Four Dimensions of Effective Improvement Teams

Construction project owners are demanding more complex projects delivered faster, with higher quality and at a competitive cost.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share
Leadership Tools: 4 Dimensions of Effective Improvement Teams. Teamwork, Complexity of Though and Planning, Disciplined Execution, and Change Adoption.

Contractors must continuously improve their operations in 3 ways to remain competitive and grow profitably:  

  1. Efficiency - Doing things with less waste improving quality, speed and cost
  2. Capabilities - Providing more services such as offering more advanced preconstruction services
  3. Capacity - Ability serve growing customers; possibly in multiple geographies

To accomplish this contractors must identify areas of focus then put together effective improvement teams.  There are four major dimensions we look for when putting together these teams:

  1. Teamwork - Can they effectively work together?
  2. Complexity of Thought & Planning - Everyone is different; does the team have the right mix to solve the problem?  Do you have an opportunity to develop capabilities in high-performers through the team?
  3. Disciplined Execution - Some people are great starters while others are amazing finishers and if you don’t have some disciplined maintainers on the team then any short-term gains will be lost quickly.
  4. Adoption of Change - Everyone is different in different circumstances and a mixture is critical for making lasting improvements.  

What’s the #1 area you need to improve in your company this year?  

Do you have the right team?

Are they meeting regularly?

Are they committing the right resources?




Observe, Hypothesize, and Experiment
Contractors would run much better, including improved field productivity, if they applied the simple lesson we all learned around middle-school science class: Stop debating and start experimenting.
The Right People - Jim Collins
What differentiates contractors is their ability to execute basic strategies consistently. Effective execution comes down to people, process and tools - in that order.
Zero to One - Advice From Peter Thiel
Construction as craft and as a business has been around for thousands of years. Contractors build and maintain the infrastructure that enables society to grow. That history comes a lot of pride. It also brings a lot of difficult to change habits.