Uncategorized Archives - Page 17 of 104

Surviving Cancer, Feat. John Coffman

Posted on September 2, 2025September 2, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 8 min

Living Strong with John Kaufman

In this blog, I want to share the incredible journey of my dear friend, John Kaufman. John has been living with a rare, incurable cancer for 25 years, far beyond the time his doctors expected. His life is not just about medical treatments or survival. It is about faith, resilience, and the daily decision to live fully in the face of uncertainty.

I remember when John told me that doctors had run out of treatment options. That moment could have been filled with despair, but John and his family made a conscious choice instead: they chose to live. They leaned into making memories, cherishing every day, and finding joy even in the hardest times. Later, when a non-FDA-approved chemotherapy became available, it slowed the progression of his cancer and gave him more time. But John is clear, medicine gave him months and years, while his mindset gave him life. He refuses to let cancer define him. Instead, he chooses to live as a husband, father, friend, and advocate.

Over the years, John has helped me see how people respond differently to a cancer diagnosis. Some give up almost immediately, retreating into despair. Others respond with anger, frustrated at the unfairness of it all. But John chose a different path, he decided to live with gratitude and purpose, no matter how much time he was given. That choice has shaped every single day of his life since, and it has inspired me in ways I can’t fully capture in words.

What stands out most about John is his commitment to community. Organizations like Livestrong gave him resources, but they also gave him connection. He now gives back by mentoring and supporting others who are newly diagnosed. I’ve watched how he encourages families and survivors, reminding them that even in the darkest hours, no one has to walk alone. Sometimes it’s a listening ear, sometimes it’s a piece of advice, and sometimes it’s simply showing up. Those small acts of care create hope where there was once only despair.

John has also taught me to value the small things. When you face mortality, the distractions fall away, and what really matters comes into focus. He often talks about how a sunrise, a bike ride, or a simple conversation becomes a treasure when you know time is fragile. Watching how he sees the world has changed the way I see my own life.

One of John’s most powerful insights is that survivorship begins the day of diagnosis. Too often we think of survivorship as being cancer-free, but John reminds us it’s really about how we live after hearing the words, “You have cancer.” It is about reclaiming your identity, living with intention, and refusing to let illness steal your hope or your joy.

At the heart of John’s story is choice. None of us can avoid pain, loss, or trials, but we can choose how we respond. John chooses faith, gratitude, and connection. He chooses to invest in others and to keep moving forward, even when the path is hard. That choice doesn’t erase the difficulty, but it transforms it into something meaningful.

John’s story has reminded me that his message isn’t just for those with cancer. It’s for all of us. We are all dying, whether slowly or suddenly, but the real question is how we will live in the meantime. Watching John’s journey has shown me that no matter the circumstances, we can choose to live strong, love deeply, and cherish every moment we’re given.

Key Takeaway:
We are all dying, but we can choose how we live. By deciding to embrace life, focusing on community, and appreciating the small things, we can live strong each day, no matter the circumstances.

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.

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Training & Development, Feat. Mark Story

Posted on September 2, 2025September 2, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 9 min

Alignment and Leadership

I often find myself reflecting on how difficult it can be to keep everything aligned on a project. In construction, alignment is not a one-time event or a box you check at the beginning of a job. It is something you fight for every single day. Misalignment creeps in quietly, almost unnoticed at first, and before long it can cause frustration, delays, and even damage to the culture of a team.

My good friend Mark Story once shared something with me that really stuck. He said, “If you do not intentionally align people, processes, and priorities, the natural drift is always toward chaos.” That statement hit me hard because it perfectly describes what I have seen over the years. When we assume alignment will just happen on its own, it almost always unravels. People begin pulling in different directions, trade partners become confused about expectations, and leadership ends up spending more time putting out fires than leading.

When I look back at projects that went exceptionally well, the difference was always the level of intentional alignment. Alignment around vision, alignment around goals, alignment around roles, and alignment around schedules. Everyone knew why we were building, what success looked like, and how their specific role contributed to the bigger picture. And it was not just words on a poster or a mission statement buried in a project manual. It was active, living alignment that was revisited often.

I remember one particular project where we gathered the team every morning for a short huddle. The goal was not only to talk about tasks and safety but to remind ourselves of the larger vision for the project. We talked about the community we were building for, the families who would one day live there, or the workers who would benefit from safer conditions. Those small reminders kept everyone’s eyes on something greater than their own checklist. That is alignment in action.

Contrast that with projects where alignment was ignored. I have been on jobs where each foreman had their own version of the plan, each trade was focused on protecting their turf, and leadership was disconnected from the day-to-day challenges in the field. The schedule became a battleground, RFIs piled up, and meetings felt more like blame sessions than planning opportunities. Those jobs drained energy from everyone involved. The work still got done, but at what cost to morale and culture?

Leadership is where alignment starts. If leaders are not clear, the team will never be clear. It is not enough to just issue directives or hand out schedules. Leaders must create space for conversations, listen deeply, and ensure that everyone has both clarity and buy-in. Alignment is not top-down. It is something we build together. When people feel heard and respected, they naturally align more closely to the team’s vision.

Another truth I have learned is that alignment is fragile. It requires constant attention. A change order, a safety incident, or a rumor about the schedule can quickly cause confusion or anxiety. If leaders are not proactive, that small crack widens into real misalignment. This is why I believe leaders need to walk the job, talk to crews, and spend time in the field. You cannot manage alignment from behind a computer screen. You have to be present, engaged, and willing to reset the team when things drift.

Mark Story’s insight has shaped how I now approach projects. Instead of assuming alignment will last, I treat it as something that must be actively maintained. Like a carpenter checking measurements before cutting, I try to constantly verify whether our people, processes, and priorities are still in line. If they are not, I see it as my job to stop, reset, and realign before moving forward.

At the end of the day, alignment is not about perfection. It is about commitment. Teams will always face challenges, but if we are aligned in vision and purpose, those challenges become opportunities to grow stronger together. Without alignment, even the most talented team will struggle. With alignment, even difficult projects can become a source of pride and fulfillment.

Takeaway: Alignment does not happen by accident. Leaders must fight for it daily, because when people, processes, and priorities are aligned, success naturally follows.

If you want to learn more we have:

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Kanban, Feat. Hal Macomber

Posted on September 2, 2025September 2, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 6 min

Reflections on CPM, Scrum, and Kanban

I recently had the chance to reflect deeply on how we use CPM, Scrum, and Kanban in construction and what they really mean for building strong project systems.

When I first encountered CPM (Critical Path Method), it was clear why it had become such a standard in our industry. It provides confidence, especially for owners and clients who want predictability. For many federal projects, you cannot even start without a CPM schedule. On the surface, it feels safe and structured. But over time, I realized that CPM does not actually help us design or operate a true project-based production system. It ignores flow and does not align with production laws like Little’s Law. Worse, it often functions as a solitary exercise, with one person behind a computer producing a schedule that others are expected to follow, leaving collaboration behind.

By contrast, when I was introduced to Scrum, I was struck by how much it encouraged teamwork and engagement. It came out of the Agile movement in software, where collaboration and reducing stress were central goals. In construction, Scrum helped project teams work in shorter cycles with clear priorities. However, it quickly became obvious that Scrum does not naturally focus on flow. You can bring production thinking into it, but it is not built in. And in construction, flow is critical.

This is where Kanban really stood out to me. Kanban, which also grew from Agile, was designed to keep work flowing. It brings production principles to the forefront by visualizing tasks, limiting work in progress, and encouraging continuous improvement. When I first saw Kanban boards in use on construction projects, I realized how powerful they could be for connecting office work with field needs. Whether it was procurement, RFIs, or logistics, Kanban created visibility and alignment. Unlike CPM, it is not about throwing a schedule at people. Unlike Scrum, it does not leave flow as an afterthought. Kanban blends people and flow together.

What strikes me most now is that construction is inherently socio-technical. We cannot succeed by focusing only on the technical side. The people, their communication, and their engagement are what bring systems like Takt or Kanban to life. CPM can feel easier because it avoids that complexity, but it does not address the real problem. The harder but better path is to embrace systems that require full participation and create flow for both people and production.

Key Takeaway:
CPM creates confidence but ignores production laws and collaboration. Scrum supports teamwork but overlooks flow. Kanban brings people and flow together, helping us build healthier and more resilient project systems.

If you want to learn more we have:

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Last Planner System Excel Template

Posted on September 2, 2025September 2, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 9 min

Last Planner System Excel Template: A Practical Guide

In this blog, I’m going to answer the question:

How can you access a really nice template that will take care of your Last Planner System needs?

In addition to walking you through the Excel template, I’ll also cover other ways to do this electronically. I’ll share two quick stories, then dive into the practical details.

My Experience with Last Planner

The first project where I experienced Last Planner was the Cancer Center in downtown Phoenix. We were challenged to read Paul Akers’ 2 Second Lean, and we learned about Last Planner through the Lean Construction Institute (LCI).

That’s where I was introduced to an Excel template. It was incredibly helpful allowing us to:

Do look-ahead planning.
Filter and manage Weekly Work Plans.
Aggregate activities.
Track reasons for variance.
Use a KPI tracker for percent plan complete, S-curves, and more.

I’ve seen many people succeed with this exact approach, especially with the Weekly Work Plan portion.

And let me say this: there’s no reason to hate Excel. If we erased all technology and reinvented a tool flexible enough for most construction needs, we’d end up with Excel. Don’t fall for the sales pitch that makes you afraid of it. Excel is fantastic.

A Story from a Previous Project

Now, let me share another story and I’ll admit, this one is a bit of a rant.

On a $340 million job, the team bought professional Lean boards from a well-known Last Planner advocate. The boards included constraints, parking lot, deliveries, and a Weekly Work Plan format. But here’s the issue: the Weekly Work Plan only had 9–12 rows!

That doesn’t scale. On 90% of projects, you can’t fit a real Weekly Work Plan into 9–15 rows. Projects of that size need at least three functional areas, each with their own meetings and boards.

The visual boards on your conference room wall should serve as team boards. Zone maps and logistics plans (with magnets or sketches) help identify problems and roadblocks. But your screens should house your master schedule, pull plans, look-aheads, Weekly Work Plans, and Day Plans.

If you make a Weekly Work Plan static on the wall, only the people in that room can see it. That defeats the whole purpose. Everyone on the jobsite needs access. That’s why Excel (or software connected to screens) is a much better approach.

Helpful Resource

On leantakt.com, you’ll find a link to the Takt template, which includes everything you need.

Let’s walk through how the template supports each Last Planner System deliverable:

Macro-Level Takt Plan

Your master schedule or macro-level Takt Plan is best done in Excel until software fully catches up. Right now, Intakt is the best software for this, since it can even export automatically to CPM. But the Excel template still does the job extremely well today.

Pull Planning

Pull Planning is about creating a collaborative sequence:

The forward pass takes care of the job.
The backward pass connects trades.

The Excel template makes this process simple and effective. Another great option is Miro for digital pull planning. (I’d avoid most other software tools, since they don’t allow you to right-size zones or compare pull plans effectively.)

Look-Ahead Plan

The Excel template provides a time-by-location formatted Look-Ahead Plan. It includes:

Legends.
Flow visualization.
Clear sequencing.

You can also do this in Intakt directly, which I highly recommend for teams looking to streamline.

Weekly Work Plans

The Takt template includes a robust Weekly Work Plan where:

Every activity has its own line and code.
Agendas are clearly documented.
Handoffs are marked.

This mirrors the automatic Weekly Work Plan feature in Intakt.

Day Plans

Finally, the template also includes Day Plans. These provide:

Activity filters.
Agendas for morning worker huddles.
Visuals to support field crews.

For an even better setup, I recommend designing Day Plans in Canva, linking them to a QR code, and posting that QR in the field. That way, every worker can instantly access the plan.

Key Takeaway:

Takt planning is highly effective for small construction projects. Even if teams don’t use all 15 elements of the Takt Production System, applying just a handful of its principles like clear sequencing, crew alignment, and structured workflows can create smoother project execution, reduce chaos, and deliver more predictable results.

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:

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How To Calculate Takt Time For Multiple Products

Posted on August 31, 2025August 31, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 7 min

How to Calculate Takt Time for Multiple Products in Construction

We talk a lot about Takt time, and I want to provide clear, practical advice based on the questions we’ve been receiving. While we’ve covered takt time in other blogs, this one is specifically tailored to those recent questions.

Two Types of Takt Planning:

There are two main types of takt planning in construction:

Takt Time-Based Takt Planning.
Resource-Based Takt Planning.

In manufacturing, the product flows from station to station with resources fixed in place. In construction, it’s the opposite, the product is fixed and the trades flow from zone to zone. That means the flow unit in construction is the train of trades, not the work in a single zone.

As Nicholas Modig points out, the building itself becomes the grow unit, while takt time is the rhythm at which trades move through zones.

Takt Time-Based Planning:

Imagine your production plan is set on a three-day takt. That means each trade spends three days in one zone before moving on.

If you have several one-day activities, you’d group them into a three-day takt wagon.
If an activity normally takes two days, you’d reduce crew size so it stretches to three days.

This creates consistent, balanced wagons where trades flow in rhythm. Crew composition is the lever you adjust to fit the takt time.

Resource-Based (Multi-Train) Planning:

In this approach, activities don’t need to fit into one fixed takt time:

A one-day activity can stay on a one-day Takt.
A two-day activity remains on a two-day Takt.
Three-day activities stay on a three-day Takt.

This results in multiple trains running in parallel, each with its own Takt rhythm. While more complex, it works well if activities vary significantly.

Key Questions Answered:

How do I calculate takt time when activities differ?

You can either:

Adjust crews to fit a single takt time, or
Break work into multiple trains with separate takt times.

The key is to optimize your slowest train first and then align others as closely as possible.

What if some activities take twice as long as others?

Split the crew into two smaller crews working in succession, or add additional resources. This creates shorter, repeatable wagons rather than one long bottleneck.

Can takt planning work in residential projects?

Yes. Even if every house is different, all homes share common elements: ceilings, walls, finishes, floors. By analyzing work density, you can define zones of equal effort and create flow.

How do I keep crews productive when areas vary?

Don’t size zones by square footage size them by work density. One zone might be 4,000 sq. ft. and another 12,000, but what matters is that each takes the same number of takt days.

Is there an easy way to show this to crews?

Yes. Use time-by-location format so each trade sees their color-coded flow across zones. Supplement with zone maps for clarity. Crews catch on quickly once they see the rhythm.

Swarming and Adjustments:

Sometimes, one trade will hit a particularly heavy zone. For example, electricians may face extra work in zone 7. When this happens, you can:

Add swing capacity,
Plan for it ahead of time, or
Temporarily increase labor.

As long as the need is visible in the production plan, crews adapt well.

Key Takeaway:

Takt planning in construction is about creating predictable flow by balancing crew sizes and work density across zones. You can either standardize takt time by adjusting resources or allow multiple takt rhythms to run in parallel. The key is to focus on work density, not square footage, and make bottlenecks visible so crews can adapt. With the right approach, even complex or varied projects can achieve stable, repeatable flow.

If you want to learn more we have:

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How To Write A Construction Quality Control Plan

Posted on August 31, 2025August 31, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 7 min

How to Write a Construction Quality Control Plan (That Actually Works)

Quality in construction isn’t about paperwork, it’s about building systems your team can actually follow. In this blog, I’ll walk you through how to create a construction quality control plan that’s simple, effective, and implementable on every project, no matter the size.

Why Quality Control Plans Fail

Too many quality control (QC) plans are written as thick, 50–60-page Word documents that no one reads. They check a box for the owner but fail the people who actually need to use them in the field.

Instead, a good plan should be visual, simple, and actionable. A one-page document that shows the buyout process, pre-mobilization meetings, preparatory meetings, inspections, and close-out steps is often far more effective than a binder collecting dust.

Common Misconceptions About QC Plans:

QC is Just Paperwork:

Not true. A QC plan should guide the team in real time. On past projects, we used a visual point-of-release chart in weekly meetings. Every trade was tracked through buyout, submittals, preparatory meetings, inspections, and final acceptance. It worked like a Kanban board—visual, disciplined, and reliable.

It’s the Quality Manager’s Job:

Wrong again. Quality is a team sport, just like safety. A quality manager can help accelerate the process, but if the team just “stands still” on the moving walkway, you’ll go slower than if you never had one. Everyone owns quality.

QC is Only for Big Federal Jobs:

Every project needs a QC plan whether it’s a large federal contract or a mid-sized commercial build.

QC is About Catching Mistakes:

The goal isn’t to find mistakes after the fact, it’s to prevent mistakes by embedding quality at the source.

Practical Advice and FAQs:

What’s the fastest way to build a QC plan without drowning in paperwork?

Download a single-page template and anchor it into your production plan. Trigger meetings (pre-mobilization, preparatory, and first-in-place) at specific times. Never start work without a visual that crews can reference.

How detailed should the plan be for small to mid-sized projects?

Keep it lean often a single page plus meeting agendas. For added structure, a short work package or wall graphic works well.

Who should approve the QC plan?

Get alignment with the owner and inspector, but also review it as a project team so everyone is bought in.

How do I balance speed and quality?

Quality and speed go hand-in-hand. With proper pre-construction planning and full-kitting activities, you’ll avoid rework and build faster. As the saying goes: If you don’t have time to build it right, you don’t have time to build it twice.

How do I get the field team to follow the plan?

Make it non-negotiable. Everyone attends pre-construction meetings, everyone completes first-in-place inspections, and every zone is punched before handoff. Quality is about clear expectations and disciplined follow-through.

Can I reuse old QC plans?

Yes, but don’t recycle garbage just to check a box. Every plan should be real, practical, and tailored to the job at hand.

Final Thoughts:

A strong quality control plan doesn’t need to be complex. It needs to be visual, simple, and enforceable. The best QC plans are the ones crews can actually use in the field not binders collecting dust.

If you want to learn more we have:

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Takt Steering & Control Book – Remaining Constraints

Posted on August 30, 2025August 30, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 7 min

How to Build Flow and Avoid Productivity Loss

In this blog, we’re finishing out the section on constraints so we can move forward into the next topic “roadblocks”.

Let’s start with one of the biggest productivity killers in construction, pushing, rushing, and panicking.

Many leaders believe pushing the team to go faster gets results but in reality, it’s like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. Rushing leads to delays, mistakes, burnout, and worse: a culture of fear. Panic never creates solutions it only multiplies stress, clouds judgment, and breaks down communication. When stress lingers, morale drops, trust erodes, and talented people start looking for the exit.

Flow vs Chaos

To move beyond this destructive cycle, we turn to the theory of constraints, developed by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt and expanded by Dr. Efrat Goldratt Ochlag. At its core, this framework teaches that every organization has at least one constraint limiting its performance. The key is to identify and manage that constraint so the entire system improves.

Goldratt’s Five Focusing Steps outline this process:

Identify the constraint: Find what limits system performance.
Exploit the constraint: Maximize its capacity.
Subordinate everything else: Align all processes to support it.
Elevate the constraint: Increase capacity if necessary.
Repeat the process: Once resolved, move to the next constraint.

This is why it’s critical to distinguish constraints from roadblocks. Constraints can be managed using the five steps. Roadblocks, on the other hand, have no capacity to exploit or elevate they must simply be identified and removed. Mixing up these terms can derail your problem solving efforts.

Why Flow Matters

When flow is disrupted, productivity tanks. Batch processing slows things down compared to smooth, continuous one-piece flow. If a slow trade becomes your bottleneck, that trade should never be left waiting on materials, equipment, or information. Instead, it must become the focus, because your project will always move at the speed of its constraint.

Leaders must shift from firefighting on the critical path to focusing on constraints and designing with them in mind. That’s how you maintain flow, reduce delays, and keep projects moving forward.

Fear of Court Cases

Another hidden constraint is fear of litigation. Some organizations cling to CPM scheduling to protect themselves legally but in doing so, they constrain their entire company with a broken system. The truth is, CPM doesn’t keep projects on track. Instead, it often creates more problems than it solves.

Seeing Constraints Clearly

At the end of the day, building flow is about visibility. Once you train yourself to see constraints whether resource issues, misaligned zones, overburden, or panic you’ll anticipate problems before they derail your project. Over time, even AI will play a role in identifying constraints faster than humans can. But for now, your ability to see and respond is the key to elevating performance.

Key Takeaway

Pushing, rushing, and panicking don’t speed up projects they destroy trust, morale, and productivity. True progress comes from identifying and managing constraints using Goldratt’s five steps, while removing roadblocks outright. When leaders focus on flow instead of firefighting, projects run at the pace of their strongest constraint and that’s how construction teams elevate performance.

If you want to learn more we have:

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Takt Steering & Control Book – Variation Constraints

Posted on August 30, 2025August 30, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 7 min

Identifying Constraints That Come From Variation

In today’s blog, we’re continuing our look at constraints that stem from variation on construction projects. These issues often hide in plain sight, quietly draining productivity and morale if they aren’t addressed properly. Let’s break them down.

Fatigue From Working Conditions

This is one of the most overlooked constraints. Poor site conditions such as unclean bathrooms, lack of lunchrooms, no cooling areas, or limited access to water hurt morale and directly impact productivity. Workers must be treated so well that they not only enjoy coming to work but also have the environment and resources to perform effectively.

First Planners should always account for worker care in their planning not just by budget, but by what “remarkable” looks like. Last Planners must hold the line, if basic amenities aren’t provided, no work should proceed.

Work That’s Too Complex

Complex tasks like new formwork systems, prefabricated panels, or structural shotcrete require experimentation, learning, and standardization before productivity can stabilize. Dispatching a crew without proper preparation creates major constraints.

Great planners identify these “biggest challenges” early and tackle them head on. Foremen and last planners can break complex work into manageable pieces, ensuring crews aren’t overburdened.

Lack of Breaks

The U.S. military found that soldiers can march up to 40% farther with 10-minute breaks every hour. Workers aren’t machines pushing them without rest leads to fatigue, accidents, and productivity loss.

Planners must build breaks, huddles, and buffers into schedules and contracts. Foremen should encourage and enforce rest to protect crews and sustain performance.

Lack of Buffers

Buffers are essential in every takt wagon. They allow crews to finish properly, clean up, train, and prepare for the next area. Without them, plans rely on perfect execution which never happens.

Planners must package buffers into task durations. Leaders shouldn’t sandbag, but they must include realistic time for reflection and recovery.

Too Many Areas to Work In

Spreading crews across multiple areas creates chaos, rework, and distraction. Flow is lost. Productivity tanks.

Planners should prioritize one-process flow with diagonal trade sequencing. Trade partners can protect themselves by submitting realistic flow based plans and refusing to be pushed into unsustainable setups.

Rushing and Pushing Crews

When leaders push workers to make up for poor planning, people get hurt. At minimum, productivity collapses; at worst, lives are lost.

Planners must create a culture where rushing is never tolerated. Foremen must protect crews, prioritize safety, and focus on maintaining flow.

Excessive Regulations and Paperwork

When foremen are buried in documentation, they’re pulled away from their most important work leading the crew and planning. This is a silent productivity killer.

Planners can remove unnecessary bureaucracy and protect foremen. When paperwork is unavoidable, support staff or trained leads can absorb the burden.

Key Takeaway

Sustainable productivity in construction depends on protecting workers from overburden. Poor conditions, lack of breaks, rushing, excessive complexity, too many work areas, and unnecessary regulations all drain morale and performance. By planning for worker care, providing buffers, simplifying complex tasks, and refusing to compromise people for profits, both first and last planners can remove constraints caused by variation and create projects where crews thrive and flow is maintained.

If you want to learn more we have:

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Takt Steering & Control Book – Variation Constraints

Posted on August 30, 2025August 30, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 7 min

Productivity Loss from Too Many Workers, Materials, and WIP

In construction, productivity is fragile. It doesn’t take much to push a project from flow into chaos. One of the biggest mistakes project leaders make is assuming that more workers, more materials, or more work-in-progress automatically equals faster progress. In reality, these factors often do the opposite they create spirals of inefficiency that constrain the system.

Productivity Loss from Too Many Workers

Bringing too many workers onto a project or into a crew may seem like a quick fix, but it usually triggers a productivity spiral:

Overstaffing leads to batching and multitasking: Crews are spread thin across multiple locations, constantly switching contexts and losing time.
Communication becomes complex: Larger crews create more communication channels, which leads to more breakdowns and wasted time.
Crew cohesion suffers: New workers may not share the same leader, culture, or work habits. Without consistency, productivity drops.
Onboarding takes time: New workers don’t reach full productivity for at least a week, dragging down output during critical moments.
Overtime follows: Crews try to compensate with longer hours, leading to fatigue, burnout, and eventual collapse in performance.
Quality declines: Distracted crews make mistakes, leading to rework that costs 2–12 times more than getting it right the first time.
Planning falls apart: With attention consumed by rework, teams lose focus on planning and roadblock removal, accelerating the decline into chaos.

This is why Brooks’s Law applies; adding more people to a late project makes it later. Unless additional crews are planned, trained, and on boarded in preconstruction, simply adding labor creates more problems than it solves.

The key is to respect crew capacity lines. If one crew can only handle a certain workload, asking them to do the work of two will inevitably trigger a spiral. But if two crews are planned and prepared early, their combined capacity can handle the increased workload without collapse.

Productivity Loss from Too Many Materials

The same principle applies to materials. Bringing too much material to the site or bringing it too early creates a downward spiral of waste:

Excess inventory piles up and clogs the workspace.
Transportation and motion increase as materials are moved and re-moved.
Defects occur from damage, distraction, or improper handling.
Overprocessing and waiting follow, as crews spend more time fixing problems or searching for what they need.

Instead of helping, surplus materials slow down all trades, disrupt the flow of work, and can even become the most limiting factor on a project.

Productivity Loss from Too Much Work in Progress (WIP)

Too much WIP is another silent killer of productivity. Traditional scheduling methods like CPM often push teams to increase work in progress beyond capacity, but the results are predictable:

Individual tasks take longer.
Throughput slows down.
The system clogs like an overcrowded freeway.

The right approach is balancing WIP with capacity. Not too much, not zero—just enough to keep crews moving steadily, with a buffer to absorb variability. Pushing workers through constraints only worsens delays.

This is why traditional systems like CPM, EVM, and push driven scheduling fail to deliver flow. They ignore the principle that exceeding system capacity makes everything slower, not faster.

Key Takeaway

More workers, more materials, and more WIP do not equal more productivity. In fact, unmanaged increases in any of these areas create spirals that slow projects down, burn out crews, and damage quality. The solution is balance aligning labor, materials, and work in progress with the actual capacity of the system. Planned, trained, and properly on boarded resources create flow; random, reactive additions create chaos.

If you want to learn more we have:

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Takt Steering & Control Book – Rules to Follow

Posted on August 30, 2025August 30, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 6 min

The Rules of Takt Steering and Control

The Takt Production System is designed to align work in progress (WIP) with capacity and maintain trade flow by protecting the line of balance from stacking or overburdening. Stacking occurs when too many trades are crammed into one zone, while overburdening happens when a single trade is spread across too many zones. Both scenarios break flow and reduce efficiency.

To prevent this, Takt requires discipline through a clear set of rules. These rules ensure that trades move in one continuous flow zone to zone, phase to phase without disrupting productivity.

Core Rules of Takt Steering and Control

Always maintain diagonal trade flow: Keep trades moving in a logical, predictable sequence.
Do not dissolve logic: Maintain the integrity of your scheduling relationships.
Do not shorten durations: Unless confirmed by trade partners, avoid rushing work.
Do not trade stack or burden: Prevent crowding trades into zones or stretching them too thin.
Always work in one process flow: Flow beats multitasking every time.
Always use buffers: Protect against delays with built in flexibility.
Always have workable backlog: Keep crews productive with ready to go tasks.
Always pre-kit: Prepare materials and information before work begins.

These rules don’t just apply to Takt they represent lean principles that can strengthen any scheduling system.

Why Takt Has More Logic than CPM

Unlike CPM (Critical Path Method), where activities typically have a single predecessor and successor, Takt assumes at least two predecessors and two successors for every activity. This builds more logic into the plan and strengthens the overall flow of work.

In complex projects, multi train Takt plans allow multiple sequences (or “trains”) to flow through zones simultaneously. The key is carefully managing the starting and finishing logic of each train and protecting the intersecting lines of balance.

The Bottom Line

Takt’s rules are not suggestions they are the protective guardrails that preserve flow, prevent overloading, and keep work packages aligned. Following them ensures that crews have what they need, when they need it, while protecting trade flow from zone to zone. Whether you’re running a single train or multi train Takt plan, these rules create predictability and stability for the entire project.

Key Takeaway

Takt steering and control works because it is protected by clear, non-negotiable rules. By preventing stacking, overburden, and broken logic, and by ensuring flow through buffers, backlog, and preparation, leaders can keep projects stable and productive. Takt doesn’t just schedule work it creates a rhythm that sustains efficiency across every zone and trade.

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