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Author: Jason Schroeder

Jason Schroeder is a construction executive, author, and trusted voice on Lean, Takt Planning, and field leadership. As Founder and COO of Elevate Construction, he helps teams build stable systems and strong, people-first cultures.

Your War Maps

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 30 min

The Superintendent Who Got Addicted to Fighting Fires Instead of Planning With War Maps

There is a superintendent managing a complex medical building. Eight stories. Tight schedule. Multiple mechanical systems. High-risk sequences. And every morning he walks the jobsite playing hero. A trade has a question. He answers it. Another trade needs layout. He provides it. Electrical needs coordination. He solves it. Drywall needs materials moved. He handles it. And he loves it. Feels needed. Important. Essential. Gets a rush every time someone asks for help and he swoops in to save the day. His brain releases dopamine. Endorphins flood his system. And he gets addicted. To reacting. To fighting fires. To being the answer man who solves every problem in real time. Meanwhile his conference room sits empty. Outdated schedules on the walls. No visual roadblock tracking. No Takt planning boards. No quality metrics. No procurement tracking. No team health assessments. Just blank walls and a table where nobody meets. Because the superintendent is too busy fighting fires to plan. Too addicted to reacting to strategize. Too focused on playing savior to see the future. And six months into the project, chaos dominates. Sequences fail because nobody planned handoffs. Quality issues compound because nobody tracked feature-of-work standards. Procurement delays because nobody visualized deliveries. Safety incidents increase because nobody walked the site systematically. And the superintendent wonders: why is this project failing? I work seventy hours weekly. I answer every question. I solve every problem. What went wrong? The answer is brutal: you got addicted to the wrong chemicals. Your brain released dopamine when you fought fires. So you kept fighting fires. Instead of getting addicted to planning. To preventing. To strategizing with war maps that let you see the future and lead instead of react. Because leaders are only as effective as what they can see. And you cannot see anything when you are too busy fighting fires to look at your maps.

Here is what happens when superintendents have no war maps. A project manager runs a hospital project without visual systems. No conference room planning area. No horizontal whiteboard tables for drawing coordination. No rolling boards with six-week look-aheads. No plan views under plexiglass tracking roadblocks. Just a small trailer with a desk and a computer. And when problems arise, the PM reacts. Trade conflict? Handle it in the moment. Schedule delay? Call a meeting and figure it out. Quality issue? Go fix it on site. And every day is chaos. Because there is no strategy. No planning area where teams visualize sequences. No war maps showing where work flows. No visual tracking of inspections, deliveries, or coordination. Just constant reaction. Fighting fires. Solving problems as they appear. Never preventing them. Never seeing them coming. Never planning alternatives. And the project finishes four months late. Over budget. With burned-out teams and exhausted leadership. Not because people worked poorly. But because nobody planned visually. Nobody strategized. Nobody created war maps that let them see the future and lead proactively instead of react desperately. Meanwhile another hospital project down the road has an intentional war room. Plan tables with whiteboard surfaces. Rolling scheduling boards. Takt plans on the walls. Roadblock tracking under plexiglass. Quality dashboards. Safety metrics. Procurement status. Team health assessments. And every morning the superintendent reviews the maps. Sees where work flows today. Identifies problems before they happen. Plans alternatives. Communicates vision. And the team executes flawlessly. Because they can see. They know the strategy. They understand the plan. And they prevent problems instead of fighting fires. That project finishes on time. Under budget. With delighted owners and energized teams. Not because people are smarter. But because leadership created war maps that let them see the future.

The real pain is getting addicted to dopamine hits from the wrong activities. Napoleon studied maps for days before campaigns. Sprawled on the floor reviewing terrain. Visualizing options. Planning alternatives. So when he hit resistance, he had Plan B ready. When Plan B failed, Plan C was prepared. When Plan C struggled, Plan D deployed immediately. His enemies were shocked by his ability to adapt and react. But it was not reaction. It was pre-planning. Visualization. Strategy built on maps that showed him the future. Modern construction superintendents do the opposite. They wake up. Walk the jobsite. React to whatever appears. Fight fires all day. Go home exhausted. And their brains release dopamine every time they solve a problem. So they get addicted to problem-solving. To reacting. To being needed. Instead of getting addicted to planning. To preventing. To strategizing with war maps that eliminate the need to fight fires. This is neuro-associative conditioning. Your brain has a pharmacy inside producing chemicals otherwise only available under licensed care. When you do something your brain says is good, chemicals release. Dopamine. Endorphins. Pleasure hormones. And you get addicted to whatever triggered the release. So if you get dopamine hits from fighting fires, you will seek opportunities to fight fires. Will unconsciously create chaos so you can solve it. Will avoid planning because planning does not give you the rush. But if you reprogram your brain to release dopamine when you plan, when you prevent, when you strategize with war maps, you will get addicted to those activities instead. Will seek opportunities to visualize. Will create planning areas. Will build war rooms. Because that is where your chemicals come from. That is what makes you feel good. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

What War Maps Actually Are

War maps are visual systems that let leaders see what they need to strategize and predict the future. Not just schedules. Everything that drives project success. Your Takt plan showing zone flow and trade rhythm. Your roadblock removal system tracking constraints and make-ready status. Your financial dashboards showing contingency, fee position, and exposure tracking. Your quality boards with feature-of-work standards and inspection checklists. Your safety metrics tracking incidents, near-misses, and leading indicators. Your procurement status showing buyout progress and delivery schedules. Your team health assessments tracking morale, retention, and development. Your RFI tracking showing information flow and resolution times. Your change order management showing scope impacts and financial exposure. Your building information model coordination status. Your training program tracking. Your schedule health and KPI reports. Any visual that helps you see the future and lead proactively instead of react desperately. These are your war maps.

At minimum, your war room should display: the schedule quickly visible, your Takt plan, financial status, quality process status, safety metrics, inspection boards, delivery tracking, and roadblock removal system. If you can see these visually, you can win intellectually and directionally. Can communicate vision. Can lead teams. Can prevent problems. Can see the future. Leaders are only as effective as what they can see. So create systems that let you see everything that matters. Not buried in computer files. Not hidden in reports. But visible on walls. On boards. On maps. Where you and your team can strategize together.

Signs You Have No War Maps

Watch for these patterns that signal you are reacting instead of strategizing:

  • You get dopamine hits from fighting fires and solving problems instead of from planning and preventing which means your brain is addicted to chaos not strategy creating cycles of perpetual reaction
  • Your conference room has outdated schedules on walls or no visuals at all because you never intentionally designed your war area to support visual planning and team coordination
  • You spend days fighting fires and playing savior responding to trade requests instead of spending mornings strategizing with war maps that let you see problems before they happen
  • You work seventy-hour weeks feeling exhausted and needed while projects using war maps work forty-five hours feeling energized and strategic because planning beats reacting every time
  • Teams cannot answer “what is the plan for this week” without asking you because visual systems do not exist making you the bottleneck for all information and coordination
  • You feel proud when trades need you constantly instead of proud when teams execute without you because you got addicted to being needed rather than to building systems

These are not signs of hard work. These are signs of addiction to the wrong chemicals. Your brain releases dopamine when you fight fires. So you seek fires to fight. Instead of reprogramming your brain to release dopamine when you plan. When you prevent. When you strategize with war maps that eliminate fires before they start.

How to Design Your War Room

Start by intentionally planning where visuals go. Never allow conference room design to happen by accident or happenstance. These are the first things you design with the team. Where does the schedule go? Where do inspection boards mount? Where is the family wall? Where is the right-to-know area? Where are visual signs? Where is the dashboard projector with plan table? Where sliding scheduling are boards? Where are plan views with plexiglass for roadblock tracking? All intentionally planned. Not random. Not accidental. Designed for maximum visual impact and strategic planning capability.

In your trailer: permit area near entrance, kitchen and storage, PPE area next to right-to-know, player cards showcasing all employees, family picture wall, fun project pictures, inspection board, deliveries board, quality metrics tracking, war area with horizontal whiteboard table where teams can draw and visualize using Legos and Play-Doh and colored markers and large maps, rolling boards with six-week planning that slide to reveal whiteboards behind them, construction bathrooms and lunch area, trade areas with flow diagrams and one-line diagrams highlighted by date, cultural signage hanging from ceilings. In conference room: Takt plan, logistics maps, roadblock removal system, plan views with Plexiglas’s covering, key performance indicators, weekly work planning visuals, anything needed for team coordination and strategic planning.

This is intentional design. Every visual serves a purpose. Every map enables strategy. Every board supports team coordination. Because you are building a command station. Not just an office. A place where leaders strategize. Where teams visualize. Where everyone sees the future together.

The Dilemma of Command and the Mobile Mini Solution

Military generals wrote about the dilemma of command. Stay back at headquarters with communication systems and strategic overview? Or go forward to the front lines with troops in battle? Benefits to both. Costs to both. Construction superintendents face the same dilemma. Stay in the trailer with schedules, financials, and communication? Or walk the site with workers and trades seeing reality directly? The answer is both. But how? Mobile command station. A mobile mini with war maps inside. Plan views with visuals. Roadblock tracking. Takt plans. Everything needed to strategize. Plus standup desk. Heater and air conditioner. Generator with baloney cord. Engineered picking eyes for rigging. And crane it around the jobsite. Start in the basement. Move to podium deck when ready. Hoist to third floor when that deck is available. Always positioned with the flow of work. So you are simultaneously at headquarters with strategic systems and at the front lines with teams executing. Can step outside to walk the site. Check safety. See energy. Feel reality. Then step inside to review war maps. Strategize. Plan. Coordinate. Lead.

This sounds crazy. But it solves the dilemma. Proximity to work without sacrificing strategic capability. Visibility with teams without losing access to systems. Presence in the field without abandoning planning areas. The key is mobility. Moving the command station to where work happens. Instead of forcing work to come to static command station far from reality.

Get Addicted to Planning Not Reacting

Your brain produces chemicals that create addiction. Dopamine when you accomplish something your brain values. Endorphins during pleasurable activities. And you seek more of whatever triggers the release. So if your brain releases chemicals when you fight fires, you will seek fires. Will create opportunities to react. Will avoid planning because planning does not give you the rush. This destroys projects. Because leaders addicted to reacting will unconsciously create chaos so they can solve it. Will sabotage systems that prevent problems. Will resist war maps that eliminate the need to fight fires. Because fighting fires is where their chemicals come from. That is what makes them feel good.

You must reprogram. Through neuro-associative conditioning. Consciously recognize when you get dopamine hits. When do you feel satisfaction? When you solve a trade problem in real time? That is the wrong trigger. Reprogram. Tell yourself: I will feel satisfaction when I prevent problems through planning. When I strategize with war maps. When teams execute without needing me because systems are so clear. And force yourself to engage in those activities. Review Takt plans daily. Track roadblocks systematically. Update quality boards religiously. Study financials regularly. And notice the satisfaction. The feeling of control. Of seeing the future. Of leading proactively. Let that become your dopamine source. Your chemical trigger. And soon you will crave planning. Will seek opportunities to strategize. Will build war rooms naturally. Because that is where your chemicals come from now. That is what makes you feel good.

What Great Leaders Know

Great project managers read the owner’s mind. Great superintendents see the future. Both require war maps. Visual systems that show what is coming. Not just what happened. Not just current state. But future state. Where work flows next week. Where problems will emerge. Where opportunities exist. Where risks threaten. Where sequences converge. Where trades conflict. Where deliveries arrive. Where inspections happen. All visible on maps. On boards. On walls. So you can strategize. Can plan alternatives. Can communicate vision. Can lead teams proactively instead of react desperately. Strategy comes from “strategos” – leader of the army. Leaders need maps to lead armies. Generals throughout history understood this. Napoleon sprawled on maps for days planning campaigns. Patton had trailer walls covered with war maps showing troop positions and supply lines. Eisenhower coordinated D-Day using massive visual planning systems. They understood: you cannot lead what you cannot see. Cannot strategize without visualization. Cannot predict without data displayed visually. Modern construction must learn this lesson. Must create war rooms. Must build command stations. Must design visual systems that let leaders see the future and lead instead of react?

The Challenge

Walk into your conference room tomorrow and ask: where are my war maps? Can I see the schedule quickly? Can I visualize roadblocks? Can I track quality status? Can I review safety metrics? Can I understand financial position? Can I see procurement progress? Can I assess team health? If you cannot see these things visually in your command station, you have no war maps. You are reacting not strategizing. Fighting fires not preventing them. Playing savior not leading teams. So build your war room. Find the key maps, visuals, standards, and logs you need to see the future. Make checklists. Make maps. Get your systems. Get your habits. Get addicted to diving into your Takt plan. Get addicted to reviewing your roadblock tracking. Get addicted to studying your quality boards. Get addicted to walking the site with inspection checklists. Put these on walls where teams can see as a group, known as a group, and act as a group.

As military generals teach: the dilemma of command is choosing between headquarters and front lines. But construction can have both. Mobile command stations. War rooms designed intentionally. Visual systems that travel with work. So you are simultaneously strategic and present. Planning and executing. Leading and working. Because leaders are only as effective as what they can see. And you cannot see the future without war maps. So create them. Design them. Use them relentlessly. Get addicted to planning with visual systems instead of reacting to chaos without strategy. And watch your projects transform from firefighting disasters to strategically executed successes. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are war maps in construction and why do superintendents need them?

War maps are visual systems showing schedules, Takt plans, roadblock tracking, quality metrics, safety data, financials, procurement status, and team health. Leaders are only as effective as what they can see—war maps let superintendents see the future and lead proactively instead of react desperately.

Why do superintendents get addicted to fighting fires instead of planning?

Brains release dopamine when accomplishing things the brain values. If you get dopamine hits from solving problems, you seek problems to solve and avoid planning. Neuro-associative conditioning means you must reprogram your brain to release dopamine from planning not reacting.

What should be in a properly designed war room or command station?

At minimum: schedule quickly visible, Takt plan, financial status, quality process status, safety metrics, inspection boards, delivery tracking, and roadblock removal system. Also horizontal whiteboard tables, rolling planning boards, plan views under plexiglass, and intentionally designed visual areas.

What is the dilemma of command and how does construction solve it?

Stay at headquarters with strategic systems or go to front lines with teams? Military generals struggled with this choice. Construction can solve it with mobile command stations, mobile minis with war maps inside, craned around jobsite to stay with flow of work.

How do great superintendents differ from mediocre ones regarding war maps?

Great PMs Read owner’s minds, great supers see the future—both require war maps. Mediocre supers get addicted to fighting fires and reacting. Great supers get addicted to planning with visual systems that prevent fires before they start.

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

Buy & Communicate What You Want, Feat. Charlie Dun‪n‬

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 32 min

The Hospital Project That Bought Flow Systems and Finished On Time While the Other Lost $2.3 Million

There are two hospital projects. Both $150 million. Both planned using CPM schedules. Both start experiencing difficulties eight to nine months from completion. Both brought in consultants to recover. The first project team says: we will buy flow. We will create a Takt plan from the current date to the end date. We will get all trades on board. We will issue a zero-dollar change order requiring morning huddles, afternoon foreman huddles, and commitment to holding rhythm and crew counts. We will drive flow instead of chaos. The second project team says: no consultants. No new systems. No buying out meetings or flow requirements. We will push harder. Add more manpower. Work longer hours. Crash the schedule using traditional methods. And the results are catastrophic. Project One finishes on time at 0.98 fee position. 98% of original fee target achieved. Delighted owner. Profitable trades. Remarkable quality. Project Two finishes six months late at negative $2.3 million fee position. Not just zero fee. Negative $2.3 million. Devastated owner. Burned-out team. Failed trades. And the difference? One project bought what they wanted. Put flow systems in contracts. Required participation. Enforced standards. The other assumed people would magically perform without requirements. Without compensation. Without contractual commitments. And paid $2.3 million for that assumption. Because hoping trades will do lean practices for free while you give them chaos is insanity. If you want morning huddles, buy them. If you want prefabrication, buy it. If you want flow, buy it. Put it in contracts. Communicate expectations. Enforce standards. Or accept that your project will finish like Project Two. Six months late. Millions over budget. While projects that buy what they want finish on time making fee.

Here is what happens when you assume trades will do lean work without buying it. A superintendent implements Last Planner on a $45 million project. Weekly work planning with foremen. Percent plan complete tracking. Make-ready look-ahead. And it works brilliantly for three months. Then mechanical submits a $180,000 change order. For what? For the time their foremen spend in weekly planning meetings. You never told us about meetings when we bid. We are not doing this for free. You owe us for lost productivity. And the superintendent is shocked. We are helping you succeed. These meetings coordinate your work. Prevent conflicts. Improve flow. Why would you charge us? And mechanical responds: because you did not buy it. You did not put it in the contract. You did not tell us during bidding that we would spend five hours per week in planning meetings. So either pay us for that time or stop requiring attendance. And the project has no leverage. Because mechanical is right. The meetings were not in the contract. Not in the scope. Not bought out during procurement. Just assumed. And assumptions become change orders. Always. Because trades do not work for free. They work for what you buy. So if you want flow, buy flow. If you want coordination, buy coordination. If you want lean practices, buy lean practices. Put them in contracts. Specify requirements. Compensate fairly. Or accept that trades will push back. Charge change orders. And refuse participation. Because they are running businesses. Not charities. And businesses do not donate labor to superintendents who refuse to buy what they want.

The real pain is executives who fought $180,000 in meeting charges while losing $2.3 million from chaos. The hospital project that refused flow systems ended up arguing with trades anyway. Mechanical wanted more money for compressed schedules. Electrical wanted acceleration costs for overtime. Drywall wanted impacts for out-of-sequence work. And by the end, the project paid millions in change orders. Plus lost millions more in fee erosion. All while refusing to pay $180,000 for meetings that would have prevented the chaos. This is insane economics. Penny-wise and pound-foolish. Refusing to buy $180,000 in coordination that saves $2 million in chaos. And it happens constantly. Because construction culture says: trades should just do the right thing. Should just attend meetings. Should just coordinate properly. Should just prefabricate when it makes sense. Without being told. Without being paid. Without contractual requirements. And then we wonder why projects fail. Why chaos dominates. Why flow never happens. Because we refuse to buy what we want. We hope it magically appears. And when it does not, we blame trades for not volunteering uncompensated labor to fix our broken systems.

The failure pattern is superintendents who enforce standards they never bought. A project requires nothing touches the floor. Great standard. Excellent for flow, safety, and cleanliness. But when did you communicate this? During bidding? In the contract? Or after the trade mobilized when you suddenly announced: by the way, nothing touches the floor on this project. If you announced it after mobilization, you did not buy it. You imposed it. And trades will resist. Will push back. Will charge change orders. Because they bid the work assuming normal stick-building practices. Cutting studs on site. Assembling materials on the floor. Standard chaos. And now you are requiring prefabrication. Room kitting. Everything on wheels. Without compensating for the different approach. So they either refuse or charge you. Because you did not buy what you wanted. You tried stealing it through enforcement after the fact. And that never works. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

What Buying What You Want Actually Means

Buying what you want means putting requirements in contracts during procurement instead of hoping trades volunteer uncompensated effort later. You want morning worker huddles? Specify them in the contract. Fifteen minutes daily. All workers attend. Stretch and flex. Safety briefing. Daily coordination. And compensate for that time. Build it into bid pricing. Make it transparent. So trades know the expectation before bidding. You want afternoon foreman huddles? Same process. Specify in contract. Thirty minutes daily. All foremen attend. Coordination review. Problem-solving. Next-day planning. Buy it during procurement. Not after mobilization. You want prefabrication? Specify in contract. All materials arrive pre-cut. Room kitting for mechanical and electrical. Everything on wheels or directly to install location. Nothing touches the floor. Buy the different approach. Compensate for shop time. Provide clarity on expectations. So trades can price properly and execute accordingly.

This is transparency. This is respect. Telling people what you expect before they bid so they can price accordingly and deliver as required. The opposite is ambush procurement. Bid the work normally. Then after mobilization announce surprise requirements. Morning huddles you did not bid. Prefabrication you did not price. Coordination meetings you did not anticipate. And wonder why trades revolt. Charge change orders. And resist participation. Because you ambushed them. Asked for work they did not bid. Required effort they did not price. And expected them to donate labor to fix your failure to communicate.

Signs You Are Not Buying What You Want

Watch for these patterns that signal you are hoping instead of buying:

  • Trades submit change orders for coordination meetings or lean practices you require but never specified in contracts or communicated during bidding creating conflicts that destroy trust and relationships
  • You announce standards after mobilization like “nothing touches the floor” or “everything must be prefabricated” without having specified these requirements during procurement when trades could price them properly
  • You fight with trades about attending huddles or planning meetings while they argue they never agreed to this and were not compensated for coordination time beyond normal scope
  • Projects finish millions over budget while you refused to buy hundreds of thousands in coordination that would have prevented the chaos causing the overruns showing penny-wise pound-foolish economics
  • You assume trades will “just do the right thing” regarding flow, cleanliness, and coordination without specifying expectations, buying requirements, or enforcing standards consistently
  • Different trades operate under different assumptions about what is required because you never bought clarity through contractual specifications creating chaos and conflicts throughout construction

These are not signs of trade incompetence. These are signs of procurement failure. You did not buy what you wanted. You hoped it would magically appear. And when it did not, you blamed trades for not donating uncompensated labor to fix your broken approach.

Standardize What You Can So You Can Focus On What You Can’t

The genius of buying flow systems is standardization enables focus. When you buy Takt planning, morning huddles, afternoon coordination, prefabrication requirements, and cleanliness standards, you standardize 90% of the work. Put it on rhythm. Create predictable flow. Eliminate unnecessary chaos. So when the owner issues a change order mid-project, you can focus on that 10% of inevitable chaos instead of managing 100% chaos constantly. One mega project was in Takt when a 10%+ change order hit mid-project. Normally this means tremendous stress. Months of delay. Crashed schedules. Burned-out teams. But this project absorbed the change and finished on time. How? Because 90% of the work was standardized. Running on rhythm. Flowing predictably. So they could focus all attention on integrating the 10% change without disrupting the 90% base. Could see exactly where the ripple happened in the Takt train. Could track efficiency gaps from the interruption. Could implement recovery immediately. Because visual systems showed variance from standard instantly.

Compare this to CPM chaos projects. When change orders hit, nobody knows where the impact ripples. Takes months to understand consequences. Forensic analysis after the fact trying to identify what went wrong when. By which time recovery is impossible. Because you cannot focus on 10% change when 100% of your work is chaotic. Cannot absorb disruption when nothing is standardized. Cannot see variance when you have no baseline. This is why manufacturing transformed productivity. Not by working harder. But by standardizing everything possible. So they could focus on what truly mattered. Problems. Improvements. Innovations. Instead of wasting mental bandwidth managing unnecessary chaos that standardization would eliminate.

The Ham Cutting Story: Why We Stick-Build on Site

A hostess cooks a ham for Thanksgiving. Cuts both ends off before putting it in the oven. A guest asks: why did you cut the ends off? You wasted good ham. The hostess responds: that is how you cook ham. My mom taught me. So they ask the mom. Who says: that is how my mom taught me. You just cut the ends off. So they ask grandma. Who laughs and says: I cut the ends off because I only had an eight-by-nine dish. The ham would not fit otherwise. Three generations later, people are still cutting ends off hams for no reason. Because “that is how we have always done it.” And construction does this constantly. Stick-building on site? Cutting ends off ham. Bringing materials into the building then bringing trash back out? Cutting ends off ham. Not prefabricating? Cutting ends off ham. Not pre-cutting studs? Cutting ends off ham. Doing the same broken processes our grandparents did because “that is how construction works” without asking: why? Does this make sense? Or are we cutting ends off ham for dishes we no longer use?

Would a manufacturing plant allow stick-building inside their facility? Would they let contractors bring raw materials onto the production floor, cut them to size, assemble them in place, then haul trash out? Absolutely not. Everything arrives pre-assembled. Fits into the production line at the right Takt time. Moves through at the right throughput. Nothing touches the floor. No waste generated. Because manufacturing learned: stick-building is cutting ends off ham. A legacy practice from when we had no better options. But now we have shops. We have prefabrication. We have room kitting. We have pre-cutting. We have off-site assembly. So why are we still stick-building like it is 1970? Because we refuse to stop cutting ends off ham. Refuse to question legacy practices. Refuse to buy better approaches. And wonder why manufacturing productivity increased 200% since 1970 while construction productivity declined 20%.

Integrated Control: Team Decides Then Enforce

Some people say command and control is bad. Superintendents need to let go of control. Empower trades. Stop dictating. And this sounds good in theory. But superintendents live in different reality. Where trades stack up. Where sequences fail. Where chaos dominates unless someone controls the job. So how do you merge these worlds? Integrated control. The team decides together. Trade partners collaborate on the plan. Foremen agree on standards. Everyone commits to flow. But once the plan is set, the superintendent enforces it. Does not negotiate. Does not allow individual deviation. Holds the line. BSRL project decided together as a team: prefabricate everything. Nothing touches the floor. Room kitting for all mechanical and electrical. Once the team decided, the superintendent enforced. Turned deliveries around that violated standards. Denied hoist access to materials that were not pre-cut. Shut down trades that broke cleanliness requirements. Not because he was tyrannical. But because the team agreed. And individual deviation destroys team agreements.

This is integrated control. Team decides. Superintendent enforces. And it works. Contractor grading makes it visible. How are you performing against team agreements? Are you meeting standards? Following flow? Delivering on commitments? Grade weekly. Post results. Create accountability. Not through punishment. But through transparency. Everyone sees who is winning. Who is struggling? And teams rally to help struggling trades improve. Because the goal is not blame. The goal is flow. And flow requires everyone performing to standard. So integrated control enables that. Team agreements. Superintendent enforcement. Visual accountability. And results speak for themselves. Projects that use integrated control finish on time making fee. Projects that hope for voluntary compliance finish late losing millions.

Examples of What to Buy

Morning worker huddles: fifteen minutes daily, all workers attend, stretch and flex, safety briefing, daily coordination. Buy it. Specify in contract. Compensate for time. Afternoon foreman huddles: thirty minutes daily, all foremen attend, coordination review, problem-solving, next-day planning. Buy it. Put it in contract. Prefabrication requirements: all materials arrive pre-cut, room kitting for MEP, everything on wheels or direct to install location, nothing touches the floor. Buy it. Specify approach. Compensate for shop time. Cleanliness standards: no trash on site, daily cleaning, organized layout, visual management. Buy it. Include in scope. Enforce ruthlessly. Lean training: every foreman reads specific lean literature, takes lean classes before mobilization. Buy it. Require in contract. Takt planning participation: trades commit to holding rhythm, maintaining crew counts, coordinating handoffs. Buy it. Make it contractual.

Model coordination: coordinate the model before final CD documents issued in preconstruction, resolve conflicts before construction starts. Buy it during design. Working conditions: proper bathrooms, clean lunchrooms, adequate lighting, safe access, sufficient logistics. Buy it. Provide it. Do not expect workers to suffer in chaos. Visual feature-of-work boards: for every high-risk installation, create visual boards in English and Spanish showing proper work steps. Buy creation and posting. Contractor grading: weekly performance tracking against standards, posted results, continuous improvement. Buy the system. Implement consistently. Everything to install location or on wheels: materials delivered to final location or on carts, nothing touches floor, zero double-handling. Buy it. Enforce it. These are not optional. These are requirements for flow. So buy them. Put them in contracts. Communicate expectations. Compensate fairly. Enforce consistently. And watch projects transform.

The Challenge

Walk your site tomorrow and observe conditions you know are problems. Trash on floors. Materials in wrong locations. Trades working out of sequence. Chaos in coordination. Then ask: on my next project, how do I buy what I want? How do I put meaningful action into contracts to eliminate these problems? Do I buy morning huddles to improve coordination? Do I buy prefabrication to eliminate waste? Do I buy Takt planning to create flow? Do I buy cleanliness standards to improve safety? Identify the condition you want to change. Then buy it. Put it in contracts during procurement. Communicate expectations during bidding. Compensate fairly for different approach. And enforce ruthlessly after mobilization. Because hoping trades will volunteer uncompensated effort to fix your broken systems is insanity.

As Charlie Dunn teaches: if you want it to happen, be transparent about it, put it in a contract, and make it happen. Stop cutting ends off ham because “that is how we have always done it.” Stop stick-building when prefabrication is available. Stop generating chaos when standardization creates flow. And stop hoping trades will do lean work for free when you refuse to buy what you want. Buy flow. Buy coordination. Buy standards. Buy excellence. Put it in contracts. Communicate it early. Enforce it consistently. And watch your projects finish like the $150 million hospital that bought flow: on time at 0.98 fee with delighted owners and profitable trades. Instead of finishing like the hospital that refused: six months late at negative $2.3 million with devastated stakeholders and burned teams. The choice is yours. Buy what you want. Or pay millions for refusing. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should you buy lean practices instead of assuming trades will do them?

Trades do not work for free. If you want morning huddles, prefabrication, coordination meetings, or cleanliness standards but do not specify them in contracts during procurement, trades will either refuse participation or charge change orders because you are requiring uncompensated work they never bid.

What happened to the two $150 million hospital projects with different approaches?

One bought flow systems with Takt planning and required coordination meetings, finished on time at 0.98 fee position with delighted owners. The other refused flow systems, finished six months late at negative $2.3 million fee with devastated stakeholders and burned teams.

What does “standardize what you can so you can focus on what you can’t” mean?

When you standardize 90% of work through Takt planning, prefabrication, and flow systems, you can focus entirely on the 10% of inevitable chaos like owner change orders instead of managing 100% chaos constantly from broken processes.

What is integrated control and how does it work?

Team decides together on standards and flow requirements through collaboration. Then superintendent enforces ruthlessly without negotiating individual deviations. Team agreements create buy-in. Superintendent enforcement creates accountability. Contractor grading makes performance visible.

What are examples of things you should buy in construction contracts?

Morning worker huddles, afternoon foreman huddles, prefabrication requirements, cleanliness standards, Takt planning participation, lean training for foremen, model coordination before CDs, proper working conditions, visual work boards, contractor grading systems, everything delivered to install location or on wheels.

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

Build a Little Better – Receiving is Giving!

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 30 min

The Superintendent Who Worked 70 Hours Weekly Refusing Help Because He Should Handle This Myself

There is a superintendent managing a $45 million hospital project. Complex sequences. Multiple trades. Tight schedule. High owner expectations. And he works seventy hours every week. Arrives at 5:30 AM. Leaves at 7:00 PM. Takes calls during dinner. Answers emails until midnight. And when the project manager offers to bring in a scheduling consultant for two weeks to help recover the timeline, the superintendent says no. I should be able to handle this myself. When the project director suggests hiring a second field engineer to help with coordination, the superintendent says no. I can manage it. When his wife suggests getting someone to clean the house so he can have one weekend afternoon with the kids, he says no. We do not need help. I should be able to provide and still be present. And he believes this. Genuinely believes that needing help means weakness. That accepting help means defeat. That asking for support means failure. So he works seventy hours managing chaos alone. Misses his daughter’s soccer games. Skips family dinners. Ignores his health. And tells himself: if I was better at my job, I could handle this without help. If I was enough, I could do it all myself. Meanwhile the project falls further behind. Coordination problems compound. Trade conflicts multiply. And his family suffers. Not because he lacks skill. But because he refuses help. Because he believes the lie that strong people do not need others. That successful superintendents handle everything alone. That accepting support means admitting inadequacy. And this lie destroys him. Because humans were not designed to be alone. Work was not designed to be done in isolation. And receiving help is not weakness. It is wisdom. Because receiving is giving. When you refuse help, you steal from others the opportunity to serve. To fulfill their purpose. To experience the joy of contributing. So you work seventy hours alone while people willing to help watch you drown. And everyone loses. You lose health and family. They lose the chance to serve. And the project loses because one person cannot do the work of three no matter how hard they try.

Here is what happens when construction workers refuse help. A project manager runs a failing project. Schedule four months behind. Budget over by $800K. Trade relationships deteriorating. And when the general superintendent offers to bring in a recovery consultant, the PM says: no, I should be able to fix this myself. I do not need outside help. That would look like failure. So he works alone. Eighty-hour weeks. Generates recovery schedules. Negotiates with trades. Revises sequences. And the project continues declining. Because one person cannot solve systemic problems alone. Cannot coordinate fifteen trades simultaneously. Cannot be in the field and the office and the owner meetings all at once. But the PM refuses help. Because accepting help would mean admitting he cannot do it all. Would mean acknowledging he needs support. Would mean surrendering the self-image of being the superintendent who handles everything. So he protects his pride. Sacrifices the project. Burns out his team. And six months later gets removed from the project anyway. Not because he lacked skill. But because he refused help when help was available. And by the time someone else took over, the damage was too deep to recover. All because one person believed the lie that needing help means weakness.

The real pain is the mental burden of pretending you can do it all. A single mom works as a nurse practitioner. Three jobs. Crazy hours at different hospitals. Picks her nine-year-old son up from after-school daycare. Goes home. Uses box meal delivery services. But still cooks meals from scratch because she feels: I am not doing a good enough job if I do not cook. When her sister suggests using fully prepared meal delivery so she can spend that hour with her son instead of cooking, she resists: that is not healthy enough. I should be able to work full time and cook homemade meals. When her sister suggests hiring someone to clean the house, she resists: I need to do it myself. I should be able to manage everything. Meanwhile she is exhausted. The house is chaotic. Dishes pile up. Laundry stacks. Paint peels. And everywhere she looks, things are talking to her. As Fumio Sasaki teaches in “Goodbye Things”: everything in your space sends messages. Either positive messages that bring joy. Or negative messages that say: take care of me. Clean me. Fix me. And every undone task creates another item on a silent mental to-do list. Tracked constantly. Adding up anxiety. Creating stress. Until your mind is overwhelmed with visual reminders of inadequacy. Things left undone tell you: you are not good enough. You should prove you are good enough by not asking for more help. And the cycle perpetuates. Work harder. Do more. Refuse help. Fall further behind. Feel worse about yourself. And never realize: accepting help would break the cycle. Would reduce the mental burden. Would create space for what actually matters—time with your son instead of cooking meals you are too tired to enjoy.

The failure pattern is construction workers who build self-sufficiency armor that destroys them. A field engineer gets assigned to a project. First job out of college. Eager to prove himself. And when tasks pile up—RFIs, submittals, coordination drawings, meeting minutes, punch lists—he refuses to ask for help. Because asking means admitting he does not know. Means looking weak. Means failing to meet expectations. So he works alone. Nights. Weekends. Figures things out through trial and error. Makes mistakes. Misses deadlines. And tells himself: I should be able to handle this. A good field engineer would know this already. Meanwhile the superintendent would gladly help. The project manager would answer questions. Senior field engineers would mentor. But the young engineer never asks. Because construction culture teaches: be tough. Figure it out yourself. Never show weakness. And this culture kills people. Literally. Construction has the second-worst suicide rate of any industry. Because workers internalize the belief that needing help means failure. That struggling means inadequacy. That asking for support means you do not belong. So they suffer alone. Until suffering becomes unbearable. And they see no way out. All because we built an industry that glorifies self-sufficiency and punishes vulnerability. That celebrates superintendents who work seventy hours alone and judges those who ask for help. And we wonder why burnout rates are catastrophic. Why turnover is crushing. Why families are destroyed. Because we refuse to acknowledge: humans were designed for connection. Work was designed for collaboration. And receiving help is not weakness. It is survival. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

What Receiving Is Giving Actually Means

Receiving is giving because it allows others to fulfill their purpose. When someone offers to help and you say no, you steal from them the opportunity to serve. To contribute. To experience the joy of giving. A high-powered consultant reaches out on LinkedIn. Offers advice about marketing, pricing, business growth. Worth thousands of dollars per day. And the first three conversations, the response is: how can I repay you? What do you want in return? And the consultant gets annoyed. Says: I am not here because I want something. What you are doing fits my core purpose. I want to help because that is my sole purpose. Can you please stop talking about repayment? I do not want anything back. I want to help you. And finally accepting that help becomes the gift. Because it allows the consultant to serve. To fulfill his purpose. To give in the way that brings him joy. Refusing would have stolen that from him. So receiving became giving.

Same principle applies in construction. When a project manager offers to bring in help and the superintendent says no, that refusal steals the PM’s opportunity to serve. To support. To contribute to success. When a consultant offers two weeks of recovery help and the team says we should handle this ourselves, that refusal steals the chance for collaboration. For shared problem-solving. For collective success. When a spouse offers to hire cleaning help so you can have time with kids and you say no, we do not need it, that refusal steals their chance to contribute to family wellness. Every refusal of help is theft. Taking away someone’s opportunity to give. To serve. To fulfill their purpose through contribution. So receiving is not selfish. Refusing is selfish. Because it prioritizes pride over connection. Self-image over collaboration. And the illusion of self-sufficiency over the reality of human interdependence.

Signs You Are Refusing Help Out of Pride

Watch for these patterns that signal you are protecting self-image instead of accepting support:

  • You work seventy-hour weeks managing chaos alone while people offer help you decline because accepting would mean admitting you cannot handle everything yourself which feels like failure
  • You tell people “I should be able to do this myself” or “a good superintendent would not need help with this” creating impossible standards that guarantee burnout and isolation
  • Your trailer is messy or your home is chaotic or your tasks are overwhelming but you refuse assistance because you believe needing help means weakness or inadequacy
  • When someone offers to pay for lunch or provide advice or contribute time you immediately ask “what can I do for you in return” instead of simply saying thank you and receiving graciously
  • You feel uncomfortable when people serve you because you have built identity around being the helper not the helped creating one-way relationships that prevent genuine connection
  • Everything around you sends negative messages—undone tasks piling up creating silent mental to-do lists that track anxiety constantly reminding you that you are not good enough but you still refuse help

These are not signs of strength. These are signs of pride masquerading as self-sufficiency. And pride destroys projects, relationships, and health. Because no one can do it all alone. Not superintendents. Not project managers. No single moms. Not anyone. We were designed for interdependence. For collaboration. For mutual support. And refusing help violates that design.

The Mental Burden of Undone Tasks

Everything in your space sends messages. This concept from Fumio Sasaki’s book “Goodbye Things” transforms how you see clutter and chaos. Some things send positive messages. Art that brings joy. Tools that enable work. Spaces that create peace. But most things send negative messages: take care of me. Clean me. Fix me. Organize me. Every piece of trash on the trailer floor. Every dusty surface. Every broken tool. Every stack of unsorted paperwork. All talking constantly. Adding items to a silent mental to-do list tracked subconsciously. Creating anxiety. Building stress. Until your mind is overwhelmed with visual reminders of inadequacy. This is why chaotic trailers drain energy. Why messy homes create tension. Why cluttered offices reduce productivity. Not just because they are inefficient. But because they are constantly talking. Telling you: you are not good enough. You should fix this. You are failing to maintain standards. And the more you refuse help, the more things pile up. The louder the messages become. Until you are drowning in a sea of undone tasks all screaming inadequacy.

Breaking this cycle requires accepting help. Hiring someone to clean the trailer. Asking crafts to organize the tool room. Bringing in a consultant to fix the scheduling chaos. Because you cannot think clearly when everything around you is screaming failure. Cannot lead effectively when your mental capacity is consumed tracking undone tasks. Cannot be present with family when your mind is cataloging everything left incomplete at work. So receiving help is not indulgence. It is necessity. Creating mental space for what actually matters. Leadership. Strategy. Presence. Connection. Instead of wasting capacity managing chaos you refuse to let others help fix.

Why Construction Culture Makes This Worse

Construction glorifies toughness. The superintendent who works seventy hours and never complains. The project manager who handles everything alone. The field engineer who figures things out without asking. We celebrate self-sufficiency. Judge vulnerability. And create culture where asking for help feels like admitting defeat. So people suffer alone. Work in isolation. Burn out quietly. And we wonder why suicide rates are catastrophic. Why families are destroyed. Why talented people leave the industry. Because we built systems that punish collaboration and reward isolation. That celebrate martyrs and judge those who set boundaries. That honor burnout and shame those who ask for support.

This must change. We must normalize asking for help. Celebrate superintendents who bring in consultants when projects struggle. Honor project managers who admit they need scheduling support. Respect field engineers who ask questions instead of pretending they know. Because lean construction teaches: bring problems to the surface. Problems belong to the team not individuals. And receiving help is how teams function. When you refuse help, you operate outside the team. Create silos. Build islands. And guarantee failure. Because construction is too complex for one person. Requires coordination across too many disciplines. Involves too many variables for individual mastery. We need each other. And accepting that is strength not weakness.

How to Practice Receiving as Giving

Start small. Next time someone offers to pay for lunch, say thank you instead of fighting about it. When a colleague offers advice, receive it graciously instead of deflecting. When your spouse suggests hiring help, consider it seriously instead of dismissing it immediately. Practice receiving without immediately calculating how to repay. Without turning every gift into a transaction. Without protecting pride through refusal. Just receive. Let people serve. Allow them the joy of giving. And notice what happens. How it builds connection. Creates gratitude. Opens doors for reciprocal support later. Not transactional reciprocity. But organic mutual support that flows from genuine relationship.

In construction, this means accepting the PM’s offer to bring in scheduling help. Letting the consultant assist with recovery planning. Hiring the second field engineer when the team suggests it. Asking senior superintendents for advice instead of pretending you know. Bringing problems to the surface instead of hiding them until they explode. And recognizing that accepting help makes you stronger not weaker. Because now you have support. Resources. Collective intelligence. Instead of struggling alone with partial information and limited capacity. This is how remarkable projects happen. Not through individual heroics. But through collaborative excellence. Teams that serve each other. Support each other. And recognize that receiving help is giving others the chance to fulfill their purpose through contribution.

The Challenge

Stop right now and ask yourself: where am I refusing help out of pride? Where am I saying “I should be able to handle this myself” instead of accepting support? Where am I working seventy hours alone while people willing to help watch me struggle? And why? Because I want to protect self-image? Because I believe needing help means failure? Because I built identity around self-sufficiency? If yes, recognize: this is theft. You are stealing from others the opportunity to serve. To give. To fulfill their purpose. So practice receiving. Let the PM bring in help. Let your spouse hire cleaners. Let colleagues pay for lunch. Let consultants offer advice. And just say thank you. Without calculating repayment. Without deflecting the gift. Without protecting pride through refusal.

As construction teaches us: problems belong to teams not individuals. Bring issues to the surface. Collaborate to solve. And recognize that receiving help is not weakness. It is how work gets done. How projects succeed. How families thrive. How humans flourish. Because we were designed for interdependence. For mutual support. For collaborative excellence. Not for isolated struggle. So stop stealing others’ opportunity to give. Start receiving graciously. And watch how it transforms projects, relationships, and life. Because receiving is giving. And giving is the ultimate form of living. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is receiving help actually a form of giving?

When you refuse help, you steal from others the opportunity to serve and fulfill their purpose. Receiving graciously allows people to give, to contribute, to experience joy through service, which is their core purpose and brings them fulfillment.

What messages do undone tasks and clutter send?

As Fumio Sasaki teaches in “Goodbye Things,” everything sends messages, either positive messages bringing joy or negative messages saying “take care of me, clean me, fix me.” Undone tasks create silent mental to-do lists causing anxiety and stress while reinforcing feelings of inadequacy.

Why do construction workers struggle to accept help?

Construction culture glorifies toughness and self-sufficiency while judging vulnerability. Workers believe needing help means weakness or failure, so they work in isolation, suffer alone, and burn out quietly rather than asking for support which feels like admitting defeat.

How does refusing help hurt projects and relationships?

Working seventy hours alone while refusing support creates chaos, compounds problems, and guarantees suboptimal results. Refusal also prevents genuine connection, creates one-way relationships, and steals from others their chance to contribute and fulfill their purpose through service.

What is the first step to practicing receiving as giving?

Start small: next time someone offers to pay for lunch say thank you instead of fighting about it; when colleagues offer advice receive it graciously without deflecting; when your spouse suggests hiring help consider it seriously instead of dismissing it immediately.

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

Build a little better. Know your numbers

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 36 min

The Superintendent Who Coded Cleaning to Lump Sum Concrete and Lost $40K in Fee

There is a superintendent managing a project six months from completion. The budget is healthy. Plenty of internal contingency. Fee position tracking at 98% of original target. And someone gives him advice: kick all the cleaning costs out of the main project budget and code them into the concrete self-perform budget. Save money on the overall project. Look good to the owner. And the superintendent thinks this sounds smart. So he starts coding cleanup labor, COVID protocols, handrail wiped owns, and lunchroom maintenance into the lump sum concrete cost codes. Saves $40,000 on the main project budget. Looks like a hero. Until the project accountant reviews the coding and realizes what happened. The concrete scope was lump sum. Meaning any savings in that self-perform work goes directly to contractor fee. But the main project budget had no shared savings clause. Meaning any savings in the overall budget goes back to the owner. So by coding $40,000 of cleaning into lump sum concrete instead of the main project budget where money existed, the superintendent just gave away $40,000 in fee. Money that should have stayed in the contractor’s pocket. Because he did not understand the difference between lump sum self-perform budgets and overall project budgets. He did not know where his revenue streams came from. He did not know that equipment rental gains, labor gains, insurance and bond gains, and lump sum self-perform savings are the only ways to increase fee on fixed-fee GMP projects. And because he did not know the numbers, he made a $40,000 strategic mistake while thinking he was being smart. This is what happens when superintendents divorce themselves from finances. When they say: that is the PM’s job, I just build stuff in the field. When they do not know their job cost report, their contingency position, their exposures, their fee projection, or where to code costs strategically. Because you cannot manage what you cannot measure. And you cannot win the game if you do not know the scoreboard.

Here is what happens when superintendents do not know the numbers. A project manager runs a project with healthy financials. Fee position at 100% plus. Internal contingency more than adequate. Risk register showing exposures well within available contingency. And the superintendent makes decisions without reviewing financials. He returns the tower crane two months early because “we need to get it out of here and save money.” But the contractor owns the tower crane. And the rental income from that crane is coming out of the project budget as an equipment charge. Which means the contractor gets equipment gains on that rental. The difference between what the owners pays for the crane and what it actually costs to operate. And by returning it early while work still needed it, the superintendent eliminated two months of equipment gains. Roughly $30,000 in fee. Plus he created flow problems. Trades had to hand-carry materials instead of hoisting them. Sequences slowed down. Labor hours increased. And the project finished one month late. All because the superintendent thought he was saving money by returning equipment early. Without understanding that keeping the crane generated revenue through equipment gains. And that equipment gains only happen when the equipment is on site and being charged to the project. This is strategic ignorance. Making decisions without knowing how they affect fee position. Because the superintendent never asked: where do we make money on this project? What are our revenue streams? How does this decision impact our fee?

The real pain is trade partners who never know their financial position until the end of the job. A subcontractor works six months on a project. And when the superintendent asks: how are you doing financially? The foreman says: we will not know until the end of the job. No tracking. No projections. No understanding of whether they are making money or losing money. Just building and hoping. And when the job finishes, they discover they lost $80,000. Because they did not track costs. Did not project labor hours against budget. Did not identify problems early when they could be corrected. Just waited until the end and hoped for the best. This is management by prayer instead of management by measurement. And it destroys companies. Because by the time you know you are losing money, it is too late to fix it. The labor is spent. The materials are purchased. The damage is done. But if you track weekly. Review job cost reports monthly. Project contingency use and fee position quarterly. You see problems when they are small. When a concrete crew is burning hours faster than budget. When material costs are trending over estimate. When exposures are accumulating faster than contingency can cover. And you adjust. Before small problems become catastrophic losses. Because you cannot manage what you cannot measure. And if you are not measuring, you are just guessing.

The failure pattern is predictable and expensive. A superintendent runs a project without reviewing the PSR (project status report). Does not know internal contingency versus contractor contingency. Does not understand how fee is calculated or what labor gains and equipment gains mean. And makes coding decisions blindly. Codes COVID protocol costs to self-perform when they belong in the general conditions budget. Shortcuts final cleaning contracts because “we can handle it cheaper in-house” without realizing in-house labor generates gains that subcontracted labor does not. Eliminates a second field engineer to “run lean” without understanding that field engineer salaries generate labor gains that increase fee. And by the end of the project, these small strategic mistakes add up to $100,000 in lost fee. Not because the work was done poorly. But because the financial strategy was ignorant. The superintendent did not know where to code costs to maximize fee. Did not understand which revenue streams were available. Did not know that on fixed-fee GMP contracts without shared savings clauses, the only ways to increase fee are: lump sum self-perform savings, equipment rental gains, staff labor gains, craft labor gains, and insurance and bond gains. Those five revenue streams. Nothing else. So every decision should be evaluated against those five streams. Does this decision increase or decrease our fee? And if you do not know the numbers, you cannot ask that question. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

What Numbers Superintendents Must Know

Every superintendent must be able to rattle off these numbers without looking at reports: current contingency remaining, projected contingency use, number and value of contracts left to buy out, current fee position as a percentage of original target, total value of exposures in the risk register, and overall budget health. If you cannot recite these numbers from memory, you are not managing the project financially. You are just building and hoping. The job cost report shows all accounting tallied. Every cost code. Every contract. Every labor hour. Every material purchase. This is the foundation. Without understanding the job cost report, you cannot understand anything else. Contingency comes in two forms: contractor contingency (visible to owner) and internal contingency (hidden budget buffer). You must know both. How much contractor contingency remains? How much is projected to be used based on current exposures? Is internal contingency adequate to cover risk register items? These questions are non-negotiable.

Exposures are risks that might require money. A trade partner might claim delay damages. An owner might reject work requiring rework. A design error might require additional scope. The risk and opportunity register should estimate possible expenditures for each exposure, multiply by likelihood percentage, and project required contingency. If projected contingency use exceeds available contingency, you are heading into fee erosion. Catch this early. Before it becomes catastrophic. Fee projection must include everything: stipulated fee, staff labor gains (difference between what you bill the owner and what you pay employees), craft labor gains (same for field workers), equipment rental gains (difference between rental charges to owner and actual equipment costs), and insurance and bond gains (difference between charges and actual premiums). Add these together. Compare to original fee target. Are you at 90%? 98%? 105%? This number tells you whether you are winning or losing financially.

Signs You Do Not Know the Numbers

Watch for these patterns that signal you are managing blindly instead of strategically:

  • You make decisions about equipment, staffing, or subcontracts without first checking fee position and asking how this decision impacts revenue streams like labor gains or equipment gains
  • You code costs to whatever bucket seems convenient without understanding whether those costs belong in project budget or self-perform codes based on lump sum versus GMP structure
  • Someone asks your current fee position or contingency remaining and you say “I need to check with the PM” instead of rattling numbers off immediately from memory
  • You think finances are the PM’s job and your job is just building in the field creating strategic blindness that costs tens of thousands in lost fee through poor coding decisions
  • Trade partners on your project say “we will not know how we did financially until the end” instead of tracking weekly against budget and projecting monthly
  • You shortchange final cleaning or eliminate needed staff to “save money” without understanding that proper contracts and adequate staffing generate gains that increase rather than decrease fee

These are not signs of field focus. These are signs of strategic ignorance. Supers who do not know numbers make expensive mistakes while thinking they are being smart. Like coding cleaning to lump sum concrete when it belongs in project budget. Or returning tower cranes early to save money when keeping them generates equipment gains. Every decision has financial consequences. And if you do not know the numbers, you cannot evaluate those consequences.

Strategic Coding Decisions That Maximize Fee

Understanding where to code costs is the difference between making fee and losing fee. Start by knowing: is your self-perform work lump sum or part of the overall GMP budget? If lump sum, any savings go to contractor fee. If part of GMP without shared savings clause, any savings go back to owner. So strategic coding depends on this structure. If self-perform is lump sum and project budget is healthy, code questionable items (COVID protocols, general cleaning, and handrail wipedowns) to the project budget where money exists. Not to lump sum self-perform. Because charging lump sum self-perform reduces the savings you pocket. While charging project budget uses owner’s money for owner’s benefit without reducing your fee. This is not dishonest. This is proper accounting. Coding costs to the correct budget category based on what the work actually is.

But if self-perform is lump sum and project budget is over budget with limited contingency, you might code some general items to self-perform to make the overall project budget audit properly. Eating some savings to protect the project. Different circumstances require different strategies. And you cannot deploy the right strategy without knowing current financial position. Same logic applies to equipment decisions. If you own equipment and rent it to the project, that rental income generates equipment gains. Keep that equipment as long as legitimately needed. Every month it stays on site is another month of gains. But if you do not own the equipment and are paying external rental fees from project budget, return it immediately when no longer needed. Opposite strategies depending on ownership structure. And you cannot know which strategy without knowing the numbers.

The Five Revenue Streams on Fixed-Fee GMP Projects

On most fixed-fee GMP contracts without shared savings clauses, there are exactly five ways to increase fee beyond the stipulated amount: lump sum self-perform savings, equipment rental gains, staff labor gains, craft labor gains, and insurance and bond gains. That is it. Understanding these five streams changes how you make every decision. Need another field engineer but worried about cost? If project budget is healthy, hire them. Because staff labor gains (difference between billable rate and actual salary) generate fee. The field engineer might cost you $80K in salary but bill at $95K. That $15K difference is fee. So hiring needed staff when budget allows actually increases rather than decreases fee. Same with craft labor. Self-performing work with your own crews generates craft labor gains. If project budget is healthy and you have capacity, take on additional self-perform work strategically. Especially work with higher margins. Because those labor gains flow directly to fee.

Equipment rental gains work the same way. If you own a tower crane and rent it to the project at market rates, the difference between rental income and actual operating cost is fee. So keeping that crane on site as long as legitimately needed maximizes gains. While returning it early to “save money” actually costs money by eliminating the gain stream. Insurance and bond gains come from the difference between what you charge the owner for insurance and bonds versus what you actually pay in premiums. Usually this is built into the contract and does not require active management. But it contributes to overall fee and must be included in projections. When you know these five streams, you can ask the critical question for every decision: does this increase or decrease our fee? Hire another field engineer? Increases fee through labor gains if budget allows. Return tower crane early? Decreases fee by eliminating equipment gains. Code cleaning to lump sum self-perform? Decreases fee by reducing lump sum savings. Strategic decisions become obvious once you understand revenue streams.

How to Learn the Numbers Without Knowing Accounting

You do not need to be an accountant to know the numbers. You need to ask the right questions and understand the right reports. Start with the job cost report. Sit with your PM or project accountant and say: speak to me as you would a small child or a golden retriever. This is from the movie Margin Call. Dumb this down for me. Walk through the job cost report line by line. What does each section mean? Where are self-perform cost codes versus subcontract codes? How do I read budget versus actual versus committed versus projected? What is the contingency line? Where are labor burden and insurance and bonds calculated? Ask until you understand every section. Then move to the PSR or MSR or whatever financial reporting form your company uses. What is overall contingency? What is projected contingency use versus remaining? What is internal contingency for the budget? Where are all the buckets? How is fee calculated? Does it include staff labor gains, craft labor gains, insurance and bond gains? Ask question after question until you understand all reporting and all forms and exactly how they are used.

Then apply this knowledge weekly. Review job cost report weekly. Check contingency position monthly. Update risk register monthly with current exposures and projected costs. Project fee position quarterly including all five revenue streams. And always know where you are. Because you cannot course-correct if you do not know you are off course. And you cannot know you are off course if you are not measuring. The good news is: once you learn the numbers, they become fun. Like a game. You see the scoreboard. You know what moves increase your score. And you start thinking strategically. How can I improve our fee position? By coding properly. By keeping equipment that generates gains. By hiring staff when budget allows. By self-performing work with higher margins. By properly bidding final cleaning and closeout contracts. Small strategic decisions that add up to large fee improvements. This is what separates great superintendents from mediocre ones. Not just building skills. But strategic financial thinking that maximizes fee while delivering remarkable projects.

Why Small Improvements Create Massive Results

Tony Robbins teaches a business growth formula. There are only three ways to grow revenue: increase number of clients, increase average transaction value, or increase how often clients repurchase. When you tell someone you can grow their business 143%, they think you are crazy. But when you break it down: increase clients by 30%, increase transaction value by 25%, increase repurchase frequency by 50%. Each of these individually seems reasonable. But multiply them together and you get 143% growth. Same principle applies to construction fee optimization. You do not need one massive decision that doubles fee. You need small strategic improvements across multiple areas. Code cleaning properly instead of to lump sum: saves $40K in fee. Keep tower crane two months longer: adds $30K in equipment gains. Hire second field engineer: adds $15K in labor gains. Properly bid final cleaning: saves $20K in re-cleaning and punch list labor. Self-perform additional framing scope: adds $25K in craft labor gains. Each decision seems small. But add them together: $130K in fee improvement. From 0.98 of original fee target to 1.11. All through small strategic decisions made because you know the numbers.

This is optimization. Not heroics. Not working harder. Just understanding the scoreboard and making strategic moves that increase your score. And you cannot do this without knowing the numbers. Without understanding your five revenue streams. Without tracking job cost reports and contingency and exposures and fee projections. Because financial strategy without measurement is just guessing. And guessing costs money.

The Challenge

Walk into your project office tomorrow and ask yourself: do I know the numbers? Can I rattle off current contingency remaining, projected contingency use, number and value of contracts left to buy out, current fee position including all five revenue streams, and total value of exposures? If you cannot answer these questions immediately from memory, you have a problem. Because you cannot manage what you cannot measure. And if you are not measuring, you are not managing. You are just building and hoping. So sit with your PM or project accountant this week. Pull out the job cost report. Pull out the PSR or MSR or financial reporting forms. And say: speak to me as you would a small child or a golden retriever. Walk me through every line until I understand every number. Then commit to reviewing these reports weekly. Knowing the numbers at all times. Making strategic decisions based on financial position instead of gut feeling.

As Tony Robbins teaches: small improvements in multiple areas create massive results. An 8% average improvement across seven key areas generates 134% overall growth. Same principle applies to fee optimization. Code cleaning properly: small improvement. Keep equipment that generates gains: small improvement. Hire staff when budget allows: small improvement. Self-perform strategically: small improvement. But add them together and you transform fee position from 0.98 to 1.11. From barely making target to exceeding it significantly. This is what knowing the numbers enables. Strategic thinking that maximizes fee while delivering remarkable projects. So learn the numbers. Love the numbers. Track the numbers relentlessly. Because you cannot win the game unless you know the scoreboard. And the scoreboard is your job cost report, your contingency position, your exposures, and your fee projection. Know them. Own them. Use them to make strategic decisions that maximize fee while protecting workers and delighting owners. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What five revenue streams increase fee on fixed-fee GMP projects?

Lump sum self-perform savings, equipment rental gains, staff labor gains (difference between billable rate and salary), craft labor gains (self-perform labor margins), and insurance and bond gains. These are the only ways to increase fee beyond stipulated amount when no shared savings clause exists.

How do you decide whether to code costs to project budget or self-perform codes?

If self-perform is lump sum, coding costs there reduces your fee savings. If project budget is healthy, code items like general cleaning to project budget where money exists. If project is over budget, you might code some items to lump sum self-perform to make overall budget audit properly. Strategy depends on financial position.

Why should you keep equipment longer if you own it and rent it to the project?

Because rental income generates equipment gains, the difference between what the owners pays in rental charges and what it actually costs to operate. Every month the equipment stays on site is another month of gains flowing directly to fee as long as the equipment is legitimately needed.

What reports must superintendents review to know the numbers?

Job cost report (all accounting tallied), contingency tracking (contractor versus internal contingency), exposures or risk register (possible costs and likelihood), projections (future fee position), and overall budget health. Weekly review minimum with monthly deep dives into fee position including all five revenue streams.

How do you learn financial reporting without accounting background?

Sit with PM or project accountant and say “speak to me as you would a small child”, ask them to walk through every line of job cost reports and financial forms until you understand every section. Ask questions until everything makes sense. Then review weekly to build fluency with the numbers.

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

In defense of last planner

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 38 min

The Scheduler Who Defended CPM without Ever Learning Takt or Scrum

There is a scheduler who has worked in construction for eighteen years. Highly skilled in CPM. Builds complex P6 schedules with thousands of logic ties. Generates metrics. Tracks float trends. Creates Power BI dashboards filtering data across seventeen projects simultaneously. Earns $150 per hour consulting on schedule development and recovery. Respected by owners. Relied upon by project teams. And when someone suggests he learn Takt planning or Scrum or Last Planner systems, he pushes back: critical path is a fact because every project has a critical path. Therefore CPM is essential. And he does not understand why people attack the system. When pressed further about whether he has actually studied these other systems, he admits: not really. He attended a one-hour Last Planner presentation once. Read a blog post about Takt. Heard someone mention Scrum in passing. But never implemented them. Never trained in them. Never built schedules using them. Never experienced projects running on flow systems instead of push systems. And now he defends CPM passionately against people who have implemented Takt on hundreds of projects and trained extensively in Scrum and run Last Planner systems for years. Not because he knows these other systems and concluded CPM is superior. But because he only knows CPM. And defending what you know is easier than learning something new. Charles Darwin teaches: it is not the strongest of the species that survive nor the most intelligent but the ones most responsive to change. And this scheduler is not responding to change. He is clinging to systems that produce 24% success rates because learning new systems requires admitting he spent eighteen years mastering a broken tool. So he defends CPM. Attacks alternatives he never learned. And wonders why more projects are shifting toward Takt, Last Planner, and Scrum while CPM contractors continue finishing projects late and burning people out.

Here is what happens when people defend systems without learning alternatives. A superintendent gets hired to recover a failing project. Schedule is four months behind. Trades are stacked. Sequences are chaos. And the owner demands a recovery plan. So the superintendent brings in a CPM scheduler. Who builds a massive recovery schedule? 5,000 activities. Complex logic ties. Resource loading. Float analysis. And generates reports showing how to crash the schedule back on track through overtime, increased crew sizes, and compressed sequences. The superintendent reviews the plan. Sees it requires workers to burn out for six months. Sees it pushes trades into conflicts. Sees it forces materials and work into readiness before proper make-ready happens. And realizes: this is a push system. It is forcing work instead of flowing work. So he asks: what if we used Takt planning instead? Visual boards showing trade flow through zones. Holding rhythm and crew counts steady instead of pushing them up and down. Creating flow instead of chaos. And the scheduler says: that will not work. You need CPM for complex projects. Takt is too simple. But the superintendent implements Takt anyway. Within two weeks, trades see their flow visually. Coordination improves. Conflicts resolve before they happen. And the project recovers without burnout. Not because Takt is magic. But because Takt is a hold system that creates flow. While CPM is a push system that forces chaos. And the scheduler never learned the difference because he only studied one system his entire career.

The real pain is defending systems you never questioned. A project manager uses CPM for every project. Updates P6 schedules weekly. Generates variance reports. Tracks critical path. Reviews float trends. And tells everyone: this is how professional construction gets managed. When someone mentions Last Planner, he says: tried it once, did not work. When someone mentions Takt, he says: too rigid, does not apply to my projects. When someone mentions Scrum, he says: that is for software development, not construction. But when you dig deeper, the truth emerges: he never actually implemented these systems. He attended a presentation. Read an article. Heard someone describe them. But never trained. Never practiced. Never built weekly work plans with foremen. Never created Takt boards showing zone flow. Never ran sprints with autonomous teams. He dismissed them based on partial understanding. And now he defends CPM while his projects finish late. Because changing systems requires admitting the old system failed. And that admission is harder than continuing to fail with familiar tools. So he keeps using CPM. Keeps finishing projects behind schedule. And keeps wondering why 24% success rates are acceptable in an industry where manufacturing achieves 90%+ success rates using lean flow systems.

The failure pattern is predictable and expensive. Three friends who are dear to someone challenge him about his stance on CPM. They say: you are too radical. CPM works. Critical path is a fact. Last Planner is garbage. Takt does not apply to everything. And when you ask why they believe this, they reveal: they barely know how to implement Last Planner. They have never studied Takt deeply. They have never gone through Scrum training. They only know CPM. And they defend it because learning alternatives requires time, effort, and humility. Easier to attack systems you never learned than experiment with them and discover they work better. So they stay on the CPM bandwagon. Finish projects at 24% success rates. And tell themselves the problem is execution not systems. Never realizing that manufacturing transformed productivity by changing systems. Not by executing broken systems better. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

What Each System Actually Does

Scrum is a collaborative system with small autonomous teams. A product owner, Scrum master, and development team have planning meetings. They use Scrum boards and metrics and daily huddles to move forward tasks outlined, identified, ranked, and scored by the product owner. They complete work at rapid pace. Twice the work in half the time. Then they do sprint reviews and retrospectives. The goal is constantly improving speed and quality with autonomous teams. Scrum works heavily with burn down charts instead of timelines. It is the most ideal system for design. Designers love it. Scrum is fantastically implemented for radically complex work that must be done fast. On construction projects, Scrum works brilliantly for critical path items. For everything requiring short interval production planning. Complete projects can run on Scrum combined with pull plans for long lead procurement.

Last Planner has difficulties on very large complex projects like hospitals or laboratories if you attempt using it for the whole system. It becomes so burdensome you spend most time managing the schedule instead of building. If you use Last Planner with CPM, it still does not work. Because CPM makes it not work. Unpredictable supply chains and chaos from the overall master schedule prevent getting things done well. But implement Last Planner for critical swim lanes, critical scopes, critical paths and it works beautifully. Last Planner combined with Takt is a perfect marriage. Phase planning, six-week make-ready look-aheads, weekly work plans, day planning, daily huddles all create collaboration and culture while respecting foremen. The focus should be on roadblocks not PPC tracking. People using Last Planner chase PPC metrics so much they forget about preparing work by removing roadblocks. But ignoring the many wonderful things Last Planner gave construction would be selfish, nearsighted, and ignorant.

CPM is a non-visual system. Very flawed. The primary reason construction projects fail. It should be dethroned. Removed from contracts. Removed from government contracts. Owners need to wake up. Schedulers need to recover. They need CPM Anonymous courses to learn Scrum, Last Planner, and Takt so they can find careers that do not hurt people on construction projects. If people must use CPM, precede it with Takt. You can create Takt trains for almost anything. Exteriors, site work, interiors, basements, concrete. Anything. When people say Takt does not apply to everything, they are showing ignorance because they do not know how to use it.

Takt is the single best system for managing construction projects because it creates flow. CPM has nothing to do with flow. Not a single thing in that software helps visualize flow. The fact that it tracks float incentivizes delaying activities and stacking them at the end. Every part of CPM creates bad culture. Takt shows flow remains consistent. And here is the breakthrough: Takt is a hold system. Last Planner is a pull system. Scrum is a fast pull system. And CPM is a push system. Push means being on top of somebody else. Out of sequence work. Getting pushed into areas with other trades. Getting pushed to do work before ready. Crew counts pushed up and down. Materials pushed forward and back. Contractors pushed to do things they did not agree to and cannot accomplish. Last Planner and Scrum queue up work to follow work that is ready. About making work ready. Pulling work behind you. Takt says: here is your slot, here is your slot, here is your slot. Everyone agrees contractually and verbally to hold those dates. So they flow evenly. Pull work but hold the rhythm. Everyone agrees to keep crew counts and material buffers the same and adjust everything else like Takt zones. Hold systems create flow. Pull systems create readiness. Push systems create chaos.

Signs You Are Defending Systems You Never Learned

Watch for these patterns that signal you are protecting familiar tools instead of discovering better ones:

  • You dismiss alternatives like Takt or Scrum or Last Planner without ever training in them or implementing them on actual projects just reading articles or attending presentations
  • You defend CPM by saying critical path is a fact without understanding that humans enter the data and you cannot see flow until too late making the critical path invisible not factual
  • You argue systems do not apply to your projects without experimenting to discover whether they work because learning new systems requires admitting you mastered a broken tool
  • You charge $150-350 per hour for CPM scheduling that takes twelve weeks to create schedules superintendents could create in hours using Takt without schedulers
  • You follow the money protecting jobs that depend on CPM complexity instead of following truth that simple systems empower teams to schedule themselves without dependency on specialists
  • You only attack systems trying to fix broken foundations instead of attacking the enemy that creates 24% success rates and 76% challenged or failed projects

These are not signs of expertise. These are signs of defending what you know instead of learning what works. Darwin teaches: it is not the strongest that survive nor the most intelligent but the ones most responsive to change. And defending CPM while refusing to learn Takt, Last Planner, and Scrum is refusing to respond to change. So you become extinct while responsive teams thrive.

The Only Problem Is What You Cannot See

Who would think it was good idea for everyone to get in cars blindfolded and try making it to work just because they have been there before? That is what we do with CPM. We would have car wrecks everywhere. Why is cancer such a deadly disease? Because most of the time we do not know we have it until too late. Why is CPM such a deadly disease? Because you cannot see the problems until too late. The only problem you have on your project are the problems you cannot see. CPM hides problems in complexity. 5,000 activities with logic ties so complex the human mind cannot track flow. By the time the schedule grows, you just put things in sequences in WBS sections then logic tie them together. And it becomes impossible to see flow. No superintendent on earth can build a CPM schedule and see flow while building it. Only God could create a CPM schedule and see flow and problems while building it and logic tie it correctly as it grows. It cannot be done.

When do you want to see if a building is built right? After construction is complete when a forensic team comes in? By then it is too late. You want QC inspectors there when placing concrete. You want to see schedule quality when building the schedule. You cannot do that in CPM. That is the genius behind Takt. You can see flow while building the plan. Same with Last Planner. When do you want to see? When you are building it. Nobody however good can build a CPM schedule and see flow as that schedule grows. Building schedules blindfolded is like driving blindfolded. And when problems appear, CPM metrics say: hey, you should not have done that. While Takt says: let us not do this in the first place. Have you ever hit your head and somebody said watch your head after? That is CPM. All the Power BI metrics, float metrics, float trends just say watch your head after you already hit it. They do not fix anything. Do not prevent anything. Do not help. Takt prevents problems by making flow visible when building the schedule.

The Tyranny of OR Versus AND

Do not fall for the tyranny of the OR. OR means: I either do this or that. Either use this software or that one. Either use this system or the other one. Do not do that. Where is the AND? Why can’t we use this and that? Mix this and that? Use the best of all these systems? If you must use CPM, address the concern by building a Takt plan first. See the flows. Build the schedule. Then translate that into the CPM schedule if required. Why waste time spending four, five, six, seven, eight times the amount of work to build CPM once you have Takt? But if you want to, go ahead. Forget the tyranny of the OR. It is not this or that. It is AND. This is a shopping mall. A grocery store. Pick what you need. What will nourish you at the time? Nobody forces you to get one of each of everything they sell in a grocery store. You pick out what you need. How are these systems any different than going to the grocery store? They are tools to use. As long as you have the systems philosophy and use it as a system, you can pick and choose what you need and apply it to the project team and adapt it.

Most of the time it is not taking each system in its entirety and plugging it in 100%. Usually it is adaptation to the project site according to the project, the people, the aptitude of people, the skills of people, and their circumstances. Takt is a hold or flow system. Last Planner and Scrum are pull systems. CPM is a push system. And push systems are the worst thing you can ever get into. So adapt your systems to the needs of the project. Do not fall for the tyranny of the OR. There are ANDs. Treat things like you are in the shopping mall or supermarket. Apply what you need for nourishment. Make sure you understand all your systems. Do not subscribe to one or two because that is all you know.

Why Most Trade Partner Problems Are GC’s Fault

Trade partners on job sites that all GCs complain about? Most of it is not their fault. Most of it is our fault as the general contractor. Period. How do you expect a trade partner to be successful when we dictate the schedule, do not give them flow, crash land projects, interrupt their supply chains, do not educate them, treat them poorly, do not ask their opinion, and shove CPM schedules down their throats? If I was a trade partner, I would only accept jobs where I could collaborate with the superintendent and agree on an overall flow schedule. As soon as they shove CPM garbage down my throat, I know: we are going to lose money on this job. General contractors and people in construction: most of what is wrong is our fault. And it is time to fix this. It is not easy to do all this stuff. But it never was. Who are we worried about making it easy on? Our workers. I care about you getting home on time to your family. I care about you having a remarkable life. I never said it would be easy. I expect you to do more. I think you can do more. So step up. We all need you to step up and take care of our trades and do the right thing. It is not easy. But it is 100% possible.

Follow the Money and Come See for Yourself

Follow the money. Who gets paid to tell you the truth? Does telling you CPM is not working make money? No. It loses money. Loses friends. Loses opportunities. There is no incentive to attack CPM except to stop hurting workers. But who makes money off CPM? Consulting firms. 12-person teams on huge industrial projects doing controls. Schedulers charging $150-350 per hour for CPM scheduling. Follow the money. Who is going to tell you the truth? A scheduler getting paid $150-350 per hour or someone who loses money speaking truth? Schedulers want to use CPM because you need them. Takt, Last Planner, Scrum? Teams can do it themselves. Superintendents can create Takt plans in hours. But right now companies need schedulers to spend twelve weeks creating huge CPM schedules. Follow the control. Will a scheduler ever want to get rid of CPM knowing it gives them control, data, metrics, funding for their position, job security? You can figure that out for yourself.

Some religions have preachers who say: believe me, believe my interpretation, believe what I was taught, and believe me believe me believe me. Others say: here is an invitation, you go ask God yourself and get revelation yourself. The second kind invites you to pray for yourself, get revelation yourself, and connect with God yourself. Same thing in construction. Would you rather have a scheduler say believe me believe me believe me? Or would you rather have someone say: go try it, go experiment with these systems, go do it and see if it does not make the difference, come and see, get your own answers? People getting mad about bashing CPM have only ever done projects in CPM. When you have done hundreds of projects in Takt and seen it work, when you have implemented Last Planner on many projects, when you have gone through Scrum training, then you can talk about the merits of different systems. But if you have only ever done CPM, you are like the preacher saying believe me listen to me instead of saying go experiment and ask for yourself. Complexity is the enemy of execution. CPM is complex. Last Planner is simple. Takt is simple. Scrum is simple. If we want something effective in construction, it has to be simple.

The Challenge

Stop defending systems you never learned. Stop attacking alternatives you never implemented. Stop protecting jobs that depend on complexity instead of serving workers who need simplicity. Darwin teaches: it is not the strongest of the species that survive nor the most intelligent but the ones most responsive to change. So respond to change. Learn Takt. Train in Scrum. Implement Last Planner. Experiment with flow systems instead of defending push systems. Come and see for yourself whether visual boards showing trade flow work better than 5,000-activity schedules hiding problems until too late. Get your own answers instead of believing schedulers who profit from CPM complexity.

As Darwin teaches: it is not the strongest of the species that survive nor the most intelligent but the ones most responsive to change. And construction is changing. Massive shift toward Takt, Last Planner, and Scrum. Massive shift away from CPM. You can adapt and thrive. Or defend what you know and become extinct. The choice is yours. But remember: the only problem you have on your project is what you cannot see. And CPM makes everything invisible until too late. While Takt makes flow visible when building the schedule. So you prevent problems instead of recovering from them. That is why Takt wins. That is why flow wins. That is why simple wins. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between hold, pull, and push scheduling systems?

Takt is a hold system where everyone agrees to hold dates, rhythm, crew counts, and material buffers to create flow. Last Planner and Scrum are pull systems that queue up ready work behind completed work. CPM is a push system forcing out-of-sequence work, stacking trades, and pushing work before readiness.

Why can you not see flow when building a CPM schedule?

CPM schedules grow so complex with thousands of activities and logic ties that human minds cannot track flow while building them. You just sequence things in WBS sections then logic tie them together and it becomes impossible to see problems until too late, like driving blindfolded.

What is the tyranny of the OR and how does AND replace it?

Tyranny of OR means either/or thinking: either use this system or that one. AND means using multiple systems as needed like picking what you need from a grocery store, Takt for flow, Last Planner for collaboration, Scrum for complex work, adapting to project needs.

Why are most trade partner problems the general contractor’s fault?

GCs dictate schedules without collaboration, provide no flow, crash land projects, interrupt supply chains, treat trades poorly, do not ask opinions, and shove CPM schedules down their throats, then blame trades for failing in systems designed to make them fail.

How do you respond to change instead of defending familiar systems?

Experiment with alternatives yourself rather than dismissing them based on articles or presentations. Train in Takt, implement Last Planner, learn Scrum, then compare results to CPM from experience not theory, come and see for yourself rather than believing what others claim.

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

Build a Little Better – High Expectations

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 30 min

The Superintendent Who Ran a “Good” Project While Workers Said the Job Was Horrible

There is a superintendent managing a project he considers good. Not perfect. Not excellent. But good. Quality is decent. Safety is okay. They are hitting 75% of their fee target. The team gets along reasonably well. Nobody is fighting. Work is progressing. And when the owner asks how things are going, the superintendent says: we are doing pretty well. Good project. Solid team. Then a consultant walks the jobsite talking to workers. Asking questions. How is this job? How is communication? Do you know what you are working on tomorrow? And the workers tell a different story. This job is horrible. No communication. Half the time we do not know where we are going. Constant problems. Equipment breakdowns. Material delays. The superintendent babysits instead of leads. Trades feel disrespected. And when you ask foremen how they feel, they say the same thing: I am a professional babysitter. Trades do not perform. The superintendent does not support us. We solve the same problems every week. Meanwhile the superintendent thinks everything is good. Because he compares his project to other mediocre projects and decides he is doing fine. Never realizing that “good” is the most dangerous place to be in construction. Not terrible. Not excellent. Just good. Which means gravity is constantly pulling everything downhill. Systems break down daily. People work harder for worse results. And everyone suffers while the superintendent convinces himself things are fine. Because good feels acceptable until you realize workers are miserable and the project is failing in ways that do not show up on reports.

Here is what happens when teams confuse “good” with “good enough.” A project manager runs a job using traditional methods. CPM schedule. Weekly coordination meetings. Standard safety protocols. Nothing remarkable. Nothing terrible. Just standard industry practice. And things work okay. Sort of. The schedule slips two weeks. They recover one week. Slip three more. Recover two. The entire project oscillates between slightly behind and slightly caught up. Quality issues appear. Get fixed. Appear again. Safety incidents stay low but never zero. And the PM tells himself: we are doing well. Better than most projects. We will finish close to on time. Make most of our fee. The owner will be satisfied. Then the project finishes four months late. At 65% of fee target. With a punch list that takes six more months to complete. And the PM wonders: what happened? We were doing so well. The answer is brutal: you were never doing well. You were managing decline. Accepting “good enough” instead of demanding excellence. And “good enough” compounds into failure the same way small delays compound into crash landings. Because there is no such thing as staying good. You are either climbing toward excellence or sliding toward failure. And teams that accept “good” as the target slide every time.

The real pain is that good is harder to maintain than excellent. Imagine a mountain. At the bottom is terrible. Halfway up the slope is mediocre. Three-quarters up is good. At the peak is excellent. Where is it easiest to stand? The top or the bottom. Because gravity pulls everything downhill. You can stand at the peak comfortably. You can stand at the bottom comfortably. But standing on the slope requires constant effort. Constant fighting against gravity. Constant pushing uphill to prevent sliding down. That is what “good” feels like. You work harder than excellent teams to achieve worse results. Because good teams accept some trash on the ground. Some late deliveries. Some rework. Some miscommunication. And every exception creates friction. Every workaround takes energy. Every low standard requires supervision to prevent sliding lower. Meanwhile excellent teams have systems. Nothing touches the floor. Every delivery is scheduled. Every trade knows tomorrow’s work today. And when standards are that high, gravity cannot pull you down. Because there is nowhere lower to slide. You are already at the top.

The failure pattern is predictable and exhausting. A superintendent accepts decent standards. Trash near the dumpster is okay. Workers can use the hoist if the area is mostly clean. Prefabrication is optional. Deliveries happen whenever vendors show up. And the superintendent spends every day fighting fires. Redirecting workers who do not know where to go. Cleaning up after trades who leave messes. Coordinating deliveries that arrive unannounced. Managing rework from quality issues that should never have happened. He works sixty hours per week maintaining “good.” Never realizing that if he spent two weeks establishing perfect systems, he could work forty-five hours maintaining excellence. Because perfect is self-sustaining. Workers get addicted to excellence. Once the floor is spotless every day, nobody wants to be the first person to drop trash. Once deliveries arrive on schedule consistently, vendors do not show up late. Once quality is flawless, trades take pride in their work instead of cutting corners. The superintendent could leave for two weeks and systems would keep working. Because excellence creates culture. And culture sustains itself. While “good” requires constant supervision to prevent collapse.

I have three modes. Schroeder when I am teaching or recording podcasts. The Coach when I am supporting people and helping them grow. And The Emperor when I am running projects. Spanish-speaking crews gave me that nickname. The Evil Emperor. Like Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars saying “everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.” Because when I run projects, I have high expectations. Nothing touches the floor. Everything is prefabricated unless you get my permission. You do not operate the hoist if there is a single piece of trash around the dumpster. Every delivery is scheduled and arrives on time. And people think this is radical. Over the top. Unnecessary. But here is what happens: within two weeks, the project becomes self-sustaining. I can leave and systems keep working. Workers are happier because they know what to expect. Trades make more money because there is no rework. The owner is delighted because quality is flawless and schedule is perfect. And I work fewer hours than superintendents managing “good” projects. Because excellence is easier than mediocre once you establish it. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

What High Expectations Actually Create

High expectations equal respect. Not cruelty. Not perfectionism that destroys people. Respect. When you demand nothing touches the floor, you are saying: we respect this workspace enough to keep it pristine. When you require scheduled deliveries, you are saying: we respect your time enough to coordinate properly. When you insist on perfect quality, you are saying: we respect the owner and the workers building this project enough to do it right the first time. Low expectations communicate the opposite. When you accept trash on the ground, you are saying: this workspace does not matter. When you accept late deliveries, you are saying: your time does not matter. When you accept rework, you are saying: quality does not matter. Workers notice. They internalize. And they perform to the standard you communicate through what you tolerate.

Paul Akers runs FastCap. His shop is perfectly clean. Everything has a place. Everything gets cleaned daily. Workers make two-second lean improvements continuously. And when people visit, they ask: is not this exhausting to maintain? Paul says no. This is easier than running a messy shop. Because perfect is self-sustaining. Once systems are established, they maintain themselves. Workers do not want to be the first person to break the standard. Culture enforces itself. Meanwhile shops that accept “good enough” require constant supervision. Managers spend all day enforcing minimum standards. Cleaning up messes. Fixing problems that should not exist. And everyone works harder for worse results. Because good requires supervision. Excellent requires culture. And culture is free once you build it.

Success Metrics for Remarkable Projects

A successful project means: making at least 90% of fee target. Finishing on schedule without crash landings. Remarkable quality with minimal punch list. Remarkable safety with zero incidents. Workers and teams enjoy being there and meet career goals. And the owner is delighted with the work. Not satisfied. Delighted. These are non-negotiable metrics for success. Not aspirational goals. Minimum requirements. And when someone says these expectations are too high, the answer is simple: lower your standards and you will work harder for worse results while disappointing everyone including yourself. Raise your standards and you will work less for better results while creating environments people love.

Pre-construction should be remarkable. The schedule should be remarkable using flow systems instead of CPM garbage. The office space should feel like Disneyland. The conference room should enable uber-effective meetings. The huddle area on site should inspire. And there should be zero trash anywhere. Not “mostly clean.” Zero trash. When you walk the project, you should not see a single piece of debris. Because if one piece of trash is acceptable, ten pieces become acceptable. And ten becomes fifty. And suddenly you are managing a landfill instead of a construction project. The standard is the standard. And the standard is perfect. Not because perfect is easy. But because anything less than perfect slides downhill and requires constant effort to maintain.

Signs Your Expectations Are Too Low

Watch for these patterns that signal you accept “good enough” instead of demanding excellence:

  • You tell yourself the project is going well while workers tell consultants the job is horrible with no communication and constant chaos
  • You work sixty-hour weeks babysitting and fighting fires instead of forty-five-hour weeks leading systems that run themselves because excellence is self-sustaining
  • Trades feel disrespected and perform poorly because low standards communicate that quality and coordination do not matter enough to enforce properly
  • You make 75% of fee instead of 90%+ because rework, delays, and inefficiency consume margin that perfect execution would have protected
  • The owner is satisfied instead of delighted because you delivered acceptable results instead of remarkable results that exceed expectations
  • Your team says things like “we are pretty good” or “decent” or “better than most” instead of “we are excellent” because they compare themselves to mediocrity instead of perfection

These are not signs of success. These are signs of managed decline. You are working harder than excellent teams to achieve worse results. And the problem is not effort. The problem is standards. Raise the standards and everything becomes easier. Because excellence is self-sustaining while “good” requires constant supervision.

Why Good Teams Are the Worst Situation

When a consultant arrives at a terrible project, everyone knows something is wrong. They are receptive to change. Desperate for solutions. And willing to try new approaches because the old approaches clearly failed. When a consultant arrives at an excellent project, no consultant is needed. Systems work. Culture sustains itself. And the team performs without external help. But when a consultant arrives at a “good” project, resistance is highest. Because the team tells themselves: we are already pretty good. We kind of like each other. Why do we need to change? And this is the most dangerous belief in construction. Because “good” is the slope. Where gravity constantly pulls you down. And if you are not climbing toward excellent, you are sliding toward terrible whether you notice it or not.

The job is to create leverage against that limiting belief. To interrupt the pattern. To ask: what if good is not good enough? How do you actually feel running this project? If people are honest, they admit: I do not get home to my family in enough time. Maintaining standards with trades is still painful. I babysit and fight fires instead of lead. Workers disrespect me. Communication breaks down constantly. And when you interview workers, they say: this job is horrible. No communication. We never know where we are going. Constant problems. Good for the superintendent is horrible for the workers. And once that becomes clear, the limiting belief breaks. Because nobody wants to work sixty hours managing chaos while telling themselves it is “good enough.” They want to work forty-five hours managing excellence while going home proud of what they built.

How to Create and Sustain Excellence

Start by establishing non-negotiable standards. Nothing touches the floor. Everything is prefabricated unless you approve exceptions. Every delivery is scheduled. Every trade knows tomorrow’s work today. Zero trash anywhere on site. And when people push back saying these standards are unrealistic, the answer is: these standards are easier to maintain than the chaos you currently manage. Because perfect is self-sustaining. Once workers see the floor spotless every day, they refuse to drop trash. Once trades experience scheduled deliveries, they stop accepting surprises. Once quality is flawless, rework becomes unacceptable. Culture enforces itself. And you work less maintaining excellence than you currently work managing “good.”

Become fanatical. Not angry. Not tyrannical. Fanatical about excellence. Care deeply that every detail is perfect. Because details create culture. And culture creates results. When Paul Akers sees one piece of trash in his shop, he stops and picks it up. Not because he is obsessed with cleanliness. But because that one piece of trash signals that standards are slipping. And if standards slip in one area, they slip everywhere. So he protects excellence fanatically. And his team does the same. Because they have been infected with the belief that perfect is achievable and worth maintaining. That is the culture you must create. Where everyone protects excellence because they have experienced how much easier it makes their work.

Reinforce the new pattern constantly. Why do we strive for excellence? Because it is self-sustaining. Because it makes workers’ lives easier. Because it brings more money to trade partners by eliminating rework. Because it allows us to go home on time instead of working overtime fixing problems that should not exist. Because the owner is delighted instead of just satisfied. And because excellent projects are fun while “good” projects are exhausting. Keep reinforcing until the team sees excellence the way you see it. Believes excellence the way you believe it. And becomes fanatical about protecting it. Because that is when the transformation completes. When culture sustains itself without your supervision. And you can leave for two weeks knowing systems keep working.

The Challenge

Walk onto your project tomorrow and ask honestly: are we excellent or just good? If the answer is “we are pretty good” or “better than most,” you have a problem. Because good is the slope. Where you work harder than excellent teams for worse results. Where you babysit instead of lead. Where workers are miserable while you tell yourself things are fine. And where gravity constantly pulls you downhill toward failure. So stop accepting well. Start demanding excellent. Establish non-negotiable standards. Nothing touches the floor. Every delivery scheduled. Perfect quality. Zero rework. And when people say these standards are too high, prove them wrong by showing how much easier life becomes when excellence is the culture.

As Tony Robbins teaches: success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure. And “good” projects create success without fulfillment. You finish. Make some fee. Keep your job. But you are exhausted. Your family suffered. Workers are miserable. And the owner is merely satisfied. That is not success. That is managed decline. Excellent projects create success with fulfillment. You finish on time. Make 90%+ fee. Go home refreshed. Workers loved building it. And the owner is delighted. That is what construction should be. Not the exception. The standard. So raise your expectations. Become fanatical about excellence. And build projects that make you proud instead of projects that just do not fail. Because high expectations equal respect. For yourself. For workers. For trades. And for the craft of building. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is “good” the most dangerous place for construction projects?

“Good” is the slope on the mountain where gravity constantly pulls you downhill. You work harder than excellent teams maintaining mediocrity because every low standard requires supervision to prevent sliding lower while excellence is self-sustaining once established.

How do high expectations equal respect in construction?

When you demand nothing touches the floor, you communicate: we respect this workspace. When you require scheduled deliveries, you say: we respect your time. High standards show you value workers, trades, and quality enough to do things right.

What are the success metrics for a remarkable project?

Making 90%+ of fee target, finishing on schedule without crash landings, remarkable quality with minimal punch list, zero safety incidents, workers enjoying the experience and meeting career goals, and owners delighted not just satisfied with the work.

Why is excellence easier to maintain than mediocrity?

Excellence is self-sustaining because workers refuse to be first to break standards. Perfect floors stay perfect. Scheduled deliveries become expected. Flawless quality creates pride. Culture enforces itself without supervision while “good” requires constant fighting against decline.

What does it mean to be fanatical about excellence?

Care deeply that every detail is perfect because details create culture and culture creates results. One piece of trash signals standards are slipping. Protect excellence relentlessly not through tyranny but through consistent enforcement of non-negotiable standards everyone understands and values.

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

Field Engineer Office Duties (RFIs, Submittals, Logs, And Documentation In Construction)

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 23 min

Field Engineer Office Duties (RFIs, Submittals, Logs, and Documentation in Construction)

In this blog, I’m going to talk to you about some of the office duties of a field engineer. And I do want to make the point that a project or office engineer can be field focused. So, there’s some mix there. And I want to talk to you as I start before I get to these topics about a pattern that I strongly believe in.

The Common Struggle: Assistant Superintendents Doing Engineering Tasks

I have encountered this almost countless times. That’s probably a little bit exaggerated, but where an assistant or area superintendent is overwhelmed because they are doing the job of the engineers. And I remember Dan Denen and Mike Redman from Hensel Phelps had really neat lists. They were general superintendents of a project in trouble. And one of the signs was that a leader is doing lower-level work.

Not that they’re not willing to, meaning they’re humble and they will if they need to, but consistently doing somebody else’s work. And that’s a problem.

If the Project Is Dirty, Superintendents Are Distracted

Let me just say this. If the project is dirty, there’s chaos, it’s unorganized, people are not safe, then that means that the superintendents either don’t know what they’re doing, they’re not fit for duty, or they’re distracted doing engineering tasks.

Although I’m not a huge fan of role segregation, meaning I do like overlap and cross training. I have often had to say, “Assistant superintendent, it is your job to be safety presence in the field, quality presence in the field and plan and execute work. I need these areas perfectly clean. I need them perfectly safe. I need them organized. I need the trades flowing.”

Send Trades to Field Engineers for RFIs and Submittals

If the trades are going to come and ask you questions, ask them. If it’s a request for information, if it’s a submittal question and you know your field engineers in your office and project engineers can answer it, ask them to go talk to them so that you can stay focused.

The 11 Kids Example: When It Gets Quiet, Someone’s Marking on the Walls

This is kind of a funny example, but I have a lot of kids, 11 kids. That’s a real story. They’re all mine and Kate’s. We pay taxes. They’re insured, so there’s no need to judge me. I take them out on the weekends all by myself. Or as Jack Sparrow said, “Oh, buy me onesies.” Like, I am a jamming dad. Like, I freaking love it.

Here’s what I’ve noticed. In my house, it’s noisy and chaotic. In fact, when I go on trips, I have to play like rain sounds, like white noise to fall asleep because I’m used to the noise. And in my house, if it gets quiet, I’m like, “Wait, what? What is going on?” And I’m like, “Okay.” And I’m going to go check. And sure enough, the kids are marking on the walls with markers or crayons, and they’re quiet because they don’t want to get caught.

Now, trades are not children, and I’m not disparaging anybody, but a superintendent’s got to be focused for when things get quiet and people are marking on the walls. Like, we have to have a presence, a leader in the field.

Field Engineers Free Up Time for Field Supervisors

And so, we must have field engineers and office and project engineers at the ready to do their job so that we can free up some time for field supervisors.

So, let’s talk about it.

RFIs: Field Engineers Write, Submit, and Post

A field engineer will 100 million billion trillion percent engage in writing and submitting and posting an RFI. In fact, when I was a field engineer, I loved and that was back before we did it digitally. I’d get my templates out, my little circle template, square templates, and my compass, and I would draw. I loved posting drawings. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s just that meticulous side of me.

Anyway, so like a field engineer will, especially because they’re doing lift drawings. You’re going to find missing information and then you need to write, submit, and post those RFIs. Now, some people will think it’s all the project engineer or all the office engineer’s duty. If you train the field engineer properly, there’s no reason they can’t do RFIs.

Submittals: Field Engineers Track, Review, Submit, and Distribute

The other thing is if the field engineer is assigned a specific task, they can track and then review and then submit and then distribute submittals. But I don’t find this happening all the time. But like they will review the submittals and it will go back into their lift drawings.

So, field engineers have a key part to play in there because submittals are a part of lifting information from other locations and putting it into that single drawing.

Trend Charts: Tracking Concrete Yardage and Progress

The other thing is I remember this very vividly. The first project I was ever on was a massive prison. I wasn’t in prison. I was helping build a prison. But the trend chart was tracking concrete. I thought it was like 65,000 cubic yard. It was something crazy. And then we had that so the amount of yardage was on the y-axis and time was on the x-axis.

And I remember tracking that trend chart all the way to the end and working with the super. That was one of the office duties that I very much appreciated because field engineers are in charge of quantity takeoffs and doing quantity surveys and making sure that we’re tracking progress in the field. So, the trend chart responsibility was really neat office duty.

As-Builts: Critical for CFO, Don’t Lose Them

And then as-builts. As-builts obviously for working with trade partners for surveying the inverts of lines locations, as-builting the coordinates of underground utilities, as-builts anything required by the authority having jurisdiction making sure that those are done.

Let me tell you just a quick story. I remember a project that was done beautifully and the project was about to finish a week early and the owner was just like a raving fan client. But the fields and I had nothing to do with this so I’m not blaming, Jocko Willink would not be mad at me, but they lost 50% of the sewer and underground storm drain as-builts.

So, they actually didn’t get their CFO week early. They actually had to go rip out hardscape and landscape. I’m not making fun of it, but rip out landscape and hardscape and go do new invert shots with a professional surveyor and get all of those done professionally and detailed out and then submit those to the city and then finally finished right on time.

It’s very frustrating, but as-built, we got to make sure that all of those are ready for CFO. In that case, you can finish properly and we have a happy owner.

Here’s what field engineers do in the office:

  • RFIs: field engineers write, submit, and post because they’re doing lift drawings – Field engineer will 100 million billion trillion percent engage in writing and submitting and posting RFI. Back before did it digitally, get templates out, little circle template, square templates, compass, draw. Loved posting drawings. Field engineer will, especially because they’re doing lift drawings. Going to find missing information and then need to write, submit, and post those RFIs. Some people will think it’s all project engineer or all office engineer’s duty. If train field engineer properly, there’s no reason they can’t do RFIs.
  • Submittals: field engineers track, review, submit, distribute and put info into lift drawings – If field engineer assigned specific task, they can track and then review and then submit and then distribute submittals. Don’t find this happening all the time. But they will review submittals and it will go back into their lift drawings. Field engineers have key part to play because submittals are part of lifting information from other locations and putting it into that single drawing.
  • Trend charts: track concrete yardage, quantity takeoffs, quantity surveys, progress – First project was massive prison. Trend chart was tracking concrete. Like 65,000 cubic yard. Amount of yardage was on y-axis and time was on x-axis. Remember tracking that trend chart all the way to end and working with super. One of office duties very much appreciated because field engineers in charge of quantity takeoffs and doing quantity surveys and making sure tracking progress in field. Trend chart responsibility really neat office duty.
  • As-builts: inverts of lines, underground utilities coordinates, anything required by AHJ for CFO – As-builts obviously for working with trade partners for surveying inverts of lines locations, as-builting coordinates of underground utilities, as-builts anything required by authority having jurisdiction making sure those are done. Project was about to finish week early, owner raving fan client, but they lost 50% of sewer and underground storm drain as-builts. Actually, didn’t get CFO week early. Had to go rip out hardscape and landscape and go do new invert shots with professional surveyor and get all those done professionally and detailed out and submit to city and finally finished right on time. Got to make sure all those ready for CFO.
  • Free up superintendents for field presence: send trades to FEs for RFI and submittal questions – Assistant superintendent overwhelmed because doing job of engineers. Sign project in trouble: leader doing lower-level work. If project dirty, chaos, unorganized, people not safe, superintendents either don’t know what doing, not fit for duty, or distracted doing engineering tasks. Assistant superintendent job: safety presence in field, quality presence in field, plan and execute work. Need areas perfectly clean, perfectly safe, organized, trades flowing. If trades going to ask questions, if RFI, if submittal question and know field engineers and project engineers can answer it, ask them go talk to them so can stay focused.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

A Challenge for Field Engineers

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Take on your office duties to free up superintendents for field presence. Write, submit, and post RFIs. Especially because you’re doing lift drawings, going to find missing information. If train properly, there’s no reason you can’t do RFIs.

Track, review, submit, and distribute submittals. Review submittals and put it back into lift drawings. Submittals are part of lifting information from other locations and putting it into that single drawing. Track trend charts. Quantity takeoffs, quantity surveys, making sure tracking progress in field. Y-axis is amount, x-axis is time. Track all the way to end working with super.

Make sure as-builts are done. Surveying inverts of lines locations, as-builting coordinates of underground utilities, anything required by authority having jurisdiction. Make sure all those ready for CFO. Don’t lose them and have to rip out hardscape and landscape to redo invert shots.

Send trades to you for RFI and submittal questions so superintendents can stay focused. Superintendents need to be safety presence in field, quality presence in field, plan and execute work. Need areas perfectly clean, perfectly safe, organized, trades flowing. As we say at Elevate, field engineer office duties: RFIs, submittals, trend charts, as-builts. Free up superintendents for field presence. Balance office work with field duties.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should field engineers write RFIs?

Yes. Field engineer will 100 million billion trillion percent engage in writing and submitting and posting RFI. Especially because they’re doing lift drawings. Going to find missing information and then need to write, submit, and post those RFIs. If train field engineer properly, there’s no reason they can’t do RFIs.

What do field engineers do with submittals?

If field engineer assigned specific task, they can track and then review and then submit and then distribute submittals. They will review submittals and it will go back into their lift drawings. Field engineers have key part to play because submittals are part of lifting information from other locations and putting it into that single drawing.

What are trend charts for field engineers?

Track concrete yardage, quantity takeoffs, quantity surveys, making sure tracking progress in field. Amount of yardage on y-axis and time on x-axis. Track all the way to end working with super. Field engineers in charge of quantity takeoffs and quantity surveys.

Why are as-builts critical?

For working with trade partners for surveying inverts of lines locations, as-builting coordinates of underground utilities, anything required by authority having jurisdiction. Got to make sure all those ready for CFO. Don’t lose them or will have to rip out hardscape and landscape to redo invert shots.

How do field engineers free up superintendents?

If trades going to ask questions, if RFI, if submittal question and know field engineers and project engineers can answer it, ask them go talk to them so superintendent can stay focused. Superintendent needs to be safety presence in field, quality presence in field, plan and execute 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

Field Engineer Duties In Construction (Responsibilities And Daily Checklist)

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 22 min

Field Engineer Duties in Construction (Responsibilities and Daily Checklist)

I’m excited about this topic because I have done a day in the life of a field engineer, but in this one, I’m going to do a day in the life of a field engineer for the different phases. So, I’m just going to get right into it.

Planning Phase: Most of Your Time in the Office

When you’re in pre-construction and you’re in project planning before the job starts, let me just get this for the whole thing here. Let’s just assume this is like 6:00 a.m. This is noon. This is the end of the day. If I put an end of the day, everybody would kill me on YouTube, so I’m not going to do that. But this is like the full day.

If you’re a field engineer in the planning phase, when you get into the office, you’re going to want to get some good quiet time. I’m just going to label this as production. And if you are with a team, this is going to be your check-in time. You might have a couple of meetings throughout the day. So, I’ll write down meetings. And this is pertinent information. I want you to know.

For the most part, you are going to do office work. So, you’re mostly doing lift drawings, and you’re mostly doing primary control activities, meaning like you’re detailing it out in Civil 3D or AutoCAD. And you could have this be office work, and I’ll say slash primary secondary work and control establishment.

By the way, this is a part of a 20-video series. In a previous blog, I talked about the job startup activities. And so really, most of this is job startup and getting it ready. So, you’re going to spend a lot of time in the office.

Concrete Phase: Work Everything Around Placements

Now, when you’re in job startup, you’re in the concrete phase. This gets a little bit different. And I think I’m going to bless you right now because I’m going to use my blue marker, and I’m going to also mention some of the things that you’ll experience, especially during concrete.

So, first of all, it’s probably not just six. You’re probably going to have shift work where you come in a little bit earlier. But a lot of what’s going to happen here is that mainly you’ve got to have a time in the afternoon to plan the next day. So, this is your planning time.

If you’re out doing concrete, chances are you’re going to be doing the concrete placement support early morning, if you’re doing placement. So I’ll write placement. If that is the case, then it would be later on in the day when you came in and you worked on lift drawings and when you did layout and control.

Non-Placement Days: Quiet Time for Lift Drawings, Then Layout

But I want to contrast that to non-placement days. You are probably going to want to get in here a little bit earlier. And work on, before you get bothered, lift drawings, and then go out and spend your time throughout the rest of the day doing layout.

And by the way, that planning meeting does extend. And make sure that you get as much quiet time as you possibly can to study these drawings. In fact, some job sites, even though it was early, like pretty early, I was like, you might come in at 4:00 a.m., 4:30, 5:00 a.m., where it’s super quiet and you can focus, focus, focus, and then go out when you get a little bit more tired and you’re moving and your blood’s moving.

The reason I move these to like mid-day and later day is because when you’re out in the field, yes, you’re a bit tired, but you’re keeping your brain awake through the blood circulation. So that’s planning and concrete.

Interiors Phase: Zone Control Walks and Inspections

And then, when you’re in the interiors, let’s say that you’re moving through that building, one of the things that you’ll really want to do is obviously attend the morning worker huddle. So, I will just write worker.

And then you will want to help the superintendent with what’s called zone control walks. That means wherever there’s a handoff from zone to zone, you are going to go help the lead person or the assistant superintendent to make sure that we’re clearing the way out ahead of the trade partners in their wagon or task, and that we’re punching as we go.

No Massive Punch List at the End: Punch as You Go

None of this punch list at the end of the job. In fact, I can just go ahead and say that right now. We do not want a massive punch list. I’m going to delete that from field engineers’ tasks. Now, there is some amount of punch list, incomplete work list, if like something’s missing. But basically, if we have a contractor working in a zone about to finish, let’s have them punch it out right there.

So zone control. And then what you’ll spend most of your time doing is in work prep and inspections. You’re talking about in-wall, above-ceiling inspections and solving problems with the trade partners. And then in the afternoon, obviously, you have your planning and prep for the next day.

This is a little bit easier on the soul than concrete because you have a little bit more balance to your schedule. But the bottom line is what we need to do is make sure that we’re adjusting to each of these different phases.

Here’s the daily routine by phase:

  • Planning phase: office work, lift drawings, primary/secondary control establishment – In planning phase, when get into office, want to get some good quiet time. Production time. If with team, check-in time. Might have couple meetings throughout day. For most part, going to do office work. Mostly doing lift drawings, mostly doing primary control activities, meaning detailing it out in Civil 3D or AutoCAD. Office work slash primary secondary work and control establishment. This is job startup and getting it ready. Spend lot of time in office.
  • Concrete phase placement days: early morning placement support, later day lift drawings and layout – Probably have shift work where come in little bit earlier. Mainly got to have time in afternoon to plan next day. Planning time. If out doing concrete, chances are doing concrete placement support early morning, if doing placement. If that case, then later on in day when came in and worked on lift drawings and when did layout and control.
  • Concrete phase non-placement days: 4-5am quiet time for lift drawings, then layout rest of day – Non-placement days: probably want to get in here little bit earlier. Work on, before get bothered, lift drawings, then go out and spend time throughout rest of day doing layout. Planning meeting does extend. Get as much quiet time as possibly can to study drawings. Some job sites, might come in at 4:00 a.m., 4:30, 5:00 a.m., where super quiet and can focus, focus, focus, then go out when get little bit more tired and moving and blood’s moving. When out in field, yes bit tired, but keeping brain awake through blood circulation.
  • Interiors phase: morning worker huddle, zone control walks, in-wall/above-ceiling inspections – In interiors, moving through building, really want to attend morning worker huddle. Then want to help superintendent with zone control walks. Wherever handoff from zone to zone, going to go help lead person or assistant superintendent to make sure clearing way out ahead of trade partners in their wagon or task, punching as we go. Spend most of time in work prep and inspections. In-wall, above-ceiling inspections and solving problems with trade partners. Then in afternoon, planning and prep for next day.
  • No massive punch list at end: punch as you go in each zone – None of this punch list at end of job. Do not want massive punch list. Delete that from field engineers’ tasks. Some amount of punch list, incomplete work list, if something’s missing. But basically, if have contractor working in zone about to finish, let’s have them punch it out right there. Zone control.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Summary: Adjust to Each Phase

And let me make this board a little bit prettier. I always get self-conscious about the boards. Planning phase, just to summarize, which you’re not supposed to do on YouTube, I’m sorry, is you’re going to spend most of your time in the office. In the concrete phase, you’re going to work everything around your placements. And if you have free time, you’re going to focus on the production of lift drawings in your quiet times. And then, when you’re in the interiors, you’re going to spend much of your time in zone control and helping with inspections.

This is a nice framework, and I think this will do you well.

Field Engineers Are Not Just for Self-Perform

This also goes back to the point that field engineers are not just for self-perform. They’re also for planning, and they’re also for the rest of the building. And you can add, you know, civil site work, central utility plants, roof exterior. It all applies here. These are the three frameworks.

A Challenge for Field Engineers

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Identify which phase you’re in and adjust your daily routine accordingly.

If you’re in planning phase, spend most of your time in office. Do office work. Mostly lift drawings, mostly primary control activities, detailing it out in Civil 3D or AutoCAD. Primary secondary work and control establishment. This is job startup and getting it ready.

If you’re in concrete phase on placement days, do concrete placement support early morning. Later on in day, work on lift drawings and layout and control. Have time in afternoon to plan next day.

If you’re in concrete phase on non-placement days, get in early. Work on lift drawings before you get bothered. Then go out and spend time throughout rest of day doing layout. Get as much quiet time as possibly can to study drawings. Maybe come in at 4:00 a.m., 4:30, 5:00 a.m., where super quiet and can focus.

If you’re in interiors phase, attend morning worker huddle. Help superintendent with zone control walks. Wherever handoff from zone to zone, help lead person or assistant superintendent make sure clearing way out ahead of trade partners, punching as we go. Spend most of time in work prep and inspections. In-wall, above-ceiling inspections and solving problems with trade partners. Planning and prep for next day in afternoon.

No massive punch list at end of job. If have contractor working in zone about to finish, have them punch it out right there. Zone control. As we say at Elevate, field engineer daily routine by phase: planning (office work, lift drawings, control), concrete (placements, layout), interiors (zone control, inspections).

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do field engineers do in the planning phase?

Spend most of time in office. Do office work. Mostly lift drawings, mostly primary control activities, detailing it out in Civil 3D or AutoCAD. Primary secondary work and control establishment. This is job startup and getting it ready.

What’s the daily routine on concrete placement days?

Probably have shift work where come in little bit earlier. Got to have time in afternoon to plan next day. If out doing concrete, doing concrete placement support early morning. Later on in day, work on lift drawings and layout and control.

What’s the daily routine on concrete non-placement days?

Want to get in here little bit earlier. Work on lift drawings before get bothered. Then go out and spend time throughout rest of day doing layout. Get as much quiet time as possibly can to study drawings. Maybe come in at 4-5am where super quiet and can focus.

What do field engineers do in the interiors phase?

Attend morning worker huddle. Help superintendent with zone control walks. Wherever handoff from zone to zone, help make sure clearing way out ahead of trade partners, punching as we go. Spend most of time in work prep and inspections. In-wall, above-ceiling inspections and solving problems with trade partners.

Should there be a massive punch list at the end?

No. Do not want massive punch list. If have contractor working in zone about to finish, have them punch it out right there. Zone control. None of this punch list at end of job.

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

Safety Leadership For Field Engineers (How To Influence Job Site Safety In Construction)

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 20 min

Safety Leadership for Field Engineers (How to Influence Job Site Safety in Construction)

Those of us who grew up at companies where there were field engineers learned about safety in the field engineering position. And it’s a mix of awkward, meaning you’re this young punk kid, and a mix of awesomeness because you’re working with crews that you love. And it’s this time to develop some bravery and really go out there and get it done.

And so, I’m going to talk to you about how a field engineer can affect safety because I always talk about field engineers helping with frontline quality and frontline safety.

Field Engineers Keep Track of Inner Office Safety Items

So, this is just the way I think. Let’s say that you have job site trailers. Field engineers are great at keeping track of the inner office items like your AED, making sure that it’s inspected, keeping track of fire extinguishers. I remember my first general superintendent put me in charge of that. I was great at it. I would keep them charged, inspected, order more.

Safety supplies. Probably don’t let me order safety glasses. I’ll get carried away. But I’m just kidding. Help under the direction of the supers and PM with the emergency response plan with any other standard documentation. The right to know area, SDS’s, like the overall office safety items, are a great task for a field engineer to be in charge of. I love it.

OSHA 10 and OSHA 30: Making Sure the Basics Are Implemented

Now the basics of OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 in the United States, when that field engineer goes out, like we are making sure that the basics are implemented. That means everybody on the site should be wearing their hard hats and safety glasses. They should be wearing their vests. They should have their proper clothing, have the right work boots, gloves, when necessary, the whole nine.

Field Engineers Are Our Safety Presence in the Field

And I want to make this point, field engineers and area superintendents or assistant superintendents are our safety presence in the field. In fact, I remember a time before I moved on to do other things, but at Hensel Phelps, where on projects they said they wanted a calendar with your safety presence in the field, and they would time block when they knew folks would be out and about.

So, there was never a time when a project delivery team member wasn’t out on the job site, and if they saw a gap, they were like, “Woo, we can’t do that, we got to make sure that we have safety presence in the field,” and they would identify that so there was always somebody out there. A field engineer is great for safety presence in the field.

Field Engineers Watch for Handrails, Tie-Off Points, Safety Signage

The other thing is it’s very easy for field engineers to look at things like handrail and make sure that that’s in place, that people are using proper tie-off points, that we have proper safety signage throughout the building. And basically, what I’m looking at is like we’re going to be looking at falls, trips, caught between equipment, electrocution, so they can watch for lockout tagout programs. I mean, anything there and above.

So not only are they watching from a supportive standpoint the on-site team and humans, but we’re also looking at the environment and we’re looking at processes and we’re looking at systems.

See It, Fix It, Act: Field Engineers on Field Walks

And so, a field engineer should be OSHA 10, OSHA 30 trained. And when they’re out there doing their walk, they see something, they do something. They see it, they fix it. They see it, they act.

The best way that I’ve seen this done, there’s a couple different ways. They need to get the training. But the other thing is they need to be part of field walks with the supers and sometimes with the safety professionals for training purposes. Through training and field walks, you can teach the field engineers to start to see the key items that we want them to see and be our eyes in the field.

J.W. Bowser Had Runners: Field Engineers Are Your Eyes and Ears

And I remember reading a book called Building the Empire State, and I think the lead superintendent’s name was J.W. Bowser. Oh yeah, I think I got that right. And he had runners. Like, it was such a big project. He couldn’t be everywhere, especially back in those days. And they didn’t have drones. So, they’re your eyes and ears in the field.

And we’ve got to teach these field engineers to be strong when it comes to safety in the field.

The Biggest Mistake in Construction: Weak Supers

And I’ll tell you why. The biggest mistake in construction is weak supers. We cannot have weak supers that are wimpy when it comes to cleanliness, wimpy when it comes to safety, wimpy when it comes to organization.

And if we wire a field engineer’s brain this way from day one, they will be wired and they will be on top of it when they’re a superintendent, when it matters, and they will learn to not tolerate it.

So, the best thing we can do is get field engineers out there helping us to do what they’re capable of doing to enforce, remind, and coach, and hold the line for safety.

Here’s how field engineers ensure frontline safety:

  • Office safety items: AED, fire extinguishers, safety supplies, emergency response plan, SDS’s – Field engineers great at keeping track of inner office items like your AED, making sure inspected, keeping track of fire extinguishers. Keep them charged, inspected, order more. Safety supplies. Help under direction of supers and PM with emergency response plan with any other standard documentation. Right to know area, SDS’s, overall office safety items are great task for field engineer to be in charge of.
  • OSHA 10 and OSHA 30: everybody wearing hard hats, safety glasses, vests, proper clothing, work boots, gloves – Basics of OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 in United States, when field engineer goes out, making sure basics are implemented. Everybody on site should be wearing their hard hats and safety glasses. Should be wearing their vests. Should have their proper clothing, have right work boots, gloves, when necessary, whole nine.
  • Safety presence in the field: calendar time-blocked, never a gap without PDT member on site – Field engineers and area superintendents or assistant superintendents are our safety presence in field. At Hensel Phelps, on projects wanted calendar with your safety presence in field, would time block when knew folks would be out and about. Never time when project delivery team member wasn’t out on job site, if saw gap, “We can’t do that, got to make sure have safety presence in field,” would identify that so always somebody out there. Field engineer great for safety presence in field.
  • Handrails, tie-off points, safety signage: watch for falls, trips, caught between, electrocution, lockout tagout – Very easy for field engineers to look at things like handrail and make sure that’s in place, people using proper tie-off points, have proper safety signage throughout building. Going to be looking at falls, trips, caught between equipment, electrocution, watch for lockout tagout programs, anything there and above. Not only watching from supportive standpoint on-site team and humans, also looking at environment and looking at processes and looking at systems.
  • See it, fix it, act: OSHA trained, field walks with supers and safety professionals – Field engineer should be OSHA 10, OSHA 30 trained. When out there doing their walk, see something, do something. See it, fix it. See it, act. Best way: need to get training. Other thing: need to be part of field walks with supers and sometimes with safety professionals for training purposes. Through training and field walks, teach field engineers to start to see key items we want them to see and be our eyes in field.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

A Challenge for Field Engineers

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Take charge of inner office safety items. Keep track of AED, make sure inspected. Keep track of fire extinguishers, keep them charged, inspected, order more. Help with emergency response plan, right to know area, SDS’s. Make sure basics are implemented on site. Everybody wearing hard hats and safety glasses. Wearing vests. Have proper clothing, right work boots, gloves when necessary.

Be safety presence in field. Time block calendar when you’ll be out and about. Never have gap without project delivery team member on job site. Always somebody out there. Look at handrails, make sure in place. People using proper tie-off points. Have proper safety signage throughout building. Watch for falls, trips, caught between equipment, electrocution, lockout tagout programs. Watch on-site team and humans, also look at environment and processes and systems. Get OSHA 10, OSHA 30 trained. When out there doing walk, see something, do something. See it, fix it. See it, act. Be part of field walks with supers and sometimes with safety professionals for training purposes. Learn to see key items, be eyes and ears in field.

Don’t be weak. Cannot have weak supers that are wimpy when it comes to cleanliness, wimpy when it comes to safety, wimpy when it comes to organization. Wire field engineer’s brain this way from day one, will be wired and on top of it when they’re superintendent, when it matters, learn to not tolerate it. As we say at Elevate, field engineers ensure frontline safety: office items, OSHA compliance, safety presence in field, handrails, tie-off points, signage. See it, fix it, act.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What office safety items should field engineers manage?

AED (make sure inspected), fire extinguishers (keep charged, inspected, order more), safety supplies, help with emergency response plan, right to know area, SDS’s. Overall office safety items are great task for field engineer to be in charge of.

What are the basics field engineers ensure on site?

OSHA 10 and OSHA 30: everybody on site wearing hard hats and safety glasses, wearing vests, have proper clothing, right work boots, gloves when necessary, whole nine. Making sure basics are implemented.

What is safety presence in the field?

Field engineers and area superintendents or assistant superintendents are safety presence in field. At Hensel Phelps, wanted calendar with safety presence, time block when folks would be out. Never time when project delivery team member wasn’t out on job site. If saw gap, identify so always somebody out there.

What safety hazards should field engineers watch for?

Handrails in place, people using proper tie-off points, proper safety signage throughout building. Falls, trips, caught between equipment, electrocution, lockout tagout programs, anything there and above. Watch on-site team and humans, also look at environment and processes and systems.

What’s the biggest mistake in construction?

Weak supers. Cannot have weak supers that are wimpy when it comes to cleanliness, wimpy when it comes to safety, wimpy when it comes to organization. Wire field engineer’s brain this way from day one, will be wired and on top of it when they’re superintendent.

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

Quality Leadership For Field Engineers (How To Prevent Defects In Construction)

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 28 min

Quality Leadership for Field Engineers (How to Prevent Defects in Construction)

I am excited about this topic because the other day, I had a very well-respected executive-level leader message me through Voxer, and I love this guy, and he was like, “Hey, my quality guy was teasing that you don’t have very many videos on quality control, and you don’t have enough videos on safety.” And my response to him was awesome. In fact, I was sitting next to Kate, and she was like, “Oh, no.” And I was like, “No, no, no. It’s going to be good.” And so, I sent a message that he loved.

Quality Assurance vs Quality Control: Cease Dependence on Inspection

I said this: when I read The Essential Deming that talks about the work of W. Edwards Deming and went to Japan, there was an interesting concept where they cease dependence on inspection. We know that the terms quality assurance are that you’re building quality from the start, that you have assurance programs, or you have built-in quality like poka-yoke, or the machines produce a quality product from the start, or the teams are trained to focus on it and will not let a defect down the line.

Quality control is inspection, checking it after the fact, and there could be rework, and you can find defects. I prefer quality assurance. I prefer quality at the source.

Safety and Quality Are Not Secondary They’re What We Do

And so, if you go to Japan and learn about Lean principles, safety and quality are a part of what we do. It’s not some secondary program, it’s not some other position, it’s the first thing that we do. In fact, Japanese companies are not goal- and finance-focused. They are quality-focused. Like, it is what we’re doing.

If it’s not safe and it’s not quality, we stop the line immediately. When I’m running my projects, when I was a superintendent or a field director or a project director, I will not do anything unless it’s beautifully safe. And if somebody’s not being safe, I do not tolerate it. I will escort them to a safe place just like I was taught at Intel, but in a very nice way.

The Bioscience Research Laboratory: Stop the Work, Rip It Out

And if it’s not quality, we don’t move any farther down the line. Anybody sees it, you push the button, pull the andon, metaphorically pull the cord, you stop the work, and we rip it out. That’s the project. It was called the Bioscience Research Laboratory. I said, “We’re not going to accept anything. So, if you think you’re going to leave it and we’re going to accept it, I will not ask the architect to accept it. If it’s a column that’s out of plumb, I’m ripping it out.”

And we held to that consistently. And so, I have it as a base, as a quality assurance-type thing, not as a post-inspection-type thing. And so that is the philosophy here.

Field Engineers Are Frontline: Prevent Quality Problems Before They Happen

And when it comes to field engineers, field engineers are frontline with crews to make sure that we don’t have quality problems after the fact. Do we do some after-the-fact checking? Sure. But a field engineer can get ahead of it, especially with checklists, because there’s not much difference between concrete getting hard and gray and us covering a wall with drywall. They’re getting covered.

But if we use our checklist before they’re covered, we won’t have to rip out concrete or drywall later. So there’s a couple of checklists that I want to really advocate for.

Placement Check Cards: Lift Drawing Plus Checklist

The lift drawing. Let me just use a wall. I love using wall examples. Let’s say that you have a wall form, and you have your walk plank with your handrail on the side, and you’re about to place concrete, and you got rebar coming up, and you’re jamming out, right? And it’s on a footing. You know, you got your stuff, and you’re going to climb up the ladder that’s extended 3 feet above, and it’s secured top and bottom, and it’s at a 4:1, and you’re going to go up there, and you’re going to inspect, right?

You’re going to take two things. You’re going to take the lift drawing, and you’re going to take your placement check card. I call it placement because concrete fanatics do not like the word “pour,” and I love them, and I’m a concrete human. I grew up doing concrete. We don’t pour it. We place it and vibrate it where it goes.

So the lift drawing will check the components, and you’re going to two-tape everything. You’re going to check elevations. You’re going to check plumb. You’re going to check line. But your placement check card is a checklist where you will check the normal requirements like spacing, proper ties. You’re going to have proper distance or clearance from the reinforcing to the formwork or to the earth, right? Do you have proper projection on the dowels? You know, just everything. You’re going to go through each of these one by one.

If We Get in a Hurry, Checklists Are First to Go Don’t Let Them

If we get in a hurry, this is the first thing to go, and it’s the last thing. You do not place that until we know it’s right because it’s going to get hard and gray. It’s going to be 10 times minimum the original cost, 12 times the original cost to rip it out and fix it than it would be to just get it right in the first place.

And I do want to say, for new field engineers, you got to have your super, your assistant super, out there helping you when you’re doing this. You can’t just throw a new field engineer out there to do this. So, you’re going to use your placement check card. So concrete placements and masonry grouting are going in properly. So that’s your placement check.

Feature-of-Work Boards: Visual Standards for Every Trade

Your feature-of-work boards. This is beautiful. When we go for any type of scope, let’s say that on your time-by-location format, your Takt plan, you’re about to start a scope working through the different zones 1, 2, 3, 4. And that trade is going to work from zone to zone to zone. Before they get to the first one and as a part of your installation work package, I want a visual. And it’s going to have pictures and some bullets on here.

Let me give you an example. One time we did this with flooring, and we had pictures of what the different steps were for flooring, just like Paul Akers’ cleaning-the-bathroom visuals, and it had some very specific bullet points, just what the crew needed, not a lot of text, not a lot of confusion, exactly what we were looking for, and every crew had it in their hand, laminated.

This goes back to you don’t just use field engineers for self-perform. So, the placement check is for concrete and masonry. The feature-of-work board is for everything else.

Why Bury It in Procore? Create Installation Work Packages

I want one of these for every new trade starting on the site. Why not? Why would I come to a pre-construction meeting or a preparatory meeting and just bury that in Procore meeting minutes? Why would I not just have an installation work package? And why would I not have it be visual? Something that we can use for the first-in-place, follow-up, and final inspections. I would.

Here’s how field engineers ensure quality assurance:

  • Quality assurance not quality control: cease dependence on inspection – When read The Essential Deming about W. Edwards Deming and went to Japan, interesting concept: cease dependence on inspection. Quality assurance: building quality from start, have assurance programs, built-in quality like poka-yoke, machines produce quality product from start, teams trained to focus on it and will not let defect down line. Quality control is inspection, checking after fact, rework, find defects. Prefer quality assurance. Prefer quality at source.
  • Safety and quality are what we do, not secondary programs – In Japan, learn about Lean principles, safety and quality are part of what we do. Not secondary program, not other position, first thing we do. Japanese companies not goal- and finance-focused. They are quality-focused. If it’s not safe and it’s not quality, we stop line immediately. Will not do anything unless beautifully safe. If somebody not being safe, do not tolerate it. Will escort them to safe place just like taught at Intel. If it’s not quality, don’t move any farther down line. Push button, pull andon, stop work, rip it out.
  • Placement check cards: lift drawing plus checklist before concrete gets hard and gray – Take two things: lift drawing and placement check card. Call it placement because concrete fanatics do not like word “pour.” We don’t pour it. We place it and vibrate it where it goes. Lift drawing will check components, two-tape everything, check elevations, check plumb, check line. Placement check card is checklist: check normal requirements like spacing, proper ties, proper distance or clearance from reinforcing to formwork or to earth, proper projection on dowels. Go through each one by one. Do not place until we know it’s right because going to get hard and gray. 10 times minimum original cost, 12 times original cost to rip out and fix than just get it right in first place.
  • Feature-of-work boards: visual standards for every trade, not just self-perform – On Takt plan, about to start scope working through different zones 1, 2, 3, 4. Trade going to work zone to zone. Before get to first one and as part of installation work package, want visual. Pictures and bullets. Example: did this with flooring, had pictures of different steps, just like Paul Akers’ cleaning-the-bathroom visuals, very specific bullet points, just what crew needed, not lot of text, not lot of confusion, exactly what looking for, every crew had it in hand, laminated. Placement check for concrete and masonry. Feature-of-work board for everything else.
  • Use AI to condense meeting minutes into checklists – At minimum, have checklist that’s distilled down. Not asking AI to create these things from scratch. Asking AI to take all of our meeting minutes notes and AI meeting minutes notes and condense them. At least use checklist for crew to use in that zone to install that work package on that Takt time.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

The Checklist Manifesto: Live and Die by Checklists

The other thing is checklist. If you don’t have visuals, at a minimum, we used BIM 360 Field for this. I know that Procore and other software can do it, but a standard even if you don’t get to the visuals at a minimum, have a checklist that’s distilled down. And, by the way, we are not asking AI to create these things from scratch. We’re asking AI to take all of our meeting minutes notes and our AI meeting minutes notes and condense them. At least use a checklist for the crew to use in that zone to install that work package on that Takt time.

And then the last thing I want you to know is you should read The Checklist Manifesto. Anything that needs to be done right on your project, whether it’s a safety inspection or checking the porta-potties or having standard work for our pre-kit area in our logistics queuing area to checking traffic control, we should live and die by checklists.

Your Brain Cannot Keep All of This: Pilots and Doctors Use Checklists

And so, I just want you to know that field engineers love checklists, and checklists love field engineers. The human brain cannot keep all of this up in their head. And in fact, if you look at great doctors and pilots and any other, like, really professional position, you’ll notice they use checklists.

I was with a pilot flying over Canada, and I was like, “Tell me the truth about checklists.” And he’s like, “Oh my, you do not want to be up here without one of those.” They have checklists for takeoff, for landing, for emergencies. Your brain will go into panic mode, and you’ve got lizard brain. You need checklists if you want to do it right.

How would you feel if your pilot didn’t use the checklist? How would you like it if your surgeon didn’t use a checklist? You wouldn’t. Why are we any different? We’re not. Checklists are our friend.

A Challenge for Field Engineers

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Stop depending on inspection. Start building quality from the start. Quality assurance not quality control. If it’s not safe and it’s not quality, stop the line immediately. If somebody’s not being safe, escort them to a safe place. If it’s not quality, don’t move any farther down line. Push the button, pull the andon, stop the work, rip it out.

Use placement check cards. Take lift drawing and placement check card. Two-tape everything. Check elevations. Check plumb. Check line. Check spacing, proper ties, proper distance or clearance from reinforcing to formwork or to earth, proper projection on dowels. Go through each one by one. Do not place until you know it’s right. 10 times minimum original cost to rip out and fix than just get it right in first place.

Create feature-of-work boards for every new trade starting on site. Visual with pictures and bullets. Just what crew needs. Not lot of text. Not lot of confusion. Exactly what looking for. Every crew has it in hand, laminated. Use for first-in-place, follow-up, and final inspections.

Use AI to condense meeting minutes into checklists. At least use checklist for crew to use in that zone to install that work package on that Takt time. Read The Checklist Manifesto. Live and die by checklists. Human brain cannot keep all of this up in head. Pilots have checklists for takeoff, landing, emergencies. Surgeons use checklists. Why are we any different? We’re not. As we say at Elevate, quality assurance not quality control: cease dependence on inspection. Field engineers use placement check cards, feature-of-work boards, checklists upfront.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between quality assurance and quality control?

Quality assurance: building quality from start, have assurance programs, built-in quality like poka-yoke, machines produce quality product from start, teams trained to focus on it and will not let defect down line. Quality control is inspection, checking after fact, rework, find defects. Prefer quality assurance. Prefer quality at source.

What are placement check cards?

Take lift drawing and placement check card. Lift drawing checks components, two-tape everything, check elevations, plumb, line. Placement check card is checklist: spacing, proper ties, proper distance or clearance from reinforcing to formwork or earth, proper projection on dowels. Do not place until know it’s right. 10-12 times original cost to rip out and fix.

What are feature-of-work boards?

Visual with pictures and bullets for every trade. Example: flooring had pictures of different steps, just like Paul Akers’ cleaning-the-bathroom visuals, very specific bullet points, just what crew needed, not lot of text, every crew had it in hand, laminated. Placement check for concrete and masonry. Feature-of-work board for everything else.

Why should field engineers use checklists?

Human brain cannot keep all of this up in head. Great doctors and pilots and any really professional position use checklists. Pilots have checklists for takeoff, landing, emergencies. Brain will go into panic mode, got lizard brain. Need checklists if want to do it right.

How does AI help with quality checklists?

Not asking AI to create these things from scratch. Asking AI to take all of meeting minutes notes and AI meeting minutes notes and condense them. At least use checklist for crew to use in that zone to install that work package on that Takt time.

If you want to learn more we have:

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

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

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

On we go

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    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.
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    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.
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    Superintendent / PM Boot Camp

    What is the Superintendent & Project Manager Boot Camp?
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    How long does the Superintendent/PM Boot Camp last?
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    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?
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    Takt Production System® Virtual Training

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    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.