Takt Steering & Control Book – Beginning the Meeting System

How to Identify, Discuss, and Solve Problems Effectively

Once the environment and constraints of your project are understood, the next step is clear; IDS Identify, Discuss, and Solve. This framework, drawn from Traction by Gino Wickman, is one of the most powerful ways to ensure projects don’t stall out due to unresolved issues.

No team, business, or project gains traction unless it continuously finds and fixes problems. In construction, meetings aren’t just about communication they’re about problem solving. With the right production plan, your meetings become a “Palantír” stone, giving you the ability to see into the future, spot roadblocks before they hit, and guide your project away from risk.

The Meeting System That Drives Success

To keep projects on track, meetings must be intentional, structured, and tied directly to production planning. The meeting system includes:

• Team Weekly Tactical
• Strategic Planning and Procurement Meetings
• Trade Partner Weekly Tactical
• Afternoon Foreman Huddles
• Worker Huddles
• Crew Preparation Huddles
• Zone Control Walks
• Team Daily Huddles

These meetings create a cascade of clarity from master plan to pull plan, from look-ahead schedules to weekly work plans, and finally down to the day plan.

By the time you’re running these meetings properly, you should have:

• A solid preconstruction plan
• Aligned trade partners who are fully bought in
• A detailed and accurate master schedule
• A procurement log that reflects real-time project needs
• A production plan tied to real milestones and logic flows

With this foundation, you’re ready to implement steering and control in the field.

The Power of Procurement Flow

A critical detail in this system is leveling the procurement log. It’s not enough to just enter required dates and work backward. If submittals stack on top of each other, you overburden both your team and design partners. Instead, procurement must flow one piece flow for reviews and approvals so work progresses smoothly without creating bottlenecks.

Designing Meetings for Problem Solving

The heart of steering and control meetings lies in the boards team boards and identify boards that visually capture constraints, cycle times, labor counts, and zone maps.

• Production Tracking: Trade partners report performance (e.g., square feet per day per crew). Green shows alignment, red magnets highlight problems.
• Labor Counts: Foremen mark required vs. actual crew sizes. Gaps are flagged before meetings even start.
• Cycle Times: Tracking each trade’s actual cycle time reveals bottlenecks and opportunities to reduce takt time.
• Zone & Logistics Maps: Red and orange magnets mark roadblocks and constraints, giving the team visibility on where help is needed.

By updating these boards before meetings begin, trade partners walk into discussions already prepared to problem solve. Instead of spending time explaining issues, the team can immediately identify, discuss, and solve.

From Problems to Solutions

The meeting process creates a rhythm of accountability. Issues are tracked visually, discussed openly, and solved collaboratively. Whether it’s adding workable backlog, adjusting work packages, or re-sequencing tasks, the system ensures problems are not just surfaced they’re acted on.

This transforms meetings from time wasters into engines of progress.

Key Takeaway

Construction meetings should not be passive updates they should be active problem solving sessions. By structuring your meeting system around Identify, Discuss, and Solve (IDS), using procurement flow, and leveraging visual boards to track cycle times, labor counts, and roadblocks, you empower teams to see problems before they stall progress. Done right, meetings align trades, protect flow, and give your project true traction.