ON-TIME AND DRAMA FREE: WHAT IT REALLY MEANS

Plan For Success

I’ve gotten some funny looks when I’ve told people we deliver an on-time and drama free construction experience.  Some have looked at me skeptically and said something like “How?  It’s construction.”

While I understand the skepticism, I explain that my statement applies to their experience, not ours.  

Yes, issues come up – well intended team members have delays, weather is unpredictable, back orders….  Stuff does happen.

But the difference comes in the recognition of that. 

Our pledge to our clients isn’t that everything will run exactly as planned, but that we will expect the unexpected, instead of making promises based on theoretical, best-case scenarios.

So this is the first in a series of pieces in which we’re going to talk about how “On Time – Drama Free” really happens.

Tenet One: Projects stay on schedule fifteen minutes at a time.

Fifteen minutes.  That’s about how long it takes to look ahead a day or two and ask a simple question:

“What will be the next challenge to arise, and are we ready for it?”

The answer could be in a number of things:

• The expected delivery day of the lighting package or other critical item.
• Tomorrow’s weather forecast.  
• A subtle but critical mismatch between a construction detail and reality.

Asked consistently, that question is often the difference between an on-time delivery and watching a schedule slip.

Knowing the answer to that question doesn’t mean there’s an easy fix, but here’s something we have learned:

Bad news does not age well.  

So the sooner we recognize an issue, the more options we usually have available to us to adjust as necessary.

For one of my favorite examples of this actually occurred on another contractor’s project.

I was meeting with the construction manager of a national hair salon chain and she had just given me her standard explanation of how we would have to be the low bidder to win one of her projects.  She said “Price is everything”.

I don’t get set up like this very often, so I felt my pulse quicken a bit.

“So what happens if your project is two weeks late?”  I asked, already knowing the answer.

Her entire face dropped, and she seemed shocked that I had asked the question.

Her eye’s got big and her entire body tensed up.  “Well,…” she retorted as if surprised that I had asked the question. That just can’t happen!  Our franchisee has employee start dates already agreed to; marketing collateral with grand opening dates is already printed.  We have to make that date.”

“And that’s what you get with us” I answered. “I don’t promise to be the low bidder, I promise to do everything in my power to get you open on time.”

She paused, realizing that I had just dismantled her claim to only care about low bid.  Then, she said “We have a project right now that’s late because the lights aren’t there and the contractor says he can’t get inspected without them.  So the whole project is held up”  

I understood the issue, but I also didn’t accept it as an unrecoverable obstacle. I said “if that were our project, I’d be at Home Depot buying lights to stick in to get inspected and keep things moving, then when the lighting package arrived, we’d swap them out”.

She thought for a minute and said “That’s going to be my first phone call when I leave here.”

I could have gone further, but didn’t.  

I suspected that the lights weren’t really the delay, but a convenient excuse.  If so, she probably learned the real issue on her after lunch call.

Every day a space is not open, is a day it is not producing revenue.

A big part of a project’s success comes down to how effectively surprises are reduced. 

Issues come up on every job—but what makes the difference is how quickly they’re put to rest.

And having answers before unforeseen challenges turn into delays is a big part of how we protect your completion date.

If you’ve got anything coming up and want a second set of eyes on timing or feasibility, I’m always happy to take a look.