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John L. Henshaw has resigned from his post at OSHA. The official announcement gives him credit for making our workplaces significantly safer over his tenure. That's true in total, but the situation is about the same for those of us in construction. In spite of all the efforts during the last 10 years, there is no change in worker death rates -- about 1,200 workers die each year and many thousands are seriously injured.

I think the VPP (Voluntary Protection Plan) efforts will pay off. The program offers real incentives to firms who take the extra effort to qualify for the plan. Unfortunately, not enough firms will go after the VPP. Incremental improvement while desirable will not produce the results we need. It's time to come at this differently. In my mind there's no reason not to make the level of safety improvements MT Hojgaard, Denmark, accomplished when they adopted lean construction. They cut injury rates by about 60% in one year.

I want the new OSHA leader to make a commitment to cut injury rates by over 50% in the next two years. What do you want?

Read Safety Everyday's construction safety in the news sideblog.

posted by Hal at 2:28 PM | link  |   |   | Google It!  | Email This  |

Organizational change is one of the harder changes to make. It takes leadership, attention, and changes in routines. I prepared today's e-Tip for project managers and project executives who are introducing lean project delivery approaches.

The Project Reformer's e-Tip of the Week

038: Start Using a "To-Don't List"

Bosses listen up... How you spend your time matters far more than what you say when it comes to your staff or project team members. Are you holed up in your office or out where the work of the project happens? Do you stop when you walk a jobsite to fix a safety railing, pick up trash, and help someone struggling with a difficult task? Do you spend vastly more time asking questions or do you give direction? Make no mistake, your staff and your team notice how you spend your time. They watch so they can survive. It's that simple. Want to produce change? You need to give as much attention to what you choose not to do as you give to what you say is important. Focus. That's right, focus. Do one, maybe two things intensely for an extended period of time. I'm not saying the organization should stop doing everything else. No. I'm saying for you to stop doing everything else. Put all those other things on your "To-Don't List." That "To-Don't List" is a source to give your staff development opportunities. You can't bring about change if you haven't changed what you put on your calendar. Full stop. This Project e-Tip was inspired by Tom Peters' manifesto This I Believe appearing on ChangeThis! and in his booklet Project04: Snapshots of Excellence in Turbulent Times TIB# 48. For more on project leadership visit The Project Leaders' Studio™

©2004 Hal Macomber | weblog.halmacomber.com | e-Tip Archive | PDF | Submit Tip

Now, how about some e-Tip proposals from readers. I have pleny of great books that I'm ready to give out.

posted by Hal at 4:13 PM | link  |   |   | Google It!  | Email This  |

Meetings, meetings, meetings...we have far too many that don't produce the value for the attendees or the project. Patrick Lencioni's latest book, Death by Meeting, makes the case for different meeting approaches depending on the purpose pursued. For more than 8 years the founders of the Lean Construction Institute have advised people doing projects on a lean basis to have special-purpose weekly project meetings. Over the next week or so I will offer my proposals for protocols for conducting a series of meetings that address a coherent set of project concerns.

I have identified four protocols that are consistent with the Last Planner System®. These four represent distinct phases of the workflow of project work.

1. Look-Ahead Planning -- Making work ready
2. Weekly Work Planning -- Promising task completions
3. Daily Coordination -- Declaring complete on promises
4. System Improvement -- Learning, innovating, and system design

I am calling these protocols rather than meeting agendas or processes to indicate there are further design opportunities to address the specific circumstances of your project. However, please consider these meeting descriptions as more than just Hal's good ideas. These protocols represent a collected wisdom from collaborating on projects ranging from defense contracts, construction, architecture, engineering, and software development. While I am sure these protocols can be improved upon, I am also quite confident in their usefulness just as is.

Stay tuned...

posted by Hal at 1:04 AM | link  |   |   | Google It!  | Email This  |

 

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