint backlog and it will become a part of that daily Kanban rhythm with the project delivery team or if you use Scrum so that the project delivery team can handle it at the right meeting.

And typically the project delivery team will see it in the team daily huddle where they stand up and use that Kanban board or Scrum board to actually solve problems to maintain flow for the crews in the field.

Here’s how weekly work planning increases PPC and reliability:

  • Weekly work plan is a filter, not a creation: already done pull plan, making work ready – In this weekly work plan, it is a filter. It is not a creation. You’ve already done the pull plan and you’re already making work ready. You’re already finding and removing roadblocks. That’s crucial. We’re already doing that. We’re already on track. Plan will show where each of trades committed and plan to be. Has handoffs showing where flow happens.
  • Track handoffs not percent plan complete: more accurate number – It’s actually better thing to track handoffs than it is percent plan complete. You’ll have more accurate number. As you go handoff by handoff, trade partner is saying, “Yes, I am on track.” If they are not, problems already put up on board with red stickies or magnets, will put another dot up here to discuss as part of meeting. Go through entire plan and make sure everybody has committed to their handoffs or adjustments have been made.
  • Each activity promised is roadblock-free, made ready with 17-item checklist – What it means is that each activity promised in weekly work plan does not have any of these foreseeable roadblocks. If something happens in moment, we understand. But that means trade partner has made it ready and it is roadblock free. Already know each of these 17 items for making work ready has been considered. Trade partner when they say they can hit this handoff, saying they have roadblock free activity that is made ready.
  • Trade-to-trade commitments with installation work package prepared – Installation work package prepared for that zone for that crew and they’re ready to go and they can promise to other trade not to GC to trade but trade to trade that they will complete that activity on time. That then creates final plan that everybody uses to execute in field.
  • Problems escalate to project delivery team scrum board: workable backlog or sprint backlog – If trades can solve their own problems, just take stickers or magnets off. If you can’t solve them, has to go to project delivery team or be escalated. If issue can’t be solved by foreman and superintendent, will go on to project delivery team scrum board as item in workable backlog or if urgent in sprint backlog. Become part of that daily Kanban rhythm with project delivery team. Project delivery team will see it in team daily huddle where they stand up and use Kanban board or Scrum board to actually solve problems to maintain flow for crews in field.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Strategic Planning Horizons: 6 Weeks, 3 Weeks, 1 Week, 3 Months

Let me show you one more thing before we leave this topic. The last thing I want to show you that’s super cool is the rhythm. Now this might look a little bit busy. It’s in the book Takt Steering and Control which actually explains all of this in detail. All of the meeting systems, all of the agendas are in the book Takt, Steering, and Control.

But let’s say that this is your current date. Everything a week out or it’s actually for the next week out should be a part of a weekly work plan. Everything that’s 3 weeks out should have already been through a pre-con meeting. Everything 6 weeks out should be a part of the make ready lookahead process. And everything 3 months out should be already a part of the pull planning process.

So, these are what I call strategic horizons. And the point is, if you’re starting to find problems out here, you’ve got all this time to clear those roadblocks and problems before the weekly work plan so that your weekly work plan can be roadblock free.

So that’s the utility of the weekly work plan, when it happens, and how we do it.

A Challenge for Construction Teams

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Create your weekly work plan as a filter, not a creation. You’ve already done pull plan. You’re already making work ready. You’re already finding and removing roadblocks. The plan shows where each of trades committed and plan to be. Has handoffs showing where flow happens.

Go line by line. Each trade partner confirms that they can hit these handoffs. Track handoffs not percent plan complete. You’ll have more accurate number. As you go handoff by handoff, trade partner says, “Yes, I am on track.” If they are not, put another dot up on board to discuss.

Each activity promised in weekly work plan does not have any of these foreseeable roadblocks. Trade partner has made it ready and it is roadblock free. Each of 17 items for making work ready has been considered. Installation work package prepared for that zone for that crew. Trade can promise to other trade not to GC but trade to trade that they will complete that activity on time.

If trades can solve their own problems, take stickers or magnets off. If can’t solve them, escalate to project delivery team scrum board as item in workable backlog or if urgent in sprint backlog. Becomes part of daily Kanban rhythm with project delivery team.

Remember strategic horizons: everything a week out is weekly work plan, everything 3 weeks out has been through pre-con meeting, everything 6 weeks out is make ready lookahead process, everything 3 months out is pull planning process. If starting to find problems out here, you’ve got all this time to clear roadblocks before weekly work plan so weekly work plan can be roadblock free. As we say at Elevate, weekly work planning: trade partners confirm handoffs, roadblock-free activities. Track handoffs not PPC. Strategic horizons: 6 weeks, 3 weeks, 1 week, 3 months.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the weekly work plan a creation or a filter?

It is a filter. It is not a creation. You’ve already done pull plan and already making work ready. Already finding and removing roadblocks. Already on track. Plan shows where each of trades committed and plan to be. Has handoffs showing where flow happens.

Why track handoffs instead of percent plan complete?

It’s actually better thing to track handoffs than it is percent plan complete. You’ll have more accurate number. As you go handoff by handoff, trade partner says, “Yes, I am on track.” Go through entire plan and make sure everybody committed to their handoffs or adjustments made.

What does a trade commitment mean?

Each activity promised in weekly work plan does not have any foreseeable roadblocks. Trade partner has made it ready and it is roadblock free. Each of 17 items for making work ready has been considered. Installation work package prepared for that zone for that crew. Ready to go.

Who are commitments made to: GC or other trades?

Trade to trade. Not to GC to trade but trade to trade. They can promise to other trade that they will complete that activity on time. That then creates final plan that everybody uses to execute in field.

What are the strategic planning horizons?

Everything a week out: weekly work plan. Everything 3 weeks out: pre-con meeting. Everything 6 weeks out: make ready lookahead process. Everything 3 months out: pull planning process. If starting to find problems out here, got all this time to clear roadblocks before weekly work plan.

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)

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

Meet Jason Schroeder, the driving force behind Elevate Construction IST. As the company’s owner and principal consultant, he’s dedicated to taking construction to new heights. With a wealth of industry experience, he’s crafted the Field Engineer Boot Camp and Superintendent Boot Camp – intensive training programs engineered to cultivate top-tier leaders capable of steering their teams towards success. Jason’s vision? To expand his training initiatives across the nation, empowering construction firms to soar to unprecedented levels of excellence.

On we go

Work Packages For Field Engineers (How To Make Work Installable In Construction)

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 21 min

Work Packages for Field Engineers (How to Make Work Installable in Construction)

Actually, the title should probably be work packages for crews by field engineers. But this is a really, really cool concept. I’m so excited to share it with you because installation work packages need to be our focus. Not just submittals, not just having a pre-con meeting, but an actual installation work package.

The Trade Partner Preparation Process: Six Steps

If you look at the trade partner preparation process, where you have the buyout, the pre-mobilization meeting where you basically explain to the trade what’s going to be required, and then before construction, you have your pre-con or your preparatory meeting. Then once they start work, you have your first in place inspection. Then you do your follow-up, and then you do your final.

This is what Hensel Phelps calls the six-step process, and it’s beautiful. I call it the trade partner preparation process because the trade partner right here is going to do their work, and basically, we have to plan, build, finish.

The Plan-Build-Finish Framework

The buyout meeting is where we buy out the right scope. Pre-mob is where we tell them what we want as the project delivery team. The pre-con is where we onboard and orient the foreman for the crew and make sure, we’re clear on expectations. First in place inspection is where we make sure the crew is off to the right start. Follow-up, this mainly happens with zone control. And then final, this is where you inspect before they demobilize and you reconcile any change orders. And hopefully you’re paying retainage if you are holding retainage.

And it’s all plan, build, finish. This is the core of Lean doing one thing at a time.

Field Engineers Don’t Write RFIs They Prepare Trades

And so, when we think about field engineers or project engineers or office engineers, they do not write RFIs. They do not do submittals. They prepare trades. They prepare scopes. And RFIs and submittals just happen to be tools that we use along the way.

So, there’s a definite delineation here. When we start work, we have got to be ready.

Introducing Installation Work Packages: Full Kit for Crews

So, one of the things that I have been encouraging our teams to do is to have an installation work package. And we lifted this off of best practices and some of it from advanced work packaging. But let’s say hypothetically that as a part of full kit that the crew has an installation work package when they start.

Well, where did this installation work package come from? And are we going to have a whole bunch of overhead cost to create it? We’re not oil and gas. We don’t have all that money. How are we going to do this? I have an answer for you.

How to Create an Installation Work Package: Build It During Normal Process

In this normal part of the process, we know we’re going to do buyout. So, here’s my question. Why can’t we write down any pertinent inclusions and exclusions and clarifications and just make sure that immediately and yeah, Procore is going to be met instead of having it hidden in some meeting minutes in Procore, have it immediately be added to this work package.

Now when we submit the requirements to the trade and they send us their safety plan, send us their quality plan, send us their emergency numbers, when that comes back, instead of hiding that somewhere, why don’t we just add it to the installation work package, whatever information is relevant.

That means the office engineer, project engineer, field engineer is putting relevant information that the crew needs in that package and that instead of making some random meeting notes or meeting minutes, we’re just building that package as a normal part of what we do.

Pre-Con Meeting: Add Visual Checklist and Takt Time to Package

And then the pre-construction meeting happens and we are creating a specific checklist. We have gone through and done our build your Lego sheet. We have identified our Takt time. We have some specific requirements. We have a visual. Maybe we have some manufacturers’ key considerations.

Why don’t we just put that into the work package right then and there?

Field Engineers: Add Lift Drawings to the Package

And then if there’s a lift drawing oh my gosh here’s where the field engineers come in. This is super exciting. If there’s a lift drawing or anything that the field engineers prepared, add that to the package.

And this is where I’m going to get you back, meaning get you back on my side. Mostly visual, mostly bullets, mostly simplified, not a lot of text. We have AI to help us out. Sure, we can have lots of text in the background, but we’re going to make this simple.

And this work package literally is what the crew uses, and it’s what we use for our first in place inspection, follow-up inspection, final inspection.

Hensel Phelps Red Folders: Now Digital in Canva

Now, Hensel Phelps used to call these red folders. Basically, where you were chunking it in and you would take the red folders out in the field. And I love that. But in Canva, which is one of my favorite programs, we can just start pulling this information in there automatically.

And one of these days, project management software should basically say, “Here’s a document. Do you want to add it to the work package?” There are faster ways to do it. If I was going to do this today, I would do it in Canva.

AI Cover Sheet: Most Important Things Crews Must Know Daily

And then the cover sheet of the installation work package would be the simplified summary. I would literally put the PDF into AI and say, “Please give me a cover sheet of the most important things that the crew must know that they can review on a daily basis.”

I mean, this is genius. And AI is going to help us out big time here.

Here’s how to create installation work packages:

  • Buyout meeting: add inclusions, exclusions, clarifications to work package immediately – Why can’t we write down any pertinent inclusions and exclusions and clarifications and instead of having it hidden in some meeting minutes in Procore, have it immediately be added to this work package. Normal part of process, we know we’re going to do buyout. Just make sure immediately added to work package.
  • Pre-mob meeting: add safety plan, quality plan, emergency numbers to package – When we submit requirements to trade and they send us their safety plan, send us their quality plan, send us their emergency numbers, when that comes back, instead of hiding that somewhere, why don’t we just add it to installation work package, whatever information is relevant. Office engineer, project engineer, field engineer putting relevant information crew needs in that package.
  • Pre-con meeting: add visual checklist, Takt time, manufacturers’ key considerations – Pre-construction meeting happens and we are creating specific checklist. Gone through and done our build your Lego sheet. Identified our Takt time. Some specific requirements. Have visual. Maybe have some manufacturers’ key considerations. Why don’t we just put that into work package right then and there.
  • Field engineers: add lift drawings and any preparation to package – If there’s lift drawing or anything field engineers prepared, add that to package. This is where field engineers come in. Mostly visual, mostly bullets, mostly simplified, not a lot of text. We have AI to help us out. Sure, can have lots of text in background, but going to make this simple. Work package literally what crew uses, what we use for first in place inspection, follow-up inspection, final inspection.
  • Use Canva to pull information in automatically, AI creates cover sheet – Hensel Phelps used to call these red folders. In Canva, which is one of my favorite programs, we can just start pulling this information in there automatically. Cover sheet of installation work package would be simplified summary. Literally put PDF into AI and say, “Please give me cover sheet of most important things crew must know that they can review on daily basis.” AI going to help us out big time here.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Field Engineers Prepare Trades, Not Just Write RFIs

And I want to make the point that the field engineer not just provides the layout, but any preparation here and the FE, PE, or OE can make sure that as we’re going through this process that we’re pulling in relevant information into this work package.

And then guess what? This work package, as we create templates, we can get better and better and better and better at them as we go, and especially as one crew moves to another zone.

A Challenge for Field Engineers and Project Teams

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Start creating installation work packages for your crews. When you do buyout meeting, add inclusions, exclusions, clarifications to work package immediately. Don’t hide it in meeting minutes in Procore.

When trade sends back their safety plan, quality plan, emergency numbers, add it to installation work package. Whatever information is relevant. Instead of making random meeting notes or meeting minutes, just build that package as normal part of what you do.

At pre-con meeting, add visual checklist. Add your build your Lego sheet. Add Takt time. Add specific requirements. Add visual. Add manufacturers’ key considerations. Put that into work package right then and there.

If there’s lift drawing or anything field engineers prepared, add that to package. Mostly visual, mostly bullets, mostly simplified. Use AI to help. Put PDF into AI and say, “Please give me cover sheet of most important things crew must know that they can review on daily basis.”

Use Canva to pull information in automatically. As you create templates, get better and better at them as you go, especially as one crew moves to another zone. This is the way to help trades prepare in this framework.

As we say at Elevate, installation work packages for crews by field engineers: buyout to final inspection. Pull relevant info into package, mostly visual, AI helps with cover sheet.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between field engineers and RFIs?

Field engineers do not write RFIs. They do not do submittals. They prepare trades. They prepare scopes. And RFIs and submittals just happen to be tools that we use along the way. Definite delineation here. When we start work, we have got to be ready.

What is the trade partner preparation process?

Six steps: buyout (buy out right scope), pre-mobilization meeting (tell them what we want), pre-con (onboard and orient foreman, clear on expectations), first in place inspection (crew off to right start), follow-up (zone control), final (inspect before demobilize, reconcile change orders, pay retainage). All plan, build, finish.

How do you create installation work packages without overhead cost?

Build it during normal part of process. At buyout, add inclusions, exclusions, clarifications immediately. When trade sends safety plan, quality plan, emergency numbers, add to package. At pre-con, add visual checklist, Takt time, manufacturers’ key considerations. Field engineers add lift drawings. Just building package as normal part of what we do.

What tools help create work packages?

Canva is one of favorite programs. Can just start pulling information in there automatically. AI helps with cover sheet. Put PDF into AI and say, “Please give me cover sheet of most important things crew must know that they can review on daily basis.” AI going to help us out big time.

What did Hensel Phelps call work packages?

Red folders. Basically, chunking it in and would take red folders out in field. Now digital in Canva. As create templates, get better and better at them as go, especially as one crew moves to another zone.

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)

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

Meet Jason Schroeder, the driving force behind Elevate Construction IST. As the company’s owner and principal consultant, he’s dedicated to taking construction to new heights. With a wealth of industry experience, he’s crafted the Field Engineer Boot Camp and Superintendent Boot Camp – intensive training programs engineered to cultivate top-tier leaders capable of steering their teams towards success. Jason’s vision? To expand his training initiatives across the nation, empowering construction firms to soar to unprecedented levels of excellence.

On we go

Didn’t You Call Them

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 21 min

Didn’t You Call Them? (How General Contractors Abuse the Trades They Invited)

Most of the time in trainings, I am advocating for the trades and how they should be treated and that they are our heroes and that we should spend most of our time helping, enabling and supporting them. One of the things that comes to mind is when there’s an abusive project delivery team member, I just want to ask the question: didn’t you call them?

The Reality: We Ask Trades to Bid, Then Treat Them Like Garbage

When you go out to bid, I actually don’t know of very many, if any, situations where the trade partners are knocking on our door begging us to do the job. Most of the time, we’re looking for amazing trade partners and we go put them on the pre-qualification list and we go ask them to bid the project and participate with us.

Only, and I’m sure that you listening aren’t a part of this problem, but only to go shit on them and tell them they’re not good enough and send cure notices their way and not prepare them and set them up with a garbage environment and not keep them on rhythm, not hold the line with the level performance of other trade partners, not prepare them.

The Story: PM Dumping Bulk Materials Everywhere

I heard a story the other day. People contact me all the time on WhatsApp, which is something I love, and they’ll record their voice on voice messages on WhatsApp and we’ll go back and forth, help each other out and it’s really kind of a neat, connected thing that we do.

And somebody, a superintendent was like, “Yeah, my PM is just delivering all the bulk materials to the site and it’s just showing up everywhere and it’s in the trades’ way and the trades are like, ‘Hey, I don’t know what to do, like there’s stuff everywhere, like I can’t even work.'”

And when the superintendent talked to the PM, the PM who was a newer PM was like, “It’s my job to get it here, it’s my job to get it here, like you guys figure out what to do it from here, but I’m just going to bring it here because once it’s on the site, I’m done, I washed my hands, it’s yours.”

Now, does that sound like a collaborative enabling project manager? Does that sound like a project manager that understands his role?

What a Project Manager Should Do: Help Trades Win

A project manager should help trades win. A project manager should make sure that he knows who the hero is. A project manager should develop real relationships. A project manager should know that just dumping materials everywhere is almost worse than not having them in the first damn place. This is a person, because of a lack of training, this person is a good person, but because of a lack of training, has a myopic view of what construction is all about.

The Warning: Owners Are Starting to Bypass General Contractors

And let me actually give all of us a bit of a warning. There are some massive owners out there that are starting to bypass the general contractor and go to multi-prime and actually hire trade partners as what’s called a prime integrator. They’re just bypassing the GC.

And so, we better watch our ass. Like for general contractors that just use and abuse and turn and burn, I won’t tell you what general contractor I’m talking about, but it’s a massive one, literally just hires contractors and chucks them out there into the field to just figure it out. It’s absolutely toxic, disgusting behavior. And because they’re so big, they’re just abusing everybody.

Owners are going to get wise to that. Understand that the general contractors are just becoming paperwork brokers that don’t know what they’re doing, and they’re going to bypass you.

Learn to Be a Builder or Get Bypassed

So, this is your warning. Don’t do it. Learn how to be a builder, be a field engineer, be a field office professional, develop relationships with trades, learn Lean, learn your job, do your job. Or I predict that one day there’s going to be a time where more and more owners bypass us.

They’ll learn that there are people out there that they will learn the thing that general contractors don’t know, which is that trades are awesome. And the reason projects are failing is because of the stupid shit that general contractors do.

The Only Thing Trades Do Wrong: Ask for Too Much Space

The only thing that trades do wrong is ask for too much space. That’s the only thing they do wrong. Everything else is the general contractor’s fault. So, we better wake up and figure out how to treat people.

Didn’t you call them?

How I Would Treat Trades: Transparency, Appreciation, Respect

If I called somebody, now, if I called a trade, here’s what would happen. I would say, “Hey, would you like to bid on this? You’re awesome. We want to work with you. On the site, we’ll have perfect cleanliness, perfect organization and Lean systems. You may find that to be a pain in the butt, but let me tell you about it now. And if you’re into that, we’re going to do that. But I’m inviting you by consent to bid on this project. And I’m going to be transparent about who we are and how we work.”

But once they sign up and win that job, I’m going to be appreciative. Thank you for coming to this job. Thank you for building this on time. Thank you for doing the right thing and coming out here. Thank you for even existing so I can do what I do. Thank you. Thank you.

And I’m not going to treat them like shit because I called them.

Here’s the reality of how GCs treat trades:

  • Ask trades to bid, then abuse them with cure notices and garbage environment – When you go out to bid, don’t know of very many situations where trade partners knocking on our door begging us to do job. Most of time, we’re looking for amazing trade partners, put them on pre-qualification list, ask them to bid project and participate with us. Only to go shit on them and tell them they’re not good enough and send cure notices their way and not prepare them and set them up with garbage environment and not keep them on rhythm.
  • PMs dump materials everywhere: “once it’s on site, I’m done, I washed my hands” – PM just delivering all bulk materials to site and it’s just showing up everywhere and it’s in trades’ way. Trades like, “Hey, I don’t know what to do, there’s stuff everywhere, I can’t even work.” When superintendent talked to PM, PM was like, “It’s my job to get it here, you guys figure out what to do from here, once it’s on site, I’m done, I washed my hands, it’s yours.” Just dumping materials everywhere is almost worse than not having them in first place.
  • GCs becoming paperwork brokers: owners starting to bypass with multi-prime – Massive owners out there starting to bypass general contractor and go to multi-prime and actually hire trade partners as prime integrator. Just bypassing GC. General contractors that just use and abuse and turn and burn, massive one literally just hires contractors and chucks them out there into field to just figure it out. Absolutely toxic, disgusting behavior. Owners going to get wise. Understand general contractors just becoming paperwork brokers that don’t know what they’re doing, going to bypass you.
  • The only thing trades do wrong: ask for too much space. Everything else is GC’s fault – Trades are awesome. Reason projects are failing is because of stupid shit general contractors do. Only thing trades do wrong is ask for too much space. That’s only thing they do wrong. Everything else is general contractor’s fault. Better wake up and figure out how to treat people.
  • Insurance requirements, delayed payments, games PMs play: GCs are nightmare – General contractors are nightmare. Insurance requirements, bullshit, games project managers play, delayed payments. Had somebody unfriend because claimed general contractors on average would pay nine months after fact, which is true. Client 14 months and still won’t pay. We’re not bank. Have to stop treating people badly.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

A Challenge for General Contractors

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Ask yourself: didn’t you call them? When you go out to bid, trade partners aren’t knocking on your door begging to do the job. You’re looking for amazing trade partners. You put them on pre-qualification list. You ask them to bid the project and participate with you.

So, stop going to shit on them and tell them they’re not good enough. Stop sending cure notices their way. Stop not preparing them. Stop setting them up with garbage environment. Stop not keeping them on rhythm. Stop not holding the line with level performance of other trade partners.

Stop dumping materials everywhere. A project manager should help trades win. A project manager should make sure he knows who the hero is. A project manager should develop real relationships. A project manager should know that just dumping materials everywhere is almost worse than not having them in first place.

Learn how to be a builder, be a field engineer, be a field office professional, develop relationships with trades, learn Lean, learn your job, do your job. Or I predict that one day there’s going to be a time where more and more owners bypass us.

The only thing trades do wrong is ask for too much space. Everything else is the general contractor’s fault. We better wake up and figure out how to treat people. As we say at Elevate, didn’t you call them? GCs ask trades to bid then treat them badly. Dump materials everywhere, delayed payments, cure notices. You called them, act accordingly.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who asks who to bid on construction projects?

General contractors ask trades to bid. Don’t know of very many situations where trade partners knocking on our door begging us to do job. Most of time, we’re looking for amazing trade partners, put them on pre-qualification list, ask them to bid project and participate with us.

What’s the PM materials dumping problem?

PM just delivering all bulk materials to site showing up everywhere in trades’ way. Trades can’t even work. When superintendent talked to PM, PM said, “It’s my job to get it here, once it’s on site, I’m done, I washed my hands, it’s yours.” Dumping materials everywhere almost worse than not having them in first place.

Why are owners bypassing general contractors?

Because GCs just use and abuse and turn and burn. Massive ones literally just hire contractors and chuck them out there into field to just figure it out. Absolutely toxic, disgusting behavior. Owners getting wise. General contractors becoming paperwork brokers that don’t know what they’re doing.

What’s the only thing trades do wrong?

Ask for too much space. That’s only thing they do wrong. Everything else is general contractor’s fault. Trades are awesome. Reason projects are failing is because of stupid shit general contractors do.

What are GCs like to work with?

Nightmare. Insurance requirements, bullshit, games project managers play, delayed payments. General contractors on average pay nine months after fact. Some clients 14 months still won’t pay. We’re not bank. Have to stop treating people badly.

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)

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

Meet Jason Schroeder, the driving force behind Elevate Construction IST. As the company’s owner and principal consultant, he’s dedicated to taking construction to new heights. With a wealth of industry experience, he’s crafted the Field Engineer Boot Camp and Superintendent Boot Camp – intensive training programs engineered to cultivate top-tier leaders capable of steering their teams towards success. Jason’s vision? To expand his training initiatives across the nation, empowering construction firms to soar to unprecedented levels of excellence.

On we go

Lawyers & How They Help Us

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 28 min

Why Scheduling Directors and Lawyers Resist Takt Planning (And Why Good Lawyers Don’t)

Usually in a company, even if the company has super awesome people, even if the company is being asked to implement Lean systems, even if the company has people that want to implement Lean systems, you’ll typically have a director of scheduling who is a CPM whoremonger that will not let it, meaning whoring after CPM and significance, that will prevent you from being able to do it. And you’ll typically have a legal department or somebody in the legal realm that’s going to give you a hard time about it.

And that’s certainly the case in the story that I’m about to tell you, where an executive very, very high up in charge of the scheduling department has been giving us a hard time.

The Company Story: Top Notch People Seeing Success with Lean

We’ve been helping this company out with multiple projects, got them back on track, stabilized them, done some amazing work with the people that we have here and that we work with. And it’s been phenomenal. And the human beings at this company are top, top, top, top notch people. They’re hungry. They’re willing to learn. They’re open minded. They’re good people. They treat each other like a family. And they’re just really great.

And they’re seeing so much success with these Lean systems and the training that their jobs are just going well. And job after job after job wants to do Takt, Last Planner and Scrum. But this threatens the scheduling director’s significance.

The Four Basic Human Needs: When Certainty and Significance Become Dominant

Now, let me talk about that. Every human being has four basic human needs: certainty, significance, variety and loving connection. There’s nothing wrong with that. And humans are just wired that way. It’s all good.

But the problem is when you use those as your primary, then certainty, meaning security, which most of the time at work shows up as job security and significance, which means that you feel significant in your control or your role, end up being the dominant forces to the point that you start being self-serving. You become a taker and you become a fear monger.

Fear Sells Better Than Sex: How Scheduling Directors Protect Their Turf

Did you know that sales persons realized that there’s something that sells even better than sex? What sells better than sex is fear. That’s how politicians get us, the us-them thinking. That’s how Hitler got the German people. Fear, fear, fear, fear, fear. If you sell people fear, it’s more powerful than sex.

And sex is a pretty powerful deal because whether we were designed or created by God or organized by God or we evolved, the human brain, and this will sum it all up for you, and your cells in your DNA is designed to survive. And what are the two things that it needs to survive? Reproduction and really great productive paranoia that will enable a human being to assume that a rustling in the grass is actually a lion instead of the wind.

All of our, not all, but most of our ancestors that assumed it was the wind, the optimists, got eaten by lions. And the folks that assumed it was a lion, even if it was the wind, are who are now our ancestors. We are their posterity. So, the most nervous, fearful, and freaked out people survived.

Why Scheduling Directors Love CPM: It’s All They’ve Been Taught

And so, when you talk to a scheduling director that loves CPM, that’s all they know. That’s all they’ve been taught. They’ve been taught to rush, push, and panic people. They’ve been taught to disrespect human beings. They’ve been taught that push is the way to get schedules done faster. And the right way to do a construction project is to prepare to fight it out in court with the owner.

Their first instinct is significance and the fear of losing significance and their certainty, which is their fear of losing certainty. Because if you got promoted as a scheduling director knowing CPM and here come Lean systems and you may not know Lean systems and your body, which is also in brain, which is also designed to conserve calories, is saying, “No, no, no, no, no, no, this is a lot of effort.” And you also now fear that you’ll be replaced or that you’ll be insignificant. You’re going to try and protect your own turf based out of that biological necessity to survive.

It is selfish, but it is also natural. And if you are in charge of the scheduling department, you are incentivized to be buddy-buddy with your scheduling department. And you are incentivized to fear monger.

Why Lawyers Love CPM: They Make Money in Court

Let me explain something here. Lawyers love CPM, at least the lousy ones do. And everywhere I go in Phoenix, every billboard is filled with accident lawyers. Even the good lawyers, and I’ve had experience with this, will try and take you to court to fight it out so they make money. They make money when you go to court. They make money when you sue somebody. It’s not just all billable hours.

So, there is motivation because your billable hours are increased when you actually go to court. And in arbitration, there’s fees for the lawyers as well. And the key here is their focus, which is the system they’re in, is to try and fight court cases and to muddy the water.

What would they prefer? A Takt plan that shows it’s possible and shows everybody’s weaknesses, including the general contractor, or a CPM schedule where we can play poor boy and victim and try and blame it on everybody else and win with lawyer skill?

The lawyers and the arbitration experts and the scheduling directors all want CPM because it’s an unaccountable system where they can sit back in their office and play the game for what they’re incentivized to do.

The Executive and Scheduling Director: Bad-Mouthing Despite Success

So, this happens. And in this particular story, this executive and the scheduling director, no matter how good the job is going, is bad-mouthing us, bad-mouthing Takt, bad-mouthing Lean systems, and advocating for CPM even though they have to write down multiple millions of dollars every year because they failed projects. And even though the CPM track record, even tracked internally, is horrific.

Now, this ought not to be because Takt is one of those systems where even done poorly, it benefits the project.

Here’s why resistance happens:

  • Certainty and significance become dominant forces: self-serving, taker, fear monger – When you use those as your primary, then certainty (job security) and significance (feel significant in your control or your role) end up being dominant forces to point that you start being self-serving. You become taker and you become fear monger. Fear sells better than sex. That’s how politicians get us, us-them thinking.
  • Scheduling directors taught to rush, push, panic people, prepare to fight in court – When you talk to scheduling director that loves CPM, that’s all they know. That’s all they’ve been taught. They’ve been taught to rush, push, and panic people. They’ve been taught to disrespect human beings. They’ve been taught that push is the way to get schedules done faster. Right way to do construction project is to prepare to fight it out in court with owner.
  • Fear of being replaced or insignificant: protect own turf out of biological necessity – If you got promoted as scheduling director knowing CPM and here come Lean systems and you may not know Lean systems and your body designed to conserve calories saying, “No, no, no, this is a lot of effort.” And you also now fear that you’ll be replaced or that you’ll be insignificant. You’re going to try and protect your own turf based out of that biological necessity to survive. Selfish, but also natural.
  • Lawyers make money in court: CPM is unaccountable system for playing the game – Lawyers love CPM, at least lousy ones do. They make money when you go to court. They make money when you sue somebody. Billable hours increased when actually go to court. In arbitration, fees for lawyers as well. Their focus: try and fight court cases and muddy the water. Lawyers and arbitration experts and scheduling directors all want CPM because it’s unaccountable system where they can sit back in office and play game for what they’re incentivized to do.
  • Bad-mouthing Takt despite success, advocating for CPM despite writing down millions – This executive and scheduling director, no matter how good job is going, is bad-mouthing us, bad-mouthing Takt, bad-mouthing Lean systems, and advocating for CPM even though they have to write down multiple millions of dollars every year because they failed projects. Even though CPM track record, even tracked internally, is horrific.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

A Gentle Nudge for the Industry: You’re Going to Look Like Asses

Now, let me say a couple things that’s really crazy. And this is a gentle nudge for everyone out there in the industry. Guys and gals, you’re going to be embarrassed. But ladies and gentlemen, those of you who are protecting CPM, you’re all going to look like asses pretty soon. When it scales across the industry, I mean, massive companies are scaling to Takt and Last Planner and Scrum. When this scales to the industry and we see our numbers rising, when we see Takt actually working, you all are going to look like unmitigated asses. There are two things here. Number one, somebody can just be blissfully ignorant of the problem. Like, I’ll give you a for instance. I never thought two things about public school or not. And I hear the talk, The Seven Lessons of School Teacher by, I think it’s John Gatto. And then I’m like, “Oh, wow, we have some problems in our school system.”

So, if you don’t know, if you’re not thinking about CPM and construction, like you got a hall pass, like you’re not thinking about it. But if you now have heard well-articulated points, have seen the YouTube videos, have read the blogs, are seeing the benefits of Takt, Last Planner and the Kanban method, and you are still holding on to it for dear life, I don’t know a better way to say this. I’m trying to be loving, but here, do me a favor. Just translate what I’m saying into something loving and kind. But you look dumb. Like, if you’re like, “Oh, yeah, increasing work in progress above the capacity of resources and people is smart.” Or, “Hey, having a critical path without float or buffers is smart.” Or “Pushing, disrespecting and panicking people is smart.” Or “Recovering with resources and overtime and push is smart.” Or “Being toxic with people is smart.” Like, if you’re actually saying that, that’s really dumb.

At a Certain Point, It’s Not Ignorance I Question Intelligence

Like, at a certain point, it’s ignorance. After a while, I question somebody’s intelligence. So, like, that scheduling director and that executive, it’s like, how intelligent are you? Like, if you actually dig into these things and still want to stay, are still making the decision to hurt people, and are still choosing a system that only has a 24% mildly acceptable track record and that causes most of the issues we have in our industry. There’s going to be a point of no return for this. And it doesn’t even matter. Like, even if Takt wasn’t going to take over the industry, even if big companies weren’t going to start using it for the right reasons, it’s still the right thing to do.

Good Lawyers Find a Way to Do the Right Thing

Now, let me make a point. Lawyers, if they’re good, will find a way for us to do the right thing in the system we have. But right now, weak and wimpy lawyers and executives in charge of the risk management and legal teams who don’t know what they’re doing are like, “Oh my god, we can’t do it. We can’t do Lean. We can’t do Takt. We’re going to get sued. It’s going to be bad.”

Do we really want to say that? Like when somebody, like a developer partner that we worked with the other day was like, “Jason, what if we got materials from overseas? What if we self-perform some trades?” I’m like, “Yeah, none of that scares me. Why would that scare me? I’m all in, man. There ain’t nothing I can’t do.” If I was a lawyer and somebody was like, “We need to build Takt, build a Takt plan, run the project off of Takt. And we need to know how to keep safe in the court of law.” If I was a good lawyer, I would be like, “Not a problem.”

A Challenge for Scheduling Directors and Lawyers

Here’s what I want you to do this week. If you’re a scheduling director, stop protecting your turf out of biological necessity to survive. Stop being self-serving, being a taker, being a fear monger. Stop bad-mouthing Takt despite jobs going well. Stop advocating for CPM even though you have to write down multiple millions of dollars every year because of failed projects.

If you’re a lawyer, stop being weak and wimpy. Stop saying, “We can’t do Lean. We can’t do Takt. We’re going to get sued.” Good lawyers find a way for us to do the right thing in the system we have. Not a problem. If you actually dig into these things and still want to stay, are still making the decision to hurt people, and are still choosing a system that only has a 24% mildly acceptable track record and that causes most of the issues we have in our industry, there’s going to be a point of no return for this.

Nobody can ever say, “No, Jason, you’re wrong about CPM. We believe CPM is a good system.” The numbers don’t show it. The logic doesn’t show it. The theory doesn’t show it. The science doesn’t show it. The math doesn’t show it. As we say at Elevate, CPM scheduling directors resist Takt out of fear and significance. Good lawyers find ways to do the right thing. Weak lawyers say we can’t do Lean or Takt.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do scheduling directors resist Takt planning?

Because fear of being replaced or insignificant. Got promoted knowing CPM and here come Lean systems may not know. Body designed to conserve calories saying “No, this is lot of effort.” Try and protect own turf based out of biological necessity to survive. Selfish, but also natural.

Why do lawyers love CPM scheduling?

Because they make money in court. Billable hours increased when actually go to court. In arbitration, fees for lawyers as well. Focus: try and fight court cases and muddy water. CPM is unaccountable system where can sit back in office and play game.

What’s the difference between good lawyers and weak lawyers?

Good lawyers find way for us to do right thing in system we have. Weak and wimpy lawyers and executives in charge of risk management and legal teams say “We can’t do Lean. We can’t do Takt. We’re going to get sued.”

What happens when Takt scales across the industry?

Those protecting CPM going to look like asses. Massive companies scaling to Takt and Last Planner and Scrum. When scales to industry and we see numbers rising, when we see Takt actually working, you all going to look like unmitigated asses.

What’s the CPM track record?

Only has 24% mildly acceptable track record. Causes most of issues we have in our industry. Numbers don’t show it’s good. Logic doesn’t show it. Theory doesn’t show it. Science doesn’t show it. Math doesn’t show it.

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)

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

Meet Jason Schroeder, the driving force behind Elevate Construction IST. As the company’s owner and principal consultant, he’s dedicated to taking construction to new heights. With a wealth of industry experience, he’s crafted the Field Engineer Boot Camp and Superintendent Boot Camp – intensive training programs engineered to cultivate top-tier leaders capable of steering their teams towards success. Jason’s vision? To expand his training initiatives across the nation, empowering construction firms to soar to unprecedented levels of excellence.

On we go

Queing

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 19 min

Queuing Construction Projects (How Alignment and Preparation Prevent Chaos)

One of the topics that has come up quite recently makes me sad for the people that are experiencing it. Not judgmental, actually. It makes me sad that a superintendent who might not be as firm as needed can’t love somebody and be really, really firm at the same time. I love you and you will wear your safety glasses or you will go home to a safe place. Not everybody’s able to do that, and I feel bad for that because their kindness shouldn’t be abused.

The United States Culture Challenge: We Have to Put Our Shoulders Back

Unfortunately, with our current United States culture, and I love the US, if we were in Japan, people would just naturally fall in line. But in the United States, we have to put our shoulders back and be confident. And some of the things that I’m about to say are going to sound crazy, like absolutely crazy. But if I was running a job today, I will queue people into the project.

Because I disrespect them? No. Because I think they’re less than? No. Because I’m controlling? Partially. Why am I doing it then? Because I love them.

One Gate Opens to Worker Huddle, Second Gate Opens After Alignment

Let me explain what I mean. On construction projects going forward, there’s going to be one gate that opens into the worker huddle area and the dojo, and we are going to participate in the morning worker huddle until everybody’s participating together. And I was doing a super PM bootcamp in Atlanta, and one of the supers was like, “I love this concept.” And he said, “I do, ‘If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands,’ and everybody claps, and I don’t open up the second gate until everybody claps.”

Now, in the United States, I know what you’re thinking. Your first thought is, “Some son of a whatever told me to clap. I don’t have to clap. Don’t tell me to clap. You can’t make me clap.” But what he’s trying to do is align everyone.

The Japan Example: Seven Seconds of Balance for Alignment

And when we went to Japan with Paul Akers, one of the things that happened there was there was a strip. It was probably like eight inches wide, probably 18 feet long, and for seven seconds, the motorists that were the male persons that were on motorcycles had to align and stay on that strip for seven seconds to make sure that they had their balance for the morning.

The morning worker huddle and logistics queuing is alignment. They’re just getting aligned. I will always bring people in to a morning worker huddle, go through everything with total participation, and then do a rally cry like “clean and steady” or something, and then I’ll open up the second gate.

No Logistics Past the Second Gate Until Kitted and Ready

I’m going to do that for logistics as well. No logistics gets past the second gate until it’s kitted and ready to go. Now, if we have a steel delivery and it’s being erected right off the truck or it’s a concrete truck or something like that, we have common sense for that. But everything else has to be queued and kitted.

And in fact, I’m not going to let any equipment on the site until it’s queued. Like literally, they can deliver it and queue it right then and there and until it’s 5S clean, beautiful, maintained fire extinguishers. I’m not ever going to let bad behavior on the job site and then track it down to fix it. Never, ever, ever, ever again. There will be a gate that you queue through to get in.

If You Don’t Have Space, Use Approval and Scheduling Systems

And if you’re like, “Well, Jason, we don’t have enough space on the job site to do that,” I understand that. So then as a part of your delivery system or your mobilization system, you don’t let anybody… Before they queue through any gate, they have to have approval and you have to be on the schedule.

We do it all the time. Have you ever gone to one of these meta data centers? What do you have to do? You have to be on the list and the security guard has to know you’re coming. This is easy.

So, “Hey, I’m coming in with a delivery or my work truck.” “Okay. Yeah. Come on in. Send me pictures of all the tool areas, your fire extinguisher, your current certificate of insurance and all the things. And you’re scheduled for 9 a.m.” And then somebody was like, “You either are or you’re not on the schedule.”

Why You Don’t Have Time: Because You’re Chasing Bad Behaviors

Now you may think that you don’t have time for this and that’s fine. But the reason you don’t have time is because you’re chasing things in the field behind schedule, rushing, pushing or panicking because you’ve let bad behaviors on a job site.

The one thing you actually should be doing is orienting, queuing, holding the line, preparing pre-con meetings, pull plans, looking at planning, the trade partner preparation process. Like that’s the key.

Here’s how queuing construction projects works:

  • One gate opens to worker huddle, second gate opens after total participation – On construction projects going forward, one gate opens into worker huddle area and dojo. Participate in morning worker huddle until everybody’s participating together. Super PM bootcamp Atlanta: super does “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands,” everybody claps, doesn’t open second gate until everybody claps. Trying to align everyone. Bring people in to morning worker huddle, go through everything with total participation, do rally cry like “clean and steady,” then open second gate.
  • Japan example: seven seconds of balance for alignment – In Japan with Paul Akers, there was strip probably eight inches wide, 18 feet long. For seven seconds, motorists on motorcycles had to align and stay on strip for seven seconds to make sure they had balance for morning. Morning worker huddle and logistics queuing is alignment. Just getting aligned.
  • No logistics past second gate until kitted and ready to go – No logistics gets past second gate until kitted and ready to go. If steel delivery being erected right off truck or concrete truck, have common sense for that. But everything else has to be queued and kitted. Not going to let any equipment on site until queued. Deliver it and queue it right then and there and until 5S clean, beautiful, maintained fire extinguishers. Not ever going to let bad behavior on job site and then track it down to fix it. Gate that you queue through to get in.
  • If no space: approval and scheduling systems before queuing through gate – If don’t have enough space on job site, then as part of delivery system or mobilization system, don’t let anybody queue through any gate without approval and being on schedule. Meta data centers: have to be on list and security guard has to know you’re coming. “Coming in with delivery or work truck.” “Come on in. Send pictures of all tool areas, fire extinguisher, current certificate of insurance and all things. You’re scheduled for 9 a.m.” You either are or aren’t on schedule.
  • Reason you don’t have time: chasing bad behaviors instead of preparing – You may think you don’t have time for this. But reason you don’t have time is because you’re chasing things in field behind schedule, rushing, pushing or panicking because you’ve let bad behaviors on job site. One thing you actually should be doing: orienting, queuing, holding the line, preparing pre-con meetings, pull plans, looking at planning, trade partner preparation process. That’s the key.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

A Challenge for Construction Leaders

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Think about queuing your construction project. One gate opens to worker huddle area and dojo. Participate in morning worker huddle until everybody’s participating together. Total participation. Do rally cry like “clean and steady.” Then open second gate. No logistics gets past second gate until kitted and ready to go. Everything has to be queued and kitted. Not going to let any equipment on site until queued. Deliver it and queue it right then and there and until 5S clean, beautiful, maintained fire extinguishers. If you don’t have enough space, use approval and scheduling systems. Have to be on list. Send pictures of tool areas, fire extinguisher, current certificate of insurance. You’re scheduled for 9 a.m. You either are or aren’t on schedule.

Stop chasing things in field behind schedule, rushing, pushing or panicking because you’ve let bad behaviors on job site. Start orienting, queuing, holding the line, preparing pre-con meetings, pull plans, looking at planning, trade partner preparation process. We will never get to where we need to be on job sites until this exact kind of thinking is how we do work day in and day out. As we say at Elevate, queuing construction projects: one gate opens to worker huddle, total participation, second gate opens after alignment. Kit logistics before entering site.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why queue people into construction projects?

Because I love them. Morning worker huddle and logistics queuing is alignment. Just getting aligned. Bring people in to morning worker huddle, go through everything with total participation, do rally cry, then open second gate.

What happens before the second gate opens?

Participate in morning worker huddle until everybody’s participating together. Total participation. Super PM bootcamp Atlanta: super does “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands,” doesn’t open second gate until everybody claps. Trying to align everyone.

What’s the rule for logistics and equipment?

No logistics gets past second gate until kitted and ready to go. Not going to let any equipment on site until queued. Deliver it and queue it right then and there and until 5S clean, beautiful, maintained fire extinguishers.

What if you don’t have enough space for queuing?

Use approval and scheduling systems. Have to be on list. Send pictures of tool areas, fire extinguisher, current certificate of insurance. You’re scheduled for 9 a.m. You either are or aren’t on schedule.

Why don’t superintendents have time for queuing?

Because chasing things in field behind schedule, rushing, pushing or panicking because let bad behaviors on job site. Should be doing: orienting, queuing, holding the line, preparing pre-con meetings, pull plans, trade partner preparation process.

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)

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

Meet Jason Schroeder, the driving force behind Elevate Construction IST. As the company’s owner and principal consultant, he’s dedicated to taking construction to new heights. With a wealth of industry experience, he’s crafted the Field Engineer Boot Camp and Superintendent Boot Camp – intensive training programs engineered to cultivate top-tier leaders capable of steering their teams towards success. Jason’s vision? To expand his training initiatives across the nation, empowering construction firms to soar to unprecedented levels of excellence.

On we go

Concrete as a Geographical Area

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 18 min

Concrete as a Geographical Area (Why Superintendents Should Own Space, Not Scope)

A really neat general superintendent asked me the other day, “Jay Money, what do you think about me assigning superintendents by scope instead of by geography?” Because he knows that I really like geography. By the way, this person’s brilliant, and it was a great idea, and I’m not being negative about it at all, but I noticed something that was really interesting that tipped me off to why that kind of thinking happens.

And let me just start out by saying why I like geographical control over scope control.

The Problems with Scope Control

A couple of reasons. When you do scope control where like one superintendent does MEP, then another one comes behind and does something else, then another one comes behind and does something else, I don’t like that method. I do want you to know that I was brought up that way. At Hensel Phelps when I was a field engineer, the general superintendent would have me go in and finish things. He would send the other field engineers into buildings to kind of start things, and I would be the finisher.

And one of the things that I noticed was I had to fix a lot of things, and that individual never really got to learn what he was doing or see the entire life cycle through. So that’s one of the things that I don’t like.

Why Geographical Control Works: Ownership and Accountability

The other thing I don’t like is that it was messy. Nobody’s actually in control. Nobody’s actually in control. Because if you’re overseeing scopes, you’re just like running all through the building, and you’re not actually owning an area, and you’re not cleaning that area, and you’re not making sure that area is safe, and you’re not looking at signage for the area.

So geographical control makes sure that you have control of areas, and you’re seeing it from an accountability, a self-accountability standpoint all the way through. And the other thing is all of our production planning systems, all of our Takt planning systems are based on time and location. Time and location, so phases and zones. Everything really does in construction work better by location.

Another Reason: The Buddy-Buddy Problem

Now there’s lots of other reasons why. Let me just give you one more actually. I could probably think of 10 if I was pushed. But another reason why is that when a person on the project delivery team is in charge of a scope, typically the natural human thing there is to get buddy-buddy with those trades. The project delivery team member literally relies on the foreman and kind of disengages.

And if you’re in control of geography, you are doing a great job with, or you can be doing a great job with pre-con meetings, geographical control, and making sure the entire system functions. And if you think about it, when you’re supervising a scope, you’re only supervising a sub-component. You’re not supervising a system.

The Brain Trick: Concrete Is Not a Scope Assignment

So, I would say I’m 99 percent in favor of always assigning people on the project delivery team to locations, space, or geography, and I’m about one percent bought into doing it by scope. And this individual who’s really brilliant was like, “Oh, I had a superintendent over the concrete and it worked really well, so I figured I would entertain the idea.”

And then it hit me that people think that when they have a civil superintendent or a structural superintendent, that they’re assigning it by scope. And so, then they should continue that throughout the rest of the project.

Well, actually, here’s the trick, and your brain is tricking you. The concrete is not a scope assignment. It is a geographical spatial assignment. It just happens that typically when you’re in the concrete phase that you own like all of the area and it’s primarily one scope.

So, you can look at it and be like, “Yeah, that superintendents in charge of concrete.” But really, they’re in charge of structure. Concrete is a scope. Structure is a phase with zones and it’s geography. So, they thought they assigned a superintendent to concrete, but really, they assigned that super to structure, which is a phase with zones, and it’s time by location, and it’s geographical and spatial control. It’s not scope control.

The Same Trick Happens with Civil

The same thing happens with civil. And so, we assign superintendents and we mix up the word. Instead of site work, we say you’re in charge of civil. And instead of saying you’re in charge of structure or foundations or structure, we say you’re in charge of concrete. And then that’s misleading and people think they’re in charge of the trade instead of the geography.

The GC Is in Charge of Environment and Rhythm, Not Bossing Trades

Actually, my brain is starting to get really good at this. The general contractor is in charge of the environment and the rhythm. And those are both spatial or geographical things. We are not in charge of bossing trades around by scope. They already know how to do their job. They just need the path cleared out ahead.

So, every single thing, actually, that takes me back. I’m 100% on the side of assigning project delivery geographically. And I actually changed my mind. I’m 0% bought in to assigning it by scope.

Here’s why geographical assignments work better than scope assignments:

  • Geographical control: ownership, accountability, safety, cleanliness – If overseeing scopes, just running all through building, not actually owning an area, not cleaning that area, not making sure area is safe, not looking at signage for area. Geographical control makes sure you have control of areas, seeing it from accountability and self-accountability standpoint all the way through.
  • See entire life cycle through, not just finishing – At Hensel Phelps, general superintendent would have me go finish things, send other field engineers to start things. I noticed: had to fix a lot of things, and that individual never really got to learn what he was doing or see entire life cycle through.
  • Production planning systems based on time and location (phases and zones) – All production planning systems, all Takt planning systems based on time and location. Time and location, so phases and zones. Everything in construction works better by location.
  • Avoid buddy-buddy problem with trades – When person on project delivery team in charge of scope, typically natural human thing: get buddy-buddy with those trades. Project delivery team member literally relies on foreman and kind of disengages. If in control of geography, doing great job with pre-con meetings, geographical control, making sure entire system functions. When supervising scope, only supervising sub-component. Not supervising system.
  • Brain trick: concrete is not scope, it’s structure phase with zones – People think when they have civil superintendent or structural superintendent, they’re assigning it by scope. Then should continue throughout rest of project. Here’s the trick: your brain is tricking you. Concrete is not scopae assignment. It is geographical spatial assignment. Just happens that typically when in concrete phase, own all of area and it’s primarily one scope. They’re in charge of structure. Concrete is scope. Structure is phase with zones and it’s geography.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

A Challenge for Construction Leaders

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Stop assigning superintendents by scope. Start assigning them by geography. Stop saying “you’re in charge of concrete” when you mean “you’re in charge of structure phase with zones.” Stop saying “you’re in charge of civil” when you mean “you’re in charge of site work phase with zones.”

The general contractor is in charge of the environment and the rhythm. And those are both spatial or geographical things. We are not in charge of bossing trades around by scope. They already know how to do their job. They just need the path cleared out ahead.

Geographical control makes sure you have control of areas, seeing it from accountability and self-accountability standpoint all the way through. Owning an area. Cleaning that area. Making sure area is safe. Looking at signage for area. Doing pre-con meetings. Making sure entire system functions.

I’ve never seen scope assignment work, even on data centers where there’s heavy electrical or in laboratories or hospitals or where there’s specialty assignments. Spatial or geographical control and assignments is the ultimate.

As we say at Elevate, assign superintendents by geography not scope. Concrete is not a scope, it’s structure phase with zones. Geographical control: accountability, safety, flow.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why not assign superintendents by scope?

Because if overseeing scopes, just running all through building, not actually owning an area, not cleaning area, not making sure area safe, not looking at signage. Person in charge of scope gets buddy-buddy with trades, relies on foreman, disengages. Only supervising sub-component, not system.

What’s the brain trick with concrete assignments?

People think when they have structural superintendent, they’re assigning by scope. But concrete is not scope assignment. It’s geographical spatial assignment. Just happens when in concrete phase, own all of area and it’s primarily one scope. They’re in charge of structure (phase with zones). Concrete is scope. Structure is geography.

Why does geographical control work better?

Makes sure you have control of areas, seeing from accountability and self-accountability standpoint all the way through. See entire life cycle. Own area, clean area, make area safe, look at signage. Do pre-con meetings. Make sure entire system functions.

What are production planning systems based on?

Time and location. Phases and zones. All production planning systems, all Takt planning systems based on time and location. Everything in construction works better by location.

What is the GC in charge of?

Environment and rhythm. Both are spatial or geographical things. Not in charge of bossing trades around by scope. They already know how to do their job. They just need path cleared out ahead.

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)

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

Meet Jason Schroeder, the driving force behind Elevate Construction IST. As the company’s owner and principal consultant, he’s dedicated to taking construction to new heights. With a wealth of industry experience, he’s crafted the Field Engineer Boot Camp and Superintendent Boot Camp – intensive training programs engineered to cultivate top-tier leaders capable of steering their teams towards success. Jason’s vision? To expand his training initiatives across the nation, empowering construction firms to soar to unprecedented levels of excellence.

On we go

    faq

    General Training Overview

    What construction leadership training programs does LeanTakt offer?
    LeanTakt offers Superintendent/PM Boot Camps, Virtual Takt Production System® Training, Onsite Takt Simulations, and Foreman & Field Engineer Training. Each program is tailored to different leadership levels in construction.
    Who should attend LeanTakt’s training programs?
    Superintendents, Project Managers, Foremen, Field Engineers, and trade partners who want to improve planning, communication, and execution on projects.
    How do these training programs improve project performance?
    They provide proven Lean and Takt systems that reduce chaos, improve reliability, strengthen collaboration, and accelerate project delivery.
    What makes LeanTakt’s training different from other construction courses?
    Our programs are hands-on, field-tested, and focused on practical application—not just classroom theory.
    Do I need prior Lean or takt planning experience to attend?
    No. Our programs cover foundational principles before moving into advanced applications.
    How quickly can I apply what I learn on real projects?
    Most participants begin applying new skills immediately, often the same week they complete the program.
    Are these trainings designed for both office and field leaders?
    Yes. We equip both project managers and superintendents with tools that connect field and office operations.
    What industries benefit most from LeanTakt training?
    Commercial, multifamily, residential, industrial, and infrastructure projects all benefit from flow-based planning.
    Do participants receive certificates after completing training?
    Yes. Every participant receives a LeanTakt Certificate of Completion.
    Is LeanTakt training recognized in the construction industry?
    Yes. Our programs are widely respected among leading GCs, subcontractors, and construction professionals.

    Superintendent / PM Boot Camp

    What is the Superintendent & Project Manager Boot Camp?
    It’s a 5-day immersive training for superintendents and PMs to master Lean leadership, takt planning, and project flow.
    How long does the Superintendent/PM Boot Camp last?
    Five full days of hands-on training.
    What topics are covered in the Boot Camp curriculum?
    Lean leadership, Takt Planning, logistics, daily planning, field-office communication, and team health.
    How does the Boot Camp improve leadership and scheduling skills?
    Yes. You’ll learn how to run day huddles, team meetings, worker huddles, and Lean coordination processes.
    Who is the Boot Camp best suited for?
    Construction leaders responsible for delivering projects, including Superintendents, PMs, and Field Leaders.
    What real-world challenges are simulated during the Boot Camp?
    Schedule breakdowns, trade conflicts, logistics issues, and communication gaps.
    Will I learn Takt Planning at the Boot Camp?
    Yes. Takt Planning is a core focus of the Boot Camp.
    How does this Boot Camp compare to traditional PM certification?
    It’s practical and execution-based rather than exam-based. You learn by doing, not just studying theory.
    Can my entire project team attend the Boot Camp together?
    Yes. Teams attending together often see the greatest results.
    What kind of real-world challenges do we simulate?
    Improved project flow, fewer delays, better team communication, and stronger leadership confidence.

    Takt Production System® Virtual Training

    What is the Virtual Takt Production System® Training?
    It’s an expert-led online program that teaches Lean construction teams how to implement takt planning.
    How does virtual takt training work?
    Delivered online via live sessions, interactive discussions, and digital tools.
    What are the benefits of online takt planning training?
    Convenience, global accessibility, real-time learning, and immediate application.
    Can I access the virtual training from anywhere?
    Yes. It’s fully web-based and accessible worldwide.
    Can I access the virtual training from anywhere?
    Yes. It’s fully web-based and accessible worldwide.
    What skills will I gain from the Virtual TPS® Training?
    Macro and micro Takt planning, weekly updates, flow management, and CPM integration.
    How long does the virtual training program take?
    The program is typically completed in multiple live sessions across several days.
    Can I watch recordings if I miss a session?
    Yes. Recordings are available to all participants.
    Do you offer group access or company licenses for the virtual training?
    Yes. Teams and companies can enroll together at discounted rates.
    How does the Virtual TPS® Training integrate with CPM tools?
    We show how to align Takt with CPM schedules like Primavera P6 or MS Project.

    Onsite Takt Simulation

    What is a Takt Simulation in construction training?
    It’s a live, interactive workshop that demonstrates takt planning on-site.
    How does the Takt Simulation workshop work?
    Teams participate in hands-on exercises to learn the flow and rhythm of a Takt-based project.
    Can I choose between a 1-day or 2-day Takt Simulation?
    Yes. We offer flexible formats to fit your team’s schedule and needs.
    Who should participate in the Takt Simulation workshop?
    Superintendents, PMs, site supervisors, contractors, and engineers.
    How does a Takt Simulation improve project planning?
    It shows teams how to structure zones, manage flow, and coordinate trades in real time.
    What will my team learn from the onsite simulation?
    How to build and maintain takt plans, manage buffers, and align trade partners.
    Is the simulation tailored to my specific project type?
    Yes. Scenarios can be customized to match your project.
    How do Takt Simulations improve trade partner coordination?
    They strengthen collaboration by making handoffs visible and predictable.
    What results can I expect from an onsite Takt Simulation?
    Improved schedule reliability, better trade collaboration, and reduced rework.
    How many people can join a Takt Simulation session?
    Group sizes are flexible, but typically 15–30 participants per session.

    Foreman & Field Engineer Training

    What is Foreman & Field Engineer Training?
    It’s an on-demand, practical program that equips foremen and engineers with leadership and planning skills.
    How does this training prepare emerging leaders?
    By teaching communication, crew management, and execution strategies.
    Is the training on-demand or scheduled?
    On-demand, tailored to your team’s timing and needs.
    What skills do foremen and engineers gain from this training?
    Planning, safety leadership, coordination, and communication.
    How does the training improve communication between field and office?
    It builds shared systems that align superintendents, engineers, and managers.
    Can the training be customized for my team’s needs?
    Yes. Programs are tailored for your project or company.
    What makes this program different from generic leadership courses?
    It’s construction-specific, field-tested, and focused on real project application.
    How do foremen and field engineers apply this training immediately?
    They can use new systems for planning, coordination, and daily crew management right away.
    Is the training suitable for small construction companies?
    Yes. Small and large teams alike benefit from building flow-based leadership skills.

    Testimonials

    Testimonials

    "The bootcamp I was apart of was amazing. Its was great while it was happening but also had a very profound long-term motivation that is still pushing me to do more, be more. It sounds a little strange to say that a construction bootcamp changed my life, but it has. It has opened my eyes to many possibilities on how a project can be successfully run. It’s also provided some very positive ideas on how people can and should be treated in construction.

    I am a hungry person by nature, so it doesn’t take a lot to get to participate. I loved the way it was not just about participating, it was also about doing it with conviction, passion, humility and if it wasn’t portrayed that way you had to do it again."

    "It's great to be a part of a company that has similar values to my own, especially regarding how we treat our trade partners. The idea of "you gotta make them feel worse to make them do better" has been preached at me for years. I struggled with this as you will not find a single psychology textbook stating these beliefs. In fact it is quite the opposite, and causing conflict is a recipe for disaster. I'm still honestly in shock I have found a company that has based its values on scientific facts based on human nature. That along with the Takt scheduling system makes everything even better. I am happy to be a part of a change that has been long overdue in our industry!"

    "Wicked team building, so valuable for the forehumans of the sub trades to know the how and why. Great tools and resources. Even though I am involved and use the tools every day, I feel like everything is fresh and at the forefront to use"

    "Jason and his team did an incredible job passing on the overall theory of what they do. After 3 days of running through the course I cannot see any holes in their concept. It works. it's proven to work and I am on board!"

    "Loved the pull planning, Takt planning, and logistic model planning. Well thought out and professional"

    "The Super/PM Boot Camp was an excellent experience that furthered my understanding of Lean Practices. The collaboration, group involvement, passion about real project site experiences, and POSITIVE ENERGY. There are no dull moments when you head into this training. Jason and Mr. Montero were always on point and available to help in the break outs sessions. Easily approachable to talk too during breaks and YES, it was fun. I recommend this training for any PM or Superintendent that wants to further their career."

    agenda

    Day 1

    Foundations & Macro Planning

    • Introduction to Takt Production System® principles
    • CPM vs TAKT comparison
    • Macro planning, zoning, and density analysis
    • Quantities and production rates
    • Hands-on application to participants’ projects with LeanTakt PM experts

    day2

    Norm Planning & Flow Optimization

    • Review and refinement of Day 1 work
    • Pull planning and sequence optimization
    • Work packaging for balanced flow
    • Project integration session with LeanTakt PM coaching

    day3

    Advanced Tools & Comparisons

    • Macro work packaging and example walkthrough
    • Calculator Norm for production optimization
    • Stacking comparison to avoid trade conflicts
    • Hands-on application to participants’ own schedules

    day4

    Buffers, Controls & Finalization

    • Review of Day 3 implementation
    • Buffer management strategies and placement
    • Takt control principles and steering methods
    • Project plan finalization with expert guidance

    day5

    Control Systems & Presentations

    • Takt steering, control systems, and real project examples
    • Participant project presentations with LeanTakt PM feedback
    • Wrap-up, feedback, and action planning for post-training implementation

    faq

    UNDERSTANDING THE TRAINING

    What is the Virtual Takt Production System® Training by LeanTakt?
    It’s an expert-led online program designed to teach construction professionals how to implement Takt Planning to create flow, eliminate chaos, and align teams across the project lifecycle.
    Who should take the LeanTakt virtual training?
    This training is ideal for Superintendents, Project Managers, Engineers, Schedulers, Trade Partners, and Lean Champions looking to improve planning and execution.
    What topics are covered in the online Takt Production System® course?
    The course covers macro and micro Takt planning, zone creation, buffers, weekly updates, flow management, trade coordination, and integration with CPM tools.
    What makes LeanTakt’s virtual training different from other Lean construction courses?
    Unlike theory-based courses, this training is hands-on, practical, field-tested, and includes live coaching tailored to your actual projects.
    Do I get a certificate after completing the online training?
    Yes. Upon successful completion, participants receive a LeanTakt Certificate of Completion, which validates your knowledge and readiness to implement Takt.

    VALUE AND RESULTS

    What are the benefits of Takt Production System® training for my team?
    It helps teams eliminate bottlenecks, improve planning reliability, align trades, and reduce the chaos typically seen in traditional construction schedules.
    How much time and money can I save with Takt Planning?
    Many projects using Takt see 15–30% reductions in time and cost due to better coordination, fewer delays, and increased team accountability.
    What’s the ROI of virtual Takt training for construction teams?
    The ROI comes from faster project delivery, reduced rework, improved communication, and better resource utilization — often 10x the investment.
    Will this training reduce project delays or rework?
    Yes. By visualizing flow and aligning trades, Takt Planning reduces miscommunication and late handoffs — major causes of delay and rework.
    How soon can I expect to see results on my projects?
    Most teams report seeing improvement in coordination and productivity within the first 2–4 weeks of implementation.

    PLANNING AND SCHEDULING TOPICS

    What is Takt Planning and how is it used in construction?
    Takt Planning is a Lean scheduling method that creates flow by aligning work with time and space, using rhythm-based planning to coordinate teams and reduce waste.
    What’s the difference between macro and micro Takt plans?
    Macro Takt plans focus on the overall project flow and phase durations, while micro Takt plans break down detailed weekly tasks by zone and crew.
    Will I learn how to build a complete Takt plan from scratch?
    Yes. The training teaches you how to build both macro and micro Takt plans tailored to your project, including workflows, buffers, and sequencing.
    How do I update and maintain a Takt schedule each week?
    You’ll learn how to conduct weekly updates using lookaheads, trade feedback, zone progress, and digital tools to maintain schedule reliability.
    Can I integrate Takt Planning with CPM or Primavera P6?
    Yes. The training includes guidance on aligning Takt plans with CPM logic, showing how both systems can work together effectively.
    Will I have access to the instructors during the training?
    Yes. You’ll have opportunities to ask questions, share challenges, and get real-time feedback from LeanTakt coaches.
    Can I ask questions specific to my current project?
    Absolutely. In fact, we encourage it — the training is designed to help you apply Takt to your active jobs.
    Is support available after the training ends?
    Yes. You can access follow-up support, coaching, and community forums to help reinforce implementation.
    Can your tools be customized to my project or team?
    Yes. We offer customizable templates and implementation options to fit different project types, teams, and tech stacks.
    When is the best time in a project lifecycle to take this training?
    Ideally before or during preconstruction, but teams have seen success implementing it mid-project as well.

    APPLICATION & TEAM ADOPTION

    What changes does my team need to adopt Takt Planning?
    Teams must shift from reactive scheduling to proactive, flow-based planning with clear commitments, reliable handoffs, and a visual management mindset.
    Do I need any prior Lean or scheduling experience?
    No prior Lean experience is required. The course is structured to take you from foundational principles to advanced application.
    How long does it take for teams to adapt to Takt Planning?
    Most teams adapt within 2–6 weeks, depending on project size and how fully the system is adopted across roles.
    Can this training work for smaller companies or projects?
    Absolutely. Takt is scalable and especially powerful for small teams seeking better structure and predictability.
    What role do trade partners play in using Takt successfully?
    Trade partners are key collaborators. They help shape realistic flow, manage buffers, and provide feedback during weekly updates.

    VIRTUAL FORMAT & ACCESSIBILITY

    Can I access the virtual training from anywhere?
    Yes. The training is fully accessible online, making it ideal for distributed teams across regions or countries.
    Is this training available internationally?
    Yes. LeanTakt trains teams around the world and supports global implementations.
    Can I watch recordings if I miss a session?
    Yes. All sessions are recorded and made available for later viewing through your training portal.
    Do you offer group access or company licenses?
    Yes. Teams can enroll together at discounted rates, and we offer licenses for enterprise rollouts.
    What technology or setup do I need to join the virtual training?
    A reliable internet connection, webcam, Miro, Spreadsheets, and access to Zoom.

    faq

    GENERAL FAQS

    What is the Superintendent / PM Boot Camp?
    It’s a hands-on leadership training for Superintendents and Project Managers in the construction industry focused on Lean systems, planning, and communication.
    Who is this Boot Camp for?
    Construction professionals including Superintendents, Project Managers, Field Engineers, and Foremen looking to improve planning, leadership, and project flow.
    What makes this construction boot camp different?
    Real-world project simulations, expert coaching, Lean principles, team-based learning, and post-camp support — all built for field leaders.
    Is this just a seminar or classroom training?
    No. It’s a hands-on, immersive experience. You’ll plan, simulate, collaborate, and get feedback — not sit through lectures.
    What is the focus of the training?
    Leadership, project planning, communication, Lean systems, and integrating office-field coordination.

    CURRICULUM & OUTCOMES

    What topics are covered in the Boot Camp?
    Takt planning, day planning, logistics, pre-construction, team health, communication systems, and more.
    What is Takt Planning and why is it taught?
    Takt is a Lean planning method that creates flow and removes chaos. It helps teams deliver projects on time with less stress.
    Will I learn how to lead field teams more effectively?
    Yes. This boot camp focuses on real leadership challenges and gives you systems and strategies to lead high-performing teams.
    Do you cover daily huddles and meeting systems?
    Yes. You’ll learn how to run day huddles, team meetings, worker huddles, and Lean coordination processes.
    What kind of real-world challenges do we simulate?
    You’ll work through real project schedules, logistical constraints, leadership decisions, and field-office communication breakdowns.

    LOGISTICS & FORMAT

    Is the training in-person or virtual?
    It’s 100% in-person to maximize learning, feedback, and team-based interaction.
    How long is the Boot Camp?
    It runs for 5 full days.
    Where is the Boot Camp held?
    Locations vary — typically hosted in a professional training center or project setting. Contact us for the next available city/date.
    Do you offer follow-up coaching after the Boot Camp?
    Yes. Post-camp support is included so you can apply what you’ve learned on your projects.
    Can I ask questions about my actual project?
    Absolutely. That’s encouraged — bring your current challenges.

    PRICING & VALUE

    How much does the Boot Camp cost?
    $5,000 per person.
    Are there any group discounts?
    Yes — get 10% off when 4 or more people from the same company attend.
    What’s the ROI for sending my team?
    Better planning = fewer delays, smoother coordination, and higher team morale — all of which boost productivity and reduce costs.
    Will I see results immediately?
    Most participants apply what they’ve learned as soon as they return to the jobsite — especially with follow-up support.
    Can this replace other leadership training?
    In many cases, yes. This Boot Camp is tailored to construction professionals, unlike generic leadership seminars.

    SEO-BASED / HIGH-INTENT SEARCH QUESTIONS

    What is the best leadership training for construction Superintendents?
    Our Boot Camp offers real-world, field-focused leadership training tailored for construction leaders.
    What’s included in a Superintendent Boot Camp?
    Takt planning, day planning, logistics, pre-construction systems, huddles, simulations, and more.
    Where can I find Lean construction training near me?
    Check our upcoming in-person sessions or request a private boot camp in your city.
    How can I improve field and office communication on a project?
    This Boot Camp teaches you tools and systems to connect field and office workflows seamlessly.
    Is there a training to help reduce chaos on construction sites?
    Yes — this program is built specifically to turn project chaos into flow through structured leadership.

    agenda

    Day 1

    Agenda

    • Intro to Camp
    • Set Expectations
    • Morning Routine
    • Plan Day
    • Explain "Why"
    • Teams Intros + Yells + Expectation
    • Focus, Physiology, Words + Yells
    • Blocks to Leadership
    • 50 Million
    • Biggest Thing
    • Choose Your Word
    • Marketing Exercise
    • Interview for the Project
    • PO Homework and Close the Day

    Outcomes

    • Understand how to get into a proper state to lead
    • Understand how to dig deep to find the confidence to lead
    • Team work and collaboration
    • Understand marketing
    • Understand how to interview for and win a project

    Day 2

    Agenda

    • Morning Routine
    • Day Planner
    • Plus & Delta
    • Macro Takt planning
    • Setup jobs + Signs + Logistics
    • Explain the IPCS™
    • Detailed logistics training
    • Team balance & health training

    Outcomes

    • Learn the IPCS™ understand how to integrate the entire project from start to finish with First Planners™ and Last Planners® through the Takt Production System®
    • Learn how to review a project
    • Learn advanced logistics
    • Learn team balance and health

    Day 3

    Agenda

    • Morning Routine
    • Day Planner
    • Plus & Delta
    • Review How Big Things Get Done
    • Review IPCSTM
    • Fix (Schedule, zone, logistics, trailer, org & procurement)
    • Fresh Eyes Meeting
    • Pre-Con Overview
    • TAKT SIMULATION
    • Recap and Review

    Outcomes

    • Understand why and how to plan
    • Understand the benefits of using a Takt production plan
    • Learn the steps to proper pre-con that sets the project up for success
    • Learn how to review a project in a Fresh Eyes Meeting
    • Learn flow from Takt planning

    Day 4

    Agenda

    • Morning Routine
    • Day Planner
    • Plus & Delta
    • Opposing Squares
    • Pull Plan
    • Takt Remaining
    • Norm Update
    • Re Zoning
    • Risks & Pre-Con Align
    • Meeting System
    • Problems
    • Recap

    Outcomes

    • Understand the Norm level Takt plan for weekly/daily planning
    • Benefits and outcomes of rezoning strategies
    • Using meetings to feed information through the system and to the Foremen

    Day 5

    Agenda

    • Morning Routine
    • Day Planner
    • Plus & Delta
    • Huddle I.D.S
    • Day Plan
    • Worker Huddle
    • Norm Update
    • Team Huddle
    • Lean Systems Recap
    • Feedback Exercise
    • Final & Close

    Outcomes

    • Know what information is needed and how to get it to the Workers
    • Better understand how to give feedback and why it’s crucial for everyone
    • How to problem solve as a team
    • Understand how all systems tie together
    • Know how the information gets all the way to the worker
    • Have perfect clarity on the individual’s personal organization planner