Monthly Field Walks

Monthly Field Walks: Walk the System, Write It Down, and Come Back Expecting It Done

Here’s the deal. Monthly field walks are crucial. If you own a business, if you are a general superintendent, if you are any part of the leadership team of a construction company, or if you oversee multiple projects, you have to do monthly field walks. I have talked about this before, but not in this light, so let me take you through it.

The Rhythm of Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Checks

Every month you walk each project and check key things. If you need checklists on what to check, we can typically get those to you pretty quickly, so reach out to me. Here is how the checks stack up across the three rhythms.

• Daily, a leader, project executive, or general superintendent should make sure communication is scaling from the teams, roadblocks are removed, there is prompt communication and action on any major owner items, and the team is functioning properly.
• Weekly, we check team health and roadblocks again, along with the exposure log, the job cost report, key submittals, and how the relationship with the owner is doing. We also check the status of upcoming quality process items, plus cleanliness and organization, typically around the same time as the team meeting.
• Monthly, we do a project risk assessment and project check-in, walk the project, do a BIM check-in, and do something for the owner to pre-sell. We dive into a few things, and we make sure the schedule and team health are in good shape.

Most of these checks center on safety, quality, schedule, BIM, cost and financials, procurement, self-perform work, risk, buyout, RFIs, submittals, change orders, site utilization, and team health. Those are always in the back of our minds.

Walk Against the Integrated Production Control System

The main thing you should be walking your project against is the Integrated Production Control System. Go through the system components.

• Check how the team is working, whether we have won over the workforce, and whether we have a really good system for onboarding.
• Check that we have a functional schedule, and that the preparation and behaviors we bought out in pre-construction are being implemented on the project.
• Check that we have a great procurement and buyout system, plus prefabrication and logistics systems.
• Check that our quality, zero tolerance, and roadblock systems are working.
• Check that the Last Planner visuals, meetings, and culture are working, and that our Takt system is working with the right schedule deliverables.
• Check that we are holding each other accountable with zero tolerance, a daily correction method, quality at the source, and contractor grading.
• Check that we are measuring the right KPIs, including quality, schedule, the financial snapshot, risks and opportunities, buyout, material procurement, roadblock removal, and team health.

When we walk a project each month, we do it according to the Takt, Last Planner, Lean system components and the accountability systems that keep the project online.

What People Typically Do Wrong

Here is what people typically do wrong. They say, I will go do a project walk, and then they walk, say, I like this and that, and say hi to the team. If that is all you do, you have not done anything.

There need to be expectations for the project, and those expectations need to be clear, established, scaled, reinforced, and taught. When you walk, the huddle boards, visuals, and meeting systems should be there so you can actually measure things. Because the system components have been made clear, scaled, standardized, and taught, you then measure against them. It is not a negative, big brother kind of thing. You say, we have walked the buildings, we have looked at your schedule, and we have looked at the finances. This month, we really need to improve onboarding. What is your plan? Let’s make a plan.

The next big step might be weekly procurement meetings. For roadblocks, you are doing great, so now let’s start tracking due dates. You leave after your walk with key things that, a month from now, should be up to speed. When you come back, you expect them to be done. That is how you start to scale. When people know you are coming, they know there is a need to implement. You create a need, and you drive progress.

How to Do the Walk

There is a way to do a walk, and there is a way not to. Get the team focused and clear, with no distractions, and start at one end of the project and go to the other. As soon as something comes up, it gets written down. I tell the people walking with me not to be on their phones unless they are writing something down. Do not take radio calls, and do not go squirreling on me. Let’s focus, and we are going to do everything in one piece flow.

One time, somebody said, Jason, you do not want me to squirrel, but you want me to do it one piece flow? I explained that everything you see goes to the four winds. Here they are.

• Do it. You do the thing right away, and it is done.
• Delegate it. You send it in your WhatsApp chat to the foreman, the self-performed laborers or carpenters, a project engineer, or in an email.
• Schedule it. You put it on a meeting agenda or your calendar to do later.
• Delete it. You do nothing with it, because it is already being taken care of.

Say we see a pile of trash. If we can pick it up, we just do it. If we know trash pickup is already coming, we include it in the list. If we need a foreman or carpenter to pick it up right away, we send it out with a picture. If the crew is already coming to get it in thirty minutes, we do not do anything with it. When you delegate, be very specific. Put a name on it, name the location, and give a time, such as by tomorrow at 8 a.m.

What Gets Walked

Then you keep walking. We go up to the signage and see which signs need fixing. We look at the lay down yard and make a plan for it. We check the schedule and ask whether we are on our Takt times in the right zones. We look at ladders, the roof, the stairwells, and the elevator. We look at safety, cleanliness, and organization.

By the time you get back to your office, you should have looked at all of the key components of the Integrated Production Control System and actually done something as you walked. You are also teaching the superintendents, PMs, assistants, and engineers how to do a walk, and they mimic the behaviors. There is no, I will remember it later. Everything is written down, acted upon, and dealt with right away. Everything goes somewhere, whether it is a text chat, a to-do list, a schedule, a meeting agenda, or a visual. It does not go up into the ether of your memory.

Back at the Office

Back at the office, you scale the key components. This is our plan for cleanliness. This is our plan for coordination. You are going to start worker huddles next week. This is how you can improve some of these visuals. These are the two or three things you need from corporate, and we can handle them. You leave with an action list with people’s names and dates. Then, when you walk the job again in a month, you continually make progress.

Companies that do this, with real builders evaluating against a real system and holding each other accountable, will win, and you will elevate as a company.

Substance and Dessert

I have seen leaders who just go out and pat everybody on the back, love everybody up, and leave. You should do that, but there is never anything of substance to it. You have to have a standard that says, this is what we want our projects to look like. Scale it, standardize it, and teach it. Then do an actual audit with real feedback, write a list of things that will actually be done in the next four weeks, and come back and expect it to be done.

You cannot just go out and do butterflies, kittens, rainbows, and unicorns. You have to have some substance, some action, drive, grit, and accountability. Then you can have your rainbows and unicorns. It is like not eating dessert until you eat your dinner. You have to have your meal and your dessert, but you cannot just have the dessert.

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

So here is the challenge. On your next walk, put the phone down, walk from one end to the other, and send everything to the four winds. Leave with an action list with names and dates, and come back in a month expecting it to be done.

Jason Schroeder said it plainly: “Everything’s written down. Everything’s acted upon. Everything’s dealt with right away.”

On we go.

FAQ

Who should do monthly field walks?

Business owners, general superintendents, anyone on the leadership team of a construction company, and anyone who oversees multiple projects.

What should a field walk be measured against?

The Integrated Production Control System, meaning the Takt, Last Planner, Lean system components, and accountability systems, with expectations that are clear, scaled, reinforced, and taught.

What are the four winds?

Do it, delegate it, schedule it, or delete it, meaning do nothing because it is already being handled.

What makes a walk effective?

Focus, writing everything down, acting on it right away, and leaving with an action list with names and dates, then coming back in a month and expecting it to be done.