Framing an Engagement - 2 of 4

I’ve helped several businesses implement configurable software to streamline and scale home renovation projects. While the needs of every client are different, there are a few big decisions to land in framing an engagement to make sure we deliver the most business value as quickly and consistently as possible. These articles steps through the four big points to scope before we build or implement new tools:

1. Clarify the Exam Question

2. Work Backward from “Done”

3. Walk & Document the Gemba

4. Set the Leading and Lagging Indicators

Work Backwards: What Will “Done” Look Like?

Once the main problem is clearly articulated and agreed on by key stakeholders, it’s time to talk about what the future state will be: what will it look like when we’ve solved the problem, and who will do their work differently when they have a system in place to support them? In the construction world, that often comes down to clarifying what the finish standards will be for all production jobs the team will tackle, and how those standards are referenced when scoping, delivering, and closing out each job.

Some mix of clean, safe, functional, and cosmetically pleasing standards will get the property sold or leased to a happy customer. So how do we take each Superintendent's discretion out of what “clean enough,” “safe enough,” or “functional enough” means?

Clear Property Standards

Depending on the company’s focus, it may make sense to spell out standards for each mechanical system and asset in the home, to borrow from a Housing Authority checklist that would be referenced in qualifying a property for housing assistance, or to create packages of standards by price point. A client might set finish standards based on the expected resale price of the home. For example, if the home will sell for under $250K, then a kitchen can have vinyl counters with minor wear and tear; if a home will sell for between $250K-$500K, vinyl counters would need to be in very good condition, and signs of minor wear and tear would trigger an upgrade to granite; and if a home is expected to sell for $500K we always upgrade vinyl to granite, but leave existing granite that has minor wear and tear. 
For that series of if/then logic to work at scale, first the business needs to have clear documentation about what would constitute “minor wear and tear”--how big of a chip or crack would cease to be “minor,” along with some sample images of minor and major wear and tear.

Bake the Standards in at the Beginning and End of Each Project

Once the property standards are in black and white, they’ll need to be formatted for two main uses: as a final walk checklist, and as a scoping guide. The whole purpose of the renovation project is to address the cosmetic, functional, safety, and cleanliness items that would deliver the property up to our standards. Before Construction can hand a property over to be marketed, a Construction employee needs to walk the property, line by line, to make sure the property meets those standards. So, to set the construction team up for an efficient project, whoever walks the property initially needs those same guidelines in hand to call out all the deficiencies in the property that fall short of our standards, with a suggested remedy to address them (clean this; fix that; replace this; that is within standards so leave as-is).

With property standards in place, there is no substitute for a manager walking his/her field team and relevant central support staff (estimators or vendor managers) through a property at the scoping stage to agree on “What should we do about this countertop?” and then through the just-finished project down the street to review “here’s why we didn’t touch this countertop–this wear and tear is still acceptable.” Field teams should meet at least monthly to align on quality standards, and central teams should join them in the field quarterly.

Once the property standards are clearly defined, you can explore how to surface them in the tools you already have to enforce complete scoping and complete final walking. If the tools you have don’t support this approach to quality or don’t support it well, then look into new tools; but don’t put in a tool unless you have clear standards to seed it with, because that won’t magically align the scoping eye of the superintendent in LA with the estimator in Dallas. If you need to deliver projects the same way everywhere, you need to have clear final walk standards everywhere so you can have clear scoping standards everywhere.