© April 2011 Homebuilding Partners, Inc.   

We talk a lot about “accountability”— why we need it, how to get it, what it means. But I don’t believe accountability is what we’re really looking for, not in a lean organization anyway.

Accountability is a middle management term: You are not doing your job so I’m going to make sure you do it. Many organizations have a layer of management making sure employees complete their work and achieve their goals. In fact, accountability reinforces the Management/Employee relationship. Every company has “employees,” “staff,” or “subordinates” at some level. And traditionally, the lower the level, the stronger the need for accountability.

What if “accountability” is the PC term for the modern Taylorism? And what if that struggle to find and define accountability is actually a symptom of a company’s move from a traditional hierarchy to a lean organization?  If so, I would say that it’s not accountability that we’re looking for, it’s ownership.

Ownership is a mindset and suggests Teamwork and personal responsibility. While every company may have “employees,” not every company works as a Team. In a Team, every player has a significant role that he or she is personally responsible for not only executing, but improving. That improvement may be in strategy or it may be in personal growth. Either way, Team Players see themselves as solely responsible for the execution, completion and success of their role. And Teams execute on a coordinated level that makes it appear that if any one fails, the entire team risks losing.

An employee lacks this level of personal responsibility for execution. An employee knows that when he or she punches the time clock at 5:00, a Manager will ultimately be responsible to complete the job. That Manager may delegate it, but someone else is responsible. For an Employee, the worst that could happen is an earful from those holding him accountable (or possibly having to go find another job). But in a Team environment, the worst that could happen is you let down those who are depending on you.

Clearly, ownership lies in that Team Mentality. So the question becomes, how does a company move from a staff of employees to an organization of Team Players?

© March 2011 Homebuilding Partners, Inc.   

The standard organization of our Building Partner Council has, through some trial and error, started falling into place.

Based on direction from a fellow home building company and the advice of our Lean Consultant, we broke our construction schedule into two halves, allowing each meeting to “zoom into” the activities within that half. One month, our meeting focuses on the activities from slab through frame. Then the following month, we focus on frame through Quality Inspection. Our fellow lean  builder broke their schedule into 3 parts, and they cycle through their entire schedule each quarter.

Setting our meetings to rotate monthly, we next standardized our basic agenda structure. A standard agenda keeps each meeting on track and value-added. A quick Google search shows that there’s a wide variety of agenda formats and samples — some seem very complex. For our structure, we wanted to keep things simple.

1) Builder information (Upcoming communities & starts, Construction Professional locations & contact info.) If for no other reason, Building Partners return just to stay in the loop with what’s going on with their Builder client.

2) Building Partner goals . For us this year, our Building Partners wanted to focus on improving plan corrections/redlines and allowed lead times. This is their opportunity to address those goals.

3) Builder goals. As the lean home builder, our goal this year was to improve our cycle time. We’ve been focusing on getting the duration time for each activity inline with the expectation.

4) Recurring problems on the jobsite. We go over waste, return trips and rework found on the jobsite during the past couple of months and how to prevent those issues from recurring. Our 3^rd Party Inspector generally leads this topic, as he is a neutral party. But individual issues are recognized by the jobsite Construction Professional prior to the meeting, by our First Time Quality Program and by the Building Partners themselves.

Building Partner participation in and commitment to the concept is what will make or break the Council. Traditional “Trade Partner Councils” have a Building Partner team organizing and running the meetings, and we looked into implementing this component into our Building Partner Council format. However, in today’s environment, we found having Building Partners take turns leading the meeting has been more productive and better received.

© March 2011 Homebuilding Partners, Inc.   

In the closing process for most home builders, they provide a New Home Introduction (some call it an ”Orientation” or “Walk Through”) followed by a Rewalk Meeting. It’s standard in the industry: the home buyers walk the home, put blue tape on defects, problems and corrections, then the builder fixes everything and “rewalks” the home with the buyers before the closing. In fact, within the industry, builders EXPECT the home buyer to find problems — and even sets-up their New Home Introduction with the expectation that this is the buyer’s  opportunity to find corrections.

Why would we do that?

For a lean homebuilder like us, we deliver the home 100% clean and complete at the New Home Introduction. In fact, to ensure the home is delivered at that standard, we have a 3rd Party Home Inspector walk the home to find any last minute touch-ups before we present it to the buyer.  So, if the buyer finds defects, problems or corrections at the New Home Introduction, it should feel like a slap to our ego. It’s a blow to our reputation.

But it happens.

Sometimes, because there’s a paint or drywall scuff. More often than not because we set the expectation that they’re going to find defects. In fact, we’re so certain of this, we actually pre-schedule a “Rewalk Meeting” at the same time we schedule the New Home Introduction. Have you ever heard of a self-fulling prophecy?

If you really believe in the quality of home you’re delivering and the competency of the Construction Manager who built it, set the proper expectation for the New Home Introduction, then schedule it without prepping the Buyer to have to return to double check your work.

© March 2011 Homebuilding Partners, Inc.   

Second Time Quality costs us money; First Time Quality saves us money.

Caulk issues (whether that’s missed, incomplete or sloppy) are costing us big. One missed window sill or exterior penetration causes the Construction Professional to double check, report and re-schedule the Building Partner to return. (Let’s say 15 minutes at $33 per hour.) The Building Partner crew must leave a current job and drive back to the jobsite (at $3.50/gallon plus wear & tear on the truck x the distance to the jobsite) for “15 minutes” to complete a job that should have already been completed. (That whole round trip could take an hour. If it’s a 2-man crew making $18/hr we just wasted $36.) Adding up all this nickel-and-diming, we could say each caulk issue is costing us $47.75.

So here are some recurring caulking issues we’ve experienced in January & February. Added up, the 2nd Time Quality issues below cost us $238.75!

Return to caulk gaps around the window: $47.75

Return to smooth-out caulk around windows: $47.75

Return to caulk around exterior penetrations: $47.75

Return to caulk missed areas in showers and tubs: $47.75

Return to caulk the backsplash: $47.75

© March 2011 Homebuilding Partners, Inc.   

Lean Sales means keeps it simple; break an overwhelming task down into its simplest components. And what can seem more daunting than meeting your sales budget each month?

If you’re budgeted to sell two homes per month, let’s simplify: you need to sell one home in the next two weeks. Simpler? Yes. But even that can feel like an insurmountable challenge. So let’s break it down further and set a goal that you know without fail you can achieve, and will result in selling a home.

Set an Appointment Goal for the next two weeks. 

So how many appointments do you need to set to sell one home? 10? 15? 20? 40? This is critical to answer. If you don’t know your sales formula (X appointments = 1 sale), then it’s pretty clear why you’re not doing as well as you could be doing: You haven’t identified your potential.

So, let’s say you need 20 appointments by the 15th. Now you know what you’re trying to achieve. But how do you get there? Well, keep working the sales formula. To have 20 appointments by the 15th, you need to set 2 appointments per day, which gives you a number to aim for. You know, every day, what you are trying to achieve. You’ve got a formula.

Set 2 appointments per day for the next two weeks = 20 appointments by the 15th = 1 home sale.

Here’s the tough part: You’ve got to commit 100% to your plan. If that means setting two model home appointments per day, then set two model home appointments per day. If it takes two phone calls, great. If it takes until 7 p.m., then that’s what it takes. But, one phone call at a time, you’ll build a succession of appointments that will allow you to achieve your sales budget.

© March 2011 Homebuilding Partners, Inc.   

Last month, another Construction Professional tackled it from a fresh perspective. First, he tied the problem to wasted money, which gives the Plan-Do-Check-Adjust cycle that much more strength and impact. (Not to discount the motion and over-processing waste, or the negative impact on the customer experience.) Plus he formulated counter measures that are simple and low cost (or in this case, no cost).

This one hasn’t proven to eliminate this recurring problem once and for all, but I’m really looking forward to the “Check & Adjust” phase.

© February 2011 Homebuilding Partners, Inc.   

There’s a reason we call our model homes our “store fronts;” it’s where you sell quality, value and a potential lifestyle in your homes and community.  On any given weekend, home shoppers compare your store front with the store fronts of the builder across the street and the builder down the road.  And, they’re looking for an excuse to eliminate your model home from their list. Don’t give your competition any advantages.

• Sort out all the “junk” in the sales center — whether that’s your inventory of “Available” signage, old flyers, or customer files. Don’t let your sales office look like a tornado hit it. Don’t allow your model home’s garage to become a storage unit.
• Set everything in order. Label where flyers and brochures go. Organize appropriate locations for your collaterals, signage inventory and cleaning supplies.
• Showcase your model and sales center –both inside and out. The carpet should always look freshly vacuumed. The landscaping must “pop.” The entry way can’t have any stains, dirt or bugs. This means sweep and shine, every day.
• Standardize how you will keep your model home and sales center a notch above the competition. Use a checklist to keep your model in “Showcase” condition. And if it helps, divide responsibilities with your Construction Manager and Sales Partner – if he’ll keep the signage in order, you’ll always keep the front entryway looking sharp and inviting.
• Sustain the discipline. I know, it’s easier said than done. What’s worse, because you’re in that model  home and sales center day in and day out, it’s really tough to see what kind of first impression it’s making. So find what motivates you to keep your model home looking better than the builder’s across the street. Then you’ve got to keep that momentum going. Get honest feedback from a fresh set of eyes. Ask Realtors to grade it. Or, sometimes the biggest motivation is to actually walk the model homes of your competition.

Just keep this in mind: That builder across the street is always gaining on you, with a greener lawn, cleaner windows, a brighter entryway, and a better decorated, more enticing model home. You’re both selling to the same buyers — don’t make their job easier.

© February 2011 Homebuilding Partners, Inc.   

Here are 10 examples of motion waste on the jobsite as pointed out by our jobsite Construction Managers.

1. Jobsites and vacant lots get muddy. And when our Building Partners park in the mud, their trucks leave mud trails behind them. Our Construction Managers constantly have to sweep the streets to keep up curb appeal and to prevent debris from running into the sewers. This problem was even addressed in a recent Plan-Do-Check-Adjust project.

2. Show me a sewer cap buried under mulch in the landscaping and I’ll show you a frustrated Construction Manager who has to dig it out. It can take him 30 minutes just to find the sewer cap, and that’s providing he notices the error before the inspector arrives. We’ve failed more than one inspection because the sewer cap was buried and inaccessable.

3. How much time is wasted shuffling through an unorganized permit box? Anyone needing access (be it the Construction Manager, Building Partner or Inspector) has to open it slowly and very carefully, else all the paperwork will spring out like a psychotic Jack-in-the Box. When this happens, the Construction Manager scrambles after paperwork blowing across the jobsite. On a good day, he’s just digging into and fumbling through a crumpled mess.

4. This is the classic, text book example of not completing the job. When a crew leaves behind lunch trash, wrappers, cups, spit bottles, unused material, and miscellaneous scraps, someone is going to have to come in behind them and clean it up. Most often its the Construction Manger, who can spend up to an hour at the end of the day straightening the jobsite. Sometimes its the Sales Professional, who hurriedly scoops most things up into a single pile before a prospective buyer steps onto the homesite. Sometimes its the following Building Partner, who has to spend a good portion of his duration time sweeping before his crew can even begin. And sometimes it’s the Homeowners on either side of the jobsite, who have trash blown into their yard and bushes.

5. No one seems to respect the blue prints. They get left out in the sun and rain. They get walked over and trampled on. Trucks run over them. When the Construction Manager has to order a new set because the old one is undecipherable, there’s another $45 down the drain…

6. Again, when a Building Partner doesn’t fully complete his job, it’s up to the next Building Partner to take time out of his schedule to finish it — or worse, work around it.

7. Every Construction Manger in the company marked this scenario as an example of motion waste. After waiting all morning for the county inspector to arrive, the Construction Manager makes a quick trip to another jobsite. In his absence, the inspector arrives. It’s Murphy’s Law. If the Construction Manager needed to speak to the Inspector, he’s out of luck. If the Inspector needed to speak to the Construction Manager, the inspection is failed. It can — and has on many occasions – impacted cycle time. The recurring problem is so prevelent in fact, one Construction Professional addressed it in a recent Plan-Do-Check-Adjust project. 

8. Motion waste runs rampant in an ineffective or inefficient process. In our system, we were experiencing a breakdown in Production providing a complete Start Packet to Construction when the job was released. There were a multitude of reasons for starting the job before the Start Packet was complete. Regardless, a start packet with missing documents causes the Construction Team headaches — from cycle time delays, to frustrated Building Partners to failed inspections. Construction and Production are currently going through the Plan-Do-Check-Adjust cycle now to get to the root cause of the problem.

9.  The Construction Manager has to check and recheck that there are no cuts or holes in the visqueen and it takes time to tape those holes shut again. That time wasted could be avoided if Building Partners walking across the slab would just watch where they step. And if an accidental rip does occur, take the time to repair it themselves.

10. When a Building Partner crew fails to complete the job 100% the first time, the Construction Manager has to follow behind him, inspect the work, document the  problem or defect, then call the crew supervisor, explain the problem and reschedule the crew back onto the jobsite. The Building Partner crew has to return to the jobsite and complete the job. Finally the Construction Manager re-checks the work, and calls the crew supervisor to let him know the job was actually completed. Exactly how much motion waste is that?

11. One of our Construction Manager said, “You know, it’s not like we’re using invisible dog fencing. The silt fence is hard to miss.” Still, those fences get run over, trampled,  and materials thrown on top of them like they’re, well, not even there. They take a beating, and the Construction Manger has to take time every single day to put them back up, make repairs and, ultimately, pull them up and replace them. There’s not only a motion waste involved, but a lot of dollars wasted replacing the material. Like the example before it, just watch your step… please.

Okay, so there were 11 examples… Consider the last one bonus waste.

© February 2011 Homebuilding Partners, Inc.   

A lean homebuilder understands the power and importance of grassroots marketing, over expensive, traditional marketing campaigns. It’s the only way to compete with all those national builders with the deep pockets.

The key behind grassroots marketing is to connect with the community on a simple — and often fun & creative level. It’s all about using your imagination to get the word out!

Here are 5 Grass Roots Marketing Kaizens that we’re using to drive traffic to our communities and promote our Available Homes.

1. Find community bulletin boards

Kaizen: “I found 8 local businesses including a grocery store and Starbucks and 2 local libraries that have a community bulletin board. I’m posting a flyer on all those bulletin boards.” Results: “Walk in traffic has increased and I’ve had a couple of people actually walk in the model with the flyer I had posted. Every Friday I go to each one of those places and post a new flyer so there’s constantly a new message getting out there.”

2. Use flyer displays in local restaurants

Kaizen: “There’s 15 local restaurants that agreed to let me set-up a flyer in an acrylic display stand. Depending on the store, they’re either on the check-out counter or on top the “Thank You” waste cabinet next to the door.” Results: “These restaurants have hundreds of people coming in and out of them daily. Now times that by 15 and over a thousand people a day are seeing the flyer for my inventory home.”

3. Get creative with community amenities

Kaizen: “My community has a beautiful, fenced dog park in this neighborhood, so I contacted the Mixed Breed Dog Club of America about holding a dog show in the park. The MBDC did all the marketing and promotion and we sponsored the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place prices, and we grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. It was a great Saturday afternoon event.” Results: “We had over 50 people attend the dog show and I scheduled 3 appointments that week. Now I’m organizing a scavenger hunt in the nature trail with a local church group.”

4.  Trade advertising with local businesses

Kaizen: “I’m trading advertising with a local laundry & dry cleaning chain. I printed door hangers promoting a special incentive for their customers and the dry cleaner is hooking them on clothes they’re returning to their customers. In return, I’m handing out a flyer and coupon to their stores with the floor plan collaterals that I give each prospect.”   Results: “In the month since I started this promotion, I’ve had 8 calls and 5 walk-in visitors telling me that they heard about my community through their dry cleaner.”

5.  Get involved in local events

Kaizen: “The large home expos at the convention center become more and more expensive every year, and because of the competition, seem to produce fewer results. That’s why I started focusing on local events, such as the Special Olympics at the nearby school, the Renaissance Fair at the park, and the championship little league tournament.” Results: “Setting up a simple table to hand out flyers and a few promotional items has produced more phone calls than a home expo ever did, and it’s a fraction of the cost.”

© February 2011 Homebuilding Partners, Inc.