Month: March 2026

Equipment And Testing For Field Engineers In Construction

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 28 min

Equipment and Testing for Field Engineers in Construction

In this blog, I’m going to talk to you about how you can enable your field engineering team and your field engineering program by making sure that you have calibrated and functioning equipment. And if you don’t, you’re going to be out there, oh my gosh, I’ve seen this so many times, waste so much time running level loops, shooting elevations, running a traverse, and you’re like, “What is going on?” And you’re so frustrated, only to find out that something went wrong.

So, I’m going to talk to you about best practices right now.

The Pain of Uncalibrated Equipment

Here’s what happens when you don’t have calibrated equipment. You run level loops and they don’t close. You shoot elevations and they’re wrong. You run a traverse and the numbers don’t make sense. You waste hours, maybe days trying to figure out what’s going wrong. And then you discover: your tribrach is out of calibration. Or your automatic level is off. Or your prism pole is wrong. And now you have to redo everything.

And here’s the deeper problem: if you don’t catch it, you lay out the building wrong. Columns are out of tolerance. Walls are out of plumb. Elevations are inches off. And now you have rework. Delays. Frustration. And the schedule collapses.

So you’ve got to make sure that you’re using your equipment in a tested and calibrated manner.

The Ideal Setup: FE Bullpen with Testing Area

So when you begin your field engineering program, I’ve said this multiple times, but I want you to have an open office space FE bullpen. And remember, that’s not a dig. It’s not like, “Oh, why do us grunts have to be out in this open office space?” Open office spaces, in my opinion, obviously, are the most intelligent form of collaborating in an office of all. I loathe separate offices and closed doors. All it does is tear down trust.

So if you have an open office space in an FE bullpen and you’re the only one, then you’re the only cool group in the office. But typically what you’ll do is you’ll have a little area in the FE bullpen and then outside, let’s say your overall trailer, let’s say that’s the outside of your trailer and maybe there’s a sidewalk or there’s like an area over here where you can go set up some stuff. You’re going to have some testing and inspection requirements for your equipment, your field engineer equipment specifically.

And I’m going to go through these one by one. First of all, this is in Wesley Crawford’s book, Construction Surveying and Layout. It will also be in his fourth version, which should be out in the next couple of months. But the bottom line is you need to make sure your equipment is in good working order. Now, I’m not going to cover this in detail, but I’ll give you the high points and then point you to the reference material.

Total Stations: Cleaning and Calibration

Let’s first talk about a total station. There is, inside the book, ways to check your angle measurement for your vertical and horizontal angles. There’s two specific tests that I like in there where you can make sure that it’s in good working order. And typically that’s in chapter 10 in the book in version three.

Typically, you don’t have to do these angle checks because most of the time your total station will be in good working order. Let’s say you have a total station on a project. Before you go to the next project, I would have it sent into the survey shop to get cleaned and to get calibrated. And if you do that and basically take really good care of it, make sure you’re using the lens-appropriate cloths and cleaning wipes, not Windex and not your fingers, and that you’re not putting the total station inside of a case when it’s wet to where it gets into the optics and affects the inside next to those lenses inside the actual machinery. As long as you’re taking good care of it and you’re not dropping it and you’re not holding it over your shoulder, you never hold these things over your shoulder like this, you should be good to go.

Now, if you feel like it got bumped or it fell over, obviously take it in to get cleaned and calibrated again. But typically you don’t have trouble with total stations. Now, I always want you to have a 3-second gun or better. You can’t ask surveyors or survey shop owners anything about this. They’ll be like, “You don’t need that, blah blah blah.” Yes, you do. If you’re going to close the traverses and do the kind of layout that I expect and that Wesley Crawford expects for construction control, you’ve got to have really good equipment. You’ve got to maintain them.

Automatic Levels: How They Work and How to Test Them

Now, your automatic level, which some people call a builder’s level. I don’t know that that’s incorrect, but it’s an automatic level because it’s got an automatic internal compensator. And so, what that means is that you will have a prism that’s literally dangling with little wires. That’s why Wesley Crawford in his book says, some of the older instruments had a little lever or button, but you tap the instrument and it should jiggle. It means that this is freely moving. And what it does, it aligns, based off of gravity, any small misalignments in your line of sight.

So, you need to make sure that your automatic internal compensator is working. And you’ll also do a number of other things to make sure that you get rid of parallax and that you have this in focus. But the bottom line is that your level bubble here on the actual housing, the tribrach, has to be calibrated to make sure that this is level.

One of the main things that you’ll do is you will do what’s called pegging a level. So, you will set up your level here in the middle between like two poles that are 200 feet apart. You’ll mark a line, mark a line, and then you’ll come set up over here. And you will mark a line, mark a line, and the distance between these two should be within about an eighth of an inch. They should be equal on both sides.

See, if your automatic level is off, it won’t go like this. It will go like this. Right? So, if you have an automatic level that’s wrong and you’re perfectly between those poles and you make marks and then you get closer to one, you’ll see how those differences start to increase from pole to pole. So you can do pegging a level. And back at the shop, what they’ll do is they’ll just automatically have a little metal plate that’s perfectly level and they’ll make sure that that little level bubble is perfectly level and that it’s sighting properly.

I’m exaggerating a little bit, but I’d say about 15% of the time you’ll get an automatic level right out of the shop that’s not in good calibration, and you need to check it. And if you drop it or there’s a problem or somebody adjusts this level bubble or you’re just not shooting properly, you need to go peg that level. And I actually would recommend that you peg that level every two to four weeks anyway as a standard form of practice.

The Problem with 4-Foot Prism Poles (Avoid Them)

A couple of things that really go wrong quite a bit. Your 4-foot prism poles you shouldn’t be using too much because even if a surveyor argues with me. In fact, let me just say something funny. There was a surveyor that actually worked on a Hensel Phelps job that read our book, Elevating Construction Surveyors, and gave us a bad review because he didn’t like following all of the rules and best practices and made fun of us and gave us a one-star rating. And so that book had a bad rating for a while. And now, naturally, over the years, it’s a 4.7. So, there you go, in your face. It’s an awesome book and people are really doing well with it.

But the problem is surveyors are some of my favorite people in the world, but they’re also some of the most arrogant and cocky and know-it-all people in the world. And they think because they can run a total station that they know everything. And that’s just not the case. And it’s very hard to find a surveyor that understands proper construction tolerances.

From a 4-foot prism pole from the top to the bottom, it’s not uncommon to be 3/16 to 3/8 off. That level bubble is not that accurate. But even if you’re using it like let’s say for general staking, rough staking, you’re locating your trailer, something like that, you need to make sure that it is in good calibration. I’m not going to list any brand names here, but they have a True Plumb. You’ll get it fixed inside the office to where it’s perfectly plumb. You put the 4-foot prism pole in there, and then if the bubble isn’t reading properly, you know you have a problem. There’s other ways to handle it, but these quite often need to be checked.

Tribrachs: 50% Wrong from the Shop

Let me give you one other one, which is a big one because it’s used for precise work. When you’re on a tripod, you’ll have over the head, you’ll have a tribrach that literally links you to a prism. Typically, I like to use the omni prism. What it does is it has an optical plummet and it will sight down to a point and it will level you and it will bring your target up higher and it’s better than a 4-foot prism pole.

But, and this is real, about half the time, 50% of the time that I order a tribrach from a survey shop, it’s out of calibration. And I’m not going to go into too much detail, but I think you’ll find this interesting that if you want to calibrate and actually bring into calibration your tribrach, you set it up perfectly like it’s a total station, and then you literally trace the outline on the head of the tripod and put it on the point. Then you turn it, and I believe it’s 120°. Yep. And you put it back in the trace line, level it up, and it should hit the point.

If it doesn’t, it’ll give you a different dot mark. Then you move it 120°, level it, and you’ll get a different dot mark. And then you’ll end up with three dots down there. And the middle of those three is actually where the level tribrach should be sighting. So, you move it to the middle, make it level there, and it will start to perform with the optical plummet right over the point accurately. And then you can test it, test it, test it until it’s perfect. Or you can take it into the shop.

But the bottom line is total station, typically good. Levels you have to test. The prism poles you have to test. The tribrachs you really have to test.

Steel Chains and Nylon Tapes: The Testing Area

The last thing that I’m going to say is that your steel chains, which means your 100–200-foot chains, you will need a point. That’s why I mentioned on the sidewalk a point here at zero and then at 100. Actually, this is a challenge for you. I want you to shoot 100 feet with a total station. Measure 100 feet with your chain with the right tension, no sag, and with the right temperature corrections. And then I want you to use one of those silly nylons 100-foot tapes. And you’ll see that the silly nylon ones can be up to 3/4 of an inch wrong.

And so, if you’re going to do any kind of measurement up to 100 feet, I want you to have this testing area on the sidewalk. And then these you can do over here in this other area and be very successful. So, I want this whole thing set up to where you can go test your equipment at any time. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Equipment Testing Checklist for Field Engineers

Here’s the testing schedule:

  • Total stations: Clean and calibrate between projects – Send to survey shop for cleaning and calibration before moving to next project. Take good care with lens-appropriate cloths (not Windex or fingers), don’t store wet in case, never hold over shoulder. If bumped or dropped, recalibrate. Always use 3-second gun or better.
  • Automatic levels: Peg every 2-4 weeks – About 15% come from shop out of calibration. Set up between two poles 200 feet apart, mark lines, compare distances (should be within 1/8 inch). If dropped or level bubble adjusted, peg immediately. Standard practice: peg every 2-4 weeks.
  • Tribrachs: Test immediately (50% wrong from shop) – Half the time tribrachs come from survey shop out of calibration. Set up, trace outline on tripod head, turn 120°, level up, check point. Repeat 120° twice more. Three dots show where tribrach should sight. Move to middle, level there, test until perfect.
  • Steel chains and nylon tapes: Test on sidewalk – Create testing area on sidewalk: point at zero, point at 100 feet (shoot with total station). Measure with chain (right tension, no sag, temperature corrections). Compare to nylon tape (can be 3/4 inch wrong). Use testing area regularly.

A Challenge for Field Engineers

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Set up your testing area. Create points on the sidewalk at zero and 100 feet. Peg your automatic levels. Test your tribrachs (50% are wrong from the shop). Test your chains and nylon tapes. And establish a testing schedule: total stations between projects, automatic levels every 2-4 weeks, tribrachs immediately when received, chains regularly.

And if you want more details, it’s in the Field Engineering Methods Manual. You got to make sure that you’re using your equipment in a tested and calibrated manner. As we say at Elevate, field engineer equipment testing: peg levels every 2-4 weeks, check tribrachs (50% wrong from shop), test chains on sidewalk, calibrate total stations yearly.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often should you peg an automatic level?

Every 2-4 weeks as standard practice. Also peg immediately if dropped, level bubble adjusted, or not shooting properly. About 15% of automatic levels come from the shop out of calibration.

Why are tribrachs often out of calibration?

Because 50% of the time they come from the survey shop out of calibration. Always test tribrachs immediately when received by setting up, tracing outline, turning 120° three times, and checking if optical plummet hits the point.

Why avoid 4-foot prism poles?

Because from top to bottom, they’re commonly 3/16 to 3/8 inch off. The level bubble is not that accurate. Use omni prisms with tribrachs instead for precise work. Only use 4-foot prism poles for general staking.

How do you test steel chains?

Create testing area on sidewalk with points at zero and 100 feet (shot with total station). Measure with chain using right tension, no sag, temperature corrections. Compare to nylon tape (can be 3/4 inch wrong).

When should total stations be calibrated?

Between projects. Send to survey shop for cleaning and calibration before moving to next project. Also recalibrate if bumped or dropped. Always use 3-second gun or better for construction control.

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

How Takt Planning Works with CPM Scheduling in Construction

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 18 min

How Takt Planning Works with CPM Scheduling in Construction

For decades, construction projects have relied on the Critical Path Method (CPM) to plan and control schedules. Nearly every contract requires a CPM schedule, and many project teams assume CPM is the only legitimate way to plan a project. But anyone who has actually tried to build a project from a CPM schedule knows something important: CPM is not a production planning system. It is a contractual scheduling framework. That distinction is critical.

CPM is useful for documentation, contractual reporting, and delay claims. But when teams try to run a jobsite directly from CPM, they often experience chaos: stacked trades, unstable sequences, constant rework, and schedules that don’t reflect how work actually happens in the field. That’s where Takt Planning changes everything. Takt Planning creates the production system construction has been missing one that establishes rhythm, stability, and continuous flow across trades. When implemented correctly, Takt and CPM are not competing systems. They serve different purposes and can work together extremely well. The key is understanding how they integrate.

Quick Answer: Build in Takt, Report in CPM

Takt Planning integrates with CPM scheduling by serving as the production planning system, while CPM functions as the contractual reporting schedule. Projects are built and managed using Takt plans to create flow and stability. Progress is then exported into CPM to maintain contractual compliance, schedule documentation, and legal coverage. In simple terms: Build in Takt. Report in CPM.

The Pain of CPM Alone (Why CPM Cannot Run a Construction Project)

The Critical Path Method was originally designed as a mathematical scheduling model, not a production system. Because of this, CPM schedules often struggle with real-world construction challenges. Trades stacking on top of each other. Constant resequencing. Unstable work flow. Poor reliability from week to week. Difficult communication with field crews.

CPM schedules also tend to be too complex for daily field use. Hundreds or thousands of activities exist in the schedule, but crews need something much simpler: clear direction on what to do next. Takt Planning solves this problem by creating flow-based production planning. Instead of managing thousands of disconnected activities, Takt organizes work into zones, trade sequences, and repeating production rhythms. This makes the plan understandable, visual, and executable in the field.

Understanding the Relationship Between Takt and CPM

The easiest way to understand how these systems work together is through role clarity. Takt Planning is the driver. CPM is the record. Takt Planning controls the way the project is actually built. It establishes the flow of work through the building, the sequencing of trades, the movement of crews, the rhythm of production, and the stability of handoffs. This creates a predictable production environment where trades move from zone to zone in a consistent pattern.

CPM, on the other hand, becomes the formal record of the project schedule. It documents the sequence of work for contractual purposes and provides the schedule artifact required by most contracts. The proper relationship looks like this: Run the project using Takt Planning. Export progress into CPM for contractual reporting. When teams understand this distinction, they gain the best of both worlds: Lean production flow and contractual protection.

What Comes First: Takt Planning or CPM

One of the biggest mistakes teams make is starting with CPM. The typical approach looks like this: Build a CPM schedule. Try to pull plan from CPM. Create lookaheads from CPM. Build weekly work plans. Update CPM again. This creates multiple disconnected planning systems and often leads to confusion. The correct order is the opposite. The project should begin with Takt Planning. First, teams develop a Macro-Level Takt Plan, which establishes the overall flow and sequencing of the project. This plan defines work zones, trade sequence, phase flow, and production rhythm. Once the Takt structure is established, the CPM Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) can be aligned to match it. The guiding principle is simple: The Takt plan leads. CPM follows as an export. When projects begin with Takt, the schedule reflects how the job will actually be built, not just how it appears in scheduling software.

How Takt Planning Integrates with the Last Planner System

Takt Planning works naturally with the Last Planner System, forming a cascade of planning levels that move from strategy to daily execution. A typical Lean planning cycle includes the Macro-Level Takt Plan that defines the overall project strategy and establishes the flow of work. Then Pull Plan Milestones where trades collaborate to identify milestones and handoffs within each phase. Then the Norm-Level Takt Plan which becomes the detailed production plan for each phase of the project. Then Six-Week Lookahead where teams remove constraints and prepare upcoming work. Then Weekly Work Plans where trades commit to specific work sequences for the week. Then Daily Planning where field crews execute work using visual plans and zone-based sequencing. Throughout this cycle, progress and learning feed back into the Takt plan. That updated information is then exported into the CPM schedule for reporting.

The Right Way to Update Schedules on a Takt Project

On a Lean construction project, updates begin in the field, not in scheduling software. The most effective teams capture production information through daily zone control walks. During these walks, superintendents and foremen walk each zone, completed work is verified, upcoming work is prepared, and constraints are identified early. This process creates real-time production feedback. Each week, the updated production plan is reflected in the Takt schedule. That information is then exported into the CPM schedule to maintain contractual alignment. This keeps CPM synchronized with the project without allowing it to control field operations.

How Takt Planning Handles Delays and Impacts

Traditional CPM-based recovery often involves aggressive reactions like adding more labor, crashing schedules, overlapping trades, and accelerating work without coordination. These approaches frequently make problems worse by disrupting production flow. Takt Planning approaches delays differently. Instead of panic-driven responses, teams focus on flow recovery. Typical recovery strategies include adjusting crew flow between zones, optimizing batch sizes, re-leveling the Takt plan, and protecting trade sequence stability. This keeps the project moving forward without destroying the rhythm of production. Impacts are tracked based on the Path of Critical Flow, which reflects the real movement of work through the building. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Maintaining Legal Protection with CPM

One concern many organizations have when adopting Lean scheduling is contractual protection. Fortunately, CPM still provides this layer of protection. By exporting the Takt plan into CPM each week, teams maintain a contract-compliant schedule, a defensible as-built record, documentation for potential time extensions, and alignment with owner requirements. This allows projects to enjoy the benefits of Lean production while still meeting contractual obligations.

The Key Principle: Takt Drives Production, CPM Reports Contractually

When teams try to run construction projects from CPM alone, they often encounter instability, confusion, and unreliable schedules. Takt Planning fixes this by introducing flow, rhythm, stability, and clear trade coordination. But CPM still serves an important role.

The most effective projects use both systems with clear responsibilities:

  • Takt Planning drives production: Creates flow, guides field execution, establishes rhythm, sequences trades, moves crews zone to zone, creates stability of handoffs, and makes the plan understandable, visual, and executable in the field
  • CPM Scheduling reports contractually: Documents schedule status, satisfies contract requirements, provides legal protection, maintains as-built record, and aligns with owner requirements for contractual compliance
  • Takt leads, CPM follows as export: Begin with Macro-Level Takt Plan, define zones/sequence/flow/rhythm, align CPM WBS to match Takt structure, export Takt progress into CPM weekly for contractual reporting, keep CPM synchronized without letting it control field operations

When these systems are used together correctly, something powerful happens on the project. Work flows smoothly. Trades trust the plan. Teams operate with stability instead of chaos. And the project moves forward with clarity, reliability, and momentum.

A Challenge for Construction Teams

Here’s what I want you to do this week. If you’re running a project with CPM, ask yourself: Is CPM driving production or reporting contractually? If CPM is driving production, you have chaos. Stop. Start with Takt Planning instead. Develop a Macro-Level Takt Plan. Define zones, sequence, flow, rhythm. Align CPM WBS to match Takt. Run the project using Takt. Export progress into CPM weekly for contractual reporting.

Build in Takt. Report in CPM. That’s the principle. When you use both systems with clear responsibilities, you get Lean production flow and contractual protection. That’s how Takt and CPM work together. As we say at Elevate, Takt drives production, CPM reports contractually. Build in Takt, report in CPM. Takt leads, CPM follows as export. Flow-based planning with legal protection.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Takt Planning integrate with CPM scheduling?

Takt serves as the production planning system while CPM functions as the contractual reporting schedule. Build and manage using Takt plans to create flow. Export progress into CPM to maintain contractual compliance and legal coverage.

Which comes first: Takt Planning or CPM?

Takt Planning comes first. Develop Macro-Level Takt Plan, define zones/sequence/flow/rhythm, then align CPM WBS to match it. The Takt plan leads. CPM follows as an export. Never start with CPM.

Can you maintain legal protection with Takt Planning?

Yes. By exporting the Takt plan into CPM each week, you maintain a contract-compliant schedule, defensible as-built record, documentation for time extensions, and alignment with owner requirements. Lean production with contractual protection.

How do you update schedules on a Takt project?

Updates begin in the field through daily zone control walks. Capture production feedback. Each week, reflect updated production plan in Takt schedule. Export that into CPM for contractual alignment. CPM stays synchronized without controlling field operations.

How does Takt Planning handle delays differently than CPM?

CPM recovery adds labor, crashes schedules, overlaps trades. Takt focuses on flow recovery: adjust crew flow between zones, optimize batch sizes, re-level Takt plan, protect sequence stability. Track impacts based on Path of Critical Flow.

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

Scheduling For Field Engineers (Construction Lookahead Planning That Works)

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 20 min

Scheduling for Field Engineers (Construction Lookahead Planning that Works)

In this blog, I’m going to talk to you about a really difficult subject: How a field engineer or a field engineering team can actually stay on schedule. This is hugely important because there are different buffers and timelines that we must deal with. And we also are in the business of keeping work flowing and going.

So, I’m going to show you a pattern back here that I really hope you fall in love with. Let me explain how field engineers stay on schedule.

The Pain of Field Engineers Without a Scheduling System

Here’s what happens when field engineers don’t have a scheduling system. They work 14 hours a day. They fight fires. They scramble. They never get ahead. Activities come up and they’re not ready. Lift drawings aren’t done. Layout isn’t complete. Surveyors aren’t scheduled. And the placement or inspection gets delayed. The crew waits. The schedule slips. And the field engineer is stressed, overwhelmed, and burning out.

Otherwise, you’re going to be working 14 hours a day, and it’s going to be absolutely crazy. That’s why scheduling is crucial for field engineers.

The Last Planner System for Field Engineers

I’m going to start with the Last Planner System. And you’re probably like, “J Money, what in the world is going on?” But let me explain it like this. If you have a macro-level Takt plan, which at least commercial companies are using, field engineers should be familiar with this. Like, for instance, Hensel Phelps uses SIPS, Short Interval Production Schedule. That’s an ancestor of Takt planning.

You’ll have a macro-level Takt plan, and one of these phases will come down and its milestone will be brought down as well, and you’ll do a pull plan. But when you do this pull plan, you will actually gain buffers at the end before the milestone. And then from this, you’re able to filter out what’s called a six-week make ready lookahead plan. That’s a lot of words. And then a weekly work plan. And that weekly work plan is from now to two Fridays from now. And then you’re actually able to filter out what’s called a day plan.

Now, this six-week make ready lookahead plan and the weekly work plan are going to be my main tools.

The Six-Week Lookahead Plan

The six-week make ready lookahead plan for the field engineer will basically keep the diagonal trade flow according to the Takt time, and it will hopefully show out the next four or six weeks. Some contractors do three. They really mean last week, the next three weeks, and then a lookahead week after that. So it could be five. But I like a six-week lookahead.

So, what it will do is it will show activities, but these activities will still be on a flow. It won’t just be a Gantt chart. And you’ll be able to use that to see what work is coming.

The Weekly Work Plan

And then a weekly work plan will be more narrow, and it will have each activity on its own line. Meaning that like if you see a lookahead plan, you would see multiple activities on the same line because you’re still seeing that Takt plan in a flow. But in the weekly work plan, you’ll see everything on its own line item. And this is the commitment schedule. And this is your lookahead. This is to make work ready.

I think that as a field engineer, if I was doing field engineering today, I would probably look more at the lookahead plan and then just make sure that the weekly work plan is tracking in this direction.

Working Back from Placement Dates (Survey Checks and Lift Drawings)

But here’s the bottom line. The situation is typically, let’s just use placement, but field engineers can be prepping for concrete placements, grouting for masonry walls, in-wall overhead ceiling inspections, whatever it is, whatever you’re closing up or placing with concrete or grouting, right? Let’s say that that’s this day.

In some situations, like for instance in Southern California, when you have labor that’s signatory to the union, like for instance, if Hensel Phelps had a field engineering program in SoCal, but you are union on that particular job or as a company, then you might have to involve the surveyors. So if you have to do a survey check or do survey layout right here before this activity, it might take you a couple of days to get them scheduled. And there’s a range of a couple of days here. The field engineers might do their work ahead and have the surveyors check, or the surveyors might do their work and then the field engineers check. Either way, you’re dealing with a timeline.

It’s not all projects where you can just go do the layout and then go make the placement. So, the bottom line is I’m going to take these activities over here and in whatever schedule format the field engineer desires, I’m going to put those required dates for when we are placing, grouting, or closing that overhead soffit or ceiling or doing drywall on the wall. We are going to mark those dates. Then we’re going to work back for anything that we might need, like survey, like having a professional surveyor come out and double-check. And then we’re going to mark the actual day that we do the layout. And even before that, we’re going to mark the day that we need to have our lift drawings done.

So this would be layout, and this would be lift drawings. If you have this kind of a schedule, then you can work on this rhythm.

The Afternoon Huddle (Planning for the Next Day)

That means that every day in the FE bullpen, and hopefully let’s say there’s a desk here, here, here. Let’s say there’s a whiteboard over here. Every day when you come in, and preferably the afternoon before, and let me actually talk about that real quick. On a really good Lean project, the foreman and the superintendent will do their foreman huddle the afternoon before.

And then what can happen is the field engineers, before they go home, can go ahead and huddle and do their scheduling. They can say, “Alright, here are the activities and let’s say this is tomorrow. Okay, well, tomorrow I’ve got to have this lift drawing done and then I’ve got to prepare for this layout and then I’ve got some requests from the day before and that’s my schedule.”

And so what they do is they will take their long-term scheduling, which would be on the left side of the board, and make their day plan for the next day on the right side of the board. And they would come up with a day plan. So, you would have, you know, like let’s say FE1, FE2, FE3. And they have a list of the things that they’re going to do the next day, and they can charge their batteries, which you should probably do anyway. Get any prep work, any permissions. Probably wouldn’t need dig permits. Let’s say you’re in an area where you need a job hazard analysis or you need to get, in the Southeast, they call it, in addition to their MOT, their traffic control signage. Maybe you need certain traffic control. Maybe you need certain permits.

Whatever you need for the tasks in that daytight compartment, you can get the day before so that when you get into this next day and you’re actually out there executing work, you’re not just fighting fires. You know that you’re getting out ahead of key activities, especially if you have these other requirements that would require a buffer.

Here’s the scheduling system for field engineers:

  • Six-week lookahead and weekly work plan as base tools: Six-week lookahead shows diagonal trade flow according to Takt time with activities on flow (not just Gantt chart). Weekly work plan is commitment schedule from now to two Fridays from now with each activity on its own line.
  • Mark placement dates and work back: Put required dates for placements, grouting, or closing overhead soffits/ceilings on the schedule. Work back for survey checks (couple days buffer in union situations). Mark layout day. Mark lift drawing completion day before layout.
  • Afternoon huddle for next day planning: Field engineers huddle afternoon before (after foreman huddle). Take long-term scheduling from left side of board, make day plan for next day on right side. FE1, FE2, FE3 list tasks for next day. Charge batteries, get prep work, permissions, JHA, traffic control, permits for daytight compartments.

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

So, I know this is a lot. I am always told to never summarize on a YouTube video, but I’m just going to tell you: six-week lookahead and weekly work plan is your base tool, gets plugged into the schedule which is on your board in your FE bullpen area. You work the activities back to trigger key activities for you, understanding that you might need other interfaces or experts, especially like the Southern California union surveyor example. And then you huddle the afternoon before the next day, and you come up with activities or assignments FE by FE that will enable you to execute within what’s called daytight compartments.

This scheduling is crucial. Otherwise, you’re going to be working 14 hours a day, and it’s going to be absolutely crazy.

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Set up a scheduling board in your FE bullpen. Left side: six-week lookahead and weekly work plan with placement dates marked and activities worked back for survey checks, layout, and lift drawings. Right side: day plan for next day created in afternoon huddle. Huddle every afternoon before. Charge batteries, get permissions, prep work for daytight compartments. That’s how you stay on schedule without working 14 hours a day. As we say at Elevate, field engineer scheduling: six-week lookahead and weekly work plan, work back from placement dates, mark lift drawings and layout, huddle afternoon before. That’s the system.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the two main scheduling tools for field engineers?

Six-week make ready lookahead plan (shows diagonal trade flow according to Takt time with activities on flow) and weekly work plan (commitment schedule from now to two Fridays from now with each activity on its own line).

Why work back from placement dates?

Because you need buffers for survey checks (couple days in union situations), time for layout, and time to complete lift drawings before layout. Mark placement date, work back for survey, mark layout day, mark lift drawing completion day.

When should field engineers huddle for scheduling?

Afternoon before the next day, after the foreman and superintendent do their afternoon foreman huddle. Take long-term scheduling from left side of board, make day plan for next day on right side with tasks per FE.

What are daytight compartments?

Tasks you can get done in one day with all prep work, permissions, JHA, traffic control, and permits gathered the afternoon before. So when you start the next day, you’re executing work, not fighting fires.

Why is scheduling crucial for field engineers?

Because without a scheduling system, field engineers work 14 hours a day fighting fires, never getting ahead. With six-week lookahead, weekly work plan, activities worked back, and afternoon huddles, field engineers execute within daytight compartments without burnout.

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

Full Kit For Field Engineers (How To Prepare Materials, Tools, And Information In Construction)

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 21 min

Full Kit for Field Engineers (How to Prepare Materials, Tools, and Information in Construction)

Let me tell you a little story, like a recent story. Adam Bean, or Beanie, I believe he lives on the Sunshine Coast, halfway around the world, is an amazing influencer for both field and office, and we do live streams probably every other week, something like that. And he saw one of my videos about full kit, which is from Eliyahu Goldratt, which he’s a big fan of as well. And he sent a video on our daily coaching chat.

By the way, we have a daily coaching chat. And what that is, it’s on WhatsApp, and people come in. We get past the spam screening so that we don’t have investors trying to sell you stuff. But once you’re in the chat, you can ask questions, you can share. It’s great. We have 130 people. I want to get it up to 1,500 people by halfway through this year. That’s a big goal, but I really want to get there. If you’re ever like, “I feel alone sometimes and I want more help,” then hop on our coaching chat.

Anyway, he was on there, and he took a video and he’s like, “I’m going to go mow my lawn.” Now, this is all in Australian, so it was much cooler words and in a better accent. But he’s like, “I’ve got my gloves, my earplugs, my safety glasses, my boots. I’ve got the trimmer and the lawnmower, all filled up with fuel.” He’s got a full kit everywhere. And I was like, “Yes, this is the vision.”

Let me explain what full kit means and how field engineers make it happen.

The Pain of Not Having Full Kit

Here’s what happens when you don’t have full kit. The crew shows up. They’re ready to work. But they don’t have the right materials. Or they don’t have the right tools. Or they don’t have the information. Or they don’t have the layout. Or they don’t have the permissions. Or they don’t have the space. So they wait. They improvise. They guess. They work their way through it. And rework happens. Delays happen. Frustration happens. And the schedule collapses.

I keep going back to this analogy: if you want to go build something, like let’s say you want to build a wall, we’ve got to be ready to build that wall. We can’t just go out there willy-nilly and guess and try and work our way through it. It’s absolutely ridiculous. Before we go do the work, we need full kit.

What Is Full Kit? (17 Items Total, 7 for Field Engineers)

And I want you to know that field engineers are a crucial part of this. There’s 17 things. I only have right here 7. So the other 10 are for the rest of the project delivery team and the foreman, but seven of the key items directly relate to a field engineer.

There are other things in a full kit in addition to these, like let’s say primary planning, secondary planning, there’s backup planning, there’s the installation work package. There might be like the lift plan for the crane. There’s lots of other things that would go in an installation work package. But the idea is, how can we have a full kit before we start? That’s the idea. Now, a field engineer will help with the materials, the tools, the information, the layout, the equipment, the permissions, and the space. Let me tell you how.

The Ideal Setup: A Queuing Area for Full Kit

But first, I want to bring you to a new idea that would be a base. Let’s say that I have a site, and let’s say that we have space. I just went to a program in San Francisco with a massive project on it where they didn’t have the space. I get that there are situations where we don’t have the space unless you have an off-site staging or in a different lot or something, but let’s imagine you have space.

And what I want to see in the future, where we can, is where your office is set up and people come in, but there’s also this queuing area. Let’s say hypothetically that you have this open area and the truck comes in and you’ve got a little forklift that comes and grabs the materials off. And I think it would be best done with like a little elevated platform. And I know we can do this on these massive data centers, so we should start doing it.

Where literally the stuff comes off and the trash goes right into the recycling and the waste dumpsters and like scrap metal dumpsters, and we don’t have to haul it into the building and haul it out. It’s unpackaged right there. And then it comes right up here. And it’s not put in bulk, but it’s actually put on colored pallets or in bins or in some kind of package on this deck by zone so that it can come out to the building.

So for instance, this kit would actually just be for that one concrete placement or that station or that zone or something like that. And what I love about this is, yes, field engineers are out in the field, but it’s close enough to where literally, let’s just zoom into one of these. Let’s say that you had something here that needed to be kitted and maybe that’s some bulk material. And then you have your bin with your consumables. And then let’s say that you have actually what we typically use in construction is a crew board. So, all of the information right here ready.

Now, if you’re going to go mass deliver reinforcing or large segments of duct or curtain wall, you’re not going to pull them through the queuing area. This is only the things that need to be kitted, and that would be coordinated in the afternoon foreman huddle the day before. But let’s say that you’re on this platform and the field engineer or the office engineer or the project engineer could go actually inspect this. Go actually inspect the screws and the fasteners and then go make sure that the installation work package is put on the crew board with the lookahead, with the weekly work plan, with the day plan information, and that literally this was all ready.

And then let’s say that there was an inventory of flags on the ground, and on these flags, it had a little sign that said, “This is ready for forklift pickup.” And the forklift, when it comes back, “Oh, this is ready to go. I’ll just go ahead and bring this directly to the zone or the station or that component or whatever you’re working on.”

This is what I think we should be getting to in the future. Like these massive data centers, we have no business just bringing stuff to the location. Everything should be coming in from a queuing area. Everything. And if we have the space, everything should be coming in through a queuing area. Hospitals, everything should be coming in through a queuing area. There’s very few situations where I wouldn’t want this to happen. And if you don’t have space, then I would highly recommend that you do it through the trade partner offices for their work and that a logistics person is designated to coordinate it.

How Field Engineers Ensure Full Kit (The 7 Items)

Here’s how field engineers ensure full kit for the seven items:

  • Materials inspected and kitted: Field engineer participates in material inspection in the queuing area. Check screws, fasteners, reinforcing, everything. One time we were on HCAI (formerly OSHPD) for hospitals and they were using the wrong fastener. I didn’t catch it. Everything had to be ripped out. Material inspections are a thing.
  • Tools quality-checked: Foreman makes sure the right tools are there, but field engineer participates to make sure the right quality tools are there. Pull testing equipment for reinforcing. Test panels for shotcrete. Tools for different assemblies that aren’t just the foreman’s to coordinate.
  • Information provided (lift drawings, work packages, checklists): Do we have the installation work package that we put inside the crew board? Do we have the lift drawing and a single visual checklist from the precon meeting so they have all the information? They don’t have to run around for it.
  • Layout completed (grid lines, benchmarks, elevations): Does the trade partner have the layout grid lines and, if it’s not here on the intersection, a benchmark showing the elevation for that work so they can go ahead and build that structure? Layout is crucial from a field engineering standpoint.
  • Equipment safety-checked (alarms, fire extinguisher, inspections): If you have a yard and an equipment pass-through, check to make sure it had backup alarms, fire extinguisher, current inspections, it was safe, had a current seat belt, and then it gets through the queuing area and goes out on site.
  • Permissions secured (permits, inspector notified, authority enabled): This means that we have current permits. This means that the authority having jurisdiction is enabling the work. This means the inspector knows that the work is coming up.
  • Space organized (work area, laydown, access): It’s not just the work when it comes to space, but it’s also where you’re going to lay down materials, where your workers are going to be working, and the access over to the area. We have to have enough space for the crew to get to where they’re going.

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 and Superintendents

Here’s what I want you to do this week. If you’re a field engineer, participate in full kit. Inspect materials in the queuing area. Quality-check tools. Provide information (lift drawings, work packages, checklists). Complete layout (grid lines, benchmarks). Safety-check equipment. Secure permissions. Organize space (work area, laydown, access). That’s your job. That’s how you enable the craft.

And if you’re a superintendent without field engineers, know this: there’s no way you’re going to get full kit before trades start. You need field engineers. Not just for survey and lift drawings. For enabling the craft with full kit.

My point with this blog is that this is how we make sure that we’re ready, full kit. And it’s definitely a part of the field engineer’s job to do it. As we say at Elevate, full kit means materials, tools, information, layout, equipment, permissions, and space ready before work starts. Field engineers ensure 7 of 17 items. That’s how you enable the craft.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is full kit in construction?

Full kit means having everything ready before work starts: materials, tools, information, layout, equipment, permissions, and space. There are 17 items total. Field engineers ensure 7 of them. The other 10 are for the project delivery team and foreman.

Why do field engineers participate in material inspections?

Because using the wrong materials causes massive rework. On an HCAI (OSHPD) hospital project, they used the wrong fastener. Everything had to be ripped out. Material inspections in the queuing area prevent this.

What is a queuing area and why does it matter?

A queuing area is where materials come off the truck, get unpackaged, inspected, kitted by zone, and staged for forklift pickup. Everything should come in through a queuing area. Data centers, hospitals, everything. It enables full kit.

What information does a field engineer provide for full kit?

Installation work package inside the crew board, lift drawing, and single visual checklist from the precon meeting. So the crew has all the information and doesn’t have to run around for it.

Why can’t you get full kit without field engineers?

Because field engineers ensure 7 of 17 full kit items: materials inspected, tools quality-checked, information provided, layout completed, equipment safety-checked, permissions secured, space organized. Without field engineers, trades don’t have full kit.

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

Declaring Breakdowns – Lean, IPD Series

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 23 min

You’re Not Declaring Breakdowns (And It’s Destroying Your Results)

Here’s the uncomfortable truth about why your projects struggle. You’re not declaring breakdowns. You’re not telling the hard truth when you see waste, defects, or confusion. And that silence is costing you quality, schedule, and team performance. Because teams that fix problems faster win. And you can’t fix problems you won’t acknowledge out loud.

Think about the difference between Pixar and Disney movies during a specific period. Disney was producing garbage. Home on the Range was a B-movie with poor animation, weak story, and mediocre humor. It flopped at the box office. Disney lost money on multiple films during that era because something in their process was broken. Then they brought in Pixar to help figure out what was wrong.

What Pixar revealed changed everything. The first review sessions at Pixar were brutal. Teams would present their characters, plot, animation, and message, and the review team would tear everything apart. Script writers and artists left those meetings dejected, knowing they’d have to go back to the drawing board. But that first critical review was key to getting it right. Because Pixar movies are fantastic. Visually stunning. Emotionally moving. Great plot twists. They draw you in and leave you feeling changed. And that excellence requires declaring breakdowns relentlessly, even when it’s hard.

The Pain of Silence That Destroys Quality

You’ve experienced this pattern. Someone on your team sees a problem. They notice waste, confusion, a defect being passed along. And they say nothing. Maybe they’re afraid of looking difficult. Maybe they think someone else will mention it. Maybe they’ve been trained their whole lives to shut up unless called on. So the problem continues. The defect gets passed to the customer. The waste compounds. And weeks later when it becomes a crisis, everyone wonders why nobody spoke up earlier when it would have been easier to fix.

That’s what was happening at Disney before Pixar’s intervention. Script writers and artists would fall in love with their characters. They’d brainstorm internally and head down a direction. If someone made a comment, they’d either be too attached to change it or nobody would speak up at all. And that silence created mediocre movies because problems weren’t surfaced and addressed when they were small and fixable.

The same dynamic destroys construction projects. We see disconnects with the team. We notice violations of culture or core values. We observe waste that needs fixing. We watch defects being passed along. We feel disrespected or confused. And we say nothing. Because speaking up feels risky or uncomfortable or like making a big deal out of something small. So we let it go. And the problem grows until it becomes a crisis that damages schedule, budget, relationships, or safety.

The System Trains Us Into Silence

Here’s what I want you to understand. Our entire culture trains us not to speak up. In school, you had to raise your hand and be quiet. If you disagreed with a teacher, they’d gripe back at you. You learned that keeping your head down and not making waves was safer than pointing out problems. And that programming follows you into the workplace where speaking up about breakdowns feels dangerous.

The construction industry amplifies this. We value getting along over healthy conflict. We promote people who don’t rock the boat. We punish or sideline those who constantly point out problems. And we create cultures where people hide issues instead of declaring them because they’ve learned that surfacing problems makes them look like complainers or troublemakers.

But here’s the truth that Pixar proved and that Lean construction and Integrated Project Delivery demonstrate repeatedly: teams that declare breakdowns relentlessly produce better results than teams that stay silent to avoid discomfort. Because problems are not a problem. Not recognizing that we have problems is the problem. And teams that see and fix problems faster win consistently.

I was consulting with an organization recently that started using a problem bowl in meetings. They put it in the middle of the room and invited everyone to write breakdowns on sticky notes and throw them in the bowl. Then during the agenda, someone would pull them out and the team would discuss them. The first week, not much happened. The person who wrote the problem maybe spoke up. The second week, people put in more pertinent problems and waited for others to speak up. Conversation started flowing. And they were culturally conditioning everyone to declare breakdowns without fear.

That’s the shift required. From silence to declaration. From hiding problems to surfacing them. From individual ownership to team responsibility. Because the breakthrough insight is this: problems belong to the group, not the person. When you declare a breakdown, you’re not attacking someone. You’re identifying something the team needs to address together.

The Bowl Technique That Removes Emotion

Let me teach you a technique that transforms difficult conversations. A trusted mentor taught me this. When you’re having a conversation about a problem, imagine that the problem is sitting in a bowl on the desk between you. You’re both looking at the problem in the bowl together. You’re not talking at each other with the problem attached to one person. You’re talking at the problem together with the emotion detached.

I’ve literally done this with people during emotional discussions. I’ve said, “Let’s imagine right here in my left hand there’s a bowl and the problem is in here. We’re talking at the problem together. We’re not talking at each other and emotionally connecting these things to each other.” And it works. We get through it without anger, without defensiveness, without making it personal.

This same principle applies to declaring breakdowns in team settings. The breakdown isn’t owned by the person who caused it or the person who noticed it. It’s owned by the team. When someone declares a breakdown, they’re not blaming anyone. They’re pointing the team’s attention to something that needs addressing. That shift from personal to collective makes speaking up safer and problem-solving more effective.

Consider calling problems “opportunities” if that helps your culture embrace them. The language matters less than the behavior. What matters is creating an environment where people feel authorized to speak up, where declaring breakdowns is praised instead of punished, and where the team stops and pays attention when someone identifies an issue.

When and How to Declare Breakdowns

Here’s when you should declare a breakdown, whether big or small. When you see a disconnect with the team. When you notice a violation of culture or core values. When you observe waste that needs fixing. When something passes a defect along to the customer. When something disrespects people. When there’s unhealthy variation and someone is confused. When results aren’t what you want them to be for the project.

Don’t get into the habit of thinking breakdowns have to be grandiose to deserve attention. Small problems become big problems when ignored. Declare them when they’re small and easy to fix. And when somebody declares a breakdown, the team must stop and pay attention. This is critical. How many times does someone say something’s wrong and we blow right past it? We can’t do that anymore.

Here’s an example from a recent organization. We were asking people to wear masks while presenting. Some people agreed immediately. Others argued about logic and science and whether it was necessary. I stopped them and said this isn’t about arguing logic on safety. If somebody doesn’t feel safe, we’re considerate enough to stop and listen and pay attention. If someone asks me to wear a mask while speaking and they can hear me fine through it, why wouldn’t I respect their concern? It’s not about winning a debate. It’s about caring enough to respond when someone declares a breakdown around safety or respect.

Here’s how you create that culture practically:

  • Praise people when they bring up problems instead of making them feel like complainers • Give everyone explicit authority to stand up and speak up when they see breakdowns • De-incentivize hiding problems with consequences for people who know about issues and stay silent • Shorten the timing between when someone notices a breakdown and when they declare it • Stop and pay attention every time someone declares a breakdown, especially around safety or respect

These aren’t suggestions. These are the disciplines that separate teams who improve continuously from teams who stumble through the same problems repeatedly because nobody feels safe speaking up.

Building a Problem-Solving Culture

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow. We work with builders who understand that declaring breakdowns isn’t negative or difficult. It’s the foundation of continuous improvement and the only way teams produce exceptional results consistently.

The current condition is we don’t speak up. We make crap work. Sometimes we push defects onto customers. People don’t feel authorized to speak up. And we reinforce the disconnected culture where problems hide until they become crises. That pattern destroys quality, damages relationships, and wastes resources that could be used to create value.

The challenge is to make speaking up a cultural norm. Make Lean improvements continuously. Become a problem-solving, opportunity-obtaining, continuously improving culture. And if you accumulate enough declared breakdowns that you can’t address them all immediately, put them on a scrum board as a product owner and let the team autonomously fix those opportunities as long as they’re not urgent line items requiring immediate attention.

This is the Lean and IPD mindset that transforms teams. Declaring breakdowns becomes normal instead of threatening. Problems belong to the group instead of individuals. Speaking up gets praised instead of punished. And teams fix issues faster because they surface them immediately instead of hiding them until they explode.

Think about the Pixar example again. Those brutal first reviews where everything gets torn apart create better movies than Disney’s approach where people fell in love with their work and couldn’t receive critical feedback. The discomfort of declaring breakdowns early produces excellence. The comfort of staying silent produces mediocrity.

The Challenge: Declare One Breakdown This Week

So here’s my challenge to you. This week, declare a breakdown. When you see waste, confusion, a defect, disrespect, or results that aren’t what you want, speak up. Say out loud, “I’m declaring a breakdown here.” Explain what you see. Invite the team to address it together. And watch what happens when problems get surfaced and solved instead of hidden and ignored.

Introduce the language of declaring breakdowns to your team. Explain that problems belong to the group, not individuals. Create systems like the problem bowl that make speaking up easier and less personal. Praise people when they surface issues. And commit as a team to stop and pay attention every time someone declares a breakdown.

We really have to have eyes to see. We need to make sure we all have license to speak up. We need to culturally reinforce fixing problems and get that shift started. The teams that fix problems faster win. And you can’t fix what you won’t declare out loud.

As W. Edwards Deming said, “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” Declaring breakdowns is how you change instead of just surviving. It’s how you build Pixar-quality results instead of Disney’s B-movies. Start speaking up.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Won’t declaring breakdowns constantly make me look like a complainer or troublemaker?

Only in unhealthy cultures that value comfort over improvement. In healthy cultures, people who surface problems early are valued as contributors who help the team win. Frame breakdowns as opportunities and focus on solutions, not just complaints. The key is speaking up constructively, not just criticizing without offering help.

How do I know if a problem is big enough to declare a breakdown or if I should just let it go?

Don’t filter based on size. Small problems become big problems when ignored. If you notice waste, confusion, defects, or disrespect, declare it regardless of scale. The team can decide together if it needs immediate attention or can be added to a list for later. But surfacing it prevents it from hiding and growing.

What if my team culture punishes people for speaking up about problems?

Then you need leadership support to change the culture or you need to find a healthier team. You can model the behavior by declaring breakdowns respectfully and inviting solutions. But if leadership consistently punishes problem-surfacing, the culture won’t change without intervention from above or personnel changes.

How do I declare a breakdown without making it personal or attacking someone?

Use the bowl technique. Frame the problem as something the team is looking at together, not something attached to an individual. Say “I’m noticing a breakdown with [specific issue]” rather than “you caused a problem.” Focus on the system or process, not the person. Invite collaborative problem-solving.

What if people start declaring every tiny thing and we waste time in meetings addressing non-issues?

That’s a facilitation problem, not a problem with declaring breakdowns. Use a scrum board or problem list for non-urgent items. Address urgent breakdowns immediately. Batch-process smaller issues. Teach people to distinguish between breakdowns needing immediate attention and those that can be scheduled for later resolution.

 

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.

The Blood Test for Teams – Personality Profiles – Lean, IPD Series

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 23 min

Stop Guessing Who Your People Are and Get Data

Here’s the problem with how most leaders try to understand their teams. They guess. They observe behavior and make assumptions. They ask people how they’re feeling and hope the answer reveals what’s really going on. And then they’re surprised when communication breaks down, when conflicts escalate, when talented people don’t perform the way they expected. Because guessing isn’t a diagnosis. And without diagnosis, you can’t fix what’s actually wrong.

I’ve profiled hundreds, maybe close to a thousand people at this point with personality assessments. And I see patterns that most leaders miss completely. Not because I’m special, but because I have data they don’t have. I know how people prefer to receive feedback before I give it. I know what energizes them and what drains them before I assign work. I know their natural communication style before I try to reach them. And that data transforms how effectively I can build teams, develop individuals, and solve problems that would otherwise destroy relationships.

But here’s what’s interesting. Despite overwhelming evidence that personality profiles work, people resist them. They say people change, so profiles aren’t accurate. They worry profiles will label people or force them into boxes. They question whether these tools are really that useful. And underneath all those objections is the same fear: what if the data reveals something uncomfortable that we’d rather not face?

The Pain of Leading Without Data

You’ve experienced this frustration. You have someone on your team who’s talented but struggling. You try different approaches to reach them. You give feedback the way you’d want to receive it. You assign work you think they’d enjoy. And nothing works. The relationship deteriorates. Performance suffers. And eventually you’re looking at moving them off the team or into a different role because you can’t figure out how to help them succeed where they are.

That’s what happens when you lead by guessing instead of data. You’re treating symptoms without understanding root causes. You’re prescribing solutions without running diagnostic tests. And just like a doctor who prescribes medication based on how you say you feel without running blood work, you’re masking problems instead of fixing them.

Think about this comparison. I used to go to traditional doctors who’d ask how I was feeling and prescribe medication in under a minute. Literally fifty-three seconds from describing my anxiety to getting a prescription with side effects that included heart problems and infertility. No diagnostic testing. No investigation of root causes. Just mask the symptoms with pills and hope that works.

Then I switched to naturopathic doctors who run comprehensive blood tests every three months. A hundred different data points showing exactly where my cholesterol is, where my blood sugar is, where everything stands. Based on that data, they identify root causes and fix them with non-invasive naturopathic treatments. Within a month, my anxiety was gone, my weight problem was gone, everything was resolved. Not masked. Fixed.

The System Avoids Diagnostic Data

Here’s what I want you to understand. Most construction companies avoid personality profiling because they’re uncomfortable with what data might reveal. They prefer to guess at people’s motivations, communication styles, and needs rather than actually finding out through diagnostic assessment. And that creates a systematic pattern of misunderstanding, miscommunication, and missed opportunities to help people thrive.

The construction industry values action over analysis. We promote people who appear decisive, who jump into solutions, who seem confident even when they’re guessing. And we undervalue the diagnostic work that would actually give us accurate information about how people work best. So we end up making decisions about team composition, role assignments, and communication approaches based on assumptions rather than data.

That’s like running a construction project without surveying the site first. You might get lucky and build something that works. More likely, you’ll discover problems after you’ve committed resources to wrong solutions. Personality profiles are the survey data for team building. They tell you what you’re actually working with instead of what you assume you’re working with.

I’ve profiled people using the Myers-Briggs sixteen personalities assessment along with what I call player cards that include a “This Is Me” form. On the left side, people answer questions about how they like interaction, how they prefer feedback, what they need from their team. On the right side, they take the personality assessment. And they always match. Always. The personality profile validates what people have said about themselves, giving you confirmation that you understand them correctly.

But here’s the key insight that transforms how you use these tools. Personality profiles don’t exist to label people or force them into boxes. They exist to accentuate strengths and neutralize weaknesses. When someone’s profile says they can be too needy or too selfless or slow to make personal decisions, that’s not damning information. That’s diagnostic data that helps them grow and helps you support them better. Nobody gets fired for profile weaknesses. They get coached to compensate for them while leveraging their strengths.

How Diagnostic Data Transforms Teams

Let me walk you through why this matters so much for building high-performing teams. Patrick Lencioni’s model says teams need five things to perform: trust each other, have healthy conflict, set goals together, hold each other accountable, and perform. But I add a sixth step at the foundation: know each other. Because you can’t trust people you don’t actually know.

Think about the team dynamics this creates. You can’t perform unless you hold each other accountable. You can’t hold each other accountable unless you’ve set standard goals together. You won’t set goals together unless you have healthy conflict and people speak up. You won’t have healthy conflict if you don’t trust each other. And here’s the kicker: you won’t trust each other unless you know each other. Personality profiles are how you actually know each other instead of guessing.

At field engineer bootcamp, the winning team won because they held each other accountable. They held each other accountable because they had healthy conflict. They had healthy conflict because they trusted each other. They trusted each other because they communicated effectively. And they communicated effectively because they figured out themselves and how they like to communicate individually first. It started with individual people getting clarity on who they are, then being able to work through the phases of team development, and ultimately performing at a level that let them win.

That’s not accidental. That’s systematic. Know yourself, then know others, then build trust, then have healthy conflict, then set goals, then hold accountable, then perform. Skip the “know” steps and you’re building on sand. Include them and you have data that guides every other step.

Here’s how personality profiles provide that diagnostic data:

  • Reveals how individuals prefer to receive feedback before you damage relationships by giving it wrong • Shows what energizes versus drains each person so you can assign work that plays to strengths • Identifies natural communication styles so teams can bridge gaps instead of talking past each other • Highlights potential blind spots and weaknesses so people can compensate before they cause problems

These aren’t labels or limitations. These are insights that let you meet people where they are instead of expecting everyone to adapt to your preferred style. When you have this data, you stop guessing and start knowing.

Why Data Beats Assumptions Every Time

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow. We work with builders who understand that guessing about people creates dysfunction while diagnostic data creates high-performing teams. We use personality profiles not to label but to understand, not to limit but to leverage strengths.

Let me address the common objections directly because they keep people from using tools that would transform their teams. First objection: people change, so profiles become outdated. Yes, people change. That’s why you use profiles as a snapshot of where someone is now that helps them have a stake in who they want to become. The profile starts conversations about growth, not ending them.

Second objection: what if the profile isn’t correct? That’s why you use validation methods like the “This Is Me” form that confirms the profile matches how people see themselves. And if there’s doubt, you can take the fifty-dollar paid version of the Myers-Briggs through the official website for more accuracy. In over five hundred profiles, I’ve never seen one that wasn’t useful even if it wasn’t perfectly precise.

Third objection: will it force someone into becoming that personality type? Only if you misuse it by making life-altering decisions based on profiles instead of using them to accentuate strengths. You’re not deciding whether someone should get married or change careers based on Myers-Briggs. You’re helping them understand their natural patterns so they can leverage what works and compensate for what doesn’t.

Fourth objection: will people be labeled? Only if you focus on weaknesses instead of strengths. Properly used profiles help people understand themselves better and give teams language to discuss differences constructively. The information isn’t damning. It’s developmental.

Final objection: can this really be that useful? Absolutely. Until we know who we are, we can’t reach higher levels of achievement. And until teams know each other, they can’t build trust that leads to performance. Data doesn’t guarantee success, but guessing guarantees misunderstanding.

The Challenge: Run Diagnostic Tests on Your Team

So here’s my challenge to you. Stop guessing who your people are and get diagnostic data. Have everyone take the sixteen personalities Myers-Briggs assessment. Create player cards with “This Is Me” forms that validate the results. Use the data to understand how people prefer feedback, what energizes them, how they communicate naturally, and where they need support.

Then use that data to build your team systematically. Start with knowing each other. Move to trusting each other. Enable healthy conflict by understanding different perspectives aren’t wrong, they’re different by design. Set goals together with full participation from different personality types. Hold each other accountable because you understand what accountability looks like for each person. And watch your team perform at levels guessing never enabled.

This isn’t about labeling people or putting them in boxes. It’s about getting the same kind of diagnostic clarity for teams that blood tests provide for health. You wouldn’t let a doctor prescribe medication without running tests to see what’s actually wrong. Why would you try to lead people without data about how they actually work?

The current condition is we’re not solving problems with data. We’re assuming things and masking problems with consequences like firing, moving, or shunning people. The challenge is to reach out for help, take these assessments, get player cards done. First know yourself, then know others, and use it to build teams that actually perform instead of just hoping things work out.

As Socrates said, “Know thyself.” That ancient wisdom applies to modern team building. You can’t build high-performing teams with people you don’t actually know. Get the data. Use it wisely. Build something remarkable.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Don’t people change over time making personality profiles outdated?

Yes, people change, which is why profiles are useful snapshots of where someone is now. They start conversations about growth and development rather than ending them. Use profiles as current diagnostic data that informs how you work with someone today, not as permanent labels that lock them into fixed categories forever.

How do I know if a personality profile is accurate for someone on my team?

Use validation methods like the “This Is Me” form where people self-report their preferences separately from the assessment. When their self-description matches the profile results, you have confirmation. If there’s significant mismatch, that’s valuable data too that tells you to dig deeper and understand what’s happening.

Won’t using personality profiles create labels that limit what people think they can do?

Only if you misuse them by focusing on limitations instead of strengths. Properly used profiles help people understand their natural patterns so they can leverage what works and compensate for what doesn’t. The goal is developmental insight, not fixed categorization.

What if someone resists taking a personality assessment or doesn’t want their results shared?

Make it voluntary and clarify the purpose is development not evaluation. Some people need to see others benefit before they participate. Start with leaders and early adopters who model vulnerability. Never use profiles punitively or force participation. The value becomes obvious when people see how it improves team dynamics.

How often should teams retake personality assessments?

Annually or when significant role changes occur. The core personality traits are relatively stable but how people show up can shift with experience and development. Regular reassessment keeps your data current and shows people how they’ve grown over 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.

Define The Problem First!

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 23 min

Clarify the Problem Before You Solve It

Here’s the pattern that wastes more time than almost anything else in construction leadership. Someone brings you a problem. And before they finish explaining it, you’re already proposing solutions. You’re an extrovert. You think out loud. You process by talking. And in your mind, jumping straight to solutions shows you’re decisive and action-oriented. But what you’re actually doing is solving the wrong problem because you never took time to understand what the real problem is.

I’ve watched this destroy decisions repeatedly. A superintendent asks about schedule delays. Before the conversation explores why delays are happening, someone proposes adding overtime. A foreman mentions quality issues. Before anyone investigates root causes, someone suggests more inspections. A project manager brings up budget overruns. Before the team examines what’s driving costs, someone recommends value engineering. And every time, the proposed solution misses the actual problem because nobody slowed down long enough to understand what’s really happening.

This isn’t just inefficiency. This is how good teams make terrible decisions. Because when you jump to solutions without clarifying problems, you build consensus around answers that don’t address what’s actually wrong. You implement fixes that don’t fix anything. And six weeks later, you’re back in the same meeting wondering why the problem hasn’t improved.

The Pain of Solutions That Don’t Solve Anything

You’ve experienced this frustration. Your team identified a problem. Everyone agreed on a solution. You implemented it. And the problem is still there. Maybe it got worse. Maybe it morphed into a different problem. But it definitely didn’t go away like you expected.

That’s because you never understood the problem in the first place. You had symptoms. You had complaints. You had frustrations. But you didn’t have clarity on what was actually causing those symptoms. So you solved for what you thought the problem was, not what it actually was. And now you’ve wasted time, energy, and credibility on a solution that doesn’t work.

I see this constantly in construction. Teams rush to implement new software without understanding why current processes aren’t working. Leaders add more meetings without diagnosing why communication is breaking down. Companies hire more people without clarifying why productivity is low. And every one of these solutions misses the mark because the problem was never properly defined.

Think about Samsonite. Not the luggage company, but the movie reference. In the movie “Dumb and Dumber,” the character thinks he’s supposed to be in Aspen when he’s actually supposed to be somewhere completely different. Someone tells him where to go, and he responds, “We were way off.” That’s what happens when you jump to solutions without understanding problems. You end up way off because you were solving for Aspen when the actual destination was somewhere else entirely.

The System Rewards Quick Answers Over Right Answers

Here’s what I want you to understand. The construction industry rewards people who appear decisive. Who jump into action. Who propose solutions immediately. We promote extroverts who think out loud and generate ideas quickly. We value speed over accuracy. And that cultural preference for rapid response creates a systematic bias toward solving problems before we understand them.

But here’s the truth about decision-making that nobody wants to admit. Extroverts process by talking. They generate options out loud. They think through problems verbally. And while that creates energy and momentum, it also creates premature solutions. Because when you’re talking through options before you’ve analyzed the problem, you’re building consensus around ideas that might be completely wrong.

Introverts process differently. They think before they talk. They analyze internally. And while that can feel slower or less engaging in meetings, it often leads to better decisions because they’ve actually thought through the problem before proposing solutions. But we kick introverts off leadership teams because we don’t like how they operate. We say they’re not engaged or not contributing. And we lose the very people who could help us avoid jumping to wrong solutions.

The book “Decisive” by Chip and Dan Heath breaks down why we make bad decisions and how to make better ones. They identify common biases that destroy decision quality: narrow framing where we only see limited options, confirmation bias where we collect information that supports what we already believe, short-term emotion that overrides long-term thinking, and overconfidence that we know how things will unfold. Every one of these biases gets worse when we rush to solutions without clarifying problems.

The WRAP Process That Improves Every Decision

Let me walk you through the framework that transforms how you approach problems. It’s called the WRAP process, and it comes from the book “Decisive.” These four steps systematically overcome the biases that lead to bad decisions and create space for understanding problems before solving them.

First is Widen Your Options. Narrow framing leads us to overlook options. We think in terms of “whether or not” decisions. Should we add overtime or not? Should we hire more people or not? Should we change software or not? But that binary thinking limits our ability to find better solutions. Instead, we need to think in terms of “and.” What are all the possible options? Can we consider multiple approaches simultaneously through multi-tracking?

Where do you find these new options? Look for bright spots where this problem has already been solved. Find someone who’s dealt with similar challenges and ask what worked for them. Look for analogies in other industries or projects. Ask an introvert to think about it and come back with perspectives you haven’t considered. The more options you generate, the less likely you are to get locked into a bad solution just because it was the first one proposed.

Second is Reality Test Your Assumptions. Confirmation bias leads us to collect skewed, self-serving information that supports the solution we already like. To combat this, ask disconfirming questions. What problems does this solution actually have? What data contradicts our assumptions? Zoom out and look objectively at costs, consequences, and outcomes. Run a choosing-by-advantages analysis that compares options on specific criteria instead of just going with gut feelings.

I learned this fixing surveying and control problems on big construction projects. The more data I collected, the better solutions I found. I remember one huge civil project where I discovered the problem by analyzing GPS equipment data and their localization. They were 0.25 feet off in the localization, which told me the control points were skewed and the GPS wasn’t recognizing the skewed coordinate system. Instead of assuming what was wrong, I collected data until I understood what was actually happening. That’s reality testing your assumptions.

Third is Attain Distance Before Deciding. Short-term emotion tempts us to make choices that are bad in the long term. To avoid this, shift perspective before deciding. What would you tell your best friend to do in this situation? What would your successor do? Give it time. Ask introverted team members to process and come back with their analysis. When decisions are agonizing, clarify your core priorities and make choices that align with them instead of reacting emotionally.

Especially if you’re an extrovert, you’ll struggle with this. You want to decide now. You want to talk it through and move forward. But that urgency creates bad decisions when problems aren’t clear yet. Get some distance. Step out of the emotion. Shift your perspective so you can see what’s actually going on before committing to solutions.

Fourth is Prepare To Be Wrong. We’re overconfident about how the future will unfold. We think we know exactly how our solution will work. But we should always ask ourselves from the beginning: could we be wrong about this? Accept that possibility instead of getting married to your decision. Be ready to adapt if you’re wrong or to accept someone else’s opinion as you head in a better direction.

Here’s what this process looks like in practice:

  • When someone brings you a problem, resist the urge to immediately propose solutions • Ask clarifying questions that help everyone understand what’s actually causing the issue • Generate multiple options by asking people with different perspectives and looking for bright spots • Reality test those options with data and disconfirming questions before choosing • Get emotional distance before deciding, especially on high-stakes choices • Acknowledge you might be wrong and stay open to adjusting as you learn more

These aren’t delays. These are disciplines that prevent wasting months implementing solutions that don’t solve anything.

Why Taking Time Saves Time

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow. We work with builders who understand that clarifying problems before solving them isn’t slow leadership. It’s the only way to avoid implementing solutions that waste everyone’s time by missing the actual issue.

The vision for this approach is that you should be able to move forward with your team using the best information together, but by first defining the problem very clearly. Start there. This is our problem. Let’s understand it completely before we start solving it. Then with that problem clearly defined, ask what all our options are for solutions. Ask different types of people. Get some distance. Reality test these options. Make sure you have all the possibilities. Assume you could be wrong. And you’ll get to better solutions that actually work because they address real problems instead of imagined ones.

Think about the alternative. When you jump to solutions without understanding problems, you end up implementing fixes that don’t work, which means you have to revisit the problem again later after wasting time and credibility. Taking time to clarify problems upfront actually saves massive amounts of time downstream by ensuring your solutions address what’s actually wrong.

The Challenge: Define One Problem Clearly This Week

So here’s my challenge to you. This week when someone brings you a problem, stop yourself before proposing solutions. Ask clarifying questions. Take time to understand what’s actually happening. Generate multiple options. Reality test your assumptions. Get distance before deciding. And prepare to be wrong.

Read “Decisive” if you want the full framework. But even without the book, you can start practicing the core principle: clarify the problem before you solve it. Give your introverts time to process. Collect data before making assumptions. Ask disconfirming questions. Look for bright spots where this problem has already been solved. And resist the cultural pressure to appear decisive by jumping to quick answers.

The world doesn’t need more leaders who make fast decisions. It needs more leaders who make right decisions. And right decisions start with understanding problems deeply before proposing solutions.

As Peter Drucker wrote, “The most serious mistakes are not being made as a result of wrong answers. The true dangerous thing is asking the wrong question.” Don’t solve wrong problems quickly. Solve right problems carefully. That’s how you lead teams that actually improve instead of just staying busy implementing solutions that don’t work.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I balance taking time to clarify problems with the need to make timely decisions?

Clarifying problems doesn’t mean endless analysis. It means asking the right questions before committing to solutions. Most problem clarification takes hours or days, not weeks. The time you invest upfront saves weeks or months of implementing wrong solutions. Speed without accuracy just means you’re wrong faster.

What if my team culture values quick decisions and sees taking time as weakness?

Then your culture is rewarding activity over results. Show them the cost of implementing solutions that don’t solve actual problems. Track how much time gets wasted revisiting issues because solutions missed the real problem. Culture changes when people see evidence that better processes produce better outcomes.

How do I get introverts to contribute if they need time to process?

Give them time. Don’t expect everyone to think out loud in meetings. Send problems ahead so introverts can analyze before discussing. Create space for written input. Ask them directly for their perspective after they’ve had time to think. The best insights often come from people who need time to process before speaking.

What if we genuinely don’t have time for the full WRAP process?

Start with just one element. Before deciding, ask “what are we missing?” or “could we be wrong about this?” Even minimal process improvement prevents some bad decisions. But recognize that “not having time” often means you’ll waste more time later fixing problems that wrong solutions created.

How do I know when we’ve clarified the problem enough to start solving it?

When everyone can state the problem clearly and agrees that’s actually what’s happening. When you have data supporting your understanding. When you’ve looked for disconfirming evidence and found your understanding holds up. When the solution space becomes obvious because the problem is so clear. Clarity feels different than confusion dressed up as confidence.

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.

The Process of Field Engineering – Field Engineers

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 22 min

The 43-Step System That Creates Builder Superintendents

Here’s the problem with how most companies use field engineers. They treat them as personal assistants for superintendents. Go grab this submittal. Make this copy. Handle this errand. Track down that foreman. And somewhere in all that task-running, the entire purpose of the field engineer position gets lost. Because field engineers aren’t supposed to be errand runners. They’re professional construction managers and engineers learning to be builders before they become leaders.

If you’re a general contractor saying you wish you had better superintendents, if you’re frustrated that your supers don’t know enough about the technical work, if you’re trying to give craft workers opportunities to advance but don’t have a clear path, field engineering is your silver bullet. It’s the builder experience that bridges the gap between doing work with your hands and managing work with your mind. It’s the position that teaches people how buildings actually get built before asking them to lead the people who build them.

But most companies don’t have a systematic process for developing field engineers. They hire someone, give them vague responsibilities, and hope they figure it out. That’s the system failure that wastes the potential of this critical position. What you need is a step-by-step process that transforms someone into a complete builder over the course of a project. And that process exists. It’s been refined over decades. And it works.

The Pain of Field Engineers Without Clear Development

You’ve seen this frustration. You hire a field engineer with potential. They’re smart, motivated, eager to learn. And then you watch them spend six months doing busy work that doesn’t develop them. They’re running errands. Updating schedules. Making copies. Sitting in meetings taking notes. And at the end of six months, they know how to be a good assistant, but they haven’t learned anything about surveying, layout, coordination, or the technical skills that actually make someone a builder.

Then when you need them to do a pour check or lay out building grid or create lift drawings, they’re unprepared. Not because they’re incapable, but because nobody gave them a systematic development process. Nobody taught them the Field Engineering Methods Manual. Nobody walked them through equipment calibration. Nobody showed them how to traverse primary control or transfer benchmarks into a building. They’ve been busy, but they haven’t been developed.

That’s not their failure. That’s your failure as a company. Because the field engineer position has incredible potential to create better superintendents and give craft workers advancement opportunities. But only if you actually develop them systematically instead of using them as errand runners who occasionally help with technical work when there’s time.

The System Doesn’t Develop Field Engineers Properly

Here’s what I want you to understand. Most construction companies don’t have a field engineering program. They have a field engineering position that exists without structure, without systematic development, without clear expectations of what field engineers should be learning and accomplishing. And that’s why field engineers are either not used, underused, or misused as personal assistants.

The companies that do field engineering well, like Hensel Phelps where I apprenticed, treat it as a professional development program. They have systems. They have expectations. They have resources like the Field Engineering Methods Manual that guide every step. And they produce superintendents who understand the technical work deeply because they spent years doing it before they became leaders.

That’s the gap most companies need to bridge. Not just having field engineers, but having a systematic process that develops them from day one through the entire duration of a project. A process that takes them from studying drawings to establishing primary control to doing lift drawings to conducting layout to checking quality to writing RFIs to understanding every technical aspect of how buildings get built.

I worked on a research laboratory where we had zero rework after drywall in complex lab spaces. That doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because field engineers coordinated every detail before installation. They created room-specific drawings. They got approval from end-users. They made sure every trade knew exactly where things went. That’s what properly developed field engineers deliver.

The 43-Step Development Process That Actually Works

Let me walk you through the systematic process that develops complete field engineers. This isn’t theoretical. This is what actually works when you commit to developing builders instead of just hiring assistants. I’m going to give you the condensed version, but understand that each of these steps requires teaching, practice, and verification.

Start with the Field Engineering Methods Manual by Wes Crawford. Get physical copies. Make this their guide. The first eight chapters are essential reading that covers everything from basic concepts to equipment to layout methods. This becomes their foundation for understanding the craft of field engineering.

Then get them familiar with their next project assignment. Have them study the drawings for thirty minutes every day. Create a project startup schedule that guides their first ninety days, covering equipment acquisition, testing area setup, primary and secondary control planning, and lift drawing schedules. This gives them structure instead of chaos.

Set up their field engineer workspace properly. Desks, standup desks, screens, computers, equipment storage. Create a testing area where they can test chains, lasers, automatic levels, and run horizontal and vertical angle checks on total stations. Make sure all equipment is calibrated before they use it on the project.

Work with them to set up total stations and data collectors. Ensure their software is ready: AutoCAD, Revit, SketchUp, Excel, all systems tested and functional. Teach them these programs if they don’t know them. The technical skills matter, but so does the software proficiency to translate field measurements into usable information.

Coordinate the basis of bearings and design benchmarks with property corners and building locations. Involve third-party surveyors or internal company surveyors for verification. This is where precision starts, and small errors here compound into massive problems later.

Here’s where the systematic development accelerates:

  • Establish primary control with proper Job Hazard Analysis documentation • Traverse the primary control and analyze with best fit adjustment • Level loop through design benchmarks and adjust elevations • Design and set up secondary control as semi-permanent monuments around buildings • Establish working control with proper baseline systems inside or outside the building • Transfer benchmarks into the building and begin using working control with chain verification

These aren’t just tasks to complete. They’re skills to master. Walk through each one with them the first time. Show them why each step matters. Let them make mistakes in controlled situations where mistakes don’t destroy schedules. Build their competence through repetition until they can do each task independently with confidence.

Then move into ongoing work. Conduct pour checks together the first time. Teach them how to check bar size, spacing, form setup, kickers, alignment. Fill out the pour check card whether it’s on Procore or a physical checklist. Do this until they can run quality checks independently.

Have them create lift drawings using Revit. Not just copying existing drawings but actually coordinating wall elevations with all systems shown. This teaches them to think three-dimensionally about how everything fits together before it gets installed. This is builder thinking, not assistant thinking.

Assign them layout work with verification. Have them write RFIs when needed. Create trend charts for tracking recurring issues. Design methods for vertical control transfer and horizontal transfer over long distances. Make sure they understand grid leveling on structural decks. Each of these skills builds on the previous ones until they have complete technical competence.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow. We work with builders who understand that field engineering isn’t about having someone run errands. It’s about systematically developing future superintendents who bring builder experience into leadership roles.

As superintendent, you should be checking that everything’s going per schedule while your field engineer operates with productive paranoia, assuming everything’s wrong until they verify it’s right. That’s the relationship that protects quality and develops competence simultaneously. You’re not babysitting. You’re developing someone who will eventually do your job better than you did because they learned it systematically instead of figuring it out through trial and error.

Why Field Engineering Is the Silver Bullet

The current condition is that field engineers are either not there, not used properly, or treated as personal assistants. But field engineers should be professional construction managers and engineers in the field learning the builder experience before they become leaders, planners, and managers. That’s the position’s purpose. That’s why companies who do this well produce better superintendents consistently.

Think about what this position delivers when done properly. It gives craft workers a clear path to superintendent roles. It teaches technical competence before asking people to lead technical work. It creates superintendents who can troubleshoot problems, catch errors before they happen, and earn respect from trades through demonstrated mastery. It fills the gap between doing work and managing work with systematic builder development.

If you successfully integrate field engineering into your organization with a proper development process, hiring gets better because you have a clear advancement path. Training gets better because you have systematic development instead of hoping people figure it out. Your superintendents get better because they learned to be builders before becoming leaders. Your projects get better because technical work is coordinated and checked properly. It’s absolutely transformational.

The Challenge: Build a Field Engineering Program

So here’s my challenge to you. Don’t just hire field engineers. Build a field engineering program. Get copies of the Field Engineering Methods Manual and make it the foundation of technical training. Create project startup schedules that guide the first ninety days. Establish systematic processes for primary control, secondary control, layout, lift drawings, quality checks, and every technical skill field engineers need.

Walk through each process with them the first time. Let them practice with verification. Build their competence systematically instead of throwing them into deep water and hoping they swim. Treat this position as the professional development program it should be, not as a source of assistants who occasionally help with technical work.

And if you’re a craft worker or foreman wondering how to advance, understand that field engineering is the path. Not because you need a degree, but because you need systematic builder development before becoming a leader. This position teaches you how buildings actually get built at a level that doing one trade’s work never could. It’s the bridge between craft and management. Use it.

As Benjamin Franklin wrote, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Field engineering is that investment. It’s knowledge gained systematically over time that compounds into competence no shortcuts can create. Build the program. Develop your people. Watch what happens when superintendents actually know how to be builders.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should someone spend as a field engineer before becoming a superintendent?

One to three years depending on project complexity and how systematically they’re being developed. The goal isn’t a time requirement but demonstrated competence across all technical areas. When they can independently run layout, coordinate lift drawings, conduct quality checks, and solve technical problems, they’re ready for assistant superintendent roles.

What if we can’t afford dedicated field engineers on every project?

Start with your most complex projects where technical coordination matters most. Build the program there and prove the value. Or rotate one field engineer across multiple smaller projects to provide technical support and lift drawing coordination. The program doesn’t require one FE per project, but it does require systematic development wherever you deploy them.

Can we develop superintendents without the field engineer position?

You can, but they’ll have gaps in technical knowledge that create problems when they need to troubleshoot issues or earn respect from trades. The field engineer position exists specifically to fill those gaps by teaching builder competence before leadership responsibility. Skipping this step creates incomplete superintendents.

What’s the biggest mistake companies make with field engineers?

Treating them as personal assistants instead of developing them systematically. Running errands doesn’t build competence. Systematic development through the Field Engineering Methods Manual, controlled practice, and increasing responsibility creates builders who become great superintendents.

How do we measure whether our field engineering program is working?

Track how many field engineers advance to superintendent roles and how well they perform compared to supers without FE experience. Measure rework rates, quality issues, and coordination problems on projects with properly developed FEs versus projects without them. The differences become obvious quickly.

 

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.

Wasting vs. Investing Time – Workers & Foremen

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 24 min

Stop Wasting Your Potential on Comfort and Distraction

Here’s the uncomfortable truth nobody wants to say directly to workers and foremen in construction. You’re wasting your time. Not because you’re lazy or incapable, but because you’re spending your most valuable asset, your mind, on things that will never develop you into who you could become. You’re watching too much TV. Playing too many video games. Spending too much time being negative or hanging around people who drag you down. And somewhere underneath all that distraction, there’s a voice telling you that you’re stuck where you are because you didn’t go to college or get technical training, so advancement isn’t possible anyway.

That voice is lying to you. And the system that keeps you comfortable enough to stay distracted is designed to keep you exactly where you are. Because if you ever realized that you could progress in construction just as easily as someone with a degree, if you put in the work to develop your mind, the entire game would change. You’d stop accepting limitations. You’d start investing in yourself. And you’d discover that the gap between where you are and where you want to be isn’t about credentials. It’s about what you’re willing to put into your mind.

I want to share a poem with you that’s been on my heart. It’s called “The Bridge Builder” by Will Allen Dromgoole, and it captures why I do these podcasts and why I’m challenging you today. An old man crossed a dangerous chasm and then stopped to build a bridge. A fellow traveler asked why he was wasting his strength building when he’d never cross that way again. The old man replied that a youth was following behind him, and the chasm that posed no danger to him might be a pitfall for that young person. He was building the bridge for those coming after him.

The Pain of Wasting Years on Distraction

You know this feeling. You get home from work exhausted. You’ve been on your feet all day. Your body hurts. And the easiest thing in the world is to collapse on the couch, turn on the TV, and zone out until bedtime. Maybe you play some video games. Maybe you scroll social media. Maybe you have a few drinks to take the edge off. And you tell yourself you’ve earned it. You worked hard. You deserve to relax.

But then months pass. Then years. And you look around and realize you’re in the exact same place you were three years ago. Same position. Same pay grade. Same frustrations. And somewhere in the back of your mind, you wonder if this is all there is. If you’re just supposed to keep doing this until your body gives out and you can’t do it anymore.

That’s not laziness. That’s the system working exactly as designed. Keep you comfortable enough that you don’t leave. Keep you distracted enough that you don’t develop. Keep you just busy enough surviving that you never have time to think about thriving. And convince you along the way that advancement isn’t for people like you anyway because you didn’t go to college.

I’ve seen this pattern destroy potential in talented people who could have been superintendents, project managers, business owners. They had the intelligence. They had the work ethic. They had the people skills. But they spent their evenings and weekends on things that entertained them instead of things that developed them. And twenty years later, they’re still in the same spot, wondering what happened to their potential.

The System Wants You Comfortable, Not Growing

Here’s what I want you to understand. Society has told you a story about your limitations. You didn’t go to college, so you can’t be a vice president. You don’t have technical training, so you can’t be a director. You’re in a trade, so you can’t be a business owner or general superintendent. And the way they make this story stick is by giving you just enough money to stay comfortable and then selling you distractions that consume whatever time and energy you have left.

Spend all your money so you don’t have savings to invest in training or starting a business. Watch TV for hours every night so you never read books that could teach you new skills. Play video games so you never develop the interpersonal skills that leadership requires. Drink and smoke and create habits that drain your energy and health. Make your family relationships so chaotic that you’re too stressed to think about growth. These patterns keep you exactly where the system wants you: productive enough to generate value, but distracted enough to never demand more.

But here’s the truth that nobody tells you directly. You can progress in construction just as easily as someone who went to school if you put in the work. If you develop interpersonal skills. If you learn to be responsible and honest. If you read good books and listen to good podcasts and take good training. If you invest in your mind the way college graduates invest in theirs, you can go anywhere you want to go.

I’ve worked with people who started as laborers and became superintendents. I’ve watched foremen become project executives. I’ve seen craft workers start their own companies. Not because they magically got degrees, but because they stopped wasting time on distractions and started investing in development. They read books instead of watching endless TV. They took training instead of playing video games all weekend. They developed themselves while everyone around them stayed comfortable.

Someone asked me recently how you convince workers who didn’t go to college that they can want more and achieve more. My answer was that you create dissonance. You create a gap between where they are and where they could be. You show them that the life they’re living, sitting on the couch watching TV and playing video games, is not a happy lifestyle even if they think it is. And you show them that a different life is possible if they’re willing to invest in themselves.

The Investment That Changes Everything

Let me be direct about what wastes your time and what develops you. News media that makes you angry and anxious wastes your time. Books that develop your skills and perspective invest in you. Bad friends who drag you down waste your time. Mentors who challenge you to grow invest in you. Too much TV and video games waste your time. Date nights with your spouse and time serving others invest in you.

I’m not saying you can never relax. I’m not saying every minute has to be productive. But if your evenings and weekends are dominated by entertainment and distraction, and development is the exception rather than the rule, you’re wasting your potential. A life well-lived has a mix. Recreation, entertainment, rest. But it’s heavy on development. Heavy on serving others. Heavy on building something meaningful.

Here are the investments that actually move you forward:

  • Develop a morning routine that includes reading religious texts or other material that grounds your perspective and purpose • Read books that improve your mind and teach you skills you don’t currently have • Stop consuming negative media including excessive TV and video games that numb you instead of developing you • Go on date nights with your spouse to invest in the relationship that matters most • Set clear goals for where you want to be in the future and work toward them consistently

These aren’t complicated. They’re just disciplines. Wake up earlier. Read for thirty minutes instead of scrolling social media. Turn off the TV after one show instead of binge-watching all night. Take your spouse somewhere once a week. Write down where you want to be in five years and identify what training or skills would get you there.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow. We work with builders who understand that developing people isn’t optional. It’s how you create teams where workers become foremen, foremen become superintendents, and everyone reaches their potential instead of staying comfortable.

The world will pay you what it thinks you’re worth. And what you’re worth isn’t determined by where you started or whether you have a degree. It’s determined by what you’ve trained your mind to do and the investment you’ve made in developing yourself. If you invest in entertainment and distraction, you’ll be worth what an entertained, distracted person is worth. If you invest in development and growth, you’ll be worth what a developed, growing person is worth.

Building Bridges for Those Coming Behind

There’s a song I heard during the Christmas holidays called “Glorious” that captures what I want you to understand. The lyrics say there are times when you might feel aimless and can’t see the places where you belong, but you will find that there is a purpose. It’s been there within you all along. Everyone plays a piece and there are melodies in each one of us. It’s glorious.

Each one of us has a part to play. Each one of us has a bridge to build for those coming behind us. And even if you don’t feel motivated to develop yourself for your own sake, you have an opportunity to do it for others. To become the person who shows younger workers that advancement is possible. To be the foreman who proves that craft workers can become leaders. To build the bridge that helps someone else cross a chasm that might have been a pitfall without your example.

Right now, you’re at a decision point. You can keep spending your evenings and weekends on comfort and distraction, and five years from now you’ll be exactly where you are today. Or you can start investing in development, and five years from now you’ll be somewhere you can barely imagine right now. The gap between those two futures is what you do with your time starting tonight.

The Challenge: Start Investing Tonight

So here’s my challenge to you. Make a change. Do it for the right reasons. Get an accountability champion who will check on whether you’re actually doing what you said you’d do. And especially now at the beginning of the year, make resolutions you’ll actually keep that will stop wasting your time and start investing in your most valuable asset, which is your mind.

Start reading scriptures or other religious texts every day. Start reading books that improve your skills and perspective. Stop the negative media including excessive TV and video games. Start going on date nights with your spouse. Set goals for where you want to be in the future and grind toward them consistently.

The current condition is that we are distracted with comforts and wasting our lives with things that feel good but don’t develop us. The challenge is to make a change that transforms not just your career but your entire life. Because at your funeral, do you want people saying you were a taker who didn’t give much to the world? Or do you want them saying you elevated everyone around you and left a remarkable legacy?

As Henry David Thoreau wrote, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Don’t be one of them. Don’t waste your potential on comfort when you could invest it in becoming someone remarkable. Build the bridge. Play your part in the symphony. Become who you were meant to be.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find time for development when I’m exhausted after work every day?

Start with thirty minutes in the morning before work. Wake up earlier. Read for fifteen minutes and listen to a podcast during your commute. You don’t need hours of extra time. You need consistent small investments that compound over years. The exhaustion after work is real, but the morning is yours to control if you’re willing to wake up earlier.

What if I don’t know what books to read or training to take?

Start with the Elevate Construction book and podcast. Read anything by Patrick Lencioni on leadership and teams. Take free online courses on construction management or estimating. Ask your superintendent what skills would help you advance and find resources that teach those skills. The specific content matters less than building the habit of learning.

Isn’t it too late to change if I’ve already wasted years on distractions?

The best time to start was ten years ago. The second best time is today. Every successful person you admire started from wherever they were and began investing in themselves. Your past doesn’t determine your future unless you let it. The question isn’t whether you’ve wasted time. The question is what you’ll do with the time you have left.

How do I know if I’m actually capable of advancing or if I’m just fooling myself?

You won’t know until you invest in development and find out. But I can tell you that intelligence and capability aren’t fixed. They’re developed through learning and practice. If you can do your current job well, you can learn the skills required for the next level. The only way to know is to start developing yourself and see what happens.

What if my family or friends think I’m crazy for trying to change or advance?

Then you need new friends who support your growth instead of keeping you comfortable. Family relationships are more complex, but you can still pursue development even if they don’t understand. Find mentors and accountability partners who believe in your potential. Surround yourself with people who challenge you to grow instead of people who keep you where you are.

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.

Room Kitting

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 23 min

Install It Once: The Room Kitting Process That Eliminates Interior Rework

Here’s the problem that’s destroying interior schedules and frustrating end-users on every hospital and laboratory project. Your electrician walks onto the floor with four different sets of drawings. Your plumber has their own drawings with different notes. Your mechanical contractor is working off a third set. And your lab gas installer is guessing at rough-in heights because nobody coordinated what the actual end-user needs in that specific room. Then drywall goes up, the owner walks through with their facility manager, and discovers that outlets are in wrong locations, gas drops aren’t where equipment will be placed, and the entire room needs to be opened back up for rework.

That’s not a trade partner failure. That’s a system failure. We ask people to install complex systems in complex spaces without giving them coordinated, room-specific information that captures what the end-users actually need. And then we act surprised when we have to punch through finished walls to fix things that should have been right the first time.

Room kitting solves this. Not by inventing new technology, but by applying prefabrication principles to interior spaces. Instead of prefabricating entire room pods that get craned into place from outside, which often doesn’t pencil out economically, you prefabricate the coordination and the parts. You create room-specific drawings that every trade uses for their work. You get end-user approval before anything gets installed. You pre-cut and kit the parts so workers show up to bins with everything they need and drawings that show exactly where it goes. And you install it once, correctly, with zero rework after drywall.

The Pain of Uncoordinated Interior Work

You’ve seen this disaster. The project is tracking well structurally. The exterior is moving. Interiors are framed and ready for rough-in. And then the chaos starts. Electricians are marking outlet locations based on their interpretation of equipment plans that might be months old. Plumbers are installing med gas or lab gas rough-ins where they think they should go. Nobody’s coordinating with casework locations or millwork details. And the drawings everyone’s using don’t match each other because they were issued at different times with different assumptions.

Then the nightmare moment arrives. The owner brings in their facilities team or their lab consultant or their clinical staff to walk the spaces. They look at where things are roughed in and immediately see problems. This outlet is supposed to be twelve inches to the left because that’s where the equipment actually sits. This gas drop can’t be there because casework blocks it. This data connection isn’t accessible from where staff will be working. And now you’re looking at opening walls, rerouting systems, and pushing the schedule back weeks while everyone argues about who’s responsible.

I worked on a research laboratory where we had zero rework with rough-in in complex laboratory spaces after drywall, except for one room in the basement that was a design change. Zero. Not because we had perfect drawings from the start. Not because trades were more skilled than usual. But because we implemented room kitting and didn’t allow anything to be installed until it was coordinated room-by-room and approved by end-users.

The System Doesn’t Coordinate Room-Specific Information

Here’s what I want you to understand. The construction industry doesn’t systematically coordinate interior work at the room level before installation. We give trades design intent drawings that show general layouts. We provide equipment plans that might not be updated with latest changes. We expect foremen to figure out exact locations based on incomplete information. And we hope that somehow everyone’s interpretation will align with what end-users actually need.

That’s the system failure. Designers can’t capture every detail from user meetings in design intent drawings. They can’t coordinate exact rough-in heights for every outlet and data point across hundreds of rooms. And even if they could, that information wouldn’t make it to the field in a format trades can actually use for installation. So we end up with electricians doing their best guess, plumbers working off different assumptions, and end-users discovering problems only after walls are closed.

The gap between design intent and actual installation requirements gets filled by individual trades making independent decisions. And those decisions, made in good faith with incomplete information, create rework that was entirely preventable if we’d coordinated everything at the room level before rough-in started.

At that research lab, we used room kitting to bridge this gap. We created room-specific coordination drawings that showed every wall elevation with all systems turned on. Electrical, plumbing, lab gas, med gas, casework, millwork, everything. Then we had all trades mark up those same drawings with their rough-in locations and notes. Then we got approval from designers, consultants, and end-users before allowing anything to be installed. The result was zero surprises, zero rework, zero frustration.

The Room Kitting Process That Works

Let me walk you through the process that eliminates interior rework. This isn’t theoretical. This is what actually works on complex hospital and laboratory projects when you commit to doing it right.

First, write this into contracts or work authorizations. State clearly that you will coordinate every wall, that crews must finish their work as they go, that all parts for rooms need to be pre-cut and brought into place, and that coordination drawings for each wall will be done by all foremen and approved by designers before work begins. Make this contractual, not optional. Because if it’s optional, schedule pressure will tempt people to skip it.

Second, get your BIM technicians or offshore modeling support to create cut sections in Revit of every complex room. Not just floor plans. Cut sections showing wall elevations with all layers turned on: casework, millwork, electrical, plumbing, lab gas, med gas, everything. Crop those views down to room-specific sheets that show exactly what gets installed on each wall. These become your coordination drawings.

Third, organize these drawings by production area according to your Takt plan. Put them into a Bluebeam project that all trade partners can access. Tell them that instead of marking up their own personal drawings, they should use these room-specific sheets to document rough-in heights, dimensions from doors, circuit notes, everything they’d normally track. This captures their coordination work in one place where everyone can see it.

Fourth, conduct a page flip review by area. Get all trades together. Go through every room wall by wall. Make sure electrical and plumbing aren’t conflicting. Verify that rough-in locations work with casework and millwork from shop drawings. Identify backing requirements. Answer questions. Resolve conflicts. Get everything coordinated before anyone starts installing.

Fifth, send the coordinated drawings to designers, consultants, and end-users for approval. This is critical. You’ll find about eighty questions per area that would typically show up as RFIs or not get answered at all. The designer can review these room-kitting drawings, answer all eighty questions at once, and post the approved drawings as the official coordination. This prevents the nightmare of scattered RFIs that don’t coordinate with each other.

Sixth, pre-cut and kit the parts once you have approved drawings. Best practice is to bundle everything for a room into bins with a bill of materials, barcode, and the room-kitting drawings included. Workers show up, grab their bin, open it up, and have everything they need including the drawings showing exactly where it goes.

Seventh, laminate the room-kitting drawings at eleven by seventeen and use them throughout construction. Give them to framing crews who use them for framing and backing, then screw the laminated drawing to the wall when framing is done. Now every trade uses that same drawing for their rough-in. Inspectors use it for their reviews and can write notes directly on the laminated sheet. Then it becomes part of your as-built documentation.

Here’s what this process delivers in practice:

  • Zero rework after drywall because everything was coordinated and approved before installation • Trades working from identical information instead of conflicting drawings • End-users confident that rooms will support their actual workflow and equipment • Inspections that go smoothly because drawings are right there on the wall showing what was coordinated

This isn’t just about reducing rework. It’s about actually delivering what we promise in our proposals when we talk about caring for end-users and taking their needs seriously.

Why Room Kitting Matters Beyond Just Interiors

We go into interviews talking about providing good products and taking care of end-users in hospitals. We talk about how much we care because our own family members use these facilities. All of that is garbage unless we actually find a way to get rough-in locations where nurses and doctors and lab technicians need them. Room kitting is how you make good on those promises.

But the principle extends beyond just hospitals and labs. Think about how you could apply similar prefabrication thinking to other scopes, phases, or parts of your projects. At that same research lab, DPR’s self-perform drywall team prefabricated all the headers and pre-cut all their studs. The waste reduction compared to a normal project was fantastic. Where else can you apply this thinking? Where else can you pre-coordinate and pre-cut instead of bringing in bulk materials, cutting them in place, and hauling out waste?

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow. We work with builders who understand that eliminating rework isn’t about working harder. It’s about coordinating smarter before installation begins, and room kitting is one of the most powerful tools for protecting both schedule and people.

The current condition is that electricians go out there with four different sets of drawings and at best they’re guessing. Even when they guess correctly according to their drawings, it’s still not where the user wants it because nobody coordinated with actual end-user needs. It’s all wasted effort that creates frustration for everyone involved.

The Challenge: Implement Room Kitting on Your Next Complex Interior

So here’s my challenge to you. Discuss the possibility of room kitting on your next project with complex interiors. Don’t wait for a perfect situation. Start with the most critical areas: operating rooms, lab spaces, intensive care units, wherever coordination matters most. Create room-specific drawings. Get all trades coordinating on the same sheets. Get end-user approval before installation. Pre-cut and kit the parts. Use laminated drawings on walls throughout construction.

And keep asking where else you can apply prefabrication thinking. Where else can you pre-coordinate? Where else can you pre-cut? Where else can you eliminate the waste of bulk materials being cut in place with scrap hauled away? Because room kitting is just one application of a broader principle: doing the coordination and preparation work early, before installation, saves massive amounts of rework and frustration later.

As Benjamin Franklin said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Room kitting is preparation taken seriously. It’s coordination done completely before installation begins. It’s respect for end-users translated into process. And it’s the difference between projects that flow through interiors smoothly and projects that grind through rework and frustration.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does room kitting only work on hospitals and labs or can it be used elsewhere?

Room kitting works anywhere you have complex interiors with multiple systems and specific end-user requirements. Data centers, research facilities, high-end residential, specialty retail spaces. Any environment where rough-in coordination matters and rework is expensive can benefit from room-specific coordination drawings and pre-kitting of parts.

How much does room kitting add to project costs and schedule?

The coordination work happens early but eliminates rework later. Most projects find it’s cost-neutral or saves money by preventing punch-list nightmares and schedule delays from opening walls. The schedule impact depends on whether you’re adding coordination or replacing uncoordinated chaos. Usually you’re faster overall because you install once correctly instead of twice poorly.

What if my trades resist coordinating on shared drawings instead of their own?

Make it contractual from the start. Write the requirement into work orders that coordination drawings will be provided and must be used for all rough-in documentation. Most trades actually prefer this once they understand it prevents conflicts and rework that make their work harder. The resistance usually comes from unfamiliarity, not actual problems with the process.

How do I convince designers and owners to review room-specific coordination drawings?

Frame it as preventing the nightmare of post-drywall rework and upset end-users. Show them that reviewing eighty questions at once through coordinated drawings is faster than answering eighty separate RFIs that don’t coordinate with each other. Most designers and owners embrace this once they understand it protects them from frustrated facility staff and expensive changes.

What’s the minimum technology requirement to implement room kitting?

You need BIM software to create the room-specific cut sections and Bluebeam or similar PDF markup software for trade coordination. If you don’t have in-house BIM capacity, you can use offshore modeling support affordably. The technology investment is minimal compared to the rework you prevent by coordinating properly before installation.

 

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.

    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