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By Adam Omansky A.M.ASCE, on July 29th, 2010
The sign of an effective quality management program is where preventive action is the rule and corrective action is the exception.
By Adam H. Omansky, A.M.ASCE
The next true-or-false statement from Philip B. Crosby's Quality Is Free is “A Zero Defects program is a management communications tool.” As I mentioned in my last post, if you have already answered true or false to the ten statements, to test your understanding of the concept of Zero Defects, please read ahead and continue. If you haven't already answered, please take the time to go back and read them to test your knowledge of the concept of Zero Defects, related to construction programs and Enterprise Quality Management in the construction industry.
Here is the answer to the fifth of ten statements: “A Zero Defects program is a management communications tool.”
ANSWER = TRUE
Crosby asserts that a Zero Defects program “…creates an attitude of defect prevention.” Generally, in the absence of a Zero Defects program or an Enterprise Quality Management program, an attitude of defect correction, as opposed to defect prevention, generally prevails. Work is not always put in place correctly or completely, in accordance with the contract documents and specifications, the first time. Then, the nonconformant and deficient work is identified, area by area and item by item, and retasked back out to the trade contractors and subcontractors. Subsequent rework is required, which inevtiably leads to cost overruns, sequencing bottlenecks and time delays, all jeopardizing already-thin profit margins.
The sign of an effective quality management program is where preventive action is the rule and corrective action is the exception.
Relationships between field personnel out on the job site and management personnel back in the head office or home office develop and evolve, as a mutual understanding of the quality-related issues at the point-of-construction develops over time as the quality program progresses. Problems and quality-related issues in the field gain visibility up to managers, directors and executives, who may be disconnected from the day to day activities on the job site. Problems and quality-related issues in the field are no longer isolated at the job level.
Leveraging a quality program as a “management communications tool” proliferates a culture of quality throughout the company, at all levels from the field up to the head office or home office. A culture of quality and the behaviors which support it are shaped by the best practices, project processes and communication tools utilized by the company, both at the project level and bewteen management and the projects. The “out of sight, out of mind” mentality ceases to exist. Quality becomes a priority for all company personnel.
Ask yourself the following questions about your company: How does your company create leverage a Zero Defects program or an Enterprise Quality Management program as a management communications tool? How does your company create the connectedness between many geographically distributed projects, regional offices and a head office or home office?
An effective quality management communications tool uses a three-pronged approach:
1. A web-based quality management application, with no local software and accordingly easy to distribute across a broad install base, to enable real-time visibility in to project progress and status.
2. Web-based analytic dashboards and reports, showing project and company performance over time, where information may be explored dynamically, ad-hoc and on-demand at any time.
3. Scheduled reports, distributed to key project and company stakeholders in an automated way, via email, showing project and company performance over time.
--More to come next week, when I answer and discuss question five. Appreciate all of you who are reading and following along each week as we continue to analyze some of the key principles and potential misnomers of quality management in the construction industry.
The sign of an effective quality management program is where preventive action is the rule and corrective action is the exception.
The next true-or-false statement from Philip B. Crosby's Quality Is Free is “A Zero Defects program is a management communications tool.” As I mentioned in my last post, if you have already answered true or false to the ten statements, to test your understanding of the concept of Zero Defects, please read ahead and continue. If you haven't already answered, please take the time to go back and read them to test your knowledge of the concept of Zero Defects, related to construction programs and Enterprise Quality Management in the construction industry.
Here is the answer to the fifth of ten statements: “A Zero Defects program is a management communications tool.”
ANSWER = TRUE
Crosby asserts that a Zero Defects program “…creates an attitude of defect prevention.” Generally, in the absence of a Zero Defects program or an Enterprise Quality Management program, an attitude of defect correction, as opposed to defect prevention, generally prevails. Work is not always put in place correctly or completely, in accordance with the contract documents and specifications, the first time. Then, the nonconformant and deficient work is identified, area by area and item by item, and retasked back out to the trade contractors and subcontractors. Subsequent rework is required, which inevtiably leads to cost overruns, sequencing bottlenecks and time delays, all jeopardizing already-thin profit margins.
The sign of an effective quality management program is where preventive action is the rule and corrective action is the exception.
Relationships between field personnel out on the job site and management personnel back in the head office or home office develop and evolve, as a mutual understanding of the quality-related issues at the point-of-construction develops over time as the quality program progresses. Problems and quality-related issues in the field gain visibility up to managers, directors and executives, who may be disconnected from the day to day activities on the job site. Problems and quality-related issues in the field are no longer isolated at the job level.
Leveraging a quality program as a “management communications tool” proliferates a culture of quality throughout the company, at all levels from the field up to the head office or home office. A culture of quality and the behaviors which support it are shaped by the best practices, project processes and communication tools utilized by the company, both at the project level and bewteen management and the projects. The “out of sight, out of mind” mentality ceases to exist. Quality becomes a priority for all company personnel.
Ask yourself the following questions about your company: How does your company create leverage a Zero Defects program or an Enterprise Quality Management program as a management communications tool? How does your company create the connectedness between many geographically distributed projects, regional offices and a head office or home office?
An effective quality management communications tool uses a three-pronged approach:
- A web-based quality management application, with no local software and accordingly easy to distribute across a broad install base, to enable real-time visibility in to project progress and status.
- Web-based analytic dashboards and reports, showing project and company performance over time, where information may be explored dynamically, ad-hoc and on-demand at any time.
- Scheduled reports, distributed to key project and company stakeholders in an automated way, via email, showing project and company performance over time.
More to come next week, when I answer and discuss question six. Appreciate all of you who are reading and following along each week as we continue to analyze some of the key principles and potential misnomers of quality management in the construction industry.
By Adam Omansky A.M.ASCE, on July 23rd, 2010
Field teams need the right tools to get the job done right in the field.
The next true-or-false statement from Philip B. Crosby's Quality Is Free is “Errors are caused by one of three things: lack of knowledge, lack of attention, or lack of facilities.” As I mentioned in my last post, if you have already answered true or false to the ten statements, to test your understanding of the concept of Zero Defects, please read ahead and continue. If you haven't already answered, please take the time to go back and read them to test your knowledge of the concept of Zero Defects, related to construction programs and Enterprise Quality Management in the construction industry.
Here is the answer to the fourth of ten statements: “Errors are caused by one of three things: lack of knowledge, lack of attention, or lack of facilities.”
ANSWER = FALSE
Crosby asserts that errors are caused by the first two aspects:
- Lack of knowledge;
- Lack of attention; and not by the third aspect:
- Lack of facilities.
Lack of facilities is in turn caused by a either a lack of knowledge or a lack of attention, or both conditions; lack of facilities itself results from a lack of knowledge or a lack of attention. In the field, at the point of construction, a lack of facilities translates to a lack of technologies, tools, equipment and other business productivity-related resources available in the trailer or at the job site.
In construction, field facilities may be measured as a function of how and to what degree management outfits field teams to manage, coordinate, track and measure the work, as part of a quality program. A field team using inadequate or insufficient facilities, technologies, tools and equipment day to day at the job site cannot be criticized for a lack of resources, unless that field team was responsible for selecting and securing the resources, in the first place.
Management, meaning general superintendents, project managers, directors of operation and quality, and corporate executives in the construction industry, need to accept responsibility for contribution to errors, nonconformances and deficiencies in the quality of work, which includes selecting and securing technologies, tools, equipment and other business productivity-related resources and accordingly equipping facilities in the field.
- Do you relate errors, nonconformances and deficiencies in quality back to facilities?
- Does your company relate errors, nonconformances and deficiencies in quality back to facilities?
- Who holds the responsibility for equipping facilities in the field at your company?
- Does your management team accept responsibility for equipping facilities in the field?
After all, work is done in the field. Profits are made or lost in the field. The core business processes and revenue generating activities for contractors take place in the field, not back at the home office or head office.
In basic terms, field teams need the right tools to get the job done right in the field.
Trade contractors and subcontractors, such as foremen, craftsmen, journeymen, apprentices and laborers, need the right tools to get the job done right – this is common sense, and a generally accepted best practice. One cannot expect trade contractors and subcontractors to perform tasks and put work in place right, without errors, nonconformances or deficiencies in quality the first time, without the right tools and equipment. The same fundamental principle holds true for construction managers and general contractors, who manage the trades and orchestrate the work.
What are some of the facilities, tools, equipment and other business productivity-related resources that you require on each project as a corporate standard or best practice, to manage your quality program?
- Job trailer offices, with dependable internet connections to communicate and collaborate;
- Job trailer meeting rooms, to present reports, trends and analytics to project teams and partners;
- Smart phones with email and digital cameras, to document work conditions for the record;
- Tablet PCs or touchscreen slate computers, such as a Motion J3400s, Motion J3500s or Motion F5s or Apple iPads in a rugged cases, to do quality checklists, log issues and items of work to complete or correct, review and markup drawings and other documents, etc. directly in the field;
- Wireless or wifi internet connections out in the field on the job site, to administer quality checks and communicate with project teams in real-time, without lag times back in the trailer office.
In summary, management has the power to equip field teams with the facilities, technologies and productivity-related resources to minimize or eliminate errors, nonconformances and deficiencies in the quality of work. Conversely, a lack proper technologies and resources in the hands of the field teams lead to nonconformant quality of work.
More to come next week, when I answer and discuss question five. Appreciate all of you who are reading and following along each week as we continue to analyze some of the key principles and potential misnomers of quality management in the construction industry.
By Adam Omansky A.M.ASCE, on July 15th, 2010
Formal quality management certification is not a prerequisite to run a quality management program.
The next true-or-false statement from Philip B. Crosby's Quality Is Free is “Anyone can run a ZD program.” As I mentioned in my last post, if you have already answered true or false to the ten statements, to test your understanding of the concept of Zero Defects, please read ahead and continue. If you haven't already answered, please take the time to go back and read them to test your knowledge of the concept of Zero Defects, related to construction programs and Enterprise Quality Management in the construction industry.
Here is the answer to the third of ten statements: “Anyone can run a ZD program.”
ANSWER = TRUE
Crosby asserts that “…any thoughtful person can conduct a successful program…” with basic research coupled with an understanding of the industry, its people and processes, and the culture of the company, organization or institution. The salient points in the third of ten statements “Anyone can run a ZD program” are two-fold.
First, a Zero Defects program or Enterprise Quality Management program in the construction industry needs to be actively “run,” as with any other structured program or initiative. The progress of the program and the performance of its stakeholders, both internal and external to the company, needs to be managed and tracked on a routine basis, by establishing goals, measuring performance, setting benchmarks and improving continuously in a cycle – all with the objective of forming a steadfast corporate culture and encouraging team and partner behavior to put work in place the first time in accordance with the requirements, and with zero defects and zero nonconformances. Accessible from any desktop or laptop at any time and in real-time, web-based reports and analytics serve as a key means to “run” a Zero Defects program or Enterprise Quality Management program in the construction industry.
Second, anyone can run a Zero Defects program or Enterprise Quality Management program in the construction industry, with the operative term here being “anyone.” Anyone generally means a manager, director or executive with a reasonable understanding of quality, of the industry, its people and processes, and the culture of the company, organization or institution.
Industry programs, some costing thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, exist to educate and certify construction and other industry professionals in quality management. Some industry programs use advanced techniques with methodologies centered on sophisticated math, statistical analysis and the like. From Crosby’s perspective, such industry programs may be regarded as the gold-standard for quality management and may be very effective, but are by no means absolutely required to run a successful Zero Defects program.
Formal quality management certification is not a pre-requisite to run a quality management program. This is a critical point, and very well may be creating unnecessary barriers for companies who recognize that quality is negatively impacting profitability but who may be apprehensive to begin to implement a structured and measured quality management program.
--More to come next week, when I answer and discuss question four. Appreciate all of you who are reading and following along each week as we continue to analyze some of the key principles and potential misnomers of quality management in the construction industry.
 Case Study: Turner Construction Company Measuring and Managing Construction Quality with Field Software - a Turner Construction Case Study
By Adam Omansky A.M.ASCE, on July 6th, 2010
The next true-or-false statement from Philip B. Crosby's Quality Is Free is "Zero Defects needs management support." Like I mentioned in my last post, if you have already answered true or false to the ten statements, to test your understanding of the concept of Zero Defects, please read ahead and continue. If you haven't already answered, please take the time to go back and read them so you understand the concept of Zero Defects, related to construction programs and Enterprise Quality Management in the construction industry.
Here is the answer to the second of ten statements: “Zero Defects needs management support.”
ANSWER = FALSE
Active management participation. Crosby asserts that ZD needs active management participation, not only management support. To cite the adage, “actions speak louder than words.” What people do is more important than what people say. If the ZD effort is limited to field personnel at the project level, and never extends up to the management level, to the project managers, directors and executives back at the regional office or the home office, Crosby affirms that the ZD will collapse within a year’s time. Management cannot initially buy in to a Zero Defect program or an Enterprise Quality Management program, and then pass the responsibility off to the distributed and sometimes disconnected project teams – the program will not succeed and sustain itself over the long term without active management participation. Management holds the responsibility for actively leading and guiding the ZD program, on a routine basis, week to week, month to month, quarter to quarter.
Reports. Web-based construction analytic reports, with charts and graphs, now enable active management participation. Management gains real-time insight in to the success of the Zero Defect program and Enterprise Quality Management program. From the desktop, management now has the ability to access accurate information about project, trade contractor and subcontractor, and personnel performance, both across many projects and within any one project. Management may opt to login to the secure web-based application and dynamically explore information on-demand, or opt to receive emails on a scheduled basis with reports attached. Web-based analytic reports present corporate quality performance and quality risk profiles in dashboard style displays, easy-to-read and easy-to-understand at a glance. Web-based analytic reports serve as a powerful tool to enable active management participation, not only management support, for a construction Zero Defect program or an Enterprise Quality Management program.
For more information on Zero Defects or “ZD” – an Enterprise Quality Management program for construction, please read my blog entry each week.
By Adam Omansky A.M.ASCE, on June 29th, 2010
In my zero defects kick-off post, the ten true-or-false statements presented from Philip B. Crosby's Quality Is Free: The Art of Making Quality Certain: How to Manage Quality - So That It Becomes A Source of Profit for Your Business test your understanding of the concept of Zero Defects or “ZD.” As Crosby wittingly remarks, as is part and parcel with the concept of Zero Defects, any score with defects of less than perfect indicates the reader’s need to improve.
If you have already answered true or false to the ten statements, to test your understanding of the concept of Zero Defects, please read ahead and continue. If you haven't already answered, please take the time to go back and read them so you understand the concept of Zero Defects, related to construction programs and Enterprise Quality Management in the construction industry.
Here is the answer to the first of ten statements: “Zero Defects is a worker motivation concept.”
ANSWER = FALSE
Crosby asserts that ZD is not a worker motivation concept. ZD is a management standard.
ZD supplants the general adage of “do it right” or “do it right the first time,” which provides a wide leeway for each worker or laborer, for each superintendent, foreman, craftsman, journeyman, apprentice or other field person, to interpret the meaning of “do it right.” Without fail, the meaning of “do it right” will vary across a broad spectrum, in the mind of each worker or laborer.
The three classic pillars of project performance are cost, time and quality (…with health and safety as the fourth pillar). Standards for cost and time are grounded in exactitude and rooted in precision. At its core, standards for cost and time are inherently quantitative, and accordingly easy to establish objectives and to measure goals. Cost is measured in currency like dollars, and time is measured in months, days, hours, etc.
The construction industry needs to apply the same methodology to quality performance, as cost and time performance, leveraging quality standards and metrics which are able to be measured in a quantitative way – and not open for interpretation.
Standards for quality are generally both quantitative and qualitative, hence the name. The crux of the issue at hand is that quality standards lean to the qualitative side, presenting varying degrees of subjectivity. Quality is open for interpretation in the mind of each contractor, worker and laborer, in the mind of each architect, engineer and designer who authored the contract documents, drawings and specifications, and in the mind of the client or owner who is the final beneficiary of the construction work results, of the project itself at the time of substantial completion and handover.
Enter Zero Defects or “ZD” – an Enterprise Quality Management program for construction. ZD is a tool for contractors and construction managers to explain the quality performance standards in plain English, which cannot be open for interpretation. ZD communicates the new standard of quality performance to the project team and to the project partners, in a language that workers and laborers readily understand.
Why is it important to communicate the new standard of quality performance, Zero Defects – because management has not made its position on quality clear prior to Zero Defects.
For more information on Zero Defects or “ZD” – an Enterprise Quality Management program for construction, please read my blog entry each week.
1. “Zero Defects is a worker motivation concept.” is…
In the book Quality Is Free: The Art of Making Quality Certain: How to Manage Quality - So That It Becomes A Source of Profit for Your Business, Philip B. Crosby presents ten true-or-false statements, to test the reader’s understanding of the concept of Zero Defects or “ZD.” As Crosby wittingly remarks, as is part and parcel with the concept of Zero Defects, any score with defects or less than perfect indicates the reader’s need to improve.
The true-or-false ten statements are in my previous blog entry. If you have already answered true or false to the ten statements, to test your understanding of the concept of Zero Defects, please read ahead and continue. If you have not already answered, please take the time to go back and read the ten statements, to test your understanding of the concept of Zero Defects, related to construction programs and Enterprise Quality Management in the construction industry.
Here is the answer to the Statement 1:
Zero Defects Statement
1. “Zero Defects is a worker motivation concept.” is FALSE.
Crosby asserts that ZD is not a worker motivation concept. ZD is a management standard.
ZD supplants the general adage of “do it right” or “do it right the first time,” which provides a wide leeway for each worker or laborer, for each superintendent, foreman, craftsman, journeyman, apprentice or other field person, to interpret the meaning of “do it right.” Without fail, the meaning of “do it right” will vary across a broad spectrum, in the mind of each worker or laborer.
The three classic pillars of project performance are cost, time and quality (…with health and safety as the fourth pillar). Standards for cost and time are grounded in exactitude and rooted in precision. At its core, standards for cost and time are inherently quantitative, and accordingly easy to establish objectives and to measure goals. Cost is measured in currency like dollars, and time is measured in months, days, hours, etc.
The construction industry needs to apply the same methodology to quality performance, as cost and time performance, leveraging quality standards and metrics which are able to be measured in a quantitative way – and not open for interpretation.
Standards for quality are generally both quantitative and qualitative, hence the name. The crux of the issue at hand is that quality standards lean to the qualitative side, presenting varying degrees of subjectivity. Quality is open for interpretation in the mind of each contractor, worker and laborer, in the mind of each architect, engineer and designer who authored the contract documents, drawings and specifications, and in the mind of the client or owner who is the final beneficiary of the construction work results, of the project itself at the time of substantial completion and handover.
Enter Zero Defects or “ZD” – an Enterprise Quality Management program for construction. ZD is a tool for contractors and construction managers to explain the quality performance standards in plain English, which cannot be open for interpretation. ZD communicates the new standard of quality performance to the project team and to the project partners, in a language that workers and laborers readily understand.
Why is it important to communicate the new standard of quality performance, Zero Defects – because management has not made its position on quality clear prior to Zero Defects.
For more information on Zero Defects or “ZD” – an Enterprise Quality Management program for construction, please read my blog entry each week.
By Peter Billante, on June 25th, 2010
It’s been less than three weeks since, in a past article, I introduced the first construction application for the iPad. So much has changed already in that short time, such as:
- Over 3 million iPads have been sold, making it by far the most popular device of its kind
- Hundreds of people in the construction industry interested in improving the quality and delivery of their construction projects have already downloaded our construction iPad app
In response to this great demand and positive feedback we’re getting from our customers, we’ve started adding even more capabilities to our app called Vela Mobile: iPad. Here are just a few v1.1 highlights and comments we're hearing from users.
A construction vp from a customer company likes to say that “construction is the process of making lists,” and that the companies doing that the best are the most efficient in the industry. In response, we’ve added the ability to help capture, assign and manage any kind of jobsite issue from work-to-complete lists, punchlists, quality non-conformance, safety issues and more.
And when you’re using the app with Vela Field Manager, which gives whole teams insight into what areas need the most attention, all of your key project information such as the companies on the project and the list of areas (rooms, floors and other spaces) is just a tap away from linking and organizing your lists. All of which can be done anywhere on your jobsite with no internet connection. You can upload later when you’re back in the range of your wifi (or, if you have the 3G iPad, when you get an AT&T cellular phone signal).
We’ve heard how much people like typing on the iPad keyboard. But we know too that when you’re doing a few hundred wall close-in  inspections as part of your construction quality management program, speed is important and sometimes the same issues come up over and over. In response, we’ve built in the idea of reusable “issue templates” that you can tap with a finger to automatically create and assign issues with very detailed issue descriptions in a rapid-fire, tap-tap way.
We’re excited to have released the first iPad application for construction. Download it and let us know what you think!
By Adam Omansky A.M.ASCE, on June 24th, 2010
In the book Quality Is Free: The Art of Making Quality Certain: How to Manage Quality - So That It Becomes A Source of Profit for Your Business, Philip B. Crosby presents the following ten true-or-false statements, to test the reader’s understanding of the concept of Zero Defects or “ZD.” As Crosby wittingly remarks, as is part and parcel with the concept of Zero Defects, any score with defects or less than perfect indicates the reader’s need to improve.
Answer true or false to the following ten statements, to test your understanding of the concept of Zero Defects. Answers will follow in the coming weeks, plus a ten part series with specific commentary related to Zero Defects construction programs and Enterprise Quality Management in the construction industry.
| Zero Defects Statement |
True
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False
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| 1. Zero Defects is a worker motivation concept. |
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| 2. Zero Defects needs management support. |
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| 3. Anyone can run a Zero Defects program. |
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| 4. Errors are caused by one of three things: lack of knowledge, lack of attention, or lack of facilities. |
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| 5. A Zero Defects program is a management communications tool. |
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| 6. Zero Defects programs sometimes fail. |
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| 7. Zero Defects is for manufacturing companies only. |
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| 8. A successful Zero Defects program must be conducted under the name Zero Defects. |
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| 9. Careful preparation is necessary before launching a Zero Defects program. |
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| 10. Award programs should give the workers cash if possible. |
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By Adam Omansky A.M.ASCE, on June 22nd, 2010
Point-of-construction data feeds quality management metrics.
In The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy Into Action, authors Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton assert that measuring business strategy needs to be an integrated balance of both financial and non-financial measures. Generally, it is the finanicial measures that are the well-established and well-adopted metrics, relatively easy to generate and easy to understand, such as gross revenue, gross profit and operating income, for example.
In the construction industry, it is the non-financial measures that are less readily available or not available at all, regrettably. Nonetheless, the non-financial measures are critical to the success of construction management operations, the core business of general contractors and construction managers. The key challenges with Enterprise Field Management are two-fold:
- Establishing the non-financial metrics to successfully define and measure business strategy;
- And, using the non-financial metrics to drive behaviors, advance performance and cause outcomes, with the goal of optimizing profitability and promoting growth.
Non-financial measures are at the crux of Enterprise Quality Management.
Today, non-financial measures are not at the forefront primarily because the data points and related information, which form the basis for the measures, such as quality coverage, conformance of work put in place the first time and turnaround time to correct deficiencies, is either locked up in paper documents or in digital files, archived away at substantial completion. Documents and files cannot be aggregated for reporting purposes during and after the projects. Or, the data points and related information, which form the basis for the measures, are not documented and captured at all in the field.
If the data points are not captured, managed, tracked and tasked at the point-of-construction in the field or on the job site, accordingly the information cannot be rolled up for reporting purposes, first at the project level and then across projects at the enterprise level. Upstream, dashboard-style reports on non-financial metrics of quality management, with trends and analytics for managers, directors and executives, depend on the thousands or millions of data points downstream at the point-of-construction, day by day, hour by hour.
Point-of-construction data feeds quality management metrics.
Grouped in to like categories or “perspectives,” as referred to by Kaplan and Norton, the measures of both financial performance and non-financial performance, such as quality management, collectively form the Kaplan and Norton’s “scorecard.” The scorecard serves to narrate the story and paint the picture of the strategy of each business unit and to the enterprise itself. Linked by a series of cause-and-effect relationships, outcome and performance driver measures form the structure of the narrative, by chapter and verse. Outcome measures are lagging indicators and performance driver measures are leading indicators.
According to Kaplan and Norton, outcome measures signal the effects of short-term actions. Performance driver measures signal how each business unit and the enterprise itself needs to act, today and in the present time, in order to create value in the future. A scorecard of connected or linked outcome measures and performance driver measures promote short-term actions which serve long-term improvement programs across the enterprise.
Three key points in summary:
- Non-financial measures of quality management are critical to construction management;
- Quality management metrics depend on aggregated point-of-construction data;
- And, quality management metrics balance outcome measures and performance driver measures.
Case Study: Turner Construction Company Measuring and Managing Construction Quality with Field Software - a Turner Construction Case Study
By Adam Omansky A.M.ASCE, on June 14th, 2010
In the seminal book The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy Into Action, authors Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton highlight the following seven metrics for service quality measurement in service organizations, to indicate defects in internal processes that may cause customer dissatisfaction, undermine customer retention and promote customer attrition over to competitors:
- Long wait times
- Inaccurate information
- Access denied or delayed
- Request or transaction not fulfilled
- Financial loss for customer
- Customer not treated as valued
- Ineffective communication
Alternatively, sophisticated, private (and non-government) clients or customers, such as owners and operators, most probably care about the value of construction services. Service quality very well may be a key competitive differentiator for you and your organization – if it is not on a lump sum, “lowest bid wins” basis, such as for federal, state and local government work, for example. Service quality may be an area for you and your organization to create value, enhance performance and increase profits. In the spirit of generally accepted best practices and standard processes around enterprise quality management, such as Six Sigma and others originating from the Deming Cycle of Plan-Do-Check-Act, service quality may also be an area for you and your organization to continuously improve, region by region, project by project, phase by phase, and person by person.
Accordingly, service quality permeates throughout all levels or tiers of an organization, starting at the home office or head office, with executives, vice presidents and directors. Service quality extends down to the regional offices, and then on to the geographically-distributed field offices and job trailers, with project managers, superintendents, field engineers and foremen, who hold the first-hand responsibility for delivering the work to the customer, in the field and at the point of construction.
At its core, service quality is in the field and at the point of construction, during the construction phase of the project, where services are delivered, work is put in place, and payment is released. Expectations are set between owner and contractor during qualification, on to bid award and then all the way through to pre-construction. However, it is during the construction phase of the project where expectations translate in to actions, where design and specifications translate in to physical work put in place, where lines and notes on drawings translate in to steel and concrete – where service quality comes to fruition, in the field and at the point of construction.
Taking only the first metric listed above - long wait times - how may the following relate to the construction phase of the project, in the field and at the point of construction?
- Are turnaround times valued by your company and your stakeholders?
- Are turnaround times measured within your company, e.g. to close out open work to complete?
- Are turnaround times measured between your company and other project stakeholders?
- How are wait times, turnaround times, lag times and cycle times measured?
- Are all transactions date and time stamped and author stamped?
- Are all transactions recorded and extracted over time for reporting purposes?
- Are deadlines set for turnaround times?
- Are overdue or past due items “red-flagged” for management?
- Are goals and objectives set for turnaround times?
- Are turnaround times compared both within a project and across projects?
- Are trade contractors and subcontractors scored and rewarded for optimal turnaround times?
- Are trade contractors and subcontractors short-listed and selected for turnaround times?
If delivering construction and capital projects is viewed as a service for a customer or client, such as an owner, whether private institution or publicly-traded corporation, operator or developer, for example, how may all of the seven metrics for service quality measurement apply to the construction industry?
Here are seven follow-on questions to begin to incite critical thinking and productive debate about the application of service quality measurement in construction and its value to construction stakeholders:
- Is quality of service important to your clients and customers? If yes, why?
- Is quality of service a key competitive differentiator for your organization? If yes, why?
- Are you measuring quality of service within your organization? If yes, how? At what frequency?
- What metrics do you use to measure and gauge quality of service?
- How does service quality measurement vary across the different levels within your organization?
- How has service quality measurement created value and enhanced performance?
- How does your organization intend to continuously improve on quality of service in the future?
Case Study: Turner Construction Company Measuring and Managing Construction Quality with Field Software - a Turner Construction Case Study
By Peter Billante, on June 7th, 2010
Vela Mobile: iPad is here!
Its official! The first construction application optimized for the iPad is now available on the App Store and ready for download. It's designed for use on the jobsite of virtually any kind of construction project. Read more about the capabilities and download it to your iPad now. Check it out.
 Vela Mobile: iPad enables checklists for QA/QC, safety and commissioning.
Vela Mobile for iPad
Its official! The Vela Mobile for iPad application is now available on the App Store. It is the first iPad app designed for use on the job site of virtually any kind of construction project. Read more about the capabilities here and download it to your iPad now.
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