Here’s the deal. I praise the Jocko Willink and Leif Babin framework a lot, and I have been thinking about how it connects to building teams. As I have been looking at the team for one of our projects recently, I realized that one of their ideas, cover and move, has a method behind it. In this post, I want to share a few frameworks and the specific steps we are following.
Short answer: Building a construction team starts before the project does. Jocko Willink and Leif Babin call it cover and move. In practice, it means getting the right people in key seats, knowing how many people the project takes and who supervises which area, matching each person’s personality and aptitude to the role, and then building a team that knows each other, trusts each other, and holds each other accountable.
What Does Cover and Move Mean for a Construction Team?
In Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin of Echelon Front lay out the laws of combat:
- Cover and move.
- Prioritize and execute.
- Decentralized command.
These laws tie to every other team-building framework out there. Cover and move means building the team and finding out who is in charge of what, so people can support each other. But cover and move does not just happen. There are frameworks and steps to it.
Get the Right People in Key Seats
Jim Collins says the number one metric in your organization is the percentage of the right people in key seats. In Good to Great, he talks about first figuring out who is supposed to be on and off the bus, then who is in which seat, and then deciding where to drive the bus together. That is pretty brilliant.
When I look at whether a person is right for a key seat, one question I ask is about risk. Does this person being in this seat have a likelihood of being wildly successful, or wildly detrimental?
What Are the Five Behaviors of a Team?
The other framework I want to expand on when we are building teams is the five behaviors of a team, which come from Patrick Lencioni’s work in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. But there is something that comes before them. Is the team transparent enough to build trust, and do they know each other? Do they really know each other?
| Step | Question to ask |
|---|---|
| Before anything else | Is the team transparent, and do they know each other? |
| 1. Trust | Can the team build trust? |
| 2. Healthy conflict | Can the team engage in healthy conflict? |
| 3. Goals and standards | Can they set goals and standards together, and the direction of the project? |
| 4. Accountability | Will they hold each other accountable? |
| 5. Results | Can the team perform? |
How Do You Build a Team for a New Project?
Here are the specific steps we are following on a recent project:
- How many people does this project typically take?
- What are the geographical responsibilities per person to supervise this work? I am very firm about this nowadays, and I am getting more firm about it as I get older.
- Who am I considering bringing on, and what is their personality profile and aptitude to really do well in this role?
The third step is probably the most important. For example, the person you put over the interiors of a building needs the right aptitude for that work, not just an open seat on the org chart. A few tools do a good job of showing personality and aptitude:
- DISC does a really good job.
- The Enneagram does a pretty good job.
- Culture Index does a really good job.
- The 6 Types of Working Genius by Patrick Lencioni is really, really good.
None of these replace getting to know people. They help you respect the person by putting them where they can really do well.
Organize the Team Before the Project Starts
My point is simple. When Jocko says cover and move, there are frameworks and steps behind it, and we really cannot spend too much time on them early on, before we start a project. We have to organize that team. I have written about building the right crew before work begins.
So here is the challenge. Before your next project starts, answer the three questions: how many people the project takes, who owns which area, and who has the personality and aptitude for each seat. Then ask whether the team knows each other well enough to build trust.
Bottom line: You cannot spend too much time organizing your team before the project starts.
If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.
On we go.
FAQ
What does cover and move mean for a construction team?
It is one of the laws of combat from Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. For a construction team, it means building the team and knowing who is in charge of what, so people can support each other.
What is the number one metric for building a strong team?
Jim Collins says it is the percentage of the right people in key seats. I also ask whether a person in a seat is likely to be wildly successful or wildly detrimental.
What are the five behaviors of a team?
Trust, healthy conflict, setting goals and standards together, holding each other accountable, and performing. Before those, the team has to be transparent and actually know each other.
How do you build a construction team for a new project?
I ask three questions. How many people does the project typically take, what are the geographical responsibilities per person, and who has the personality profile and aptitude to do well in each role?
What tools help match people to roles?
I have found DISC, the Enneagram, Culture Index, and The 6 Types of Working Genius by Patrick Lencioni all helpful for understanding personality and aptitude.
People Also Read:
Build the Right Crew Before Work Begins
Psychological Safety
The Ladder of Accountability
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