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Have you ever tried to learn a new game? Like a card game or board game. Do you remember how many times you needed to play it before you “got it”? Look at the NFL and the game of football. If the scoring system and rules were more complex do you think the number of people would watch? Think about it in another way, what if there was no score even kept? All of these questions are to set your mind up for measuring field production in the construction industry. In my conversations with clients, the first response is that it cannot be done, period. Once I get past that roadblock then the next response is that it won’t work […]

One afternoon years ago, I was working as the CFO for our concrete construction company just sitting in the office fulfilling my duties and I got this idea to play a prank on the field supervision. This was long before we had smart phones or the internet. The technology was PAGERS! Yes, you had finally made it to management if you got to wear one of these hi-tech devices on your belt. Well, the prank I came up with was sending a pager message to all the Superintendents/Foreman using a NEW feature called GROUP messaging and it read as follows; !!! ATTENTION !!! Cellular One is having A CONTEST! If you can unscramble The following word; itartdueg You will win […]

“Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway.” —Mother Teresa Transparency comes by delivering what is real and true whether it’s in the numbers, in the culture, or in relationships. Being transparent can be frightening at times, but it’s less frightening than the unknowns that creep into our minds and cause divisions. As leaders in our companies, we must deliver the truth about where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going—even if it’s uncertain and takes some vulnerability to state it. People like like working for employers that state the risk with this business and ask for help to eliminate as many unknowns as possible, give job security, and provide advancements and inclusion. People don’t […]

Your Work in Progress statement defines the monthly profits. The accuracy of this statement depends on your estimates. Below are tips to improve monthly reporting and a FREE template that includes your “Survivability Rate” for you to download. Labor percent complete – The largest margin for error is knowing exactly where you are in the estimate when it comes to labor dollars. Having the Project Managers or Superintendents estimate projections based on percent can leave major errors in your ability to accurately determine the monthly Work in Progress statement. A better way to determine the amount of work completed is to assign a unit of measure to each cost code and collect the quantities of those at the end of […]

No one likes lies. But, unfortunately, being dishonest with others and ourselves is sometimes easier than telling the truth. It doesn’t need to be that way, though. Learning to be honest and eliminating the need for lies can help to clean up your conscience and your relationships. Shifting your perspective slightly and orienting yourself to a policy of honesty can help you to eliminate the need for lies and make it more attractive to tell the truth. See Step 1 for more information. Method 1 – Being Honest with Others Figure out why you lie and who you lie to. We’ve all lied at one time or another, to different people, to ourselves, and for different reasons. But coming up […]