I recently finished How Big Things Get Done (book notes forthcoming). The Empire State Building was a case study in the book, referencing another book, Building the Empire State, a collection of notes from the building’s construction. I bought it, looking for specific tactics on how they ensured quality. I wanted to understand how they did it without the […]
We Have 4,000 Weeks to Live
We have 4,000 weeks to live. That’s one of the discussion points in a podcast with Oliver Burkeman, author of 4,000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. Oliver’s book outlines philosophically how we spend those 4,000 weeks. I wish I had this insight when I started in construction as a field engineer. On the average project, we […]
How to Build Compelling Business Case for Quality
Starter Questions What is preventing your organization from investing in quality? Does your organization view “quality” a process, a result, or both? Is “quality” clearly defined at your company? Quality as a Process Many individuals and organizations view “quality” as a process – tasks and tools that stand alone from the rest of our daily […]
Advancing Construction Quality 2024 – Phoenix, AZ
I’m a huge fan of Hanson Wade’s “Advancing Construction” conference series. I’ve attended the Design Quality Management, Operational Excellence, and Construction Quality sessions the past few years and have become a regular presenter. (I most recently gave a presentation on checklists at the Design Quality Management conference in Chicago). These conferences are great opportunities to […]
There Is No Perfect Tool
Our industry is hyper focused on tools and technology. We’re searching for the perfect tool, blaming our existing systems for inefficiencies in our operations. In Procore, if we could delete items at the project level from corporate inspection templates, our checklists would be easier to manage. If Newforma only had a better user interface, we […]
Cal Newport and Task Containment
A common complaint of the “modern quality system” or “process” is that it has too much documentation or takes up too much time. I don’t disagree. There exists a better method to managing quality that I’m implementing at my current organization, and Cal Newport’s new book, Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout, […]
Create Flexible Frameworks
An industry friend of mine recently stated: “We need to give teams the tools to take ownership.” This is such a powerful statement. Many of our processes are extremely prescriptive. As we ask our teams to “own quality” on their project, we fail to realize that an overly prescriptive quality process is exactly what prevents […]
On Quality Assurance (QA)
Our “quality language” needs to be simplified before we can solve any industry-wide quality problems. This requires refinement of terms like quality, quality assurance, and quality control. I’ve struggled to find meaningful, tangible definitions for quality, quality assurance, and quality control – specifically for design and construction. Searching “quality assurance” in the ISO 9001-2015 (fifth […]
Simplifying Our Quality Systems
How can we simplify our quality systems? Project quality plans are often diluted – spread out across multiple documents and shared locations. Even our terminology – quality management, quality assurance, quality control – is too complicated for the teams in the field installing the work. Project teams are incentivized to utilize cumbersome corporate processes, yet […]
Simplify First, Automate Last
Many organizations wait for the perfect tool to automate their systems, yet we forget that automation is not a means of simplification. Simplifying a process and automating it are two separate actions. We must simplify a process first before automation. I recently wrote about waiting for the perfect tool and task containment as a means of simplification in design […]
More on Quality Responsibility
I recently read about the idea of construction leaders writing the work instructions for processes they utilize – such as their quality programs – instead of a corporate overhead resource. I’m still reflecting on this and not sure if I agree. My guess is most of you will find it extremely contrary to our modern […]
A New Idea on Work Instruction Responsibility
The past two years I’ve read tons of books on construction quality, seeking answers to many of the questions I had about managing quality – questions such as how do we tangibly translate what our clients want into construction documents and further to the crews. Most of the books didn’t offer anything new or change […]
Set Higher Expectations for Meetings
Set higher expectations for meetings. Not only can we hold fewer meetings, we can be more effective with meeting time. Here are common problems with meetings that are easily fixed. Conduct a work session instead of a meeting. “We’ll give it a few more minutes while others join…” Instead of waiting, start on time. End […]
Conduct Work Sessions, Not Meetings
Don’t schedule meetings. Conduct work sessions instead. Meetings are one-way conversations or presentations with low rates of information transfer. A work session is an open dialogue about an idea that drives to a result. For meetings, attendees have to attend. For work sessions, they have to prepare and participate. Meetings have an agenda (if the […]
Transfer Knowledge through Positive Mentoring
Mentoring is the primary means of knowledge transfer. When we experience positive mentoring, we are obligated to continue it, transferring the wisdom to others. For negative experiences, we are responsible for discontinuing it, filtering it from the industry. We need to coach others as we’ve been coached to ensure the wisdom endures.