Posts tagged Jobs

Successful leaders are always looking for the new doors that open in front of them or the shorter paths to their goals. Think about it. How often does a plan go perfectly from start to objective? So this is the question that successful leaders ask.

What adjustments can I make?

Leaders know that they are there to steer the ship, to guide the team to the objective. Steering the ship mean just that, to make constant adjustments guiding the ship in as straight a line as possible. You are expected to make continuous adjustments.

Here’s a real world example in my area of expertise as a construction superintendent. We have a tool we use for making small corrections and also to ensure that we proceed as per are overall construction schedule and that is the two or three week lookout schedule. This is a schedule we make every week which contains a lot more detail than the overall schedule that is hanging on the wall. From the overall schedule you know what tasks are on the critical path. These are the tasks that if they start later or last longer than scheduled, will delay the finish date on the job. There are several thing to look out for in the lookout schedule. One is the tasks on the critical path, you are always looking for a way to get those tasks started sooner and to get them finished in a shorter period of the. An important thing is how the work flows through the job.

Certain tasks have to be complete before the next trade starts. But on most jobs you want a flow starting in one corner or a certain floor or where ever and working through the job in a sequence of areas to the last area. This is how you get the workers following each other along the sequence of areas. This gets more manpower on site without them getting in each others way. The third thing I look at is what I call the number one question. That is – What has to be 100% complete for in a certain area in order for the next subtrade on the critical path to start their work? These are often small tasks my crew needs to do or involves chasing certain subcontractors to complete certain details of their work. Combine those with productivity issue such as access to the site and where to store materials so you don’t have to keep moving them and you can come up with your 2 week outlook schedule. This is the plan that contains all the small weekly adjustments to keep you on track with the overall construction schedule.

As you can see on a large job this is a complex process, whereas on a small job you may not even put it to paper but just verbally communicate it to those concerned. Really small tasks just require you to ask yourself periodically – What Adjustments Can I Make?

When the astronauts went to the moon they were off course over 90% of the time but though continuous small corrections they made their goal as planed within seconds.

The route to success is often a zig zag route. That route will be shorter if you correct and refocus on the objective more often. Restating goals often and knowing what step is next and getting feedback allows the team to make corrections often and in the right direction.

The smaller the correction you make the more successful and confident the team will be about the plan and the next steps. Instill that confidence.

The big secret – You can’t help but succeed if you continually make adjustments towards your goal.

Always ask.

What adjustments can I make?

“Daily ripples of excellence – over time – become a tsunami of success” Robin Sharma