Author: Danny Jiménez⁩

Emotional Range Feat. Brandon Montero

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 26 min

The One-Tool Leader Who Cannot Win

Most construction leaders have one tool in their toolbox. Anger. When a trade falls behind, they get angry. When a worker makes a mistake, they get angry. When the schedule slips, they get angry. And when the project finishes and everyone is burnt out and the team never wants to work together again, they wonder why. The answer is simple. They only had one tool. And one tool cannot build great projects or great teams. You need emotional range. And most construction leaders have never been taught what that means or how to develop it.

Here is what happens on a typical jobsite. A superintendent walks the site and sees rework. His first response is anger. He finds the foreman and unloads. The foreman gets defensive. The crew hears the yelling and shuts down. Morale drops. Communication stops. And the problem that caused the rework never gets addressed because everyone is too busy managing the fallout from the explosion. This happens every single day on jobsites across the country. And it destroys projects. Because anger is a tool. But it is not the only tool. And leaders who only know how to grab the hammer when they need a chisel or a tape measure or a level are sabotaging their own success.

The real pain is not the yelling. It is the emptiness that follows. Workers go home feeling beat up. They feel undervalued. They feel like failures. And they carry that feeling into their families. Superintendents go home exhausted from the emotional drain of being angry all day. They have nothing left to give their spouse or their kids. And the cycle repeats. Day after day. Project after project. Until people burn out and leave the industry or become the same angry leader they once resented. This is not just a work problem. This is a life problem. Because how you show up at work is how you show up at home. And if your only tool is anger, you are going to damage both.

The failure pattern is predictable. Leaders default to anger because it is fast and it feels like control. Anger creates immediate compliance. People jump when you yell. And for leaders who measure success by immediate results, anger seems effective. But anger does not create engagement. It does not create trust. It does not create learning. It creates fear. And fear produces the bare minimum. Workers do just enough to avoid getting yelled at. They do not innovate. They do not problem-solve. They do not care. And the project suffers because the team is operating from fear instead of commitment. The system failed them by never teaching their leaders that there are other tools available. And the leaders failed themselves by never seeking those tools out.

I watched a superintendent on a project years ago who only had one tool. Anger. When the drywall crew made a mistake, he yelled. When the electricians were behind, he yelled. When the owner asked a question, he got defensive and confrontational. And the project spiraled. Quality suffered. Safety incidents increased. Turnover was high. And by the end of the project, the client refused to work with that superintendent again. The tragedy was not that he lacked technical skill. He knew construction. He knew scheduling. He knew coordination. But he had zero emotional range. And without emotional range, his technical skills could not save him. He lost future work. He damaged relationships. And he went home every night empty and angry. That is the cost of being a one-tool leader.

This matters because construction is bleeding talent. Good people are leaving the industry because they are tired of being yelled at. They are tired of environments where anger is the default response to every problem. And they are finding jobs in other industries where leaders treat them like human beings. Meanwhile, projects are struggling because teams are disengaged, communication is broken, and nobody trusts each other. This affects schedules because fear-based teams move slower. It affects quality because people who do not feel valued do not care about the details. It affects safety because burnt out and stressed workers make mistakes. And it affects families because workers go home empty and have nothing left to give. Emotional range is not soft. It is foundational. And leaders who refuse to develop it are limiting their own success and destroying the people around them.

What Emotional Range Actually Means

Emotional range means having multiple tools in your emotional toolbox and knowing which tool to use in each situation. It is not about being emotional. It is about having the capacity to respond appropriately to any situation you face. A leader with emotional range can be firm when firmness is needed. They can be empathetic when someone is struggling. They can be vulnerable when building trust requires it. They can be direct when clarity is needed. They can hold the line when consequences are appropriate. And they can show compassion when someone needs grace. This is not weakness. This is strength. Because real power is not the ability to yell louder than everyone else. Real power is having the ability to yell and choosing not to because a better tool will produce a better outcome.

Think about what it takes to succeed in construction. You need to have vulnerable conversations with trade partners. You need to be direct with workers who are underperforming. You need empathy to understand why someone is struggling. You need patience to train people with different learning styles. You need toughness to hold the line on safety or quality. You need the ability to fire someone when necessary and do it with dignity. You need the capacity to absorb stress without exploding. And you need the humility to admit when you are wrong and ask for help. None of that happens if your only tool is anger. Anger shuts down vulnerability. It destroys empathy. It prevents learning. And it makes people hide problems instead of surfacing them. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

The old school superintendent had one tool. Get mad. Throw the hard hat. Yell at people. Assert dominance. And when the project finished, pat yourself on the back for having what it takes. But that is not what it takes. What it takes is a wide range of tools. And the leaders who succeed today are the ones who have invested in developing that range. They have learned how to have hard conversations calmly. They have learned how to coach instead of criticize. They have learned how to create psychological safety so people surface problems early. They have learned how to absorb chaos without becoming chaotic. And they have learned that being in control of a situation requires being in control of yourself first.

How to Develop Emotional Range

Emotional range is not something you are born with. It is something you develop. And there are specific ways to build it. First, invest in learning. Read books on leadership, communication, and emotional intelligence. Take courses on conflict resolution and coaching. Attend trainings that stretch you beyond your comfort zone. The tools you need are out there. But you have to go get them. Nobody is going to hand you a toolkit and say here is how to be a better leader. You have to seek it out. Books like How to Win Friends and Influence People, Leadership and Self-Deception, and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team will teach you tools you did not know existed. Trainings like Power Communication will teach you how to build rapport and connect with people. Conferences and boot camps will expose you to new ways of thinking. Every investment in learning is an investment in expanding your capacity.

Second, practice. Learning the tool is not the same as knowing how to use it. You have to practice. When you learn about empathy, look for opportunities to practice it. When you learn about vulnerability, test it in low-stakes situations. When you learn about holding boundaries, apply it. The only way to build muscle memory with these tools is to use them repeatedly until they become natural. And you will fail. You will grab the wrong tool. You will use the right tool poorly. But failure is part of the process. Fail forward. Learn from it. Adjust. And try again. The people who develop emotional range are the ones who keep practicing even after they mess up.

Third, seek feedback. You cannot see your own blind spots. Ask trusted colleagues, mentors, or your spouse to tell you when you are defaulting to anger or shutting down or using the wrong tool. Create space for them to be honest. And when they give you feedback, listen without getting defensive. Their perspective is a gift. It shows you where you need to grow. And it accelerates your development because you do not have to figure it out alone. Therapy, coaching, and mentorship are all forms of feedback. They help you see patterns you cannot see yourself. And they give you new tools to try.

Fourth, put yourself in situations that stretch you. Marry someone. Have kids. Lead a team. Take on hard projects. Volunteer. Serve in your community. Every hard situation is an opportunity to develop emotional range. Being alone is easy. You do not have conflict. You do not have to manage emotions. But you also do not grow. Relationships force you to develop tools. Marriage teaches you patience, vulnerability, and forgiveness. Parenting teaches you empathy, boundaries, and unconditional love. Leadership teaches you how to coach, confront, and inspire. And every time you navigate a hard situation successfully, your capacity grows. You become a bigger vessel. And situations that used to overwhelm you no longer do because you have the range to handle them.

Signs You Are a One-Tool Leader

Watch for these patterns that signal you lack emotional range:

  • Your default response to problems is anger or frustration
  • You avoid hard conversations because you do not know how to have them calmly
  • People hide problems from you because they are afraid of your reaction
  • You shut down emotionally and disappear when situations get uncomfortable
  • You struggle to give feedback without criticizing or blaming
  • You cannot admit when you are wrong or ask for help
  • Your team walks on eggshells around you
  • You go home empty every night with nothing left to give your family

These are not character flaws. These are skill gaps. And skill gaps can be closed.

Being Your Own Environment

One of the most powerful concepts in emotional range is the idea of being your own environment. Most people let the environment around them dictate how they show up. If the jobsite is chaotic, they become chaotic. If the team is angry, they become angry. If the schedule is behind, they panic. But leaders with emotional range do not let the environment control them. They create their own environment. They decide how they are going to show up regardless of what is happening around them. And that decision changes everything.

Imagine walking onto a jobsite where everyone is stressed. The schedule is behind. The trades are frustrated. The owner is asking questions. And you show up calm. Collected. Clear. You are not ignoring the chaos. You are absorbing it without becoming it. You assess the situation. You select the right tool. You address the problem with the appropriate level of pressure at the right time. And because you are not reactive, the team follows your lead. The environment starts to shift. Not because you controlled everyone else. But because you controlled yourself. And your calm became contagious. That is the power of being your own environment.

This applies at home too. You walk in after a hard day. The kids are crying. There is a mess. Your spouse is overwhelmed. And you have a choice. You can let the chaos pull you in. Or you can be your own environment. You can show up with patience. With empathy. With help. And watch how the environment changes when you refuse to be pulled into the chaos. This is not about ignoring reality. It is about choosing how you respond to reality. And that choice determines whether you add to the chaos or create calm in the middle of it.

Decide to Be Happy

One of the tools in your emotional toolkit is happiness. And happiness is a decision. Not a reaction. Most people treat happiness like something that happens to them. If the project goes well, they are happy. If the project struggles, they are miserable. But leaders with emotional range decide to be happy regardless of circumstances. They pull happiness out of their toolkit and use it intentionally. This does not mean ignoring problems or pretending everything is fine. It means choosing joy as your set point and returning to it even when life is hard.

The people who decide to be happy are the people everyone wants to work with. They are the people who create great team cultures. They are the people who inspire others. And they are the people who succeed long-term because they do not burn out. Happiness is a tool. And when you learn how to use it, you change your life and the lives of everyone around you.

So here is the challenge. Evaluate your emotional toolkit. What tools do you have? What tools are missing? And what are you going to do to get them? Stop defaulting to anger because it is all you know. Invest in learning. Practice new tools. Seek feedback. Put yourself in situations that stretch you. And watch what happens when you show up with the full range of tools you need to handle any situation. As W. Edwards Deming said, “Learning is not compulsory. Neither is survival.” If you want to survive and thrive in construction and in life, you need emotional range. Go get it. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is emotional range and why does it matter in construction?

Emotional range means having multiple tools in your emotional toolkit and knowing which tool to use in each situation, not just defaulting to anger or shutting down.

How do you develop emotional range?

Invest in learning through books and training, practice new tools in real situations, seek feedback from trusted people, and put yourself in stretching situations like relationships and leadership.

What does it mean to be your own environment?

Being your own environment means deciding how you will show up regardless of the chaos around you, creating calm instead of reacting to chaos.

Why do leaders default to anger?

Anger is fast and feels like control because it creates immediate compliance, but it destroys trust, engagement, and long-term performance.

Can happiness really be a decision?

Yes. Happiness is a tool you can intentionally choose as your set point and return to even when circumstances are difficult, rather than waiting for circumstances to make you happy.

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

The 7 Wonders of the World Feat. Dr. Grennan

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 26 min

The Seven Wonders Your Team Actually Needs

A teacher once asked her students to name the seven wonders of the world. Most students wrote down the Great Pyramid, the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon, and the Great Wall of China. But one little girl from Ecuador wrote something different. She listed touch, taste, see, hear, feel, laugh, and love. Not monuments. Not buildings. The fundamental human experiences that make life worth living. When the teacher asked why, the girl said these are the things people can do every day that make life wonderful. And she was right. But construction has forgotten this truth entirely.

Here is what happens on most jobsites. A superintendent shows up Monday morning. The crew is already there. He walks past them without making eye contact. He barks the day’s assignments. He criticizes yesterday’s work. He disappears into the trailer for three hours. The crew works in chaos because there is no visual plan. They eat garbage from a food truck because there is no time for a real break. They strain their bodies in awkward positions because that is just how the work gets done. Nobody laughs. Nobody feels appreciated. And at the end of the day, everyone goes home exhausted and empty. This is not an isolated incident. This is the norm. And it is destroying people.

The real pain is not the physical strain. It is the emptiness. Workers spend 50, 60, sometimes 70 hours a week on jobsites where they are treated like tools instead of human beings. They are not seen. They are not heard. They are not valued. And they feel it. They feel underappreciated. They feel disposable. They feel like a number on a schedule instead of a person with a family and a life. And that feeling follows them home. It affects their marriage. It affects their kids. It affects their health. And it affects their performance. Because you cannot separate the person from the worker. How someone shows up at work is directly connected to how they are experiencing the seven wonders that little girl identified.

The failure pattern is predictable. Leaders focus exclusively on outputs. Did the work get done? Did we hit the schedule? Did we stay on budget? But they ignore inputs. What is the worker seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and feeling throughout the day? Are they laughing? Are they loved? And when those inputs are negative or absent, the outputs deteriorate. Workers become disengaged. They stop caring. They show up physically but not mentally or emotionally. The system starves people of fundamental human experiences and then blames them when performance suffers. But the truth is the system failed them. They did not fail the system.

I worked on a research laboratory project where the team culture was different. The superintendent knew every worker by name. He walked the site every morning and made eye contact. He asked how people were doing. He created visual communication so everyone could see the plan. He built a break room with real food and comfortable seating. He encouraged laughter. He celebrated wins. And the crew responded. They showed up early. They stayed late when needed. They cared about quality because they felt cared for. That project finished ahead of schedule with zero safety incidents and a client who became a raving fan. And the difference was not the technical skill of the team. The difference was that the superintendent created an environment where people experienced the seven wonders. They were seen. They were heard. They were valued. And they gave their whole heart in return.

This matters because construction is bleeding talent. Good people are leaving the industry because they are tired of being treated like machines. They are tired of the chaos, the disrespect, the lack of appreciation. And they are finding jobs in other industries where they feel valued. Meanwhile, projects are struggling to find qualified workers. Schedules are slipping. Quality is suffering. And safety incidents are increasing. All because leadership refuses to recognize that people are not machines. People need to experience touch, taste, sight, hearing, feeling, laughter, and love. And when those needs go unmet, everything else falls apart. This affects schedules because disengaged workers are slower. It affects quality because people who do not care do not produce great work. It affects safety because distracted and burnt out workers make mistakes. And it affects families because workers go home empty and have nothing left to give.

What You Take In Determines What Comes Out

Input equals output. This is true in every area of life. What you take in through your senses, your experiences, and your relationships directly affects what comes out in your behavior, your performance, and your results. If you are seeing garbage media all day, you will think garbage thoughts. If you are hearing negativity and criticism constantly, you will speak negatively. If you are tasting processed junk food, you will feel sluggish and unfocused. And if you are not experiencing touch, laughter, and love, you will show up empty at work. This is not soft. This is reality. And construction leaders who ignore this reality are sabotaging their own teams.

Think about what your team is taking in on a daily basis. What are they seeing when they arrive at the site? Chaos. Poor planning. Rework. Unsafe conditions. Frustration on faces. Or are they seeing visual communication that makes the plan clear? Are they seeing leadership walking the site and engaging with them? Are they seeing respect and organization? What are they hearing? Are they hearing blame, yelling, and unrealistic demands? Or are they hearing encouragement, constructive feedback, and appreciation? The tone you use matters more than you realize. A foreman can deliver the same message in two different tones and get completely different results. One tone inspires. The other demoralizes. What are they tasting? Fast food and energy drinks because there is no time for a real meal? Or are you creating space for proper breaks where people can fuel their bodies well? Nutrition affects cognitive performance, energy levels, and mood. A team that eats garbage feels like garbage.

What are they touching? Are workers bending, reaching, and straining in unsafe or awkward positions because that is just how construction is? Or are you designing the work to adapt to the worker instead of forcing the worker to adapt to the work? This is where prefabrication matters. Bring the work to a controlled environment where it can be done safely and efficiently. Eliminate unnecessary strain. And recognize that touch extends beyond the physical. A pat on the shoulder. A handshake. A gesture of connection. These small touches communicate care. And care builds loyalty. What are they feeling physically and emotionally? Are they in pain? Are they stressed? Are they burnt out? And if so, are you addressing it or ignoring it? People who do not feel good do not perform well. Period. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Are they laughing? Most construction sites are silent and joyless. But laughter creates connection. It relieves stress. It builds team cohesion. And it makes hard work bearable. If your site feels like a grind every single day with zero moments of joy, something is broken. Create space for humor. Celebrate small wins. Let people enjoy the work. And watch what happens when the environment shifts from grinding through the day to actually experiencing it together. Are they loved? Not romantic love. But the kind of love that says I care about you as a person. I see your value. I want you to succeed. I will invest in your growth. Leaders who love their people create the conditions where people give their whole heart, not just their hands. A 40-year-old retiree once said at his retirement party, for 40 years they had the work of my hands when they could have had the work of my hands, my mind, and my heart for no additional money. All they would have had to do was ask or create that environment.

How to Create an Environment Where People Thrive

Start with sight. Make the plan visible. Put it on the wall. Use visual management so everyone can see what is happening today, this week, and this phase. Stop hiding information in the trailer. Bring it to the field where it matters. Walk the site every morning. Make eye contact with your people. See them. Not just as workers. But as human beings. Notice their body language. Notice when someone is struggling. And respond with empathy instead of indifference. What workers see every day either builds confidence or creates chaos. Choose clarity.

Move to hearing. Pay attention to your tone. Are you barking orders or communicating with respect? Are you criticizing mistakes or coaching through them? The way you sound sets the tone for the entire project. Create space for your team to be heard. Ask questions. Listen to their input. Value their perspective. When someone makes a mistake, address it with curiosity instead of anger. What happened? What can we learn? How do we prevent it next time? That tone builds trust. The other tone builds resentment. Also recognize what silence communicates. If you never praise good work, your silence says you do not care. Speak up. Acknowledge effort. Celebrate wins.

Address touch and feel together. Eliminate unnecessary physical strain. Use prefabrication to bring work to controlled environments where it can be done safely. Stop forcing workers into awkward positions that damage their bodies. And recognize that emotional strain is just as real as physical strain. Check in with your people. How are you doing? How is your family? Is there anything you need? These small gestures communicate care. And when people feel cared for, they care back. Also recognize the power of physical connection. A handshake. A pat on the shoulder. A high five after a job well done. These touches build connection and show appreciation.

Fix taste by creating space for proper breaks. Stop expecting people to survive on fast food and energy drinks. Provide access to real food. Give people time to eat. Nutrition affects performance. And a team that eats well performs better than a team that eats garbage. This seems small but it matters. Also think about what tastes good beyond food. What experiences are you creating that people enjoy? What moments are worth savoring? Make the work something people want to taste, not something they have to choke down.

Signs Your Team Is Missing the Seven Wonders

Watch for these signals that your team is not experiencing the inputs they need:

  • Morale is low and people seem disengaged or emotionally checked out
  • Turnover is high and good people keep leaving for other opportunities
  • Safety incidents are increasing because workers are distracted or careless
  • Quality issues are surfacing because people do not care about the details anymore
  • Communication is poor and conflicts go unresolved for long periods
  • Nobody is laughing or enjoying the work, the site feels joyless every day
  • Workers show up physically but not mentally or emotionally

These are not people problems. These are leadership problems. And the fix starts with creating an environment where people can experience the seven wonders every day.

Build People First

Construction exists to build great things. But great things are built by great people. And great people are not machines. They are human beings with senses, emotions, families, and needs. When those needs are met, people thrive. They engage. They contribute. They care. And the project benefits. When those needs are ignored, people shut down. They disengage. They do the bare minimum. And the project suffers. The choice is yours. You can keep treating people like tools and wondering why performance is mediocre. Or you can invest in creating an environment where people experience the seven wonders and watch what happens when they give you their whole heart.

This is about dignity. Construction should be a place where people are respected, valued, and treated like the skilled professionals they are. This is about flow. When people feel good, work flows. When people feel terrible, everything grinds to a halt. This is about stability. Families need stability. And workers who go home empty because they spent the day being treated like garbage cannot provide that stability. The mission of construction should not just be building structures. It should be building people who build structures. And that starts with recognizing that the seven wonders that little girl identified are not soft. They are foundational.

So here is the challenge. Walk your project this week and evaluate the seven wonders. What are your people seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and feeling? Are they laughing? Are they loved? And if the answers reveal gaps, fix them. Start small. Improve the tone you use. Add visual communication. Create space for breaks. Show appreciation. Build connection. And watch what happens when you stop treating people like machines and start treating them like human beings. You cannot separate the person from the worker. How someone shows up at work is directly connected to how they are experiencing life. And if you want better outputs, you need to invest in better inputs. As Dr. W. Edwards Deming said, “A bad system will beat a good person every time.” Stop blaming your people for poor performance and start building a system where they can experience the seven wonders every day. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the seven wonders from the little girl’s perspective?

Touch, taste, see, hear, feel, laugh, and love. These fundamental human experiences matter more than physical monuments and directly affect how people show up at work.

How does input equal output in construction?

What people take in through their senses and experiences directly affects behavior and performance. Negative inputs like chaos, disrespect, and poor nutrition produce disengaged workers and poor results.

Why do construction cultures resist laughter and love?

Many leaders see these as soft or unprofessional, but laughter builds connection and relieves stress while love creates loyalty and inspires people to give their whole heart.

How can leaders improve what workers are seeing and hearing daily?

Use visual management for clarity, speak with respectful tone, listen to input, make eye contact, notice body language, and create an environment where people feel valued.

What is the difference between using people and loving people at work?

Using people treats them as tools for tasks. Loving people invests in their growth, values their contribution, and creates conditions where they give their whole heart instead of just their hands.

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

What Is Most Important in 2021 Feat. Charlie Dunn

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 21 min

Why Construction Is 230 Years Behind Manufacturing

Most construction projects start the same way. Raw materials arrive at the site. Workers measure, cut, fit, and assemble everything in the field. They work in rain, heat, cold, and unsafe conditions. They bend, reach, and overextend to install components in awkward positions. They coordinate on the fly. They rework mistakes. They generate waste. And when the project finishes, everyone moves to the next site and does it all over again the exact same way. This is not progress. This is repetition. And it is costing the industry productivity, safety, quality, and the ability to attract the next generation of workers.

Here is the uncomfortable truth. Construction is about 230 years behind manufacturing. Manufacturing had its industrial revolution in the late 1700s and early 1800s when standardized interchangeable parts enabled assembly lines, automation, and focused study. Construction has not had that revolution yet. We are still adapting the worker to the work instead of adapting the work to the worker. We are still treating every project like a prototype instead of leveraging design reuse and standardization. And we are still defaulting to stick-building everything on site when prefabrication could solve most of the problems we complain about daily.

The failure pattern is predictable. Teams wait until design is 100 percent complete. Then they reverse engineer it, break it apart, and try to figure out how to build it. Sometimes they do a halfway decent job of that planning. Sometimes they are in the field trying to figure it out while the clock is running. Either way, the default assumption is that everything will be built stick by stick on site. And prefabrication, if it happens at all, is treated as the exception. A nice-to-have. An innovation. Something you consider if you have extra time or budget. This is backwards. Prefabrication should be the default. And stick-building should be the negotiated exception.

I worked on a research laboratory project where we prefabricated everything we could. We prefabricated all of the overhead MEP in spools on the first two floors around priority walls that were 80 percent complete. We pre-cut all of the studs, box headers, jams, and stud lengths. Everything came out pre-cut. We had drastically reduced waste. We did room kitting inside where we had people prefabricate the interiors. And when I look back on that project, prefabrication was the best thing we did. Not just because it improved safety and quality. But because it vetted the design issues earlier. If we could not build it on paper and prefabricate it in the shop, then we never had the right information to build it in place in the field. We were missing a dimension or a coordination issue or something else. Prefabrication pre-vets the design before it becomes a schedule impact. And it takes the work out of the chaotic field environment and puts it into a controlled environment where standard work, safety, and quality can actually be managed.

Why Prefabrication Matters More Than You Think

Prefabrication is not just about moving work offsite. It is about fundamentally changing the presumption of how construction happens. And there are three reasons why this shift matters more than most people realize. The first is empathy. The second is production design. And the third is design reuse. Together, these three shifts will create more value for construction over the next decade than any other innovation. And prefabrication is the engine that makes all three possible.

Empathy means beginning with the worker in mind instead of adapting the worker to the work. Construction has traditionally forced workers into unsafe conditions, awkward positions, and congested environments. Workers bend, reach, and overextend because that is just considered part of the challenge. But with prefabrication, we can adapt the work to the worker. We can create safe environments. Well-lit environments. Decongested environments. And we can provide super clear visual explanations like we are used to seeing in other industries. This is not just about being nice. This is about recognizing that the future of construction capital is threatened if we cannot grow the workforce, create excitement about the industry, and create safer and more inspiring working conditions. Vertically integrated owners with large portfolios of projects are starting to demand this. They are saying they will not accept the kind of safety numbers on construction sites that they would never tolerate in their manufacturing facilities. And prefabrication is one of the primary tools that enables that shift.

Production design means designing the building with the end in mind. In other industries like automotive or home appliances, you would never design a new product without strategically knowing how you plan to build it. But in construction, this is foreign. We get 100 percent design and then reverse engineer it to figure out if we can build it. Production design flips that. It starts with understanding what the supply chain can do, what factories can do, and what the workforce can do. And it designs the building with production design principles so that it can be delivered safely, with high quality, and with good productivity. This requires designers and builders to work together earlier. It requires integrated delivery methods. And it requires a mindset shift from designing in isolation to designing with production in mind.

Design reuse means not starting from zero on every project. Right now, every project goes through the same long runway of design, price, redesign, coordinate, price, and redesign. And that cycle repeats on every single project even when the building type is the same. Data centers, healthcare MOBs, pharmaceutical plants, and other building types with repetitive programs are still designed from scratch every time with different designers, different design components, and different coordination processes. This is wasteful. What if we could get to 70 percent design reuse? What if vertically integrated owners could say here is our standard design for this building type and we are only customizing the last 30 percent? That would eliminate years of rework. It would reduce chaos in the field. And it would allow teams to focus on the unique aspects of the project instead of reinventing the wheel every time. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Signs You Are Stuck in the Old Default

Here are the signals that your team is still defaulting to stick-building instead of prefabrication:

  • You reverse engineer the design after it is 100 percent complete instead of planning production during design
  • Workers are bending, reaching, and working in unsafe or awkward positions because that is just how the work has to be done
  • You generate significant waste from cutting materials on site instead of pre-cutting in a controlled environment
  • Design issues and coordination problems surface in the field instead of being caught during prefabrication planning
  • Every project feels like a prototype instead of leveraging standardization and lessons learned from previous projects
  • Prefabrication is treated as an innovation or exception instead of the default approach
  • You assume everything will be stick-built unless someone makes a compelling case for prefab

These patterns are not inevitable. They are choices. And they can be changed by shifting the default assumption.

How to Shift the Default

Changing the presumption from stick-building to prefabrication requires intentional effort. It requires leadership to make the case. It requires trade partners to adjust their approach. And it requires designers to think differently about how buildings are designed. Here is how to start. First, change the language. Stop saying we are going to try prefabrication on this project. Start saying everything will be prefabricated unless there is a compelling reason not to. Make stick-building the negotiated exception instead of prefabrication being the innovation. That language shift changes how teams approach planning.

Second, engage the supply chain early. Do not wait until design is complete to figure out what can be prefabricated. Bring trade partners and fabricators into the conversation during design so they can inform what is possible and what needs to be coordinated. This is production design in action. And it requires integrated delivery methods that allow the team to collaborate before the design is locked.

Third, invest in design reuse. If your organization builds the same building types repeatedly, stop designing from scratch every time. Develop standard designs that can be customized for specific sites and user needs. This does not mean cookie-cutter buildings. It means baking in the lessons learned, the coordination, and the production planning so you are starting from 50, 60, or 70 percent instead of zero. The time saved in design and coordination can be reinvested in making the unique aspects of the project better.

Fourth, create the right environment for prefabrication. Lean manufacturing works because the environment supports standard work, visual management, and continuous improvement. Construction has been trying to bring lean to the chaotic field environment. But prefabrication flips that. It brings the work to the controlled environment where lean principles can actually function. Safe, well-lit, decongested spaces with clear visual instructions enable workers to do better work faster with less waste.

Fifth, push through resistance. Some people will resist prefabrication because it requires them to think differently, plan earlier, and coordinate more intentionally. Do not let that resistance stop progress. As one lean manufacturing leader said when asked what to do when trade partners resist the plan, you whip them in the ass. That is not about being cruel. It is about being firm. Prefabrication will not work if it is optional. It has to be the expectation. And teams need to experience it for six weeks before they can truly choose. Until they have both options in front of them, they cannot make an informed choice. So push it down everyone’s throat until they see how great it is. Then it becomes self-sustaining.

The Challenge

Walk your next project and ask yourself this question. What are we building stick by stick on site that could be prefabricated in a controlled environment? What design decisions are we making without understanding how the building will be produced? What lessons are we learning on this project that we will have to relearn on the next one because we are not capturing design reuse? And what are we doing to our workers by forcing them to adapt to unsafe, inefficient, and chaotic conditions instead of adapting the work to the worker? If the answers to those questions reveal opportunities, you have a choice. You can keep doing what you have always done. Or you can shift the default. Default to prefabrication. Make stick-building the exception. And watch what happens when you stop treating every project like a prototype and start building with empathy, production design, and design reuse.

Construction’s industrial revolution is not in the past. It is in the future. And prefabrication is the engine that will get us there. As Charlie Dunne said, “Fall in love with your problems, not your solutions.” The problem is that we are 230 years behind manufacturing. The solution is prefabrication. And the time to shift the default is now.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is construction 230 years behind manufacturing?

Manufacturing adopted standardized interchangeable parts in the late 1700s, enabling assembly lines and automation. Construction still defaults to stick-building everything on site without standardization.

What are the three big shifts prefabrication enables?

Empathy for workers by adapting work to the worker, production design that plans how to build during design, and design reuse that eliminates starting from zero.

How do you overcome resistance to prefabrication?

Change the default assumption so prefabrication is expected and stick-building is the exception. Push through resistance by requiring teams to experience it before choosing.

What is production design?

Designing the building with understanding of how it will be built, including supply chain capabilities, factory capabilities, and workforce capabilities, rather than reverse engineering after design is complete.

What does design reuse mean for repetitive building types?

Starting from 50-70 percent standardized design instead of zero, eliminating the rework cycle of design, price, redesign, coordinate on every project for building types like data centers or healthcare.

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

The Team Kickoff – Lean, IPD Series

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 22 min

Why Teams That Skip the Kickoff Fail Before They Start

Some people think team kickoffs are a waste of time. They call them fluffy. Touchy-feely. Too soft for the real work of construction. They say the kickoff is just a bunch of gooey stuff that does not move the project forward. And when you ask them to gather the team before work starts to establish culture, set expectations, and align on goals, they push back. They resist. They find reasons why it will not work. And if you listen closely to their objections, you will notice something. They are not arguing against the value of team building. They are protecting themselves.

Here is what most people miss. The resistance to team kickoffs is not about logic. It is about fear. People who have been burned by bad leaders, toxic teams, or broken promises do not want to be vulnerable again. A team kickoff asks people to put their guards down. It asks them to be transparent. It asks them to trust. And for someone who has been hurt in the past that feels dangerous. So they label it as ineffective. They dismiss it as fluffy. And they avoid it because being cynical feels safer than being hopeful.

But here is the truth. Every good project I have ever been on had a good team. Every single one. And every bad project I have been on had a fractured, misaligned, or dysfunctional team. There is no technical expertise, no operational skill, and no amount of planning that will save a project if the team is broken. Teams do not work based on logic alone. They work based on communication, trust, emotional intelligence, and alignment. And if you skip the team kickoff, you are gambling that all of those elements will accidentally fall into place. They will not.

The failure pattern is predictable. Leaders skip the team kickoff because they think it is unnecessary. They assume everyone knows what to do. They assume the team will figure it out as they go. They assume good intentions are enough. And then the project starts. And within weeks, the cracks appear. People are working in silos. Communication breaks down. Conflicts go unresolved. Nobody knows the vision or the culture the team is trying to build. And by the time leadership realizes the team is struggling, the damage is already done. The system failed them before they ever had a chance to succeed.

I worked on a research laboratory project where we did a pre-flight kickoff before the project started. We gathered the entire team, designers, owner, owner’s rep, project managers, superintendents, trades—and we spent time establishing our conditions of satisfaction, our team structure, our meeting cadence, and our culture. We played a game called Win All You Can. The game is designed to show people how they naturally behave versus how they should behave when everyone needs to win together. Two people on the extended team got bent out of shape during the game. They wanted to win individually. They did not reflect on the fact that we needed to win together. And after the meeting, we thought maybe we should not have played that game because it upset them.

But here is what happened. Throughout the project, those two people struggled. They did not fit within the team culture. They resisted collaboration. They operated in silos. And it became clear that the game had revealed something important. It was not that the game caused the problem. The game exposed a mindset that was already there. And because we had established our culture early, we were able to coach those individuals back into alignment. The owner’s project manager did some really good coaching. And by the end of the project, we all won together. The designers and the owner said constantly that we followed the purpose we set in that kickoff meeting. And they were proud of us. That kickoff was not fluffy. It was foundational.

What Every Team Needs to Succeed

There are three things every team needs to be successful. Not optional. Not nice-to-have. Essential. The first is a multiplier leader. The second is absolute clarity on where the team is headed. And the third is engaged people who have connection, relevance, and measurement. Without these three elements, the team will struggle no matter how talented the individuals are or how well-intentioned the effort is.

A multiplier leader is someone who believes that other people are smart and will figure it out. They attract and optimize talent. They create space for best thinking. They extend challenges so people can stretch. They debate situations with the team and then make decisions once everyone has weighed in so the team can buy in. And they instill ownership and accountability. A diminisher leader does the opposite. They think people will not figure it out without them. They hoard talent. They create stress that stops people from thinking. They tell people what to do. They decide first and then debate afterward. And they manage every detail. If your team has a diminisher leader, no amount of clarity or engagement will fix the dysfunction. The leader sets the ceiling for the team.

The second element is clarity. The team needs to know where they are headed. What is the big hairy audacious goal? What is the vision? What is the mission? What are the values? What is the most important thing right now? And how are we going to get there? If the team does not have clarity, they cannot work autonomously. They cannot make good decisions. They cannot hold each other accountable. Because they do not know what they are accountable to. Some people dismiss this as corporate jargon. But the best companies I have ever worked with had crystal clear purpose, mission, and values. DPR Construction exists to build great things. Their core values are integrity, enjoyment, uniqueness, and being ever forward. Their mission is to be one of the most admired companies by the year 2030. Everyone who works there knows exactly where they are headed, what they are doing, and what is expected of them. Clarity creates alignment. And alignment creates velocity.

The third element is engagement. Engaged people have three things: connection, relevance, and measurement. Connection means someone within the organization knows them personally and cares about them as a human being. Relevance means they understand how their work contributes to the overall mission and why it matters. Measurement means they know daily what winning looks like and whether they are winning. Without these three elements, people feel miserable at work even if the project is going well. And miserable people do not produce great results. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

What a Team Kickoff Establishes

A team kickoff is where you bring the entire team together before the project starts to establish the foundation for how the team will work. This is not about feel-good activities. This is about creating the structure, clarity, and culture that will carry the team through the chaos of the project. And there are five key elements every team needs to establish during the kickoff:

  • Conditions of satisfaction: What has worked in the past? What has not worked? What does everyone want to see happen on this project? What does success look like for each stakeholder?
  • Design vision: What are the design parameters in terms of quality and aesthetic direction? What are the key drivers? What are the elements customers cannot live without? Who makes aesthetic decisions and when?
  • Team structure: What are the roles and responsibilities? What is the decision-making structure? How will new team members be on boarded as they join? What collaboration tools will be used?
  • Meeting structure: How often will the team meet? What is the cadence for coordination meetings, planning meetings, owner check-ins, and retrospectives? How will decisions be documented?
  • Team culture: What are the norms, rituals, and taboos? What does transparency look like? How will the team build trust? How will conflicts be resolved? What values will guide behavior?

These are not abstract concepts. These are the agreements that prevent confusion, conflict, and rework later. And the team kickoff is where these agreements get made. You can do this in a day. You can do it in two days. You can do it in half a day. The length matters less than the intentionality. What matters is that the team leaves the kickoff with clarity on where they are headed and how they will work together to get there.

Signs Someone Is Resisting Team Building

People who resist team kickoffs and team building often display predictable patterns. Here are the signals that someone is protecting themselves rather than objecting on legitimate grounds:

  • They label team building as fluffy, touchy-feely, or ineffective without offering a better alternative
  • They avoid vulnerability and refuse to engage in trust-building exercises
  • They stay silent during collaborative activities or dismiss the value of the work
  • They operate in silos and resist transparency about their work or challenges
  • They become defensive when asked to share their perspective or align with the team
  • They compete instead of collaborate and measure success individually rather than collectively

These behaviors are not character flaws. They are defense mechanisms. People who have been hurt by bad leaders or toxic teams have learned to protect themselves. And the way to help them is not to shame them. It is to create an environment where it is safe to be vulnerable again. That takes time. It takes patience. And it takes a leader who is willing to model the behavior they want to see.

The Current Condition and the Challenge

The current condition is that most teams skip the kickoff. They assume everyone will figure it out. They assume good intentions are enough. And they dive straight into the work without establishing the foundation. And when the team struggles, they blame the people instead of recognizing that the system failed them. They call people difficult or uncooperative or resistant. But the truth is that people are not the problem. The lack of intentional team building is the problem.

So here is the challenge. Build the team first. Before you mobilize. Before you break ground. Before you start design. Gather the team and establish the conditions of satisfaction, the design vision, the team structure, the meeting structure, and the team culture. Do the hard work of creating clarity and alignment. And give your team the foundation they need to succeed. Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind. And skipping the team kickoff is one of the unkindest things you can do to a team because it sets them up to fail before they ever start.

Great teams build great projects. Always. And if you want a great project, you need to invest in building a great team. As Patrick Lencioni said, “If you could get all the people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time.” That is what the team kickoff does. It gets everyone rowing in the same direction. And once that happens, the project becomes possible.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do people resist team kickoffs?

Most resistance comes from fear, not logic. People who have been hurt by bad leaders or toxic teams protect themselves by avoiding vulnerability and dismissing team building as ineffective.

What are the three things every team needs to succeed?

A multiplier leader who believes others will figure it out, absolute clarity on where the team is headed, and engaged people with connection, relevance, and measurement.

How long should a team kickoff take?

It depends on the team and the project, but most effective kickoffs range from half a day to two days. The key is intentionality, not duration.

What should be established during a team kickoff?

Conditions of satisfaction, design vision, team structure, meeting structure, and team culture. These five elements create the foundation for how the team will work together.

What if someone on the team refuses to participate?

Coach them. Create safety. Model vulnerability. And recognize that resistance is usually a defense mechanism from past hurt, not a character flaw or intentional sabotage.

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

AutoCAD And Revit For Field Engineers (Practical BIM Skills For Construction)

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 22 min

AutoCAD and Revit for Field Engineers (Practical BIM Skills for Construction)

I’m going to talk to you about the key applications that a field engineer, at least as of the recording, meaning today, are the best. And then, obviously, if this video lasts for 20, 30 years, it might change. But for now, we must have this as the base.

Field engineers are amazing, and I want you to know how does Jason have any credibility here? I should probably say formerly, but in 2010, 2012, I am AutoCAD and Revit certified. They did not offer, I don’t know if they do now, they do not offer certifications in Navisworks Manage or Synchro. And I know Tekla, I know Google SketchUp, and I know AutoCAD. I know Revit Civil 3D in parts, not the design portion of it, and I even dabbled a little bit in Autodesk Inventor. I love these applications, and I got to record training videos for Hensel Phelps when I was doing training for them.

Let me explain what these applications are for and why field engineers need both.

The Pain of Field Engineers Who Skip AutoCAD and Revit

Here’s what happens when field engineers skip AutoCAD and Revit. They rely on drafting departments. They rely on surveyors. They never learn coordinate geometry systems. They can’t think in 3D. They can’t visualize how components fit together. And they don’t program their brain to be a builder.

And here’s the deeper problem. If you’re like, “Hey, we have a drafting department. Hey, we have our own surveyors. I’m not going to do it.” Warning, warning, red flag. That is not a good idea. If you skip this, you are going to skip programming your brain that will turn you into a builder. With AutoCAD and Civil 3D, you’re going to get the 3D coordinate geometry system. With Revit, you’re going to be able to visualize and think in 3D. Do not skip this.

What AutoCAD and Civil 3D Are For (Primary Control and COGO)

When you’re doing a lift drawing, we already talked about the concept that in the field, if you’re going to go build this wall, this is such a good way to visualize this. You get to go help the trade partners in laying out and building this wall. If you want to go build this wall, what do you need? You need layout, and you need the drawings or the information to go do this so that you can build a 3D component. So you got the layout and the lift drawings. And this is a great way to piece it apart.

So people that say that AutoCAD is obsolete, it really confuses me. I don’t know what in the world they’re talking about. In construction, we use AutoCAD, and a lot of times Civil 3D is quite a bit easier all the time. But let me explain to you what it’s for. When you have a wall that you need to get to, and this is all put into an application, meaning it’s all put into context, you’ll likely have two basis-of-bearing points for the building. And what you’ll do is you’ll go ahead and traverse around the building wherever you’re doing the work. And then what happens is for this building, hopefully or preferably, you used a baseline to go ahead and lay out that wall line. So you have a baseline.

And so from this overall primary control, you are going to lay out that secondary control. And then when you’re doing your secondary, and this is building-specific, you will then set up and turn a 90 and get your layout for that wall. This coordinate system, this secondary control, this working control, the inclusion of the grid lines and the coordinate geometry calculations, computations, and points are all done in AutoCAD or Civil 3D. The best companies do this. And if I’m a field engineer, I will learn this at least at its base because I’m not going to be doing that in Revit.

Yes, you can create your grid system and anchor it to, I don’t know what they call it now, but there used to be a project base point, and then there was a civil base point, and you had to align them to make sure it’s in the right coordinate system. I don’t know if Revit has changed, but you can do that. But the utility of AutoCAD and Civil 3D is massive when it comes to the civil aspect of it. Once you’re down to secondary, it’s all Revit from there.

So AutoCAD and Civil 3D, you’re using that for your primary control file. And the primary control will be plus secondary and plus what’s called working control. And it will allow you to do your what we call COGO, your coordinate geometry calculations. Oh, by the way, this can be 2D or 3D. And these are both by Autodesk, by the way. There’s lots of horrible, phony softwares out there, but I tell you what, Autodesk products are not one of them. Autodesk products, from the beginning, have been remarkable. Absolutely remarkable. And I love these programs. Even the little bugs that I used to find, they’re inconsequential. These programs are amazing.

What Revit Is For (Building Components in 3D Parametric Modeling)

Revit will allow you in your application to, in 2D, like let’s say, for instance, go build a footing, and it looks like in 2D, and you have your grid lines. But then in the application, you can switch to your 3D view, and you can see the 3D of that. And then parametric means that it is tied to all other components in the application, and it’s live information.

So if I do a cut here and change this from a 2-foot wide footing to a 1-foot wide footing, it will change here, and it will also change in the 2D cut section view. That might be a cut or an elevation view. It’s all parametric. Once you update it here, it updates everywhere.

So in Revit, you’re able to draw these components, and you’re able to see them in 3D and do parametric, linked, and fully updated and automated section cuts and elevations. Just so you know, designers trick us, and you think it’s parametric, but they’re just pulling in old garbage 2D details. That’s not a good practice. I hate it when designers do that. But for us with lift drawings, you can then take this and, in whatever format you want, pull it on a lift drawing, first into a view and then into a sheet, to where you have your title block and you have all of your information here and then all of your dimensions, and literally print this out and be ready to go.

Now, what’s great about this, the reason I love Revit, is because you can work with other models. You can use them in coordination. You can keep them up to date. There isn’t the risk of the 2D misalignment, and it’s a very easy program to use and to train, actually. So Revit, we’re going to be using for the building components.

How to Use AutoCAD and Revit Together on Construction Projects

Here’s how these work together:

  • AutoCAD or Civil 3D for primary control – Two basis-of-bearing points, traverse around the building, lay out secondary control and working control, do coordinate geometry calculations in 2D or 3D
  • Revit for building components – Anchor to the right base point (project base point and civil base point in the right geometry system), create lift drawings with title blocks and dimensions, work with other models in coordination
  • Both together for layout – Print from AutoCAD or Civil 3D primary control drawings at any time or call coordinates, then when doing Revit model if it’s anchored to the right base point you can create any kind of drawings for this component and use it in building information modeling efforts

And I can then, since it’s in the right coordinate system, get points from these as well in a 3D manner. In fact, one of the best things that we do is we used to use Trimble for this, but connect the 3D points to our robotic total station and literally just check the structure as we go. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

How to Learn AutoCAD and Revit (And Two Critical Cautions)

If you want to know how to do it, I learned with online videos. You can do it on LinkedIn Learning as well. But I would go learn the basics of these applications and dive right in because this is a skill. Don’t be afraid of them, and dive right in and get good. It’s quite remarkable.

The only thing that I would say, that if, when you learn how to use these programs, the only two cautions that I’ll give you is in Revit, don’t start dimensioning from a designer’s model. If it’s not on the drawings, don’t use the dimension. And for AutoCAD, I still believe in using your left hand for the commands, typing in the commands, and using your thumb for the space bar. Even with the ribbons, the ribbons are slower, and the command way of using AutoCAD or Civil 3D is still faster.

Here’s the two cautions. In Revit, if it’s not on the drawings, don’t dimension from the model. Designers pull in old garbage 2D details that aren’t parametric. If it’s not on the construction drawings, don’t use it. And for AutoCAD, learn the command-line method with your left hand typing commands and your thumb on the space bar. The ribbons are slower. The command way is faster. That’s how the best field engineers work.

A Challenge for Field Engineers

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Go learn the basics of AutoCAD or Civil 3D. Go learn the basics of Revit. Don’t rely on drafting departments. Don’t rely on surveyors. Learn it yourself. Program your brain to think in coordinate geometry systems. Program your brain to think in 3D. That’s how you become a builder.

These are the two main applications that I would recommend us using, and this is the why. AutoCAD and Civil 3D for primary control, secondary control, working control, and coordinate geometry calculations. Revit for building components in 3D parametric modeling with lift drawings. Together, they create layout and information. That’s what you need to build the wall.

As we say at Elevate, AutoCAD and Civil 3D for primary control and coordinate geometry. Revit for building components in 3D parametric modeling. Field engineers need both to program their brains to be builders.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do field engineers need AutoCAD and Civil 3D?

For primary control, secondary control, working control, and coordinate geometry calculations. You’ll traverse around the building, lay out baselines, and do COGO in 2D or 3D. This programs your brain to think in coordinate geometry systems.

Why do field engineers need Revit?

For building components in 3D parametric modeling. You can see components in 3D, do automated section cuts and elevations, work with other models in coordination, and create lift drawings. This programs your brain to think in 3D.

Can’t field engineers just rely on drafting departments and surveyors?

No. Warning, red flag. If you skip this, you skip programming your brain to be a builder. AutoCAD and Civil 3D teach coordinate geometry systems. Revit teaches 3D thinking. You need both.

What are the two critical cautions for using AutoCAD and Revit?

In Revit, don’t dimension from a designer’s model if it’s not on the drawings. Designers pull in old 2D details. In AutoCAD, use your left hand for commands and thumb for space bar. The command way is faster than ribbons.

How do AutoCAD and Revit work together?

AutoCAD or Civil 3D for primary control and coordinate geometry. Revit for building components anchored to the right base point in the right coordinate system. Together they create layout and information to build the wall.

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

Lift Drawings For Field Engineers (How To Review Lift Drawings In Construction)

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 24 min

Lift Drawings for Field Engineers (How to Review Lift Drawings in Construction)

I want to say something as I start out, and I want to work from the end in mind. If you are out in the field and somebody wants you to build this wall on top of this footing, think about what you would have to do or know to build this wall. Well, first of all, you’d have to have layout and control. The other thing is you would have to have the information for this. I’m just going to call this a lift drawing.

With those key things, you can go build that wall as long as you have the humans, the tools, the materials, and the equipment, and maybe other resources. And so, when we think about what a field engineer does, I like to anchor back to the fact that there’s at least 17 core things that are required for a crew to go build that wall. This list, I’ve counted at least 50% of it is directly tied to the field engineer, especially the information, the layout, the open space, and the detailed dimensions for components. And also, field engineers help the superintendent with those other things that I already mentioned and what’s called full kit because we don’t go try and build this until we’re ready to finish. This is a beautiful concept that’s from Goldratt’s Rules of Flow.

So, I want you to understand that this is a skill. We must have the information, and we must have the layout, and we must be able to visualize this, and I’m going to draw this in 3D and, if we can, in 4D with time XYZ and then T for time is your fourth dimension.

The Pain of Field Engineers Who Don’t Know the Building

Here’s what happens when field engineers don’t do lift drawings. They don’t know the building. They can’t visualize in 3D. They don’t understand how components work together. They don’t find problems before mobilization. And when the crew shows up, there’s missing information. There’s conflicts. There’s no embed. There’s no sleeve. There’s no dowels. And now you have rework. You have delays. You have frustrated craft workers. And the field engineer has no respect from the craft because they didn’t prepare.

And here’s the deeper problem. If you have a person in construction management that doesn’t see things in 3D, doesn’t understand coordinate geometry systems, and doesn’t understand plan reading, and doesn’t understand how components work together, and doesn’t have a love for the craft, that’s dangerous. So, we have to be committed to building people before we build things. And lift drawings are phenomenal about that.

Build Your Brain Before You Build Things

Check this out. What we’re trying to do is program your brain. What we want to do is build your brain before we build things. This is a concept that I learned in Japan with Paul Akers, which is a Lean concept. We build people before we build things. And so what we want to do is program your brain.

So, if I’m talking to you about layout and control, you’re like, “Jason, why?” If you learn how to do layout and control, you understand and you’ve programmed your brain how to think in a coordinate geometry system. Jason, why do we do lift drawings? If you do lift drawings, it forces your brain to know how to read drawings and how to visualize in 3D. It’s phenomenal. And all of the intersections, interfaces, and how all of the details come together. Well, Jason, why do we go out and work with the craft? Because we’re developing a respect for that position so that we can support them.

Everything a field engineer does trains their brain. And lift drawings are no different. Knowing this with the end in mind, meaning understanding this and considering the end and keeping the end in mind, is crucial. And I don’t care if you have self-perform or not. You need field engineers just as much for a non-self-perform job as you do for a self-perform job. That’s a myth. I don’t know who came up with that, but that’s hurting us so badly. You still have concrete folks. They still need layout. You still have masons on the site. You still have overhead and in-wall inspections that you need to do. You still have future superintendents that you need to train.

Step One: Create a Lift Drawing Schedule

First of all, when you’re doing lift drawings, you’re going to create a lift drawing schedule. So, you should be able to pull the activities, hopefully in a Takt plan, from your project delivery team, from the superintendent. And then what you say to yourself is, okay, when do I need the lift drawing, which usually should tie to the pre-construction meeting or at least a week before you’re going to go do that placement.

And then you think to yourself, okay, I need time for the final. I need time for updates. I need time for review, and then I need time to create the lift drawing. So, if you have these activities let’s say this is lift drawing one, then lift drawing two, then lift drawing three, then lift drawing four you’re going to be working in a schedule and in a flow so you don’t overburden yourself or your team. That’s step number one.

Step Two: Understand the Three Purposes of Lift Drawings

I want you to understand the purpose of the lift drawings. There’s three purposes that are crucial, and I need you to know this.

The first purpose is to know the building. This trains you as a field engineer to know that component. By the time you’re done with that lift drawing, you will know everything in and out. You will be able to inspect rebar. You know that there’s dowels coming out of the top. You know there’s an embed on the face. You know that there’s a sleeve that we need that matches with our 3D model and our BIM coordination. You know that component and you can go build it with the craft and be a help.

The second purpose, and this is huge, is to find problems. I said in the last video that Scott Berg, the first general superintendent that I ever worked under, said if you can’t draw it, you can’t build it. And that’s absolutely true. And so, what he meant was if you can’t draw it on paper, if you don’t have the dimensions, if you don’t have the information, if there’s conflicts, if you can’t draw it on paper, you can’t go and build it because we don’t have the information. So, it finds problems that you can get answers to before it impacts the work in the field. You want flow in construction lift drawings, pre-fabrication they will vet that out ahead of time.

And then the third purpose is you have a drawing to build and to double-check work. If the carpenters and laborers out in the field and whoever your craft workers are, and it can go for MEP too, you could be doing a lift drawing for an MRI and a bunch of stuff. Whoever the human is, if they’re like, “I don’t need your drawing,” you at least have a drawing as a field engineer to double-check the work, which if you double-check it before you place concrete, before you enclose the wall, before you install it and walk away, that’s called quality assurance, quality at the source, not quality control, checking it later and fixing it later. So this drawing is crucial even if it’s just for the field engineer.

Step Three: How to Make Lift Drawings

How do we make them? If we have a number of different drawings, we have structural, we have architectural, we have mechanical, we have electrical, we have plumbing, we have vendor-specific equipment drawing what we do is we take those and we pull the relevant information for one component and one-piece flow onto a drawing and we will follow normal standards.

In fact, you’ll literally draw the plan view and then you’ll do cut sections and then you’ll detail out the sections and then you’ll do an isometric of it and you’ll make sure that you have all of your grid lines, dimension to grid lines, elevation indicators, and then you’ll make sure you have a north arrow. Then you’ll make sure that your dimensioning is proper and clear. Then you’ll make sure that your callouts, your annotations are proper and clear. Then you’ll start to do shading. Then you’ll clean up the details for printing. Then you’ll put them on a sheet. Then you’ll actually send them out for review. It’s an intense process.

Here’s where this gets great:

  • Plan view with north arrow: Grid lines and appropriate dimensions and then callouts that lead to supplementary information
  • Cut sections: Detail out the sections showing how components fit together with proper dimensioning
  • Isometric view: Shows the component in 3D so you can visualize how it goes together
  • Title block: Put it on a title block and make it according to normal industry standards so if you would see it on construction drawings, you would see it here

The bottom line is then you put it on a title block and you make it according to normal industry standards. But ours is a bit more stylish in the formats that I’m used to. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Step Four: How to Use Lift Drawings

How do you use it? How you use it is when you get this lift drawing complete, you will want to make sure that it goes through a review, that you update it once that review is done. And then you finish the drawings, review it with the foreman, and when they’re out there let’s just draw a wall form. Let’s say you’ve got one wall form and it’s on this footing. And you’ve got dowels coming up and you’re about to go ahead and install this sleeve, you’re about to go ahead and install this embed, you’re about to jam out.

You will grab that lift drawing and you’ll go out in the field and hopefully build from it, but definitely double-check it and make sure that what was built from the drawings gets checked with the lift drawings before you put that second side wall form up and you place it and you make sure that it’s done and locked in and hard and gray. You’re going to use that lift drawing to make sure it’s right. You can’t just give it to somebody and hope for the best. You’ve got to actually get your butt out there and actually QC that wall and make sure that it’s right and double-check, double-check, double-check the work so that we do not get it wrong.

It’s not wrong until it’s hard and gray or until it’s inside that ceiling or inside that wall and you have rework. So how to use it? We make sure that the team has checked it, that the foreman is aligned with it and that we’re using it to install and check components in the field.

A Challenge for Field Engineers

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Create a lift drawing schedule. Pull the activities from your superintendent. Work backwards from when you need the lift drawing. Schedule time for final, updates, review, and creation. Don’t overburden yourself.

And when you create the lift drawing, remember the three purposes: know the building, find problems, and double-check work. That’s how you build your brain before you build things. That’s how you program your brain to think in 3D. That’s how you develop respect for the craft. As we say at Elevate, lift drawings train your brain to think in 3D, find problems before they impact work, and give you drawings to double-check. Build brains before buildings.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the three purposes of lift drawings?

Know the building (trains you to know the component in and out), find problems (if you can’t draw it you can’t build it), and double-check work (quality at the source before it’s hard and gray).

Why do field engineers need to do lift drawings even on non-self-perform jobs?

Because you still have concrete folks who need layout, masons on site, overhead and in-wall inspections, and future superintendents to train. The myth that you don’t need field engineers on non-self-perform jobs is hurting us.

How do you create a lift drawing schedule?

Pull activities from your Takt plan, work backwards from when you need the lift drawing (pre-construction meeting or one week before placement), schedule time for final, updates, review, and creation. Flow your work to avoid overburden.

What goes into a lift drawing?

Plan view with north arrow, grid lines, dimensions, callouts, cut sections, isometric view, shading, proper annotations, title block. Pull relevant information from structural, architectural, MEP, and vendor drawings onto one drawing.

How do you use lift drawings in the field?

Review with foreman, go to the field, double-check dowels, embeds, sleeves before placing concrete or enclosing walls. QC the work before it’s hard and gray. Don’t just hand it off and hope for the best.

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

Buffers Are NOT Shared Float

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 15 min

Buffers Are Not Shared Float (You Own Them)

Here’s the question I got: if you do your macro-level Takt plan according to the calculator, and that’s what your owner has, and then you go ahead and try to go faster with an optimized zoning strategy, which means that you gain buffers, how does that tie into the legal contract language?

And I was so proud to say that those are buffers. Schedule contingency is what’s in most of your contracts. And until owners get wise to this and try to screw everybody out of it, which I hope they never do because it’s not right, it’s not per the definition buffers are not schedule contingency or float. And so when the contract says “all float will be shared float,” that does not apply to buffers at all.

Let me explain why.

The Pain of Losing Buffers to Shared Float Language

Here’s what happens when you think buffers are shared float. You gain buffers by optimizing your zoning strategy. You go from 95 days to 69 days. That’s 26 days of buffers. And then the owner says, “Great, we’ll use those 26 days for owner changes.” Or, “We’ll move the milestone up 26 days.” And now you have no buffers. You have no protection. And when a delay hits, you’re exposed. You rush. You push. You panic. And the schedule collapses.

And you think this is legal because the contract says “shared float.” So you give up your buffers. And the project suffers. But here’s the truth: buffers are not shared float. And the contract language doesn’t apply to buffers.

What Are Buffers (And Why They’re Different from Float)

Buffers are like an allowance, like a financial allowance. It’s for a specific thing. And those buffers belong to the contractor and trade partners, specifically to cover the risks of that train in a phase. And so your contract does not stipulate that you have to give those up, or that it’s wrong. There’s no contract anywhere that says that you have to give up those buffers or that you can’t go faster.

Here’s the difference. Float, or schedule contingency, is a general time cushion in the overall schedule. Contract language often says “shared float” meaning owner and contractor share it. It’s not specific to any phase or trade. It can be used by the owner for changes or by the contractor for delays. That’s float.

Buffers are different. Buffers are a specific time cushion for a specific phase’s risks. They belong to the contractor and trade partners. They cover the risks of that train in that phase. They cannot be taken by the owner because they’re specific to the train’s risks. Buffers are to absorb or to be used for the risks of a train in a phase. And that is the bottom line. And that is at the contractor and trade partner’s discretion. And you as an owner cannot take them.

Why Contract Language Doesn’t Apply to Buffers

So the point that I’m trying to make is that if you’re using buffers in a Takt Production System, those buffers are not shared float, and you are legally covered. And could a lawyer twist and turn this and turn it into something stupid? Absolutely. But for now you’re covered. And the biggest thing for me is you can feel ethical about everything you’re doing because it is ethical and it’s per the definition.

Here’s why contract language doesn’t apply to buffers:

  • The contract says “shared float” but buffers are not float: Float is general schedule contingency. Buffers are specific to a phase’s risks. They’re different things. The contract language about float doesn’t apply to buffers.
  • The contract doesn’t say you can’t go faster: There’s no contract anywhere that says you can’t optimize your zoning strategy and go faster. If you go from 95 days to 69 days, that’s optimization. Not shared float.
  • Buffers are owned by contractor and trades: Because they’re specific to the risks of that train in that phase. The owner doesn’t own those risks. The contractor and trades own those risks. So they own the buffers.
  • Buffers are not contingency: Contingency is for everything. Buffers are for a specific thing the risks of a specific train in a specific phase. That’s the definition. And definitions matter legally.

So remember that your buffers are not shared float. You do not owe it to the owner. They’re not contingency. They’re not float. Buffers are something that are very specific, owned by the contractor and trades specifically for delays and impacts in the phase.

When Can You Use Buffers in Good Faith for the Owner?

Now can somebody ask me, “What time can you use them in good faith for the owner?” Absolutely. You know, legally in schedules you have to track everything anyway. So if it ever pushes past, then you know you can tell that story. And then you might be ready to submit a time impact analysis and maybe negotiate with the owner if you do need a time extension. But I do think what you need is a really good owner in that situation, good transparency, good conversations. And they know exactly what your contract language is, and exactly what the definitions are. And buffers are protected, so you should be good to go.

Here’s when you might use buffers for the owner. If the owner makes a change that delays the train in that phase, you can use buffers to absorb it. That’s what they’re for to cover the risks of that train in that phase. Owner changes are a risk. If you have a really good owner and good transparency, you might negotiate using some buffers for owner benefit in collaborative negotiation. But that’s a gift, not an obligation. You’re choosing to share, not required to share. And if you push past your buffers and need a time extension, you show the owner through a time impact analysis: “We had 26 days of buffers. We used them all for these delays. Now we need a time extension.” That’s transparent and ethical.

But the key is: you’re not required to give up buffers just because the contract says “shared float.” Buffers are not float. They’re specific to the phase’s risks. You own them. 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 Contractors

Here’s what I want you to do this week. If you’re using Takt planning and you’ve gained buffers by optimizing your zoning strategy, know this: you own those buffers. The contract language about “shared float” does not apply to buffers. Buffers are specific to the phase’s risks. They belong to you and the trades.

And if an owner asks, “Why can’t I use those 26 days?” explain: “Those aren’t float. Those are buffers. They’re specific to this phase’s risks. They cover delays, weather, inspections, material issues. They protect the train. They’re owned by us and the trades because we own the risks of this phase.” That’s ethical. That’s legal. That’s per the definition. You should feel good about it.

As we say at Elevate, buffers are not shared float. They’re specific to a phase’s risks, owned by contractor and trades. Contract language doesn’t apply to buffers. You own them.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between buffers and float?

Float is general schedule contingency shared between owner and contractor. Buffers are specific time cushions for a specific phase’s risks, owned by contractor and trades. They’re different things.

Does “shared float” contract language apply to buffers?

No. The contract language about shared float applies to float, not buffers. Buffers are not float. They’re specific to a phase’s risks. Contract language doesn’t apply.

Who owns the buffers in a Takt plan?

The contractor and trade partners own the buffers because they own the risks of that train in that phase. The owner doesn’t own those risks, so they don’t own the buffers.

Can an owner take buffers you gained by optimizing?

No. If you go from 95 days to 69 days by optimizing your zoning strategy, those 26 days are buffers. They’re specific to the phase’s risks. The owner can’t take them.

When can you use buffers for the owner?

When the owner makes changes that impact the phase, buffers can absorb them. Or in collaborative negotiation with a good owner, you might choose to share. But that’s a gift, not an obligation.

 

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

False Lore in Construction

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 17 min

Construction Lore Is Mostly Wrong (Question Everything)

Here’s the problem with construction: most of what people say is lore. And most construction lore is wrong. It’s false tradition passed down from person to person without question. And until we start questioning the traditions of this industry and actually asking ourselves, “Does this actually make sense?” we’re never going to get past the mistakes of our forebears.

Let me give you the definition of lore. Lore is a body of traditions and knowledge on a subject or held by a particular group, typically passed from person to person by word of mouth.

And here’s the insight: I would venture a guess that at least over 80% of construction lore is incorrect. It’s based off of pushing and disrespect, and it’s not based on production principles, and it’s not thoroughly vetted, and most of the time people don’t question it because we don’t have environments where we’re able to question it.

The Pain of False Lore

Here’s what happens when you follow false lore. You pick two of three quality, schedule, or cost. You can’t have all three. So you sacrifice quality. Or you sacrifice schedule. And the project suffers. Or you believe the critical path is the most important work. So you ignore everything else. And coordination fails. Or you believe stacking trades makes things go faster. So you stack them. And productivity collapses.

False lore creates chaos. It creates disrespect. It creates waste. And it perpetuates because nobody questions it. “That’s just how construction is.” No, it’s not. That’s lore. And it’s wrong.

The Most Damaging False Lore in Construction

Let me give you some examples of false lore that really hurts the industry:

“You can have quality, schedule, or cost, but you can pick two of three and not have all three.”

That’s lore. But it’s false lore. It’s not true. In Lean systems, you can’t have one without all three. The better you focus on quality, the faster you go and the less money you spend on rework. The more stable your schedule is, the better you’re able to take care of quality and the more money you make. You don’t pick two. You get all three together.

“Takt only works on rhythmic work.”

False. Takt works on everything. Every project has walls, floors, ceilings, MEP, exteriors, roofs, utilities. It’s all the same stuff over and over. You can Takt plan every project. You can create rhythm on every project.

“The critical path is the most important work.”

False. The train of trades is the most important work. Trade flow is the most important work. The critical path changes constantly and is often wrong.

“If we’re behind, we just need to push harder.”

False. If you’re behind, you need to optimize the system. Remove roadblocks. Re-zone. Use delay management strategies. Pushing harder creates overburden and makes things worse.

“Stacking trades makes things go faster.”

False. Stacking trades creates coordination chaos, productivity collapse, and rework. Equal speed and equal distance apart creates flow. Stacking destroys flow.

“Superintendents are pushers.”

False. Superintendents enable the craft. They remove roadblocks. They create conditions for success. Pushers create chaos and burnout.

“Experience automatically makes someone a leader.”

False. Leadership is a skill. Experience without reflection creates experts in doing things wrong. Learning and improving creates leaders.

“The owner just cares about price.”

False. That’s very rarely true, actually. Owners care about how we get there. They care about relationships. They care about trust. They care about finishing well. Price is one factor among many.

Here are more examples of false construction lore:

  • “More detail in the schedule means more control” False. More detail creates complexity and confusion. One-page visual plans create control. People talk about what they can see.
  • “Field guys don’t need the why” False. Field guys need the why more than anyone. They’re the ones doing the work. They need to understand the plan to execute it.
  • “Safety slows down production” False. Safety increases production. Safe environments create stable, predictable flow. Unsafe environments create injuries, delays, and chaos.
  • “This is just how construction is” False. This is how construction has been. But we can design better systems. “That’s how it is” is victim mentality.
  • “The new generations don’t know how to work” False. The new generations work differently. They question lore. They want better systems. They refuse to accept “that’s how it is.”
  • “If we buy better software, it’ll fix the problem” False. Software doesn’t fix broken processes. Better systems fix problems. Software supports better systems.

You could just go into almost anything that typical construction folks say and dig into it and think about it for a minute. And most of it is wrong. It’s false tradition. It’s lore.

Why Construction Lore Is Mostly Wrong

From the way we contract work, the concept that you should shed risk, wrong. The fact that you want to pin it on somebody else like a surveyor so it’s their behind, wrong. That don’t trust the owner, keep two schedules almost anything you hear in construction is wrong. It’s false tradition, it’s lore.

Here’s why construction lore is mostly wrong. It’s based off of pushing and disrespect. It’s not based on production principles. It’s not thoroughly vetted. And most of the time people don’t question it because we don’t have environments where we’re able to question it.

“You should shed risk to protect yourself.”

Wrong. There’s no such thing as entirely shedding risk. When you shed risk to somebody, they’re going to armor up, sandbag, protect themselves, be less transparent, CYA, and hire lawyers. That hurts the project. Responsible risk allocation and risk mitigation work. Risk shedding doesn’t.

“Pin it on somebody else like a surveyor so it’s their behind.”

Wrong. At the end of the day, is the surveyor going to come fix the building? Are you going to sue them and put them out of business and get your money back? No. You’re going to eat it. So you might as well get it right. This concept is ridiculous.

“Don’t trust the owner, keep two schedules.”

Wrong. If you keep two schedules, you’re lying to someone. Either the owner or yourself. One schedule. One plan. Transparent. Collaborative. That’s how you build trust.

Almost anything you hear in construction is wrong. It’s false tradition. It’s lore. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Question Everything (The Skill You Need)

And this is a skill. It might be silly for me to say that this is a skill, but this is a skill. Question everything.

Yes, we want mentors. Yes, having mentors is an important part of work. Yes, we want people to teach us. But if it’s lore in construction, I would venture a guess that at least over 80% of construction lore is incorrect.

Here’s how to question lore. When someone says, “Stacking trades makes things go faster,” ask: Does that actually make sense? Or does it create coordination chaos? When someone says, “The critical path is the most important work,” ask: What’s the evidence? Or is that just what we’ve always said? When someone says, “Push harder,” ask: What happens if we optimize the system instead? What happens if we remove roadblocks instead of pushing?

When someone says, “Field guys don’t need the why,” ask: Does that respect people? Or does that treat them like robots? When someone says, “More detail in the schedule means more control,” ask: Is that production-minded? Or does it create complexity that hurts production?

Question everything. Most construction lore is based off of pushing and disrespect. It’s not based on production principles. And it’s not thoroughly vetted. And most of the time people don’t question it because we don’t have environments where we’re able to question it.

A Challenge for Builders

Here’s what I want you to do this week. When you hear construction lore “That’s just how construction is,” or “Pick two of three,” or “The critical path is most important” question it. Ask: Does this actually make sense? What’s the evidence? What happens if we do the opposite? Does this respect people? Is this production-minded?

And most of the people that I know that are teachers want nothing better than for us to outdo them, outperform them, and make the industry better. So be careful. Be aware of false lore in construction. Question everything. That’s how we get past the mistakes of our forebears.

As we say at Elevate, construction lore is mostly wrong: pick two of three, critical path is most important, stacking trades goes faster. Question everything. Most lore is false. That’s how we improve the industry.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is construction lore?

A body of traditions and knowledge passed from person to person by word of mouth. Most construction lore is false it’s based on pushing and disrespect, not production principles.

Why is “pick two of three” false lore?

Because in Lean systems, you can’t have one without all three. Better quality equals faster speed and less rework cost. Stable schedule equals better quality and more profit. They rise together.

Why is “stacking trades makes things go faster” false?

Because stacking creates coordination chaos, productivity collapse, and rework. Equal speed and equal distance apart creates flow. Stacking destroys flow.

How do you question construction lore?

Ask: Does this actually make sense? What’s the evidence? What happens if we do the opposite? Does this respect people? Is this production-minded? Question everything instead of accepting “that’s how it is.”

Why is most construction lore based on pushing and disrespect?

Because the lore comes from classical management, not Lean production principles. It wasn’t thoroughly vetted. It was passed down without question. And people don’t challenge it because the environments don’t allow questioning.

 

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

Takt Doesn’t Work = I Am Not Pre-plannning

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 16 min

If Takt Doesn’t Work, You’re Not Pre-Planning Enough

Here’s what I hear sometimes: “Takt doesn’t work.” And by the way, I investigate everyone because I’m very protective of the Takt Production System. Every time I’ve dug in, they’re not out ahead. They’re not gaining time by pull planning three months ahead. They’re not doing pre-construction meetings. They’re not doing lookahead planning. They’re not aligning their supply chains. They’re not helping the trade partners with full kit. They’re not working in the trade partner preparation process. They’re not planning the projects before they start.

When people say Takt doesn’t work, what they’re saying is that they may have gotten the production planning right on a rhythm, but because they’re always behind the eight ball, and they’re firefighter leaders, and they’re not planning and preparing work and clearing the path for it to succeed, it’s not working.

Let me explain why Takt is a preparation system and what happens when you don’t prepare.

The Pain of Being Behind the Eight Ball

Here’s the thing. Lean and Takt and Last Planner are all fragile systems. They require preparation. They require roadblock removal. They require lookahead planning. They require trade partner preparation. And if you’re not doing those things, the system collapses.

Here’s what happens when you’re behind the eight ball. You’re firefighting. A problem comes up. You react. You throw labor at it. You work overtime. You rush. You push. You panic. And the rhythm breaks. The train stops. Trade flow collapses. And now you’re saying, “Takt doesn’t work.”

But Takt isn’t the problem. The problem is you’re not pre-planning. You’re not out ahead. You’re not clearing roadblocks. You’re not making work ready. And without that preparation, no system works not Takt, not Last Planner, not anything.

Even early on when I didn’t know much about the Takt Production System, I knew that the key is to plan and prepare out ahead, to finish as you go, and to not hope for one big punch list at the end, but to just keep everything on a rhythm. And if you’re not finding and removing roadblocks out ahead to clear the way for the system, it’s not going to work.

What Takt Actually Requires (The Preparation System)

So it’s not that Takt doesn’t work. If you find yourself in a situation where you’re saying Takt doesn’t work, it means that you’re not pre-planning enough. And we’ve got to get from behind the eight ball out in front of it on the pool table so that we can make any move that we possibly can to score and stay out ahead and clear the way. Literally, Takt is a preparation system. Takt is a planning system. Takt is a roadblock removal system. Takt is a get-it-done-out-ahead-so-that-we-can-start-with-full-kit-to-finish system.

Here’s what Takt requires:

  • Pull Planning Three Months Ahead: You gain time by pull planning three months out. You see the roadblocks before they hit. You prepare. You solve problems before the crews arrive.
  • Pre-Construction Meetings: You meet with trades before mobilization. You align on the plan. You discuss roadblocks. You prepare together.
  • Lookahead Planning: You’re constantly looking six weeks out. What’s coming? What do we need? What roadblocks are in the way? Remove them now.
  • Supply Chain Alignment: You’re queuing up materials. You’re tracking procurement weekly. You’re making sure materials arrive just-in-time. No shortages. No delays.
  • Full Kit for Trade Partners: You’re making work ready. Materials, equipment, tools, information, permissions, layout, space. Everything ready before the crew mobilizes.
  • Trade Partner Preparation Process: You’re helping trades prepare. Pre-mobilization meetings. Precon meetings. Training. Orientation. Preparation.
  • Planning the Project Before You Start: You’re doing macro-level Takt plans. You’re doing norm-level Takt plans. You’re creating logistics plans. You’re preparing before you break ground.

This is what Takt requires. And if you’re not doing these things, Takt won’t work. Not because Takt is broken. But because you’re not preparing.

Why Takt Is Fragile (And Why That’s Good)

Here’s the thing. Lean and Takt and Last Planner are all fragile systems. And that’s actually good. Because fragile systems force you to plan. They force you to prepare. They force you to remove roadblocks. They force you to respect people.

CPM isn’t fragile. You can skip preparation. You can firefight. You can rush, push, and panic. And the schedule just stretches. It lies. It hides the chaos. And you keep going until the project crashes.

Takt is fragile. If you skip preparation, the rhythm breaks. The train stops. Trade flow collapses. And you see the problem immediately. That’s the point. The fragility forces discipline. It forces preparation. It forces respect for people.

So, when someone says, “Takt doesn’t work,” they’re actually saying, “I’m not willing to prepare. I’m not willing to plan out ahead. I’m not willing to remove roadblocks. I want to firefight and react and push and panic.” And Takt won’t let you do that. That’s why it’s fragile. And that’s why it works. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

The Reciprocal Relationship with Trades (Why Goodwill Matters)

Let me read a builder’s code here because it ties into this. Reciprocal relationships. Although we don’t do this to manipulate people or to get gain, the reciprocal relationship between trades and the GC is 10 to 1. Every 10 bucks of goodwill you give to a trade, you will get back 100. Every 100 bucks of value or good you give to a trade partner, you will get back 1,000. I’ve never understood the industry practice of screwing trade partners around. It is not right, and it doesn’t even math out. Adding value, paying well for services, and helping others always pans out in the net positive for everyone. You will always find me giving goodwill to the trades. It is how this system works.

Now, I do want to be clear. I don’t recommend any of this to take advantage of trades. I’m not trying to get something from them, but I just want to be very, very clear. Not only is it not right, but if you’re trying to screw trade partners over, that’s myopic because they can screw you over a lot more. And you know what? When people say trades aren’t showing up and they’re being difficult, guess what that’s a response to? Bad behavior by the general contractor. And so, we’ve got to make sure that we are heading in a direction of full respect and honoring them as the heroes in our industry, and we’re going to be fine.

Here’s why this matters for Takt. Takt requires trade partner preparation. It requires full kit. It requires alignment. It requires collaboration. And if you’re screwing trades around, they won’t collaborate. They won’t prepare. They won’t align. And Takt won’t work. But if you give goodwill to trades if you help them prepare, if you make work ready, if you respect them they’ll collaborate. They’ll prepare. They’ll align. And Takt will work. That’s the reciprocal relationship. That’s why goodwill matters.

A Challenge for Leaders

Here’s what I want you to do this week. If you’re saying, “Takt doesn’t work,” stop. Ask yourself: Am I pre-planning? Am I pull planning three months ahead? Am I doing lookahead planning? Am I making work ready? Am I helping trades with full kit? Am I removing roadblocks out ahead?

If the answer is no, that’s the problem. Not Takt. Start pre-planning. Get out ahead. Clear the roadblocks. Make work ready. And Takt will work. As we say at Elevate, if Takt doesn’t work, you’re not pre-planning. Takt is fragile requires roadblock removal, lookahead planning, full kit, and trade prep. Plan ahead or fail. That’s the truth. And I say that with love and kindness because I want you to succeed.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do people say Takt doesn’t work?

Because they’re not pre-planning. They’re behind the eight ball. They’re firefighting. They’re not doing lookahead planning, trade prep, roadblock removal, or making work ready. Takt requires preparation. Without it, it fails.

Why is Takt fragile?

Because it forces discipline. If you skip preparation, the rhythm breaks immediately. CPM hides chaos. Takt exposes it. That’s the point. The fragility forces you to plan out ahead.

What does Takt require to work?

Pull planning three months ahead, pre-construction meetings, lookahead planning, supply chain alignment, full kit for trades, trade partner preparation, and planning before you start. Without these, Takt fails.

What does it mean to be “behind the eight ball”?

You’re firefighting. Reacting. Throwing labor at problems. Working overtime. Rushing, pushing, panicking. You’re not out ahead removing roadblocks. You’re behind. And that breaks the rhythm.

Why does goodwill with trades matter for Takt?

Because Takt requires collaboration. If you screw trades around, they won’t collaborate, prepare, or align. But if you give goodwill help them prepare, make work ready, respect them they’ll collaborate. And Takt will work.

If you want to learn more we have:

-Takt Virtual Training: (Click here)
-Check out our Youtube channel for more info: (Click here) 
-Listen to the Elevate Construction podcast: (Click here) 
-Check out our training programs and certifications: (Click here)
-The Takt Book: (Click here)

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

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

 

On we go

Pace Buffer Usage with The Remaining Buffer Ratio

Posted on by Danny Jiménez⁩
Read 18 min

Try to Use Buffers in Pace with the Remaining Buffer Ratio

Welcome everybody out to podcast number 1545. In this episode I’m going to talk about try to use buffers in pace with the remaining buffer ratio. If you’re interested in that, please stay with us.

I got to give credit Adam Hoots and Spencer Easton helped me create the KPIs for Takt a long time ago. The roadblock removal average and the remaining buffer ratio and the perfect handoff percentage have continued to be, I think you would say, staples in the Takt Production System. I’m very grateful to have them.

This will be a quick podcast here today, but I want to give you a suggestion that’s super important.

The Pain of Burning Through Buffers Irresponsibly

Here’s what happens when you use buffers irresponsibly. You burn through them too fast. You use multiple buffers all at once. And halfway through the phase, you have no buffers left. And now when a real delay hits, you have no protection. You’re exposed. You rush. You push. You panic. And the schedule collapses.

And there are folks that are afraid, and I’m not saying wrongly so, there are folks that are afraid of using buffers, or that trade partners will use too many buffers, or just all the typical fears. We can’t plan projects anymore nowadays unless we have buffers in the production plan.

But here’s the key: we need to have a balance. We can’t use too many all at once, but we need to use enough to where it works out, meaning we’re not rushing, pushing, panicking. And the way to track this balance is the remaining buffer ratio.

What Is the Remaining Buffer Ratio?

It hit me the other day, and I was like, “Oh my gosh, I have to share this,” that we really should be utilizing buffers in pace with the remaining buffer ratio. Let me see if I can explain the remaining buffer ratio properly here.

The remaining buffer ratio is where you take, let me see if I can get this right, you take the amount of buffers you have remaining divided by how many you still need left. That’s horrible English. There should be over one, and so you should have more than you need above what you actually have left, and that would give you a ratio of over one.

Here’s the formula:

Remaining Buffer Ratio = Buffers Remaining ÷ Buffers Still Needed

The ratio should be over 1.0. That means you have more buffers remaining than you still need. That’s healthy. If the ratio drops below 1.0, you’re burning through buffers too fast. You’re in danger.

Here’s an example:

Phase Start:

  • Total buffers: 10 days
  • Buffers used: 0 days
  • Buffers remaining: 10 days
  • Buffers still needed (to end of phase): 10 days
  • Remaining buffer ratio: 10 ÷ 10 = 1.0

Midway Through Phase:

  • Total buffers: 10 days
  • Buffers used: 3 days
  • Buffers remaining: 7 days
  • Buffers still needed (to end of phase): 5 days
  • Remaining buffer ratio: 7 ÷ 5 = 1.4 (healthy!)

Late in Phase (Danger Zone):

  • Total buffers: 10 days
  • Buffers used: 8 days
  • Buffers remaining: 2 days
  • Buffers still needed (to end of phase): 5 days
  • Remaining buffer ratio: 2 ÷ 5 = 0.4 (danger!)

If the ratio is over 1.0, you’re healthy. If it drops below 1.0, you’re burning through buffers too fast and you need to recover differently instead of using more buffers.

How to Visualize the Remaining Buffer Ratio

Another thing that’s really neat is that we can put this into an actual visual, and in the visual show how many buffers we have remaining inside the overall system, and how many we have left, and show it as a negative or a positive percentage.

Here’s how to visualize it:

Visual Board:

  • Show total buffers at the top (e.g., 10 days)
  • Show buffers used (e.g., 3 days used)
  • Show buffers remaining (e.g., 7 days remaining)
  • Show buffers still needed to end of phase (e.g., 5 days needed)
  • Show remaining buffer ratio (e.g., 7 ÷ 5 = 1.4)
  • Color code: Green if ratio > 1.0, Yellow if ratio 0.8-1.0, Red if ratio < 0.8

This visual makes it easy for the team to see at a glance if they’re using buffers responsibly. If the ratio is green, keep going. If it’s yellow, be careful. If it’s red, stop using buffers and find another way to recover.

Why the Remaining Buffer Ratio Replaces CPM Metrics

This remaining buffer ratio is a really, really, really, really neat thing, and I’m in love with it. It replaces, let me make a key point here, it replaces a number of other things that CPM offers, like slippage reports, the S-curves, the critical path analysis, float trends, EVM, which are all garbage, and actually gives you something that you can use to track to the end of the phase milestone, or for the overall phase up until the overall end of the schedule as the calculated end buffer.

Here’s why remaining buffer ratio is better than CPM metrics:

Slippage reports: Show you’re behind. Don’t tell you what to do. Remaining buffer ratio shows if you have enough buffers to absorb delays and still finish on time.

S-curves: Complex and hard to read. Remaining buffer ratio is simple: over 1.0 is good, under 1.0 is bad.

Critical path analysis: Changes constantly. Hard to track. Remaining buffer ratio is stable and easy to track throughout the phase.

Float trends: Show if you’re losing float. Don’t tell you how to recover. Remaining buffer ratio shows if you can use buffers or need another recovery method.

EVM (Earned Value Management): Complex and requires lots of data. Remaining buffer ratio is simple and visual.

The remaining buffer ratio gives you something you can actually use to make decisions in real time. That’s why it’s better. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

How to Use Buffers Responsibly

My point here is that if we are responsible with how many buffers we use as we go, then we don’t really have to worry about people being irresponsible with it, or rushing, pushing, or panicking.

Here’s the process:

Step One: Delay Happens

A trade is delayed. Weather hits. Material is late. Something goes wrong.

Step Two: Go to Constraints and Roadblocks Board

Discuss the delay. Identify if it’s a constraint or a roadblock. Look at recovery options.

Step Three: Evaluate Recovery Options

Can you sequence delay (swap trade order)? Can you isolate the delay? Can you re-zone? Can you use workable backlog? Try these first before using buffers.

Step Four: Check Remaining Buffer Ratio

If all options point to using a buffer, bring up the remaining buffer ratio. Is it over 1.0? If yes, you can use a buffer. If no, you need to find another way.

Step Five: Use Buffer (If Appropriate)

Use one buffer day. Update the remaining buffer ratio. Keep tracking.

Every time we discuss using a buffer, according to the delay that we’re experiencing, we go to our constraints and roadblocks board, and then we actually look and see how we might be able to recover, and if all options point to using a buffer, we just bring up the remaining buffer ratio as well, and make sure that we’re not getting ourselves in trouble.

It’s a really good way to visualize that, and I think it can be done really responsibly, and I think that it can allay everybody’s fears. I just had this realization the other day, and I think that it’s pretty brilliant.

A Challenge for Project Teams

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Calculate your remaining buffer ratio. How many buffers do you have remaining? How many do you still need to the end of the phase? Divide remaining by still needed. Is it over 1.0? If yes, you’re healthy. If no, stop using buffers and find another recovery method.

And visualize it. Put it on the board. Show the team. Green if over 1.0. Yellow if 0.8-1.0. Red if under 0.8. That creates accountability. That creates visibility. And that creates responsible buffer usage.

As we say at Elevate, use buffers in pace with remaining buffer ratio. Buffers divided by buffers still needed should be over 1.0. Visualize it, track it, use responsibly. That’s how you finish on time without burning through buffers irresponsibly. Shout out to all of these really cool KPIs, and I hope that this helps you to feel like you can utilize buffers when you need to in a more responsible way.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the remaining buffer ratio?

Buffers remaining divided by buffers still needed to the end of the phase. Should be over 1.0. That means you have more buffers remaining than you still need. Under 1.0 means you’re burning through buffers too fast.

Why is remaining buffer ratio better than CPM metrics?

Because it’s simple and actionable. Over 1.0 is good. Under 1.0 is bad. CPM metrics like slippage reports, S-curves, and EVM are complex and don’t tell you what to do.

How do you visualize the remaining buffer ratio?

Show total buffers, buffers used, buffers remaining, buffers still needed, and the ratio. Color code: Green if over 1.0, Yellow if 0.8-1.0, Red if under 0.8. Easy for the team to see.

When should you use a buffer instead of another recovery method?

Try sequence delay, isolated delay, re-zoning, or workable backlog first. If all options point to using a buffer AND your remaining buffer ratio is over 1.0, then use a buffer.

What happens if the remaining buffer ratio drops below 1.0?

You’re burning through buffers too fast. Stop using buffers. Find another recovery method. You’re in danger of running out of buffers before the end of the phase.

 

If you want to learn more we have:

-Takt Virtual Training: (Click here)
-Check out our Youtube channel for more info: (Click here) 
-Listen to the Elevate Construction podcast: (Click here) 
-Check out our training programs and certifications: (Click here)
-The Takt Book: (Click here)

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

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

 

On we go

    faq

    General Training Overview

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

    Superintendent / PM Boot Camp

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

    Takt Production System® Virtual Training

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

    Onsite Takt Simulation

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

    Foreman & Field Engineer Training

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

    Testimonials

    Testimonials

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    agenda

    Day 1

    Foundations & Macro Planning

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

    day2

    Norm Planning & Flow Optimization

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

    day3

    Advanced Tools & Comparisons

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

    day4

    Buffers, Controls & Finalization

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

    day5

    Control Systems & Presentations

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

    faq

    UNDERSTANDING THE TRAINING

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

    VALUE AND RESULTS

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

    PLANNING AND SCHEDULING TOPICS

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

    APPLICATION & TEAM ADOPTION

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

    VIRTUAL FORMAT & ACCESSIBILITY

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

    faq

    GENERAL FAQS

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

    CURRICULUM & OUTCOMES

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

    LOGISTICS & FORMAT

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

    PRICING & VALUE

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

    SEO-BASED / HIGH-INTENT SEARCH QUESTIONS

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

    agenda

    Day 1

    Agenda

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

    Outcomes

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

    Day 2

    Agenda

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

    Outcomes

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

    Day 3

    Agenda

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

    Outcomes

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

    Day 4

    Agenda

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

    Outcomes

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

    Day 5

    Agenda

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

    Outcomes

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