Process Improvement and Cycle Times

When contractors grow inefficient processes usually get substantially more inefficient dramatically changing the Return on Investment (ROI) model.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share

Saving 5 minutes per cycle for something done 100 times per month is only worth $6,000 over a couple years. At 1,000 cycles per month it’s worth investing up to $60,000 to make the process more efficient.  

Management Tools: Graph representing Saving Seconds Adds Up with Increased Cycle Times.

Where are your opportunities?

Too many times as contractors scale they look primarily at the technology tools and get poor results. One factor often underestimated is the investment in rolling out the new standards versus just the cost of the technology

Corbins Electric and NOX Innovations are really good at is looking at the whole workflow, talent, culture and technology. They give a great example of this with their purchasing process improvement.  

Everything stated here seems easy enough but is VERY difficult to execute consistently.  The team at Corbins has done an amazing job balancing high-level strategic direction, culture and process streamlining.  They are also great about sharing with their peers in the industry.




Building a Systems Development Team - Risk
Minimizing the business risk of a developer leaving. The better you are able to make your company a great place to work (culture & communication), the easier it will be to retain your top talented team members.
Average is Rare and Rarely Valuable
Study the differences between the varying levels of performance and work to close those gaps. Seeing how the average is trending can be very valuable to visualizing the trajectory, and that goes for every element on a Contractor's Scoreboard.
Changes - Impacts Beyond the Direct Costs
Contractors don't typically see the full negative impact of changes and, therefore, don’t put the right level of resources into their management.