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Mental Health and the Risk of Employee Burnout

(Guest blog post by Michel Richer, Content Marketing Manager at Bridgit.)We’ve all been overwhelmed and stressed at work at some point in our lives. It’s that sinking feeling that there’s no clear path to getting back on track. Deadlines slip, communication is lackluster, and ultimately the end product isn’t up to standard.

Burnout is almost unavoidable in most full-time occupations. Understandably so given the current ‘pandemic climate’ forcing shutdowns and putting added pressure on workers to hold onto their jobs. Not to mention the parents that have had to reorganize their entire lives to accommodate school closures and supervising kids into their workday.

Construction is unlike most industries when it comes to overworking employees and workplace injuries. Especially since the industry has been dealing with a skilled labor shortage since the financial crisis in 2008 saw over a million workers walk away from construction, leaving those left to pick up the slack. Research from the Center for Construction Research and Training suggests that over their career, a construction worker has a 75% likelihood of a disabling injury.

While burnout can certainly take its toll on an individual’s psychological and physiological health, the effect it can have on the rest of a construction team cannot be understated. 

Construction project roles will require team members to do physical labor while also using their mental expertise. Adding in longer weeks and extended shifts to make up for a labor shortage only helps to amplify the stress felt by team members. This stress causes team members to be less focused on the job at hand and on a construction project. The end result is an increasingly dangerous working environment. According to a report by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), team members working over 12 hours/day are at 37% increased risk of injury.

The risk doesn’t end there though. The same report indicates that each extended shift within a month increases the risk of an accident on the drive home by 16% and that fatigue has led to a dip in productivity, costing employers $136 billion each year.

COVID-19 has also amplified burnout in the workplace. Indeed, a leading job aggregator site conducted a survey of over 1,500 American workers regarding burnout. The survey found that over half of the respondents experienced burnout in 2021, up 9% from before the pandemic started. 

Here are some other interesting burnout statistics that might make you rethink how your organization deals with it:

  • Burnt out employees are 63% more likely to call in sick (Gallup)
  • Burnt out employees are also 2.6 times more likely to be looking for a new job (Gallup)
  • 70% of employees say employers don’t do enough to lessen burnout for their teams (Deloitte)
  • Almost 50% of millennials have quit a job due to burnout (Deloitte)

Burnout isn’t exclusive to the jobsite either. In Development Dimensions International’s Global Leadership Report it was revealed that 60% of leaders within a company feel exhausted at the end of their workday, which is a sign burnout is imminent. On top of that, almost half of that 60% expect to leave their current company to advance their career – with 26% reporting they would be leaving in the next year.

Any company-wide initiatives will always start from the top down. If your leadership team is showing signs of burnout, it’s likely that your project teams are too. This puts the project, the people, and the company all at risk of unfocused work leading to workplace injuries.

What exactly is burnout though? 

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) determined burnout was a diagnosable condition. As overall productivity has increased, so has the stress and mental fatigue of maintaining a productive workplace. Their definition of workplace burnout is:

“Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:

  • feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
  • increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and
  • reduced professional efficacy.

Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.” – World Health Organization 2019

How contractors can combat employee burnout

Flexible schedules and encouraging time off

With team members experiencing burnout more likely to call in sick, one way to combat this is with flexible scheduling and more paid time off. I know what you’re thinking – “isn’t this going to cost my company a lot of money?”. 

While in the short term the answer may be yes, what you’re creating is a working culture that will save money in the long run. Your employees will know that their mental and physical well-being are prioritized and will be more engaged with the company and less likely to seek employment elsewhere. In fact, a survey by Statista indicated that 58% of respondents said flexible working has improved their job satisfaction. Remember, reducing the risk of burnout also helps to reduce the risk of jobsite injuries.

Flexible schedules also allow you to prepare for time off. Calling in sick can quickly put a wrench in project plans, but encouraging your team to schedule time off ahead of time allows you to plan accordingly to avoid project delays.

Track and promote career development

One of the contributing factors to burnout is not having a clear path for career progression. Employees not only want to feel like they are contributing to the company’s success, they also want to feel like the work they’re doing is going to impact their career and help propel them forward within the company.

By tracking your team’s career progression you’re better equipped to provide opportunities to move up the ranks, making them more likely to stay engaged in their work, the company, and ultimately reduce the risk of burnout-related injuries on the jobsite.

Pay attention to things like specific build-type experience and certifications. This can help to isolate gaps in your team’s individual resumes that are preventing them from taking the next career step within your company. Employees will feel more appreciated if they’re given opportunities to further their careers instead of hesitating to ask for them.

Pay attention to utilization rates

Tracking workforce utilization rates can help identify areas where your team is spread too thin on both current and future projects. Being able to identify these areas can help to inform recruitment strategies and better understand the impact that project opportunities will have on your team. 

Workforce intelligence tools like Bridgit Bench provide company-wide insight into utilization to help identify when individuals are being overworked. If you notice a team member is consistently being utilized over 100%, you should take the time to have a conversation with them. Finding out their mental and physical state will help to nip potential burnout in the bud and keep projects not only progressing but most importantly – safe.

While burnout and mental health are only a small part of the larger health and safety picture that doesn’t mean it should be deprioritized. Mental health is at the top of the health and safety stream. Fatigued and disengaged team members will ultimately lead to bigger problems downstream whether it be workplace injuries or decreased retention rates.

For more Construction Safety Week content please check out our additional posts; Private Eyes: Construction Safety Isn’t Just About a Week and Why Safety Third is Exactly What Construction Needs to Make Jobsite Safety First.

Why ‘Safety Third’ Is Exactly What Construction Needs to Make Jobsite Safety First

What are a Superintendent’s primary responsibilities?  Safety, Quality, Schedule.  Prioritized in that order.

We talk a lot about how certain scheduling and communication techniques can drive efficiency into a job, but a project cannot be successful without first holistically addressing safety.    

Think ‘Mazlow’s Hierarchy of Needs’ which basically says that without a sense of safety, higher-order levels of performance and cognition are not possible.  The workforce has to be 100% confident that their individual actions ensure they go home the same way they came to work.  

Do we get anything done if all we focus on is safety?  Absolutely not.  Despite its utmost importance, safety culture can be enthusiastically taken in the wrong direction with the best of intentions.  But make no mistake:  there is a no more worthy expenditure of resources than to sustain and improve safety on a jobsite.  

Mike Rowe and ‘Safety Third’

I’m a huge fan of Mike Rowe’s take on ‘Safety Third’.  Don’t interpret this statement to be a contradiction of the main idea.  He’s not saying that safety isn’t important, but instead that the workforce needs to understand…. not just hear it over and over…but really understand that every time they go to work that they have a personal responsibility for their own safety. No one cares as much about you going home safe as you do.  

Sometimes organizations can twist safety culture by taking an approach that suggests other people are watching out for them.  It’s a trap baited by emotion.  Everyone wants others to know that they care, but is creating a false sense of security the way to do it? I would argue that this approach actually runs the risk of putting people in danger.   

Construction is inherently dangerous and both the individual and the organization have a responsibility when it comes to safety. It gets hot in Texas during summer and with that comes added risk of heat-related injuries. Contractors are required to provide a safe working environment, however, do owners have to spend money on popsicles and air-conditioned break space for everyone?  I’m not advocating against air conditioning, but I can’t help but think that supervisory actions by foremen and superintendents to thoroughly assess fit-for-duty prior to starting work are far more effective.  

What exactly do contractors owe and how do they make sure their safety program is effective?  OSHA regulations are a baseline, and what is even more effective is coupling that with a bit of common sense-driven policy that originates from putting yourself in the worker’s shoes.  Think about it.  If you are the one making policy, examine the impacts from the perspective of the person doing the work with an understanding that they are willfully working in a potentially dangerous environment.  

What does supervisory responsibility for safety look like?  Really, it’s showing you care with your actions. Make sure the toilets and break areas are clean, check daily equipment inspection tags, and yes every once in a while do something nice like a catered lunch to show appreciation for safe work. Just don’t overdo the speeches and ‘freebies’ for popularity points.  Our jobsites are far removed from crab boats in the Bering Sea, but I guarantee every one of them has a few 6’ A-frame ladders in use.  Push awareness to create vigilance, and hold people accountable for shortcomings.  Leave cheerleading to the professionals.

If you are interested in some additional Safety Week content please read Private Eyes: Construction Safety is Isn’t Just About a Week.

Private Eyes: Construction Safety Isn’t Just About a Week

(By Jaqueline A. Falla, Director of Client Services. Elaine Construction Company, Inc.) Springtime’s arrival brings with it longer days, trees abloom, the promise of summer, and, wait for it — Safety Week.  This annual rite of passage is pointedly pinned on the calendar right before the industry’s busiest season and stands as an important reminder about the dangers of construction.  Together, all across this great nation, there will be stand-downs, toolbox talks, demonstrations, and daily reminders of the hazards that abound in the profession.  New guidelines, old adages, and best practices will be shared, but how do companies transform safety from a regulatory requirement to a standard by which one lives?

Just this morning I caught my pant leg on a bench at the end of my bed and nearly went down – hands full of the paraphernalia required for a long day at work.  I’m lucky that I have quick reflexes, but with three of the top ten hazards of a jobsite falling under, you guessed it:  Fall Protection, it’s far better to be careful than lucky.  Let’s take a look at the most common OSHA violations:

  • Fall Protection
  • Hazzard Communication
  • Scaffolding
  • Lock-out/Tag-Out
  • Respiratory Protection
  • Ladders
  • Powered Industrial Trucks
  • Machine Guarding
  • PPE

In reviewing the perils of this profession, I am forced to admit, that time and money play a major role in non-compliance.  Keeping a site organized, free from debris, and tripping hazards, comes at the cost of a conscientious worker, and likely a good labor crew.  While it is true that doing things the “right” way can take more time, and time is money, doing them the wrong way, can cost a life, impact your OSHA rating, your reputation, and your bottom line.  A clean site is the beginning of a LEAN site, where organization and efficiency not only increase productivity but safety.  This is likely to be one of the topics discussed during this week that will bear witness to standards that save lives.

What compels some to follow the rules and others to break them?  Why is safety part of the make-up of one worker, and not another?  I can’t answer that question for you but have a suggestion that might help.  In a 1979 study profiled in the Journal of Psychology, researchers conducted a most interesting experiment.  I love getting myself to do things that I am not necessarily inclined to do, even if it is for my own good, which I think we can all agree, these safety precautions are in fact for my own good, and yours.  Their study exposed a fundamental human truth – we are more likely to do the right thing when we are being watched, than when we think we are not.  The most amazing thing about this is that a real person doesn’t even need to be there monitoring the work.  If you are a parent, you understand that watching your children 24/7 is impossible, but what if you didn’t have to watch them, what if the suggestion of being watched was enough.  This study indicated that by posting signs with eyes, letting workers know that their behavior was being monitored, and imploring them to act accordingly, did just that!  I can hear it now, Darryl Hall and John Oats singing Private Eyes are Watching You – watching your every move, they’re watching you, watching you, watching you.  I hope you can appreciate a good ‘80’s hit, but more importantly, this low-cost solution to compliance that could be the secret to a safe year ahead.  

I should put my money where my Safety Week mouth is and throw out those pants.  Be safe, be smart, be the person that comes home whole at the end of the day.  Safety Week 2021 runs from May 3 – 7, 2021.

Touchplan’s New Master Schedule Alignment Feature – A Product Manager’s Perspective

Touchplan’s new Master Schedule Alignment product enhancement is a groundbreaking capability that empowers construction teams to vastly improve project performance and profitability by easily aligning their external master schedule with their daily jobsite execution plan. We spoke with senior product manager Mary D’Arrigo who worked on the development of the master schedule alignment to learn more about the value it delivers to clients.

What is one of the more significant values customers will see this new addition to the Touchplan software?

The new Master Schedule Alignment feature will save Touchplan customers a significant amount of time currently spent in attempting to manually gather status updates from the look-ahead plan and match them to the Master Schedule. Some Touchplan customers have told us that they spend between 8-10 hours per month in this effort. 

After the initial manual setup required to identify which Touchplan milestones represent specific master schedule activities, the status updates can be done in under 5 minutes. If the master schedule template is updated with the most current master schedule finish dates each time before the Touchplan process is run, the master schedule end dates will appear on the Insights dashboard. This provides an additional level of transparency to Touchplan users without incurring the cost of an external scheduling tool license or granting access to more sensitive master schedule information.

What was your favorite part of working on this product development feature?

I really enjoyed figuring out a simple technical solution to set up, export, and import Touchplan schedule updates. We wanted to make it easy for experienced scheduling managers to create the schedule template and align it with the Touchplan look-ahead plan without altering the master schedule and quickly see differences.

How do you think Touchplan’s Master Schedule Alignment feature contributes to the overall growth of the construction industry?

Being able to quickly identify daily look-ahead plan tasks that are misaligned with the master schedule facilitates Project Managers and Project Executives’ timely collaboration with the Superintendents and field trades to make any necessary changes to the schedule or negotiate fieldwork changes to realign the schedules.

Why, in your opinion, was it important for Touchplan to add this product enhancement?

One of the most requested features is master schedule alignment. We wanted to provide an easy-to-use, flexible, and highly configurable feature that would not require additional cost or training.

How much more data will clients be able to analyze from the Master Schedule Alignment feature? 

When the Master Schedule Alignment is executing, not only with Touchplan share production plan finish dates, but we will also gather the Master Schedule finish dates from the template. This master schedule data is available on Insights as well as in the Project and Plan CSV exports.

Does this product enhancement open up opportunities for additional ones related to connectivity between the master schedule and daily field plans?

This is just the first iteration of Touchplan and master schedule alignment. There are so many more exciting things coming in future months so please stay tuned. If you’re interested in learning more, please contact us.

If you are interested in learning more about the Master Schedule Alignment feature, watch the webinar on-demand.

Revisiting the Five Big Ideas Transforming the Design and Construction Industry: What Comes After the Five Big Ideas? (Part 10)

(Hal Macomber, EVP, Touchplan with George Hunt, Head of Presales / Sales Engineering, Touchplan ) Greg Howell and I proposed the Five Big Ideas Transforming the Design and Construction Industry at a time  (2004) when extraordinary requirements for seismic upgrades were required in California. There was general agreement that then-current practices wouldn’t suffice. The #FiveBigIdeas led four years later to Lean Integrated Project Delivery (LIPD). Many CA healthcare projects have been completed under this model along with countless projects across the country including theme parks, higher Ed, and life sciences projects. 

Today the industry is faced with equally daunting challenges, including

  • Unaffordable housing and infrastructure
  • Decarbonization of the built environment and the industry that puts it in place
  • A vanishing workforce, not just that the industry is unattractive, but we’re not replacing the population (birthrate is < 2) 
  • Underperforming on equity, diversity, and inclusion
  • Cultures to sustain changes
  • A built environment that is resilient to rising sea levels and storms

 To that let’s acknowledge that significant change is underway, including

  • Off-site/Industrialized Construction
  • Digitalization/datafication of everything
  • Power to the edge — we’re enabling the workforce using their phones — and force multiplier — the tools allow the trades to have more capability at their fingertips
  • Consolidation of the industry
  • Influx of technologies aimed at doing more with less people (i.e. 3D printing, drones, robotics)

Our current engineering-like approaches to challenges and change are insufficient for guiding and designing the future in the face of these challenges and change. We need another approach. That approach is systems thinking.

Systems thinking was birthed at the Sloan School of Management, MIT in the early ‘50s by Jay Forrester. He wasn’t alone speaking about the systems nature of manufacturing, the economy, ecology, management of organizations, and other complex phenomena. At about the same time, W. Edwards Deming was speaking about thinking in systems. So too was Russel Ackoff who was teaching Operations Research at Wharton. But it was Peter Senge who made systems thinking popular with The Fifth Discipline, The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (1990). (See Tools of a System Thinker) 14 years later, Jeffrey Liker writing in The Toyota Way made a fleeting reference to the importance of systems thinking. 17 years later Liker acknowledged he missed the significance of systems thinking in Toyota’s success. He restated Principle 1 as “Base your management decisions on long-term systems thinking, even at the expense of short-term financial goals.”

While systems thinking is multi-faceted, one defining characteristic is that socio-technical systems, those that involve people and technology, have circular causality rather than simple linear causality. In other words, we typically think linearly that A causes B and B causes C. But how about A causes B and B causes A — circular causality? Examples include the rich get richer; the smart get smarter; the complicated gets more complicated. Deming and others describe the challenges of profound change, like moving from command and control to participative management, or from mass construction to Lean construction, as governed by the systems nature of both the current condition and the future condition. When I’ve worked with organizations that are adopting Lean practices, it’s at least as important to decide what you will stop doing as what you will start doing. Otherwise, the current system will prevail. 

George reminds us that many people looked at using Touchplan as additional work on top of what they were already doing. In systems terminology that is the balancing loop “not enough time.” We changed the way that we introduced teams to using it. We looked at our current look-ahead and planning process and made changes so that Touchplan would fit into what they already were doing, not adding additional work on top of them.

We can be optimistic about Putting the Five Big to Work if we approach it from a systems perspective. Otherwise, we are merely layering new practices on top of existing practices. This inevitably leads to a breakdown of the current system. Organizations won’t let that happen, therefore they abandon the change. Embracing circular causality is the path for making profound change. Thinking in systems takes the focus off of the people and puts it instead on the system. It respects the fact that “humans are humans”, which follows along with the “respect for people” principle and the outward mindset.

Where do you start? We suggest starting by viewing design and construction as project-based production systems that are governed by clear theory and practice. Starting in two weeks, George Hunt and I will explore how project production management has reshaped how we approach the design of construction projects. By design, we mean the principles from which we create our production plans and we improve on them. We will engage collaborators as we have in this series to bring you the best thinking we know that is available. 

Thanks for following us.

For an example of approaching projects from a systems perspective take a look at Touchplan’s Custom Fields feature which helps projects have a centralized focus and a more efficient workflow. 

If you would like to revisit any of the posts from the Revisiting the Five Big Ideas series you can find all of them below.

Helpful Tips to Manage Stress and Improve Quality of Life

As we come to the end of April, we also come to the end of Stress Awareness Month. April has been celebrated as Stress Awareness Month every year since 1992, however this year it feels particularly important. In a recent study by the American Psychological Association, nearly half of parents (48%) said their level of stress has increased as a result of the pandemic. Stress is a natural part of life, but when not managed properly, it can lead to long-term emotional and physical side effects, outlined by WebMD here. As part of our Wellness Wednesday series, Touchplan decided to compile some of the best ways to manage and reduce stress. 

Exercise

Physical activity helps increase the production of endorphins and reduces levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline. Regular exercise is known to improve self-image and self-confidence. Exercise routines also help maintain mental fitness, improving alertness and concentration, and enhancing overall cognitive function. Scientists have also found that physical activity can also help to improve sleep.  The Mayo Clinic looks deeper at the effects of exercise on sleep here. 

Meditate

Meditation is an age-old practice that has recently become one of the more popular methods of stress relief. Meditation can be part of your daily routine to help cope with and reduce stress. Through learning how to calm your body and mind, physical and emotional stress can melt away. Meditation affects the body in the exact opposite way that stress does — by prompting the body’s relaxation response. VerywellMind has an overview of meditation here. If you are interested in learning how to meditate, Calm is a mobile app with many guided meditations for beginners. 

Eat Well 

Maintaining a proper diet can counterbalance the impact of stress by strengthening the immune system, stabilizing mood, and reducing blood pressure. Some important nutrients for stress reduction are Vitamin C, which reduces stress and boosts the immune system; complex carbohydrates, which induce serotonin production and stabilize blood pressure; magnesium, which helps avoid fatigue and improves sleep; Omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce surges of stress hormones and protect against depression. You can find additional suggestions for more stress-fighting foods here. 

Sleep 

Stress and sleep have a two-way relationship. Stress can lead to sleep loss, and sleep loss can increase stress. Stress often increases how long it takes to fall asleep, affects REM and deep sleep negatively, and leads to increased nighttime awakenings. A great way to reduce nighttime stress is by establishing a consistent sleep schedule. This helps waking up in the morning, sleeping soundly, and reducing the amount of sleep needed. Sleepscore has more tips on improving sleep to reduce stress here. 

While there are many other ways to manage and reduce stress, these are some of the most frequently recommended tips. Stress is an inevitable part of life, and can even be healthy, but it must be managed properly. 

If you missed out last wellness post be sure to read Five Healthy Habits to Incorporate into Your Springtime Routine and be sure to check back every other Wednesday for another #WellnessWednesday blog post!

Revisiting the Five Big Ideas Transforming the Design and Construction Industry: Adopting the Five Big Ideas on Your CM/GC Projects (Part 9)

(Hal Macomber, EVP, Touchplan with Layne Hess, Corporate Director of Planning, Scheduling, and Lean, Jacobsen Construction) We never intended the five big ideas would be the basis for a special delivery model, Lean Integrated Project Delivery (IPD). We proposed practices that could apply to all project delivery approaches. But, it didn’t happen that way. For the most part, the #FiveBigIdeas have not been embraced in the design, bid, build world. That is now changing.

Layne and I recently spoke about Jacobsen Construction’s success in adopting the Last Planner System of Production Control® (LPS). He describes Jacobsen as a “medium growth” company with a focus on diversifying its markets. Three years ago, the management team decided to use the LPS on all their projects. They went from three projects using LPS to all projects — 70 of them — in just over a year. Jacobsen used Touchplan on all of them. Oh, and Layne is a one-man team for planning, scheduling, and Lean. We can all learn from how he did that.

But first, a few words about Jacobsen Construction. Jacobsen was named the top contractor in Utah for seven of the last eight years. Why? One reason is they don’t just take care of their clients. They take care of their people and their trade partners. Not in a paternalistic way, with an outward mindset … they treat people as people. They show respect; expect respect, and take care of each other while they take care of the company and their clients. 

Layne says, “Start with why (the purpose) and keep it present throughout the project.” People know the purpose and keep the purpose present in their conversations and their thinking. “We have the crucial conversations in an elegant way to protect the process and communicate how you’re doing that.” This is just the beginning of the story.

Operating the project as a network of commitments starts with “why.” In the LPS, trade partner foremen — last planners — make promises to each other as customers to put work in place. While the promises are tied to the phase plan milestones, it’s the purpose of the project that gives importance to the reliability of those commitments. Making reliable promises is essential for achieving flow. Due to the compounding of variation with dependence — one missed commitment cascades to missed commitments for others — the percent promises complete (PPC) metric needs to stay above 80% to achieve the milestone date for the construction phase. Layne has helped the company raise the average PPC across 70 projects by 14 points in just six weeks. He did this with the analytics from Touchplan Insights coupled with the teams’ efforts at promising reliably — learning from action + project as a network of commitments + outward mindset.

Layne also knows the power of the progress principle — the single most important factor for achieving any challenging goal is the participants must see their efforts result in progress. Layne has teams use interim milestones — at least once every four weeks in every phase plan — as mile-markers along the way to see that they’re making progress. This works equally well for putting work in place as it does for increasing the participation of the last planners — learning from action + optimizing the project as a whole + outward mindset.

Plan your adoption of the five big ideas just like you plan your projects.

Jacobsen is serious about bringing people along with them. Layne said, “We did the Villego Last Planner® simulation with all the trades. We take on the responsibility to bring others along, helping the trades improve, too.” We called that the outward mindset. He calls it doing the right thing.

Do you want better project outcomes? Plan your adoption of the five big ideas just like you plan your projects. Use a phase pull planning approach. Add interim milestones to engage the progress principle. Do it in Touchplan and you’ll keep it visible, make it collaborative, and have the data analytics from Touchplan Insights to focus the teams’ efforts on data-informed improvements. In no time you’ll be as successful as Layne has been at adopting the Last Planner System®.

You can learn more about Jacobsen’s success with the Last Planner System® by reading Using Data to Drive Growth by Digitizing the Planning Process. For additional information on how Last Planner® and technology come together please see How Software Impacts Projects and Data & Analytics Training that Empowers the Whole Team; Layne hess helped develop this dashboard that played a role in his success. 

If you missed last week’s post be sure to check out Pursue Project Outcomes at the Intersection of the Five Big Ideas.

If you would like to revisit any of the posts from the Revisiting the Five Big Ideas series you can find all of them below.

So You Want to be a Superintendent…Thoughts from a Touchplan Team Member Who Worked in the Construction Industry

All of us have a general routine for our workday.  For some, you can pin it down to the minute.  Others, you just know that you’re going to try to get away and eat lunch somewhere in the middle of the day.  For me, I found that sticking with a routine that allowed for flexibility was the most productive.  There was always variance, and things seldom go exactly as planned, but having a few key milestones during the day and being prepared for the occasional curveball is an essential part to keep a project moving forward.  

0600: Arrive at Jobsite 

We normally gather at the coffee pot, talk with other supers and FEs. Our Vice President usually got there before everyone else to make the coffee.  His first act of the day was one of service to the rest of the team.  I found it admirable.  It comes with the leadership territory. It also enabled him to shape the environment and the job, instead of being shaped by everyone else’s priorities.  I think leaders should get there early enough to get the coffee going for everyone else.  If your day is going to be packed and fast-paced, give yourself some space to get collected and focus on what’s most important.   

0630: Gather Essentials for the Field   

The necessary items for me: Water bottle, coffee cup, iPad, and 4”x6” Rite in the Rain notebook.  Every job is busy to start the day.  Trades making their way to assembly areas, delivery trucks lining up to drop off material, cranes firing up.  It’s cool to see and feel a jobsite come alive.   

0700: Toolbox Talk 

Toolbox Talks are certainly becoming more prominent.  There’s value here so long as they’re done well. I have been a part of some good ones and bad ones.  The best take about 15 minutes and the lead foreman has spent some time beforehand thinking about the tasks ahead and hazards that accompany it. The paper JHA is 90% filled out, and the JHA board is mostly done. Communication is concise and direct to those performing the work and the team is engaged enough to give relevant suggestions or feedback.  The worst toolbox talks are where the leader incites the team to rattle off buzzwords so he can write them on a JHA board; most of which don’t apply to the tasks at hand.  For example, if someone calls out ‘100% tie-off’, and we’re installing site lighting conduit at 24” with a trencher; chances are this morning meeting is not effective. 

For me, the real value was that I got to know the crews and they got to know me. If you’re a field engineer or junior superintendent, I think crews appreciate it when you attend their morning meeting so long as you don’t railroad the thing.  They see you and get the opportunity to size you up.  Mostly, I’d keep my mouth shut until the end and the foreman invited me to say something.  Even then, I tried to keep it brief and encouraging.  I would discuss something positive to talk about, but if there was something the crew needed to do better I would state the problem and ask them for input on how to fix it.  Sometimes I got great feedback, other times not so much.  Either way, it is more effective than a one-way downhill conversation. Mutual engagement is key.   

Time to get to work.  Foremen line out their crews and start work while I take a trip around the jobsite to sign permits.

0800-0815: Daily Huddle.  

Some of you may be questioning why I did it at 8 AM. My thought was that the team had an opportunity to get their crews going and were still fresh enough to give good input.  No one had any reason to ‘smell the barn’ at the end of the day.  Maybe someone has some data or a convincing vignette to explain why an afternoon huddle is better. I’m all ears.  Either way, like the toolbox talk these meetings can be incredibly effective or wasteful.  It’s all up to the superintendent in charge and how they run the meeting.    

For us, the policy was a no-kidding minute-by-minute breakdown and it was clear to all participants that it was paramount to adhere to this.   No cell phones, no chairs, and tangential conversations were recorded on a ‘parking lot’ board to discuss later.  The purpose of this meeting is to status work, identify constraints, and do a bit of collaboration across trades to get ahead of potential issues.  When I was first learning about Last Planner®, I was told that this morning huddle was the ‘secret sauce’ and  I completely agree, so long as the rest of the system is adhered to equally as much.  You need a solid phase plan from which to build a look-ahead to build a weekly work plan and so on. This is why I think understanding and building the framework for LPS is only 10% of the battle.  The rest is the discipline in execution.  Was mine always 100% tight?  Nope, but I know we saw the most success when we stuck to the program.  

0830-1130: Let’s Call this a Mixed Bag

Ideally, I could spend this time focusing on safety, quality, and coordinating jobsite logistics.  Putting out fires and managing conflict is always a part of the job, however, I found that I was able to be less of a fireman the more I stuck to the ‘program’.   This was also a good time for Pre-install meetings, OAC, or long-range planning.  

1130: Lunch.  

On a good day, someone would have a lunch meeting.  Lots of times, this would turn into a general discussion amongst the other field staff about what’s going on the jobsite.   More often than not, I ate lunch on the go as I was working. I’d grab something off the food truck and get in a bite between phone calls.  For a period of time, most of my meals came on tortillas.  Barbacoa and pastor tacos washed down with a Mexican Coke can make any day go better.  

1215 – 4:30: Time to get Back After It.  

Mostly to plan and coordinate for my next day’s 0830 – 1130 time slot.  Really, the focus was on setting up for the next day. Are logistics in place, or anything new that changed the plan from this morning’s meeting? Are we going to be ready for the concrete pour tomorrow night?  

4:30: The Final Stretch 

Trades are wrapping up and getting things in order for the next day.  I’m working my way back to the office to do my own wrap-up before I start the drive home.  

5:00: Time to Pack it Up

Trades are gone, time to head home. Wait.  Daily Report. I’d go through my notebook and Touchplan to capture the story of the jobsite for that day. 

So that’s it. I think having a few hard and fast items that build a structure to your day followed by time slots dedicated to being flexible was the approach that worked for me and one I would recommend.  Days of back-to-back meetings may certainly feel productive, but are they really?  Does your typical day look different from what mine did?  Let me know!  Maybe I can learn something.  [email protected]

Revisiting The Five Big Ideas Transforming the Design and Construction Industry: Pursue Project Outcomes at the Intersections of the Five Big Ideas (Part 8)

(Hal Macomber, EVP, Touchplan with Calayde Davey, Ph.D., Research Associate, University of Pretoria, South Africa ) So, maybe the five big ideas are not so big anymore. (Did I say that?) 17 years ago we made a bold claim that the five big ideas would transform the industry. We had no idea that they would be adopted as one basis for the relational contract and delivery method that we now call Integrated Project Delivery. We also see evidence throughout the industry of giving high importance for collaboration and early trade contractor involvement for design assist to optimize the project as a whole. We also see those teams who use the Last Planner System® of Production Control use the name trade partners respectfully rather than subcontractors and they help the trades make reliable promises to other trades seeing each other as their customers. 

While for many years we gave emphasis on bringing about the behaviors or practices of the five big ideas, we were always after something else. Our client-owners wanted solutions, not just practices. Specifically, they wanted more competitive projects, high-trust environments, reliability in outcomes, continuous improvement, and innovation. Each of these outcomes sit at the intersection of two of the five big ideas.

  • Competitive solutions — really collaborate + optimize the project as a whole
  • Continuous improvement — optimize the whole + couple learning with action
  • Reliability of outcomes — couple learning with action + conduct projects as networks of commitments
  • Building trust — conduct projects as networks of commitments + bring an outward mindset
  • Innovation — bring an outward mindset + really collaborate

The above outcomes don’t just happen. And, if you’re not looking for them, then you may miss that they are available. While we claimed that the outcomes could be found at the intersection of the big ideas, we saw those intersecting practices as necessary conditions but not sufficient conditions. For instance, if you are looking for competitive solutions you need more than the intersecting actions of real collaboration and optimization of the whole project. We reasonably can expect that the timing of collaboration matters — neither too early nor too late — along with clear conditions of satisfaction and aspirational goals as targets for optimization. Miss any of those and you won’t have competitive solutions. Similarly, for the other four desired outcomes there are insufficient conditions that could prevent the outcomes from being realized.

Calayde points to the Eiffel Tower as an example of a client-owner who was (only) interested in a temporary gateway for an international exposition. Instead, the designers brought forth inspiration, ambition, with collaboration to design the tallest of all structures in the world (at that time) and an icon of possibility to this day. Our owner-clients deserve no less.

While our client-owners may be more focused on their business cases for their projects, the desired outcomes are central to the realization of their goals. The five big ideas practices are the building blocks for creating the conditions for realizing those desired outcomes.

 We’d be remiss not to characterize our adoption of the five big ideas and the pursuit of the desired outcomes as ambitious. More appropriately, we’re speaking about profound change at a system level. But don’t be scared of that. You know the drill. 

  • Set a challenge. 
  • Grasp the current condition. 
  • Set an ambitious interim target condition. 
  • Experiment to learn what works better.

As you adopt change, look out for unintended consequences. Our best intentions invariably can lead to poor outcomes. Also, remember that we’re after improvement at the project level. Beware of improving locally at the expense of project-level improvements. If system (project) performance didn’t improve, then the change wasn’t effective.

Yes, the five big ideas are still transforming the design and construction industry. Adopt them to bring more value to your clients, your teams, and your company.

If you missed our last installment please read Project Production Thinking Behind the Five Big Ideas. For additional posts regarding the value of data as it relates to adjustments to action please see Your Data should Work for You Not the Other Way Around. Additionally to see some collaboration and client solutions you can read Building a Partnership for Today and Beyond.

If you would like to revisit any of the posts from the Revisiting the Five Big Ideas series you can find all of them below.

 

Five Healthy Habits to Incorporate Into Your New Springtime Routine

As the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel shines brighter and brighter, many of us are emerging with an increased awareness of the importance of preserving our physical and mental health. This past winter, many struggled to maintain a healthy lifestyle as people steered away from indoor exercise spaces and only got outside on the sunniest of days. As we enter springtime, Touchplan has collected some helpful habits to think about incorporating into your spring routine as we all strive to live healthier, happier lives.

Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning has taken on greater importance this year as opposed to the annual cleaning of the pantry. In a Parsley Health article, MD Robin Berzin says doing a thorough spring-cleaning of your home has a number of health benefits. A clean house can improve breathing and prevent respiratory issues, minimizes the spread of viruses and bacteria, and reduces the risk of injury in the household. Spring cleaning has cognitive benefits, too. Tidying up your living/workspace will make your mind clearer and decrease stress and depression. For some housekeeping resources and tips, check out cleanmama.com

Get up and Get Out!

Springtime means the sun is rising earlier, which means mornings are warming up. Getting up early has many health benefits, including increased energy and happiness and decreased stress levels. In addition, being outside lowers blood pressure, improves focus, and promotes graceful aging. Start your mornings with a walk or run to make the most of your day. SleepAdvisor goes into more detail on the benefits of rising early. You can find more here.

Go Green!

With winter in the rearview mirror, it’s time to swap the heavy comfort foods like soups and stews for lighter meals that reflect the seasonal change! As greenery emerges all around us, try to incorporate more and more of it into your daily diet. Spring is accompanied by farmer’s markets and farm stands that are beginning to open. Take a walk or drive to the nearest one and stock up on the season’s latest produce. Look here for the best farmer’s markets in Massachusetts.

Boost your Brain!

Feeling good requires attention to both your physical and mental health, and the two are inextricably intertwined. This spring, take time to assess your diet and make sure you are getting enough of the foods that aid cognitive functioning. Some of these “smart” foods include fatty fish containing omega-3, berries that contain antioxidants, and green tea. For a more comprehensive list of brain-boosting foods, read here. You can also find brain training games to help boost cognitive performance on the Elevate App, free for download for Android and IOS.

Be Sure to Get Enough Sleep

According to the CDC, one in three adults don’t get enough sleep. The CDC also states that a lack of sleep can be linked to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and depression. Some tips for high-quality sleep include getting up and going to sleep at the same time every day, keeping the bedroom quiet and dark, and avoiding large meals and caffeine before bed. For more guidance on how to improve your sleep schedule, read here.

Make sure to check back every other Wednesday for a new #WellnessWednesday post!