Editor's Note: This article is the sixth in a series of twelve to lead you toward entrepreneurial excellence by our regular contributor George Hedley, owner of Hedley Construction and Hardhat Presentations. To read part five, click here. To read part seven, click here.
When is the last time you had a job go according to your plan? Do your field crews perform their work exactly the way you want? Do key people make good decisions without asking you first? Do your superintendents meet their schedules and commitments? Do your foremen take responsibility and accountability for quality, safety and customer satisfaction? Do all of your crews follow your instructions and do things the same way? Do some field teams have less problems, punch-list items and mistakes than others?
The construction business is not easy to organize. There aren't assembly lines where work processes and procedures are controlled. Every job is custom-built with differing circumstances, conditions, plans, specifications, supervision, job problems, conflicts and issues. So to overcome this reality, what is the best way you minimize field problems and maximize profitability on projects?
Good People or Good Systems?
As a general contractor and developer of business parks, I make it a priority to visit our jobsites on a regular basis. Before we had an organized and systemized field operational system in place, almost every time I went to the jobsite, lots of things were going wrong and I would find many things I didn't like. We were overly reliant on good field superintendents and experienced foreman to ensure our project's success. Some team leaders and crew members did things their own way, while others asked me how I wanted it done. This reliance on good people instead of good company procedures and systems caused lots of field problems and lost profits. As I didn't have enough time to inspect everyone's finished work product before we turned it over to our customers, lots of call-backs, long punch-lists and ongoing maintenance became normal.
No Field Systems = No Controls!
Our overall company goal is to make every project a success for us and our customers. We pride ourselves on quality workmanship and on-time completion at the right price by providing full value and full service. This was difficult to deliver without good systems in place unless I was everywhere making sure things were done correctly. This got out of control as our company grew from five crews to over twenty-five projects under construction at a time.
Think of the worst project you've ever worked on. What went wrong? Maybe you've had some of these problems occur on a project of yours:
- Roof, window, door or deck leaks
- Field conflicts during installation
- Door hardware missing
- Late selection of finish materials
- Subcontractors not on the jobsite
- Wrong material installed
- Missed or failed inspection
- Materials depleted for crew
- Underground in the wrong place
- Anchor bolts poured wrong
- Wrong corner bead installed
- Work isn't ready for the next trade
- Installation quality unacceptable
- Unsafe working conditions
- No regular jobsite cleanup
- Damaged finished product
- No signed change orders
- Timecards late and not accurate
- Field paperwork not turned in
- Employees not following orders
- Late or missed schedule
These problems can be solved by making it an overall company priority to get everyone on the same page and do things the same way. The real problem is a lack of written company field operational systems. You let your people do their best, but don't have a process in place to show them what you want, train them to do it properly, follow-up and make people accountable. If the quality of installation varies from crew-to-crew and foreman-to-foreman, the real problem is a lack of standardized systems of how you want it done company-wide. Without clearly written company standards, you rely on each
