In this blog, I want to dive into the rules of flow, focusing on Goldratt’s rules of flow, as outlined in a book co-authored by his daughter. This perspective on flow can be applied to any industry—whether it’s business operations, construction, or manufacturing. The concepts introduced here are brilliant, offering a fresh take on optimizing flow in your projects.
Let’s explore these concepts step by step so you can implement them effectively in your projects.
Rule 1: Avoid Bad Multitasking, Control Your Work & Process
Bad multitasking can seriously derail your progress. When you have too much work in process (WIP) beyond the capacity of your team, it slows down everything. Just as a freeway overloaded with cars causes traffic jams, overloading your team with too many tasks will extend timelines and create inefficiencies. Staying within your capacity and focusing on one thing at a time will keep your project flowing smoothly.
Tip: Allocate resources to what’s most important and control the WIP. Multitasking beyond capacity only prolongs project completion.
Rule 2: Verify a Full Kit Before You Begin
Before starting a task, ensure you have everything you need—a “full kit.” In construction, this could mean materials, tools, equipment, information, and layouts. Starting without a full kit often leads to delays as you scramble to find missing pieces. Having a complete kit allows you to open the metaphorical gate to smooth, uninterrupted work.
Tip: Always verify that your team has a full kit before beginning work. This prevents stops and restarts, which are costly and time-consuming.
Rule 3: Triage to Focus on the Right Priorities
Triage, much like in emergency rooms, is about prioritizing the most critical tasks first. Not every task can or should be done simultaneously. In construction, focusing on what’s most critical ensures that you allocate the right resources to the right tasks. Distractions from lower-priority tasks can cause mistakes, delays, and spirals of inefficiency.
Tip: Always prioritize tasks that are essential to project flow. Just because something can be done doesn’t mean it should be done right away.
Rule 4: Ensure Synchronization Between Projects, Tasks & People
Synchronization is key to project success. For example, on one project, different crews were on different floors, all competing for resources. This led to chaos. By synchronizing tasks and leveling resource allocation, we were able to focus on the right areas, optimizing the flow of work across the project.
Tip: Synchronize resources to avoid suboptimization. Focus on leveling your resources to ensure that the most important areas get the attention they need.
Rule 5: Increase the Dosage
If you keep facing the same issues, it’s time to increase the dosage of preparation, planning, and training. For example, if every time you start a new phase of a project, you encounter the same problems, you might need to enhance preparation or resources. Always fixing the same issue is inefficient. Increasing the dosage helps resolve bottlenecks before they become bigger problems.
Tip: Instead of reacting to issues, preempt them by increasing the dosage of preparation and planning.
Rule 6: Find Out the Causes of Unnecessary Rework
Unnecessary rework is often the result of underlying issues that haven’t been addressed. Instead of masking problems by working overtime or adding extra resources, find out what’s causing the problem. Use a PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle to identify root causes and implement countermeasures.
Tip: Avoid masking inefficiencies with temporary fixes. Instead, identify and address the root causes of rework.
Rule 7: Standardization Is Recommended
Standardization is critical, especially when improvising becomes costly. By creating standard work processes, rhythm, and consistency, you allow for continuous improvement. Standardizing repetitive tasks reduces the need for improvisation, which can lead to mistakes and inefficiencies.
Tip: Standardization creates the foundation for continuous improvement and reduces the risk of costly errors.
Rule 8: Abolish the Local Optimum
Optimizing individual tasks or departments won’t necessarily improve the overall system. It’s essential to focus on the global optimum, where the entire project benefits from improvements. Addressing bottlenecks and ensuring smooth flow throughout the system should be the priority.
Tip: Don’t focus on individual efficiencies; focus on optimizing the entire system. The goal is to remove bottlenecks to create continuous flow.
The Key to Creating Flow in Construction
All these rules of flow, outlined in Goldratt’s book, work as a system. The key to creating flow is to focus your efforts on the bottlenecks and not waste resources elsewhere. Once you optimize one bottleneck, move on to the next, constantly improving the flow of your project.
By applying these rules, you can significantly improve the flow of your construction projects, leading to faster completion times, fewer delays, and optimized resource use. Whether you’re working on a large-scale construction site or a smaller operation, these principles can transform your approach to project management.
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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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