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A new study by MOCA Systems, Inc., the provider of Touchplan®, the leading Lean production planning platform, reveals key insights into the regional interest in Lean Construction, a methodology focused on maximizing value and minimizing waste in construction projects. Special attention is given to North America, showing a lower search interest in Lean Construction than South and Central America but with a fast-growing interest in it.

Key Insights

– South and Central America show the highest interest in Lean Construction with an average search interest index of 16.67, which represents the average level of interest based on search data on a scale from 0 to 100.

– In North America, the interest in Lean Construction is growing faster than the interest in Critical Path Method (CPM), with a 68.75% increase from 2021 to 2023 compared to CPM’s 20.69%.

– Middle East and Africa have the second-highest average search interest index for Lean Construction at 15.87, followed by Europe at 8.25.

South & Central America and North America’s Interest in Lean Construction

North America and South & Central America show contrasting trends in their interest in Lean Construction and their economic indicators. South & Central America has the highest average search interest index for Lean Construction at 16.67, while North America has a lower index (8). North America has a significantly higher GDP compared to South & Central America.

Lean vs CPM

The growth in interest in Lean Construction has significantly outpaced the interest in CPM in recent years in the United States From 2021 to 2023, Lean Construction interest surged by 68.75%. During the same period, CPM interest saw a more modest increase of 20.69%.

Regional Insights

South and Central America

• Highest average search interest index for Lean Construction.
• Construction Volume 2023: 208.81 Million USD
• Average Search Interest: 16.67

Middle East and Africa

• Second-highest average search interest index for Lean Construction.
• Construction Volume 2023: 271.14 Million USD
• Average Search Interest: 15.87

Europe

• Third in terms of average search interest in Lean Construction.
• Construction Volume 2023: 838.73 Million USD
• Average Search Interest: 8.25

North America

• Fourth in terms of average search interest in Lean Construction.
• Construction Volume 2023: 1,454.17 Million USD
• Average Search Interest: 8.00

Asia-Pacific

• Lowest average search interest index for Lean Construction.
• Construction Volume 2023: 703.24 Million USD
• Average Search Interest: 6.80

Methodology

We analyzed data from various regions, including GDP figures and construction spending. We analyzed Google Trend search interest in Lean Construction from 2019 to 2024. We also compared the growth of search interest in Lean Construction to that of the CPM over a three-year period.

Introduction.

In this the last of our four-part series on ‘Unpacking Lean Leadership’, we will look at how to nurture Lean leaders after going through the costly and time-consuming processes of identification, selection and training.

Many businesses I deal with have an ongoing concern that if they train and nurture people to become effective Lean Leaders, that they are in fact just creating better employees for the next employer particularly due to an increase in mobility with millennial and post-millennial employees.  I find this a defeatist attitude as what they are really saying is that they do not have the confidence that they can provide long-term employment opportunities, or that they are intimidated by these new leaders who they now see as competition for their own jobs.  This mindset must change to focus on business growth and prosperity using this new capital to take the business into the future.

Strategy

Nurturing and retaining trained Lean leaders requires a strategic approach, ongoing effort, creating a positive work environment, and providing intelligent incentives. Having practiced leadership as an RAF officer and an industry leader for a combined 45 years, I know it’s tough, but here are some strategies that have worked for me in nurturing and sustaining new leadership talent.

Be Interested.

If you want to nurture new leaders, you must be interested in them and their development.  This may seem obvious but too many leaders treat their personnel as a resource or a threat and not as a future force multiplier for business.  Get to know your people by talking with them and not at them.  Understand their interests as well as their strengths and weaknesses and maintain a dialogue that will support and encourage their development.

Career Development and Advancement.

Nurture Leaders Through Clear Career Pathways.  To keep people interested in staying in your business, they must be able to see clear promotion opportunities.  As part of your annual review with each person you should clearly outline these potential career advancement opportunities within the organization, and how they can better prepare themselves to take these opportunities for personal and business gain.  If you are not doing at least an annual review, then start now.  Depending on the individual this review may need to be every 6 or even 3 months.  Remember these people are an investment.

In one plant where I was a leader, there were no such opportunities for advancement until I sat down with senior leadership and looked at how introducing levels of opportunity would improve retention and job satisfaction.  The upshot was a 3-level leadership program that was actually cost neutral and was readily accepted by the team.

You should also involve your new and potential leaders in succession planning, preparing them for these higher-level roles.  This is where a partnering or mentoring program can be so useful as more senior personnel pass on their experience.  This was the daily routine in the military where I served for 30 years, but I see this less in the civilian world.  If those that are interested in developing leadership are all working toward the same aim, even though there would be healthy competition, I have always found be they military or civilian that ‘the cream will always rise to the top.’

Continuous Learning.

Learning in all areas of business should never be a ‘once and done.’  Offer opportunities for continuous learning either developed internally (which is the ideal) or bought in from external sources.  Advanced courses, certifications, and industry conferences not only improves the individual to run your business but builds a culture of internal entrepreneurship.

Support growth in your people in supporting them becoming members of professional organizations.  For example, the Institute of Leadership (ILM) has a comprehensive program of training that will develop your team members.  Project7 work closely with the ILM and our Lean Leadership Acadamy has been certified to ILM level 5.

Recognition and Acknowledgment of Achievements.

Regularly acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of your growing leaders, particularly if they have made advances in Lean projects and improvements and always acknowledge exceptional performance.  However, make these acknowledgements meaningful and sustainable. Often a public thank you is enough or letting them use a premier parking spot for a month; keep it simple and sustainable.  I saw one company reward an employee with a flat screen tv, and then enter a whole world of hurt when the next month the ‘winner’ was given a first aid kit.  Another company rewarded the entire plant for hitting the best production figures ever with a steak bar-b-que.  However, when they exceeded the best ever figures again the next month, they only got pizza.

Competitive Compensation and Salary Reviews.

Though you should conduct regular salary reviews to ensure compensation remains competitive within the industry, be mindful that employees will leave your business and move elsewhere for the same or even less money if they do not see a future in staying with your business. Baby boomer bosses can be particularly guilty of thinking younger employees can overlook a poor situation and lack of advancement with a bonus. Compensation must be fair and equitable, but it will not guarantee retention.

Empowerment and Autonomy

Empower Lean leaders with the authority to make decisions and implement changes. Allow new leaders to take ownership of significant Lean projects as soon as they are able, fostering a sense of responsibility and accomplishment. Adults learn best by doing and as long as they have some level of supervision and can only ‘fail safe,’ then let them learn by participative action.

Foster a culture of collaboration where Lean leaders work closely with cross-functional teams. It is frightening how often I have worked in a business where people have worked in the same building for 10 or 15 years and yet have never spoken to each other even when a simple conversation could solve a difficult problem. Encourage open communication with and across your new leaders and maintain open lines of communication between leaders at all levels, particularly with upper management.

Culture

Nurture your developing leaders in line with your business culture ensuring that culture is the lived experience of your people and not just a poster in the reception area of your business. I remember going to one business that had such a poster which was surrounded by awards for excellence in production and leadership. It was all very impressive until I looked at the dates on the awards and the most recent was 15 years old. If your culture is not supporting excellence ‘today’ then it needs a close examination and that should start with your current leaders, to avoid nurturing a next generation of leaders who will also fail.

Work-life Balance

Work-life balance and flexible work arrangements have become a norm in many industries since the pandemic.  In manufacturing this has always been difficult, but not impossible.  If you want to get payback on the time, money and effort you put into nurturing leadership then you have to try and be the difference.  Though this can be very difficult on a 24/7 production line you can start to make the change by asking your people what you can do to improve work-life balance, and flexible work arrangements.  For some, job sharing can work, for others operating a true Lean process can reduce hours, for others they might just like a quiet spot away from the production line to have their lunch.  Progressive, pragmatic, leaders have to find the ‘art of the possible,’ and not parrot the worn out “it has always been that way.”

Conclusion.

Nurturing and retaining trained Lean manufacturing leaders requires a comprehensive approach that includes career development, recognition, a positive work environment, supportive leadership, work-life balance, a sense of purpose, and a strong organizational culture. By focusing on these areas, organizations can create an environment where Lean leaders feel valued, challenged, and motivated to stay and grow within the company.

If you need a partner to implement or progress leadership development in your business, we really would like to help. It could just be a conversation, or helping you set up a syllabus or developing and delivering your training.  Let’s open a dialogue and replicate our success in your business.

Introduction

Training the next generation of Lean leaders is a multi-faceted process that encompasses education, practical experience, and tailored continuous development focused specifically on developing promoters of business performance. Particularly important in achieving this performance is to build the cultures where inclusive leadership can thrive. To be successful in this it is essential to remember that it is People + Process = Performance.  Thus, your training cannot just be about the tools of Lean, but also nurturing the people who will both implement and sustain the tools.

Here are some ideas that I have promoted through my career that may also resonate with you as you develop your own inclusive leadership training.

• Diverse Learning and Development Opportunities: Ensure that the curriculum for leadership development includes diverse perspectives, practical expertise and actual case studies.  Try and use your own staff to share their experiences of your business.  Apply learnings directly from their experience to real-world projects so that you not only get an ROI but that the training reinforces your own business culture.
• Workshops and Seminars: Based on the size of your business, conduct or support workshops either on site or on-line covering the basics of Lean principles, such as the leadership models, 5S methodology, value stream mapping, Kaizen, and waste identification.
• Culture before tools; Focus on teaching and nurturing your Lean Leadership culture before getting too fixated on Lean ‘belt courses’.  It is the culture that will change your business not simply the tools.
• If you decide that you do not have the internal capacity to drive your leadership program than selectively choose an external provider that can adapt their training courses to meet your specific need. Our 10-day, Project7 Lean Leadership and Management Academy certified to ILM Level 5 was specifically designed to meet this need and having trained over 15000 delegates over the past 19 years we know what will work in your business.  Learn more by following this link Lean Leadership & Management Academy (project7consultancy.com).

Advanced inclusive Lean Leadership Techniques:  Developing training is also about continuous improvement so once you have established a basic Lean culture, you should learn from your experience and then move on to more in-depth training which is validated by hands-on experience.

• Follow-on and more in-depth training provides exposure to specific Lean tools and techniques, such as Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Total Productive Maintenance Training (TPMT) – Project7 Consultancy, Just-In-Time (JIT) production, and error-proofing (Poka-Yoke).
• Developing Genba: Develop Genba walks using KATA. This is particularly useful for your developing leaders to engage with employees and identify further areas for improvement.  Pair new leaders with experienced Lean practitioners during Genba walks for guidance and knowledge sharing.  Every interaction is an opportunity.
• Kaizen Events: Encourage potential leaders to facilitate their own Kaizen events to solve real-world problems, encouraging them to ‘learn by doing.’
• Project-Based Learning: Encourage learning using Participatory Action Learning in Teams.  Start with small, manageable Lean projects to build confidence and experience.  Gradually increase the complexity and scope of projects as leaders gain more experience and demonstrate capability.
• Mentoring and Coaching: Establish mentoring programs where experienced Lean leaders guide and support new leaders.  Consider hiring external Lean coaches for specialized training and objective feedback.
• Change Management: Educate new Lean leaders on change management principles to help them guide teams through Lean transformations using models such as Cotter’s 8 Steps or the Project7 RESPECT program.  Teach strategies for engaging and motivating employees to embrace Lean initiatives.

Conclusion

Training new Lean leaders involves a comprehensive approach that combines structured education, practical experience, continuous development, and performance feedback. By focusing on these areas, organizations can effectively develop their own leaders who can drive Lean transformation and sustain continuous improvement efforts within their own culture of excellence.  Project7 have developed training to cover Lean leadership development where a business does not have an in-house resource so, please give us a call or write us a note at [email protected] if you have any questions on developing your own Lean Leadership training.

Introduction

Welcome to Part 2 of our 4-part series on unpacking Lean leadership where I will discuss how to build a diverse and inclusive Lean leadership team.

Diversity candidates for your leadership team generally come from groups that are underrepresented or marginalized in the workplace. These groups can vary depending on the specific context and region, but commonly recognized diversity categories include:

1. Racial and Ethnic Minorities.
2. Women. 50% of the work force who are largely absent form industrial and manufacturing businesses. There are many reasons for this including, historical precedents and gender roles, workplace culture and discrimination, occupational segregation, work-life balance challenges and ingrained perceptions.
3. LGBTQ+ Community, for many of the same reasons that dissuade women entering the industrial and manufacturing workspace.
4. People who are differently abled. These people could include those with physical challenges, mental health conditions, or those who are neurodiverse individuals (e.g., autism spectrum, ADHD).
5. Veterans, particularly those who have physical or mental health challenges.
6. Older adults, typically those over the age of 55.
7. Religious minorities, specifically those groups whose religious practices are underrepresented or marginalized.
8. Socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals that can include people from low-income backgrounds and first-generation college students.
9. Immigrants and refugees who have relocated from another country, particularly those facing barriers due to language or immigration status.

These groups should be a focus for diversity and inclusion initiatives aimed at creating more equitable and representative environments.

Building a Diverse Program

Building diversity into your Lean Leadership Program is crucial for reflecting the diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and life experiences of not only your workforce but also of your customers or clients. I have seen first-hand where diversity has made business stronger, so here I am going to suggest some proven steps and strategies that have helped to effectively incorporate diversity into a Lean Leadership Team.

• Define Your Lean Leadership Diversity and Inclusion Goals. We all know that without measurable goals, progress is difficult if not impossible.  Define what diversity and inclusion mean for your organization and then set SMART goals.
• Alignment with Values: Ensure that your SMART goals align with the organization’s core values and strategic vision. Do not start a diversity journey just to fall into line with a trend.  Do it because it is the right thing to do and ensure your business values are articulated and that they underpin your strategy for diversity alignment.
• Leadership Commitment: Ensure commitment from all and particularly senior leadership to champion diversity and inclusion efforts.  Change from the middle is never easy so ensure all leadership levels support your leadership diversity program and that they then become and stay engaged.
• Role Models: From CEO down, all leaders must be role models and demonstrate inclusion valuing diversity through inclusive language and behaviors.

Building Diverse Recruitment Strategies.

Building Diversity into your leadership team must start with an inclusive recruitment program. Like any change you may wish to make in business, building a diverse recruitment strategy needs focus and bringing together the right people.  Use inclusive language in job descriptions ensuring that the job adverts are accessible to a diverse audience.  Be mindful of where job adverts need to be placed to ensure your leadership opportunities are reaching underrepresented groups. Think about how to use Community Outreach and Partnerships, and engage with local religious, educational, retraining institutions and specialist recruiters.  Don’t forget that employee referral program can also be very helpful if you already have some representatives from diverse communities on your team.

Dealing with Bias in Recruitment.

Bias in the recruitment processes can be both conscious and unconscious so ensure hiring managers and importantly all members of your recruitment panel should be trained on bias and inclusive hiring practices.  When it comes to interviewing, build a diverse interview panel.  This can be a challenge but make it a positive requirement to use diverse interview panels to bring multiple perspectives into the selection process.  This will not only bring the necessary cultural diversification to your hiring process but also provide a demonstration of diversity to your job applicants.

After interviews, continue to develop your diverse pool of talent.  Mentorship and sponsorship program should be created that pair diverse talent with experienced leaders.  This ensures each learn from each other to the benefit of better understanding and building diverse businesses leaders.

Mentor and Coach

Build a diverse pipeline by identifying high-potential diverse talent early in their careers and provide targeted development opportunities.  Encourage established leaders to mentor and coach high-potential and become advocates for the career advancement of your diversity candidates.  This needs to start with leaders identifying new or current employees but also leaders need to take the time to visit schools, colleges and universities to make candidates aware of your businesses positive diversity strategy to attract diversity candidates.

It is now important to ensure the business is putting effort into creating a sustained inclusive culture.  Encourage and support the formation of inclusion using Employee Resource Groups (ERG) for various diversity groups (e.g., women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+, differently abled employees, etc.).  Celebrate the strength of what each group can bring to the business, as well as celebrating their diversity.  Remember the object is to develop a ‘team’ but to acknowledge difference by celebrating inclusion.

Involve your ERG in the leadership development process, providing a platform for diverse voices and to bring understanding of individuals needs from differing backgrounds and cultures.  This can be as simple as providing a quiet room for daily prayers, ensuring ramps are built to ensure access to all areas of the business, or providing vegetarian options in your canteen or vending machines.

Feedback Mechanisms.

Use and action employee surveys, focus groups and feedback mechanisms to understand the experiences of diverse employees and leaders.  Use these forums to continuously improve diversity and inclusion efforts within the leadership program.  However, one word of warning: do not reach out for input and then ignore that input; such hypocrisy driven by political correctness will not build diversity or inclusion.

Succession Planning.

Develop a diverse pool of candidates for key leadership roles to ensure a sustainable pipeline and create individual development plans for diverse talent to prepare them for future leadership roles.  Nurturing your own people not only brings you the right staff but is a key factor in retention when individuals see they have a future if they stay with the business.  Conduct workshops on diversity and inclusion for all leaders, focusing on positives to the business by building inclusive leadership.

Here are a few examples where I have experienced changes to promote inclusion in the workplace.

• Ensure all staff get opportunities not just those that look like you. Giving such an opportunity to a female graduate where none had been offered before, turned a disengaged employee into a prime mover for change who after just 6 months took my place at the annual review presenting to the national C’suite.
• Providing a place for a Muslim employee to carry out prayer helped them fulfil their religious commitment and become a part of the team.
• Building access ramps helped a wheelchair user gain access to a part of the paper mill previously closed off to them.
• Moving from complex written instructions to pictorial instructions enabled a Hispanic operator to become a shift leader.
• Including non-English speakers in work social events encouraged them to tell their friends about the business from which several were recruited and two became team leaders.
• Selecting a person that was the best person for the job, who had been rejected by others just due to their size.  They were easily accommodated with a golf cart to get around and also became a great mentor to a new potential leader.

Conclusion

Introducing diversity into your Lean Leadership Program requires effort but brings great reward.  You will need to build a comprehensive approach that spans recruitment, development, culture, and accountability. By setting clear goals, implementing inclusive practices, and fostering an environment that values diverse perspectives, your organization can develop a diverse leadership pipeline that drives innovation, enhances problem-solving, and reflects the diversity of your workforce and customers.  Time and again I have seen how this effort brings business benefit.  In short if you do not have a diverse and inclusive work force you will need to do something different.  Try some of the ideas above or even better think of your own.

Time is money in any construction project, and this is especially true for data center construction. A single delay can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, construction productivity has declined since the 1970s due in part to an adherence to command-and-control planning that creates silos between the general contractor and different trade partners.

On the surface, holding trades responsible for finishing on time sounds logical, but finishing on time doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve finished at the right time. What good is it for one trade to finish work when the next one isn’t ready for the handoff? When teams lack a structured cadence to complete activities and allocate resources, the project slows and costly delays ensue. 

What’s needed is a new way of planning that focuses on flow, or as the Lean Construction Institute defines it, “a process that includes smooth, unimpeded handoffs between and among project team members from one crew to the next.”  

 An often underutilized methodology for achieving flow is Takt planning, which creates a rhythm for each phase of work to finish and ensures handoffs occur at the same pace. To make Takt work, you need a construction production management platform to visualize the components necessary to achieve flow. 

Where did Takt time originate?

Takt is a German word meaning rhythm, cadence or cycle, and it was originally used to reference timekeeping in music. The implementation of Takt time as a manufacturing concept first appeared in the 1920s with Germany’s Junkers Aircraft Works, which created sub-assembly lines that fed into main assembly lines at predetermined intervals to create consistency and predictability.

By the late 1940s, Toyota had adopted the Takt philosophy for auto manufacturing and based its famous Toyota Production System on Takt time. The methodology eventually found widespread adoption throughout the manufacturing world, and its waste-reduction benefits were popularized in lean manufacturing.

Increasing construction flow with Takt time

While manufacturing accepts Takt time as a standard for production, its popularity within the construction industry hasn’t caught on as it should. As we’ve pointed out, command-and-control is often the go-to philosophy for construction projects, but Takt time makes more sense for data construction projects. Takt time drastically reduces confusion and offers the predictability necessary to ensure on-time project completion.  

Takt requires greater collaboration between trades, breaks down traditional silos and prioritizes setting a shared pace for every operation in a sequence. Potential productivity issues are addressed with a visual plan that allows tasks to finish concurrently and encourages easy handoffs between trades for sequential tasks.

Here are some important components of a Takt construction plan:

• Takt phase: Work to be done that is separated into logical groupings based on specific milestones or achievements. 
• Takt zone: Geographical areas within the phase where work is scheduled on a rhythm. Trades will move through these zones at the same pace.
• Takt wagon: Grouping of one or more Takt packages or scopes of work.
• Takt package: Manageable units of work within a Takt wagon that can be assigned to a trade for execution within a designated Takt time.
• Takt train: A series of wagons that will move through the zone.

In a data center construction project, zones may be split up like this:

• Zone 1: Data Hall
• Zone 2: Generator Yard
• Zone 3: Substation
• Zone 4: Central Utility Buildings (CUB)

Within each of the zones, it’s critical to identify similar scopes of work that allow for consistent pacing. For example, in a data center construction project, there may be multiple sectors of the Data Hall that are equal to the entirety of another zone. So, the work within those sectors may be broken down to create a consistent amount of work in these predefined areas to ensure consistent pacing. 

Once a work cadence is established, trades can work rhythmically through each zone with intentional buffers to allow each team to adjust to unforeseen circumstances and complete work within the Takt time. This level of predictability is critical in data center planning, as it sets expectations early on and creates an environment where productivity is consistent and repeatable, increasing the possibility of on-time completion. 

Construction production management software enables better Takt planning

When coupled with the right technology, a Takt data center construction plan can make flow more easily achievable. Let’s look at ways a platform like Touchplan can enhance a solid Takt plan.

Breaking down trade silos 

Construction production management software can help bring trades together and encourage collaboration via a platform that visualizes real-time updates. When this data is current, trades have the insight necessary for accurate decisioning and projections. The end result? Takt packages finish in rhythm, and handoffs flow as expected.

Minimizing bottlenecks

Bottlenecks are unavoidable in data center construction, but construction production management software can help you manage them. The right platform visualizes where bottlenecks exist early on and allows decision-makers to address them and keep work moving at the prescribed pace.

Allocating resources accurately

When utilization is at capacity, production, and flow are impeded. As variations within the project increase — fluctuating crew sizes, changes in work, start times, material availability — delays emerge. Construction production management software creates flow and avoids delays by allowing you to visually plan which tasks can be completed concurrently while facilitating seamless handoffs between trades for sequential tasks.

Avoiding or addressing rework

Removing installed work is an immediate flow disruptor. Solutions like Touchplan can assist by integrating the master schedule with the actual workflow and avoiding corrective rework via issues like inaccurate design fulfillment. When unavoidable design changes occur, teams can track rework in real time and incorporate updates into ongoing production to avoid delays. 

There’s simply too much at stake in data center construction projects to operate in a manner that inherently limits productivity. With Takt planning and the proper construction production management software, predictability becomes a natural component of the planning process. Watch this webinar to learn how Touchplan can enhance Takt planning initiatives.