Strategy and Fighting the Fewest Battles

Nothing will have a bigger impact on a contractors business over the next decade than putting in a very rigorous process for strategy development and execution.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share

The industry is changing rapidly due to technology, a massive shortage of management talent as well as major trends in project delivery and geographic expansion.  

Leadership Tools: Strategic Planning. A General does not plan how to win every battle; they plan how few battles they need to fight to win the war.

Strategic decisions along with the operating rhythms and the feedback mechanisms that ensure execution are the most highly leveraged decisions in the business. 

This is an area where an experienced 3rd party can add significant value.  Find someone that resonates with your team and has experience relevant to your company.  Change the facilitator every few years for fresh ideas. Unless they are really bad don’t change them every year so you have some continuity.  You might consider overlapping facilitators having the outgoing facilitator sit in on your side of the table providing additional continuity.  

Consider bringing in some of your key customers, vendors and subcontractors as part of your strategic planning process.  Whatever you do; don’t underestimate the value of this process.   

Learn More




18 Details That Make a Huge Difference in Cash Flow
There are 18 tactics contractors can use to improve cash flow at the project and the company level.
Project Cash Metric for Work-in-Progress (WIP)
Do your projects burn or build cash? The biggest cash flow variable for a contractor is their projects. Cash flow is a critical scoreboard metric for contractors.
Talent Value Stream (TVS): The Basics
The business of building is largely about aligning projects and people. The Talent Value Stream (TVS) ensures talent will never be a constraint to your growth.