Elevating Pre-construction Planning, Connecting the Dots Before Trade Partner Prep
In this blog, I’m continuing my reading from Elevating Preconstruction Planning, moving us right up to the trade partner preparation process.
We’ve already covered the five core component categories: team, plan, resources, culture, and training. All of these exist for one purpose, to give foremen and crews exactly what they need so they can install their work package, in their zone, on time. But what actually pulls all of these pieces into one seamless plan for the crew?
The answer lies in three systems: Takt Planning, Takt Steering & Control, and the Last Planner System.
These systems bring rhythm, flow, and collaboration to the forefront. In the book, there’s a visual showing “team, plan, supply chain, culture, training” all feeding directly into the construction foreman. The point is simple: instead of optimising departments in silos, we should focus on optimising the whole making sure every part of the organization is serving the people doing the work. In construction, that means the crews are the flow unit.
The First Planner System provides the framework for running a lean project as a production system. It aligns your team, plan, supply chain, culture, and training to enable a continuous flow of work.
The Takt Production System sets the rhythm creating workflow, trade flow, and logistical flow without overburdening resources. It becomes your master schedule, simulating and executing the best scenario for your project.
Takt Steering & Control then takes that plan into the field, steering around constraints and removing roadblocks. Every project will face delays and impacts, the key isn’t to hope they vanish, but to have a proven system to handle them.
Finally, the Last Planner System provides the space for foremen and trades to collaborate, commit to the plan, and make work ready by removing roadblocks in advance. Each piece of this framework ensures foremen have what they need, materials, layout, information, stability, respect, training, labor, tools, and equipment to execute with excellence.
We’ve now covered every key component except one: quality expectations. That’s the next step and it leads directly into the trade partner preparation process, which I’ll cover in the next blog.
Key Takeaway
Great pre-construction planning doesn’t just align schedules, it aligns every department, resource, and system to serve the crews doing the work. By integrating Takt Planning, Takt Steering & Control, and the Last Planner System, you create a rhythm that keeps projects flowing smoothly, even when challenges arise.
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
