Construction Lessons From the Beach

One of the keys to successful construction projects is creating reliable work flow. This is why the lean construction community pushes the Last Planner System. Often teams go through the motions without really understanding the reasons why, or they simply comply and halfheartedly implement something because someone has told them to.

There is a great example of how reliable work flow helps performance at a beach near you this summer… Paddle Ball. Paddle ball is played on the beach between two (or more) players that use paddles to hit the ball back and forth between each other. Success in paddle ball is not about being super nimble, making diving catches or hitting the ball extra hard (or soft). The secret to good paddle ball is to return the ball in the exact same place every time. I once saw an amazing demonstration of paddle ball skills by an elderly women on the beach in Tel Aviv. She arrived in a wheel chair and her family helped her into the sand and onto a stool. She proceeded to put on a CLINIC in paddle ball. She had a good partner who delivered the ball in almost the same place every single return in almost the exact same spot, allowing her to return the ball without moving her feet.

Knowing where the ball is going to be each time allows you to make better returns and your partner then has an easier time returning it to you. A virtuous circle follows. Your shots get easier which makes your partner’s shots easier which makes your shots easier… Before you know it, you are hitting like these guys:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_mx2elGmVw

Something similar happens in baseball which is why the signs between the pitcher and the catcher are guarded almost as a trade secret. If the hitter knows what is coming, it is much easier to hit the ball. 

 So many times in construction it feels more like we are playing tennis than paddle ball. Construction shouldn’t feel like you have an opponent trying to keep the ball away from you. Hand offs between different companies inadvertently (or sometimes intentionally) feel as if we have an opponent instead of a partner. The unfortunate part about this is we know that just like paddle ball, in construction all parties can achieve better performance by focusing on working together better versus strictly in their own self interest. If you do not believe that shoot me a note and I can send you a case study or two.

 In construction, hitting the ball back to the partner is equivalent to a handoff. We can improve performance dramatically by focusing on improving the handoffs. Here are a few simple ways to improve handoffs. Just because they are simple doesn’t mean they are easy. With practice, just like in paddle ball, they can get much easier.  

• Focus on actual completion dates in Weekly Work Plans. It is our experience that most tasks in weekly work plans are too generic. When we calculate PPC, a task completed early is measured the same as a task completed late. This ALWAYS causes consternation with new teams. “How can you penalize me for being late” is the response. We aren’t penalizing anyone, what we want to do is know as accurately as possible where the ball will be hit. In order to do that you have to measure it. Make the tasks specific with end dates and measure how effective you are at hitting the actual date.
• Keep pull plan conversations focused on handoffs. This can slow down the pull plan process. People ask me often, “can’t I write all my sticky notes out and just put them on the wall?” My answer is always “no.” Individual tasks are not the reason we pull plan. We want to identify the handoffs so we can focus on them. 
• Rigorously attack and manage constraints. Paddle ball would be hard without a ball. That situation occurs daily for the people trying to get work done on our behalf in construction. I am continuously amazed at the amount of coping that goes on with construction crews. There are several interesting ways to do this. The key is to make the work ready before we start trying to hit the ball. 
• The role of the construction manager is that of coach and enabler. They are not hitting the ball. This doesn’t mean that their part isn’t important. It is just different. The best teams have a coach. 

 Taking steps in each of these areas will not only improve handoffs, but will also improve the overall production. If you are having challenges getting teams to commit to the process, talk to them about hitting the ball to each other!!!