b'PREVIEW zNote - The Fails Management Institute, FM/,on those jobs and how improved planning coulU andwill present a special program onhave prevented it. Get youralk-MRCAfield leaders tSunday at the MRCA Convention. FM/iscon ing; let them bring up their own experiences. If 0sidered the premier management consultants toyou have a field incentive program, show what the construction industry. For those who mayeffect better planning would have had on past - notfamiliar with FM/, the following is an ex jobs.remember w to insist on written plans, be ample ofofSecond, you need the typepresentation attendees zmayPlanningFMIso lay it on the line to them. Written plans help expect. us tohat the plan was. help us to Job Sitecommunicate the plan, and help us to see the by Bob Leibforthimpact of changing the plan. Assure them that IllSenior Consultant,you won\'t use the plan to hammer them, and From FM/ Management Letter, August 1995then don\'t. Make sure that they (and you) understand the plans are just that-plans. Things zAlmost every contractor I talk with would likewill change. Little will happen exactly the way to see field leaders do a betterof planningwe plan it, but plans help us both to be prejob on the job site-and for good reason. Poor (orpared for what should happen and to react betnonexistent) job site planning results in lowerter to the unexpected. Plus, the more we plan, 0productivity. lower crew morale. lower quality ofthe betterget.Cone week, we Third, let your field leaders design the form uwork put in place and higher costs. Getting fieldand determine the planning horizonit leaders to plan, however, is no easy task. Getting them to write it down is even more difficult.two, three?). The best thing to do is keep In my experience, this resistance to planningsimple; the form can always be modified later is caused by (a cultural norm that says "Fieldto include more detail. Help them to understand 1) people do, and office/management people plan.that their role is to insure that things go rightoJ 1 schedule, do paper work"; (2) a feeling thatthe job, not to spend all day fixing things that they have so little control over short-term re go wrong. sults due to owners, weather, and inspectors that it\'s a waste of time to prepare specificTRAININGBY MANAGEMENTFocus plans; (3) a resistance to committing to paperThe implementation ofrejob site planning specifics that might be used by management toquires the patience and persistence I spoke of hammer them; and (4) a belief that playing theearlier. You can\'t give yourleaders the field "fireman" -that is. spending all day runningforms and wish them good luck. You (or somearound putting out fires, saving the day-is whatone) will have to be there with them, every they should be doing.week, forit takes for each field as long as Toovercome all these things, you\'ll need(ONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE two-patience and perample amounts of"p\'s" sistence. I can assure you that job-site planning won\'t happen overnight, and it won\'t happen unless you continue to focus on it. In addition, there are positive things you can do to introduce weekly planning to your field leaders. THREEBUILDINGBLOCKSFORBETTERPLANNING First, take responsibility for the existing process you use. It isn\'t your field leaders fault that they don\'t plan as well as they could; it\'s your responsibility. Make sure that they under I stand this up front. Gather facts and stories\\ from past jobs that demonstrate why your field leaders need to plan better, but make sure you don\'t point fingers. Talk about what happened 4'