We started the meetings in this series with the strategic planning and procurement meeting. Now we’re going to talk about the trade partner weekly tactical. This is where we do the look-ahead planning, sometimes pull plans, though those are usually ad hoc, and the weekly work planning.
Short answer: The trade partner weekly tactical is the meeting where superintendents, engineers, and foremen completely plan the next week. Start with shout-outs and a lightning round, review the takt plan, procurement, and milestones, score last week, hunt roadblocks on a printed six-week look-ahead, and commit to a weekly work plan filtered from the takt plan, never built from scratch. Expect six to 12 weeks before the meeting gets great.
Why Is It Called the Trade Partner Weekly Tactical?
There’s a book called Death by Meeting by Patrick Lencioni. His company, the Table Group, uses the quarterly review, the monthly strategic, the weekly tactical, and the daily check-in. Those names were used to modify the Last Planner meeting names for some consistency. You could call it the weekly work planning meeting, your Last Planner meeting, or your trade partner meeting. I’d rather you not call it the sub meeting, but whatever you want. I like naming meetings for when they happen and who participates.
There’s also a difference between a meeting and a huddle. A meeting is where you come together and make decisions. A huddle is where you briefly share information. A briefing sends information in one direction. See Death By Meeting – Winning Teams.
Why Trade Partners and Not Subcontractors?
This is my opinion, not definitive. It’s about how general contractors look at people, not how they are.
| How we tend to view subcontractors | How I want GCs to view trade partners |
|---|---|
| Blame everything on design and never learn from job to job | Understand design is difficult and make provisions to work past it |
| Schedule their own work and rarely try to understand the schedule | Schedule together, understand the whole plan, and take ownership of the whole schedule |
| Complain about everything | Bring up concerns and solutions |
| Always go to the GC to coordinate and solve problems | Coordinate with other trade partners and solve their own problems when possible |
| Rely on the GC to keep everyone in line | Help keep other companies accountable |
| Learn lean casually, out of necessity, and stick to old ways | Try to learn lean practices |
| Need to be managed for cleanliness | Keep their areas 100% clean all the time |
| Work like an independent company and look for loopholes | Treat other team members like customers and follow the project rules |
Who Attends and What Is the Agenda?
The purpose is to completely plan the next week ahead, 100%. The superintendents, project engineers, field engineers if available, and the foremen attend. The foremen are the last people in the planning cycle, so they’re the last planners. This meeting is for them. Bring the updated takt plan and procurement log from the strategic planning and procurement meeting.
- Positive shout-outs. Even if there are crickets, give them. Felipe Engineer taught me the four Cs from a book: connect, concept, concrete practice, conclusion. You can’t get to the others until you connect.
- Lightning round. Each person gets 30 or 60 seconds for an update and what they want covered. Write the topics down and put them in order so first things get covered first. Many companies hit safety right out of the gate, and that’s great.
- Review the takt plan, procurement log, milestones, and the current state of the union.
- Status last week: percent plan complete, handoff score, roadblock removal average, and other KPIs, digging into root causes.
- Check this week: are we on track, and are there problems the afternoon foreman huddle isn’t solving?
- Six-week make-ready look-ahead.
- Create the weekly work plan.
- Review and remove roadblocks, then close with a plus/delta.
On a smaller job, I don’t think you need more than 30 minutes. On a larger job, please don’t go over 90. My ideal is about 45. I’ve heard of people making these four hours. I don’t think anyone pays attention past an hour and a half. The lightning round matters because this isn’t a briefing. It’s a meeting to discuss, so merge your standard agenda with the trade partners’ needs.
How Do You Find Roadblocks in the Look-Ahead?
If you’re using takt planning, which you all should be, filter the next six weeks from the schedule. My favorite move is to give everyone a printout, something tactile they can touch, and set a five-minute timer. Ask them to look for roadblocks: what’s going to go wrong? Every activity needs materials, labor, layout, space, RFIs and information, equipment, tools, permissions, contracts, and insurance. I sometimes post those on the wall.
Ask everyone for at least one roadblock, one activity that may not be ready, or one procurement misalignment. If a trade says they don’t have anything, ask them to take the time, and wait for it. You’ll hear, well, we always have trouble with this, or my office can’t confirm that. Now you know which activities are at risk, and you can put them on your roadblock tracking system and make work ready ahead. That’s probably the most important part of this meeting. Read Seeing Roadblocks Trick: Give Your Trades an Assignment.
How Should the Weekly Work Plan Be Created?
Never from whole cloth. Creating your weekly work plan from scratch every week is absolutely insane. It’s filtered from the takt plan, which was already part of the pull plan, trade collaboration, and the overall strategy, and already aligned with milestones. Trades get a template on the meeting cycle, make adjustments, make commitments to each other and key decisions on executing the work, and then you check for trade stacking and make sure zone control will work. The plan covers through two Fridays from now.
Trade partners don’t get a plan shoved down their throats. Because they weighed in and bought in, they’re psychologically, and even biochemically, more willing and able to accomplish the work. Afterward, send out the weekly work plan and the six-week look-ahead so trade partners have full access.
What Visuals Does the Meeting Need?
An open, inviting conference room with the normal-level takt plan at the front, the procurement log, access to the model, zone maps, and logistics maps, and a whiteboard. On the wall: the rolling meeting calendar, a pull planning area, a place to schedule deliveries and write down roadblocks, and access to the team coverage plan.
How Long Until the Meeting Is Great?
Here’s a secret not many people know: it takes six to 12 weeks to make a meeting great. I think I’m pretty good at leading meetings, and I’ve never gotten one anywhere close before 12 weeks. Don’t give up. You’re doing better than you think.
A new superintendent wrote that when he started, a senior super said he’d been thrown in the middle of the ocean with no life vest and sharks circling. I don’t want anyone to feel that way. I hope everyone out there can get the support they need.
So here is the challenge. At your next weekly tactical, hand out a printed six-week look-ahead, set a five-minute timer, and ask every foreman for one roadblock.
Bottom line: Look out ahead, make work ready, remove roadblocks, and commit to a weekly work plan together.
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.
Takt and Last Planner Implementation series:
Previous: The Strategic Planning & Procurement Meeting
Next: The Afternoon Foreman Huddle
FAQ
What is the trade partner weekly tactical?
The weekly planning and problem-solving meeting for next week’s activities, also called the weekly work planning meeting or Last Planner meeting. Its purpose is to completely plan the next week ahead, make work ready, identify and remove roadblocks, and complete a weekly work plan.
Who attends the trade partner weekly tactical?
The superintendents, project engineers, field engineers if available, and the foremen, who are the last people in the planning cycle. In some cases their title will be superintendent. The meeting is for them, so they have to be there.
How long should the trade partner weekly tactical take?
On a smaller job, no more than 30 minutes. On a larger job, don’t go over 90. Jason’s ideal is about 45 minutes. A lightning round at the start helps put the most important items first so the meeting starts and ends on time.
People Also Read:
Fanatical Roadblock Removal
How to Create a Look-ahead Schedule
How to Run a Trade Partner Meeting
Roadblock Tracking Maps
If you want to learn more we have:
-Takt Virtual Training: (Takt Virtual Training)
-Check out our YouTube channel for more info: (Elevate Construction on YouTube)
-Listen to the Elevate Construction podcast: (Elevate Construction Podcast)
-Check out our training programs and certifications: (Training Programs and Certifications)
-The Takt Book: (The Takt Book on Amazon)
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