“Eighty-five percent of the reasons for failure are deficiencies in the systems and process rather than the employee. The role of management is to change the process rather than badgering individuals to do better.” - W. Edwards Deming

We have worked with all types and sizes of labor-intensive contractors across the United States to help them improve field productivity. We have worked with just as many general contractors, helping them grow their businesses by improving outcomes for the project owners and a large part of that is setting the conditions for the trade contractors perform their work productively. Many of these contractors have results of 2-3X industry benchmarks. 

A major aspect of this is a system for schedule planning and management - not "Schedule Reaction & Firefighting."

The Last Planner System (LPS) lays out the basics of an effective workflow. Other workflows and tools like Takt Planning build upon that foundation and help ensure good schedule flow. 

In the most ideal world, the project owner, general contractor, and all specialty contractors would be fully aligned on creating the most efficient schedule for the entire project. In reality, however, every project will fall short of this ideal to some extent.

This article is written from the perspective of a specialty contractor self-performing their scope. It is not meant to be prescriptive, only to serve as a starting point. The value-add is to look at the SIP as a workflow that engages the right people at the right times that will most likely ensure consistent outcomes. There is no tool or workflow that will guarantee perfect results -- just the ideal to progress toward.

SIP Tool: This may be part of your project management software, a spreadsheet, an online form, or even a paper form. There are different tools that will streamline the process more than others, but this is not what the biggest difference maker is. 

SIP Workflow: Executed consistently, the right workflow is what will ensure smooth schedule progression. Look at the following as simple examples. Modify it to fit your organizational structure and customers. Below, we will just focus on the What, Who, and By When (Due By) timing. Please contact us to talk about application to your specific situation.

1. Create SIP and Identify Bottlenecks: Foreman, weekly by 3PM on Thursday's. 
2. Request Labor, Materials, and Equipment Required for the Following Week: Foreman, weekly by 3PM on Thursday's. 
   • Note that there may be interim requirements for these throughout the week. The target is to get as many of these requested when the SIP is developed as possible.
3. Review SIP, Bottlenecks, and Requests: Superintendent, weekly by 8AM Friday.
   • Are all tasks effectively defined?
   • Are requests for labor, materials, and equipment aligned with tasks?
   • Does the task timing appropriately set stretch production goals for the crew?
   • Are there alternate tasks defined for potential bottlenecks? 
4. Review Current Week SIP for Progress & Problems Identifying Training & Coaching Feedback: Superintendent, weekly by 11AM Friday.
   • What is the Percent-Planned Complete (PPC) calculation for the week and what's the trend? Remember that higher scores aren't always better after a certain point. 
   • This includes a review of what was requested in the interim which could be an indication of training and coaching opportunities for the Foreman or of excessive changes driven by others that are impacting productivity and require 
   • What are the training and coaching opportunities to help the Foreman improve? Remember that small and specifically actionable feedback is usually the best. 
5. Feedback and Escalations to Project Manager and Others: Superintendent, weekly by 11AM Friday.
   • For example, if tools or materials aren't getting to the jobsite as expected, and the Foreman has already made a first pass at resolution, the Superintendent should work through the issue(s) with their peers who are managing those functions. 
   • The Project Manager needs to be informed if there is information flow to the Foreman that is holding them up or other bottlenecks in the way such as other trades not being ready. 
   • This step in the workflow will benefit from a master list of issues to avoid a whole lot of disconnected verbal conversations and emails. We have had a lot of success with a Project Action Item (PAI) list that is focused on everything the Foreman needs to make their SIP flow.
6. Communicate Progress, Problems, Potential Problems, and Recommended Solutions to the Customer: Project Manager weekly by 3PM Friday.
   • Categorize and sequence issues so that the customer can clearly understand what is going on including quantification of impacts where applicable.
   • Like a good RFI, include recommended solution(s) to the problems and potential problems you've identified. 
   • Make the list actionable on the part of the customer. You want them to see this communication as value-add where you are both jointly keeping the pressure on the project schedule and budget. This won't always come across this way. Rather, it is an ongoing developmental process for Project Managers and a great place for the manager of PMs to engage with the customer and with coaching of the PM as required. 
7. Internal Escalations (If Required): Project Manager every Friday by 4PM.
   • This may be specific thresholds like changes or impacts over X dollars or time, delays in answers by more than X days, delays in payment by more than X days, any delay notices sent by the customer, or any first-in-career events a PM encounters, enabling real-time coaching. 
   • They may also be ad-hoc any time a Project Manager is feeling unclear or uncertain. 

This is just an example weekly workflow. It pretty much fills up the first half of Friday for a Superintendent or whoever directly manages the Foremen, and the second half of Friday for the Project Manager. Your project team might be smaller, with the PM managing the Foreman directly. It might be larger, with Field Engineers and Project Engineers doing parts of this workflow. 

It is highly likely that 50% or more of the Superintendent's and Project Manager's time during the first few days of the following week will be spent resolving issues and making small continuous improvements. This is a core part of their role -- and allocating management time in this way directly contributes to the bottom line.

With a 6-8 weekly cycles this will also reduce stress on the team and lower turnover which is incredibly important given the shortages in construction talent. 

This workflow must be integrated with a couple other workflows including:

1. Getting an updated CPM (Critical Path Method) schedule from the customer at least monthly, studying it for changes, ensuring it is aligned with where the project (your SIP) is currently at, and distributing it to everyone on your team who needs it. 
2. Customer's Project Meetings (Typically Weekly)
3. Change Management (Projects)
4. Production Tracking
5. Purchasing

Please contact us to learn more about how a disciplined SIP workflow can be implemented in your company including specific next steps. 

How SIP Management Evolves with Stages of Growth