The Time Cost Problem, Feat. Steve Richards

Posted on August 25, 2025August 25, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 7 min

You Will Never Be Lean Until You Constrain Your Time

I want to share something that has shaped how I view work, lean practices, and even life. The principle is simple but powerful. You will never truly be lean until you learn to constrain your time.

When we place limits on our workday, we stop covering waste with long hours and instead force ourselves to become efficient. This is where necessity becomes the mother of invention. If you have all the time in the world, you never feel the urgency to improve. But once you set boundaries, the brain shifts gears and looks for smarter ways to get the work done.

The Balance of Pressure and Growth

I often see this in construction projects and in personal schedules. There is a sweet spot where we feel just a bit overburdened. At first, that pressure can feel stressful, but it actually opens the door to improvement. The wrong choice is to mask the issue with more hours, longer days, and burnout. The better choice is to stop, respect your health and family, and let the pressure push you toward continuous improvement.

When I constrain my time, I start asking myself different questions. What tasks can I eliminate? Which ones can I delegate? How can I synchronize or automate? Where can I create templates or lean on technology? That shift only happens when I refuse to give myself unlimited time.

Real Examples from Construction

On projects, I have seen both approaches play out. When a team is allowed to work unlimited overtime, problems get hidden instead of solved. Materials show up late, and instead of fixing the supply chain, crews work Saturdays to make up for it. Trade partners get out of sequence, and instead of correcting the flow, everyone scrambles and pushes harder. That is not lean.

On the other hand, when we set clear time constraints, teams are forced to solve problems differently. With prefabrication, crews build components ahead of time in controlled environments, which reduces waste and saves days in the field. With takt planning, we synchronize the trades so that each crew moves in rhythm, which improves flow and eliminates the need for panic overtime. Technology tools like 3D modeling and visual planning also help us anticipate issues early, so that we do not waste valuable field hours fixing mistakes.

Constraining time creates discipline, and discipline creates innovation.

Respect for People Comes First

Constraining time is not about pushing workers, rushing projects, or forcing unrealistic deadlines. Respect for people always comes first. When we plan projects, we need to ensure there is enough time to execute them with excellence. Once that baseline is established, we can then look at how to optimize and continuously improve without overburdening people.

In my experience, companies that plan with just enough time do well. But the organizations that take the next step, that begin to pull milestones forward through takt planning, prefabrication, better design, and continuous improvement, are the ones that thrive and become truly lean.

Key Takeaway

I have learned that true lean comes only when I constrain my time. By setting healthy limits, I uncover waste, improve processes, and let pressure fuel innovation instead of burnout.

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

Answers about Takt

Posted on August 25, 2025August 25, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 8 min

Understanding Takt Planning Beyond Five Days

I recently received a thoughtful question from a YouTube commenter about Takt planning, and I wanted to take some time to unpack it. The question revolved around whether moving away from a five-day Takt time is like driving the same speed everywhere. It’s a great question because it highlights one of the most common misunderstandings about Takt planning.

The point I often make is this: you don’t have to lock yourself into a five-day Takt time. You can absolutely adjust, and in fact, the system is designed to allow for flexibility.

Why Flexibility Matters in Takt Planning

If you start with a five-day Takt time, that’s fine, but it’s not a rule. It’s a starting point. From there, you can optimize by adjusting to four days, three days, or even less depending on the work package design.

Think of it like driving a car. You don’t always drive at one speed; you adjust based on the conditions of the road. Similarly, in Takt planning, you can adjust your rhythm. A four-day Takt doesn’t mean four days of work plus a day of buffer that magically makes it a five-day Takt. It truly means four days of rhythm. At the end of the fourth day, the trades move forward to their next zone, even if that means shifting on a Thursday or a Friday.

The key is that Takt time gives us visibility. It shows us what it would take to get trades moving at the same speed, the same distance apart, in flow.

Multiple Trains, Multiple Speeds

Another misunderstanding is that all trades have to move at the same Takt time. They don’t. You can absolutely have multiple trains within the same Takt phase. Some trades may run at a two-day rhythm, others at a four-day rhythm. The framework allows you to visualize this, coordinate it, and make sure everyone is aligned.

For example, if you have a two-day task followed by a four-day task, you have options. You can split the longer task into multiple crews, run it as its own train, or even pull it out as a separate phase. What matters most is creating reliable flow, not forcing everyone into one rigid pace.

Why Weekends Shouldn’t Dictate Flow

One of the biggest pitfalls I see is when teams try to use weekends as their natural break points. That mindset pulls you back into a five-day Takt mentality. But in reality, Takt planning isn’t about weeks. It’s about rhythm. If trades need to move on a Wednesday or Thursday, that’s perfectly fine. Flow doesn’t care about the calendar, it cares about consistency.

When you force everything into a weekly box, you often introduce negative dynamics. Teams end up using weekends for recovery, which strains resources and masks deeper problems. The goal is not to survive the week but to establish a rhythm that works every single day.

The Bigger Picture

This is why I encourage anyone serious about mastering Takt planning to dive into resources like the books Takt Planning and Takt Steering and Control. Takt is the best system I know for giving maximum visibility to a project. It helps us plan realistically, optimize continuously, and create flow that benefits both the project and the people on it.

And like the commenter who inspired this discussion, I truly believe that those who take the time to learn and implement Takt in their regions will see remarkable results.

Key Takeaway

Takt planning is not about rigidly sticking to five days. It’s about creating flow with flexibility, adjusting rhythms, and ensuring trades move consistently in alignment, regardless of the calendar.

If you want to learn more we have:

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Watch Their Set Points

Posted on August 25, 2025August 25, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 5 min

Watch Their Set Points

I’ve been reflecting lately on something I’ve seen happen over and over again in leadership and construction. We spend so much time training people, coaching them, and enabling them, but eventually, they return to their natural rhythm, their set point. This realization completely shifted the way I look at development, leadership, and continuous improvement.

I first noticed it when someone I had trained started slipping on key planning steps. They weren’t failing because they didn’t care or weren’t capable. They were simply reverting to what felt normal and comfortable. Their set point was different from mine, and it showed. That experience taught me that it’s not enough to just train people once. We need to understand where their baseline lies and then create systems that help elevate that baseline.

Engineering Out Human Error

This concept of set points ties directly into something I learned from Hal Makeover, the importance of engineering out human error. Just like airlines design autopilot systems to minimize mistakes, we in construction must design processes that prevent errors from slipping through. People will always have different habits, comfort zones, and tendencies. Instead of blaming them, we can build safeguards and double checks into the system that ensure quality at the source.

When we see someone’s set point, it’s not a problem to criticize, it’s valuable data. It tells us what level of support, training, or system design is needed to help that person succeed consistently.

Shifting from Blame to Improvement

Too often, leaders feel frustrated when their people fall back into old habits. But I’ve learned that it’s not about blame, it’s about building better systems and stronger cultures. If I notice where someone’s set point is, I now see it as an opportunity. I can adjust the process, reinforce training, or strengthen the team culture so that what used to be above and beyond eventually becomes the new normal.

That shift changes everything. Instead of frustration, I feel curiosity. Instead of disappointment, I see potential. Because once we recognize set points, we can engineer improvement that lasts.

Key Takeaway

Understanding people’s set points helps us stop blaming and start improving. By designing systems and reinforcing behaviors, we can elevate those natural rhythms into consistent excellence.

If you want to learn more we have:

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What Is A Plan In Construction?

Posted on August 23, 2025August 23, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 9 min

What Is a Plan in Construction?

Introduction:

What exactly is a plan in construction? In this blog, we’ll look at both small and large projects and break down planning and scheduling from both a macro and micro perspective. The goal is to help you understand how to start, how to sequence, and how to approach projects with the right mindset.

If you’re looking for clarity on how to put all of this together, you’re in the right place.

Plan vs. Schedule:

There’s a key difference between a plan and a schedule:

Schedule = The demand side of the equation (what the owner wants).
Plan = What we can actually accomplish, given the constraints, while still working to meet customer demand.

This makes planning superior to scheduling. In fact, during my time at DPR, they used something called PSPP – Planning, Scheduling, Production Planning, which really highlighted the full scope of what a plan should be.

The Big Mistake:

A common mistake in construction is being forced into creating a baseline schedule far too quickly. Owners often demand a schedule within days or weeks, but rushing this process locks teams into an unrealistic baseline for the entire project even for multimillion-dollar builds.

Good plans take time. Forcing schedulers into shortcuts only creates long-term problems.

Macro-Level Takt Plan:

The very first step should be creating a macro-level Takt plan. This shows:

Time by location format for project phases.
Calculated durations confirmed by real production rates.
A reliable baseline speed (the “slowest responsible speed”).

This sets a realistic foundation before moving on to optimization.

Norm-Level Takt Plan:

After the macro-level plan, zoning and other strategies can help optimize work. The target speed called the norm comes with buffers, ensuring the plan is achievable while still leaving room to improve through sequencing and prefabrication.

Critical Chain (Not Critical Path):

Traditional schedules focus on the critical path, but in reality, construction is better managed through the critical chain, the path for production targets with built-in buffers.

This approach ensures that planning accounts for trade flow and overall strategy, not just a single narrow sequence of activities.

Why This Matters:

If you attempt to schedule before creating a real production plan, you’ll end up in one of the biggest nightmares of your project. Takt is a production plan, while CPM is just a schedule.

When both are aligned, the work breakdown structure, logic, and schedule flow correctly. But if they get out of sync, the project spirals into inefficiency and lost productivity.

The Advantages of Takt Planning:

With takt planning, you can:

See the overall strategic plan on one page.
Build responsible, trade-flow-based schedules.
Identify opportunities to zone differently or release work earlier.
Optimize bottlenecks through prefabrication.

This provides a more realistic and flexible approach compared to CPM-only scheduling.

Common Mistake to Avoid:

Too many builders jump straight into lookahead plans (3-week or weekly work plans) without establishing the overall strategic plan. That’s like only looking at your feet instead of the road ahead.

Without the big picture, you risk missing key milestones like steel procurement, exterior sequencing, or electrical commissioning.

Critical Path vs. Critical Chain:

It’s harmful to think of construction as being dictated by one critical path. Instead, projects should be managed with a critical chain mindset:

Begin with the end in mind.
Sequence strategically.
Focus on production flow and buffers.

This ensures a realistic and optimized execution plan.

What a Complete Construction Plan Should Include:

A solid construction plan should contain:

Macro-Level Takt Plan – Strategy for the entire project.
Pull Plan – For each milestone.
Lookahead Plans – Six weeks out.
Weekly Work Plans – Commitments for the next week.
Day Plans – Communicated clearly to crews.

This layered approach ensures alignment from the big picture down to the daily execution level.

Conclusion:

A true construction plan isn’t just about hitting a baseline schedule. It’s about creating a strategic, realistic, and flow-based plan that connects the big picture to the daily tasks on site.

When you focus only on one piece of the puzzle, you miss the global view. But when you align macro-level planning, takt, and daily execution, you set your project and your team up for success.

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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Takt Steering & Control Book – Finishing the Meeting System

Posted on August 22, 2025August 22, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 7 min

The Crew Preparation Huddle: Planning for Success on the Jobsite

The crew preparation huddle is a critical step in ensuring that construction work is planned, organized, and executed efficiently. This meeting occurs after the worker huddle and involves only the crew foreman and workers allowing them to plan their work, prepare, and fill out pre-test plans as a group. The goal is to leverage the experience and input of workers while maintaining control of the work within the zone.

Agenda and Steps for a Crew Preparation Huddle

Shout Outs
Start the huddle with positive recognition. Crew leaders acknowledge accomplishments or contributions from the previous day, setting a constructive and motivating tone.
Safety Training Topic
Tailor a safety discussion to the day’s work, ensuring the crew understands risks specific to their tasks. This is similar to a toolbox talk and complements the general safety topics covered in the morning worker huddle.
Plan the Work
Using the crew board, visually communicate the work plan for the day. The crew board includes:
- Look ahead plan
- Weekly work plan
- Crew preparation section
- Zone maps
- Logistics map
- Preparation section

Steps on the crew board:

- Review the look-ahead plan and explain upcoming activities for the next six weeks.
- Review the weekly work plan and highlight handoff commitments.
- Organize crew members by activity and confirm each person has the necessary resources.
- Mark any roadblocks, deliveries, or staging requirements on the zone maps.
- Make work ready by listing punch items or actions that support successful handoffs.

Visual boards empower workers to contribute, understand the plan, and align on objectives, enabling consistent improvement from zone to zone.

Share a Two Second Lean Improvement
Implement small, daily improvements inspired by Paul Laker’s “Two Second Lean” methodology. Crews check for waste, improve their areas, and use visual cues to track enhancements. At Elevate, we use nine wastes and six S principles, emphasizing daily habits to maintain a clean, organized, and efficient work environment.
Walk the Area of Work
Foremen walk the area with the crew to assess current conditions, identify hazards, and focus on six S improvements. This step ensures that work can be executed safely and efficiently.
Fill Out Pre Test Plans
With the work area assessed, foremen fill out pre-test plans while reviewing and orienting the crew. Workers sign off on the plan, confirming understanding and alignment.
Success Your Work Area
During pre-test plan completion, the crew organizes their work areas using six S practices, addressing waste and inefficiencies.
Prepare for Work
Crews set up the work area, adjust the environment for safety and efficiency, and ensure all pre-test plans, checklists, and quality visuals are ready. Standard work steps can be tracked and improved over time using Excel or apps like Intact.

Once crews are operational and prepared, zone control walks are conducted to ensure work flows correctly within zones.

Key Takeaway

The crew preparation huddle empowers foremen and workers to plan, organize, and prepare their work collaboratively. By leveraging visual boards, pre-test plans, safety training, and daily lean improvements, crews can execute work efficiently, safely, and with minimal waste, setting the stage for smooth workflow and successful project outcomes.

If you want to learn more we have:

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Takt Steering & Control Book – Zone Control

Posted on August 22, 2025August 22, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 7 min

Mastering Zone Control in Construction

Zone control is a critical aspect of managing construction projects efficiently. It ensures that work progresses smoothly from zone to zone, following a defined process flow while respecting handoff deadlines. This system, pioneered by Grit Richards at PC Construction, emphasizes planning, building, and finishing within each zone while maintaining flow and minimizing disruptions.

What Is Zone Control?

Zone control is the process of managing work within defined zone boundaries according to your takt time. Zone managers, superintendents, assistant superintendents, leads, field engineers, project engineers, and craft leaders collaborate to prepare work ahead, remove roadblocks, and ensure timely completion. Foremen and superintendents coordinate to make work ready for each crew and to finish areas as they go.

Steps for Effective Zone Control

Grab Your Day Plan
Before walking a zone, have your daily and weekly work plans in hand. Whether digital or printed, these plans guide the zone walk and ensure you know the priorities and tasks for the day.
Walk the Project
Focus on zones that have or will soon have handoffs. Check crew progress, help them prepare future work, and punch completed areas to ensure nothing is left unfinished.
Finish as You Go
Encourage crews to complete work fully, including punch items, before moving on. This prevents rework, maintains flow, and saves valuable time.
Prepare Work Ahead
Walk forward areas to ensure the path is clear, substrates are ready, and all materials are staged. Address any gaps during the afternoon foreman huddle if needed.
Follow Zone Walk Rules
- Work by zones only.
- Finish as you go.
- Prepare ahead.
- Do not go slower without buffer or permission.
- Do not go faster unless all work is complete and inspected.
Document and Report
Take notes on key issues, flow obstacles, or improvements. Bring these insights to the daily team huddle or afternoon foreman huddle to resolve problems collaboratively.

Types of Zone Walks

First Zone Walk: Walk the first zone at 50–75% completion to set expectations for safety, QC, and cleanliness.
Handoff Walk: Inspect before the foreman moves to the next zone to ensure smooth transition.
Standard Walk: Conduct daily walks across all zones when possible to maintain overall flow, resolve minor issues, and communicate improvements.

Maintaining Flow and Lean Principles

Flow in construction means everyone works according to the same plan, sequence, and speed while minimizing waste, unevenness, and overburden. Disruptions such as defective work, delayed tasks, excessive context switching, or insufficient staffing can break flow. Zone control, combined with tactics like swing capacity, separate pull plans, and Andon signals, allows teams to absorb delays efficiently and keep production steady.

Key Actions for Zone Managers and Supers

Free stage materials and prepare the next task.
Pull contractors into the area for support.
Train and prepare workers for upcoming work.
Maintain a safe, clean, and organized site.
Focus on quality at the source and finishing as you go.

By implementing these strategies, construction teams can achieve predictable, efficient, and high-quality project outcomes. Zone control ensures that work progresses in a controlled, well-prepared, and continuously improving environment.

Key Takeaway

Zone control is about managing the flow of work within defined boundaries, ensuring crews finish tasks as they go, and preparing the next zones ahead of time. When properly executed, it minimizes delays, reduces waste, and enables predictable, high-quality construction outcomes.

If you want to learn more we have:

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

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

On we go

Takt Steering & Control Book – Team Daily Huddle

Posted on August 22, 2025August 22, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 6 min

The Power of the Team Huddle in Construction

The team huddle is one of the most important touch points in the daily flow of a construction project. It brings together the superintendent, project manager, project engineer, and field engineers to align, solve problems, and keep the day’s work moving forward without unnecessary friction.

This meeting isn’t about long discussions it’s about clarity, alignment, and flow. The project management team gathers, reviews priorities, identifies blockers, and provides direct support to the field so production never stalls. By leveraging a structured approach, such as the scrum framework, the team huddle becomes fast, focused, and effective.

How the Team Huddle Works

Start with Scrum
Use a board (physical or digital) where everyone can see the tasks. The backlog, workable backlog, in-progress, and complete tasks are tracked visually so the team can move items across quickly to maintain flow.
Go Around the Room
Each member shares what was done yesterday, what they’re working on today, and what help they need. This provides transparency and ensures alignment.
Prioritize Tasks
With field and office meeting daily, it’s nearly impossible to disconnect. Together, the team ensures that the most important and urgent tasks are always at the top of the list.
Identify, Discuss, and Solve (IDS)
Roadblocks and constraints are brought to the surface and solved quickly. This keeps issues from snowballing and protects flow.
Plus Delta
Every meeting ends with a quick reflection what went well (plus) and what could improve (delta). This ensures the huddle stays relevant, engaging, and effective.

Building Flow Across the Entire Project

The team huddle doesn’t stand alone its part of a rhythm of meetings that build on each other to create full project flow:

Strategic Planning and Procurement Meeting: Controls the master plan and procurement needs.
Trade Partner Weekly Tactical: Creates look ahead plans and weekly work commitments.
Foreman Huddle & Worker Huddle: Enable day planning and direct worker communication.
Crew Prep Huddle & Zone Walks: Ensure readiness and maintain flow on-site.

These meetings, combined with the visuals (boards for teams, workers, zones, and crews), create an integrated system that ensures information flows seamlessly from planning to execution.

Whether on large projects with multiple functional areas or smaller jobs, the team huddle is scalable and fractal adaptable to the size and complexity of the work while maintaining its purpose, enabling flow.

Key Takeaway

The team huddle is not just another meeting it’s the heartbeat of daily construction management. By aligning the project team, solving roadblocks quickly, and keeping priorities crystal clear, it ensures that information flows, production stays on track, and the field has the support it needs to succeed.

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Takt Steering & Control Book – Delays

Posted on August 22, 2025August 22, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 6 min

Practical Options for Recovery

In construction, delays are inevitable but how we deal with them makes all the difference. TAKT planning, steering, and control is designed to prevent delays, but when they do happen, we need structured methods to handle them without compromising flow or productivity.

Here are several proven approaches for managing delays on a project:

Line of Balance Dela:

When delays occur, protect your trades. Don’t stack or overload successor crews. Instead, maintain the line of balance the visual representation of flow against time.

This often means eating into project buffers or using them as intended. Crews can also be switched to workable backlog tasks to stay productive while waiting for flow to resume.

Sequence Delay

Sometimes delays can be absorbed by modifying the sequence of work. If materials are available and the sequence still works, this can be an effective option.

Before consuming buffers or making drastic changes, always check whether sequence adjustments can resolve the issue.

Isolated Delay

For localized problems, you can detach the wagon (an activity) from the main flow or isolate the affected area from its zone. This allows the main train of trades to keep moving while the isolated work is scheduled separately through TAKT, pull planning, or even a scrum board.

This approach is especially effective when end user changes or design revisions affect specific rooms or areas.

Utilizing Resources to Recover

While not the first choice, delays can sometimes be recovered by adding resources such as bringing in a highly skilled, fully on boarded crew or reallocating swing capacity from crews working on backlog tasks.

It’s important to avoid using unproven or underperforming teams, as this can create more problems than it solves.

Rezoning Delay

Rezoning is often the most powerful tool for recovery. By breaking down zones into smaller sections (e.g., moving from three zones to nine), teams can pull the plan back on track and regain flow.

This approach works best when combined with proactive problem solving and swarming the issue early.

The Bottom Line

Delays shouldn’t automatically spiral into lost productivity or chaos. With the right strategies line of balance, sequence changes, isolating activities, resource reallocation, and rezoning teams can absorb disruptions while maintaining flow and stability.

Preventing delays is always the priority, but when they do occur, structured recovery methods keep projects moving forward without sacrificing quality or morale.

Key Takeaway

Delays are inevitable in construction, but chaos is not. By applying structured recovery options protecting trade flow, isolating issues, rezoning work, and smartly using resources leaders can prevent productivity spirals and keep projects on track.

If you want to learn more we have:

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Takt Steering & Control Book – Conclusion

Posted on August 22, 2025August 22, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 7 min

Continuous Improvement and the Power of TAKT in Construction

Quality and continuous improvement are at the heart of construction because at the end of the day, we are service providers. Unlike manufacturing or government agencies with minimal customer focus, construction thrives only when we deliver what the customer truly wants on time, with the highest quality, and at the lowest overall cost.

This requires more than good intentions; it requires systems that support consistent improvement. Two of the most effective methods for driving quality and continuous improvement in construction are:

The Trade Partner Preparation Process

This process includes buyout meetings, pre mobilization meetings, pre-construction meetings, first in place inspections, follow up inspections, and final inspections.

When used consistently, each step becomes an opportunity to improve the work. From the pre-mobilization meeting to the final inspection, leaders and teams can ask; “How can we improve this work?” By documenting and updating installation work packages, teams create a living system that evolves over time and raises the bar for quality.

Crew Boards in the Field

Crew boards serve as a visual hub for planning and improvement. They should display:

The look ahead plan
Weekly work plan
Crew organization
Zone maps
Logistics plan
Installation work package or quality visual

When foremen engage crews daily with these visuals, they establish clarity, accountability, and a continuous improvement loop. By revisiting and refining installation packages based on crew feedback, teams can steadily improve processes and outcomes.

Seeing Problems as Opportunities

One of the most powerful lessons of TAKT steering and control is that the value of a system isn’t in looking perfect it’s in surfacing problems so they can be solved. Every Lean system is designed to make issues visible, whether through constraints, roadblocks, or meeting systems.

As Tony Robbins once said: “The only problem we really have is we think we’re not supposed to have problems.” In reality, problems call us to a higher level, and solving them proactively is the essence of TAKT.

TAKT doesn’t make problems disappear it reveals them early so they can be addressed as a team. This mindset shifts the culture from avoiding issues to solving them collaboratively.

Building a Complete System

The TAKT system spanning planning, steering, and control offers construction teams a full framework for managing flow. From constraints and zone control to delay management and accountability, it provides the structure to stabilize and continuously improve.

Adopting TAKT isn’t easy. It requires discipline, effort, and a willingness to move beyond old habits like CPM wish lists or sticky-note sessions without real zoning. But the reward is significant: true production planning that brings respect, stability, and flow back into construction.

As leaders, our responsibility is to discomfort ourselves for the sake of creating comfort and clarity for workers. Production isn’t about adding labor, pushing people, or rushing materials it’s about creating predictable flow by managing constraints and improving together.

The Future of TAKT

With the completion of the TAKT Steering and Control framework, construction now has a comprehensive system for production planning. It works across project types, sizes, and complexities. The only barrier is the willingness to adopt change and commit to the effort.

Ultimately, TAKT planning and control will become the predominant system in construction. The question is not whether it will happen, but whether you and your team will lead the change or be forced to follow.

Key Takeaway

Continuous improvement in construction comes from structured systems that reveal problems early and create opportunities to improve. By consistently applying the trade partner preparation process and crew boards, teams can raise quality, stabilize flow, and embrace TAKT as the framework that transforms challenges into progress.

If you want to learn more we have:

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Takt Steering & Control Book – Accountability & KPIs

Posted on August 22, 2025August 22, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 7 min

Accountability and KPIs in Construction

Formen are the key to a successful project. We either rise or fall based on their capability, experience, leadership, and cohesion. Supporting and respecting foremen is crucial but accountability is equally important. Just like anyone else on the team, foremen must be held accountable to ensure consistency and excellence across the project. Even one underperforming trade can disrupt the entire flow.

To build accountability into projects, here are five proven tactics:

Zero Tolerance: Safety, cleanliness, and organization are non-negotiable. Every project team should define clear zero-tolerance standards often based on OSHA regulations, company policies, and site orientations.

Minor violations: workers are corrected, trained, and logged. Repeated offenses result in removal until retrained.
Major violations: workers are sent home, and in cases of dangerous negligence, permanently removed.

The bottom line, the worst behavior tolerated becomes the standard for the entire site. Holding the line on safety is both respectful and necessary.

Daily Correction System

Quick, consistent communication keeps accountability alive. A simple system like WhatsApp chats one for internal craft and one for trade foremen ensures issues are addressed daily.

Leaders should log 10–15 quick corrections per day, such as cleanup requests or repair needs. These don’t need to be archived just resolved. The continuous feedback loop keeps projects moving smoothly.

Quality at the Source

No defective work should ever be passed forward. Quality must start and end with every crew.

Workers are empowered to stop and fix issues.
Crews receive quality checklists and visuals in pre-construction meetings.
Defective work is rejected, not patched over.

Creating a culture where only quality work is accepted eliminates rework and raises standards across the board.

Contractor Grading

Grading contractors ensures accountability for both trades and the general contractor.

Define grading criteria (cleanliness, responsiveness, planning, material staging, etc.).
Use grading sheets weekly.
Share scores openly with all stakeholders.

When performance is scored transparently, everyone rises to meet higher standards.

Team Health Score

A project’s success depends on more than just tasks it depends on team balance. A monthly team health score evaluates areas like:

Balance and stability
Foresight and planning
Clarity and alignment
Business operations
Operational excellence

This score highlights gaps, helping leaders adjust and strengthen the team culture.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Finally, accountability comes alive through measurable results. KPIs should focus on leading indicators metrics that predict success rather than just track past results.

Quality KPIs:

Percentage of pre-construction meetings held on time
Percentage of critical crews using visual quality checklists

Schedule KPIs:

Remaining buffer ratio (measuring schedule protection)
Perfect handoff percentage (smooth transitions between zones)
Percent of promises complete (PPC on weekly work plans)
Roadblock removal average (proactive problem-solving)

These KPIs form the minimum set needed to track quality and schedule effectively, helping teams stay aligned and proactive.

Key Takeaway

Effective project success depends on establishing clear accountability and measurable performance standards. By enforcing zero-tolerance rules for safety and cleanliness, implementing daily correction systems, ensuring quality at the source, grading contractors and trades, and tracking team health, project leaders can create a disciplined, high-performing, and collaborative team. When combined with meaningful KPIs such as quality check compliance, schedule adherence, buffer utilization, and roadblock removal these practices enable continuous improvement, operational excellence, and a stable, safe, and productive project site.

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Key Takeaway

Accountability and KPIs in Construction

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