I am not a car nor am I a piece of meat, so please don’t service or process me, I am a customer! But those terms and attitudes still exist.
I recently walked into a business and was greeted with, ‘name?’ To which I replied, ‘yes, it is a lovely day!’ Well that wouldn’t happen with your company I hear you say. Ok.
Think of this situation. You have heard great things about the builder from friends and contacts, you felt comfortable with them when you visited the model home, you...
Twenty years ago, there was a project in Denver where the foundations began moving, to the point that several new homes had to be taken completely down. In the milder cases, the builder had to sink caissons next to the foundation as deep as 40 feet to stabilize them. The problem was expansive soils.
The local team for the national builder had decided that their previous soils testing outfit was too expensive so they went with a new, untested firm, who in retrospect was clearly "...
Plans, plans, plans, it’s sometimes difficult to know what they should include and what they shouldn’t. After spending the last two years with Scott Sedam and TrueNorth working with builders, suppliers, and trades all over the country we have developed a number of plan dos and don’ts regardless of geography, here are just a few:
Have:
1. Rough Plumbing Dimensions – Dimension drains both horizontally and vertically on your foundation plans. The dimensions...
How well are your values, policies and strategic drivers deployed within your organization?
To consider this let use quality management as an example. So you have buy in from your management team about implementing or continuing quality management. You have connected quality focused strategic goals to tools for achievement and assigned leaders, timelines and metrics. Everything is rolling out! But just how well is this deployed and just what level of understanding and buy in is there...
There are 4 key areas that make up the Quality Management Environment.
There is a core of values and culture, surrounded by the other 3 areas. The core is where the mission and values of an organization are formed. Therefore, related issues like a focus on green building would be developed.
The next area is corporate strategy. The...
If you are a home builder or residential designer/architect using mobile devices and other technology for business applications, we want to hear from you. Take Professional Builder's 18-question Technology survey and you'll be entered in a drawing to win one of three $50 Visa gift cards.
Thanks!
-David Barista, Editor-in-Chief, Professional Builder
As more organizations are being pushed to reduce costs while improving the quality of products so the management of change becomes more and more important.
Kotter proposes eight steps to leading organizational change and avoiding key mistakes.
Step one is establishing a sense of urgency by examining the market, competitors, and identifying potential problems and major opportunities.
...
Monday morning 6:30 a.m. Jeff the lead carpenter rolls out the latest set of prints for the new Thornberry model. He sighs as he scans the plans and elevations knowing it is going to be a long week piecing together his latest framing puzzle. He has worked for this builder for 3 years so he recognizes what he calls the Architects “greatest hits”, overly complex dormers, overhangs, and gingerbread details. He knows he will be framing this home at a loss in hopes that the next time he frames it...
As new technologies and methodologies help us to improve our sustainable and environmentally friendly buildings, we should not forget that how we manage the process of developing, designing. Constructing, maintaining, updating and ultimately decommissioning these buildings are equally important. Managing this process with strong environmental stewardship through the support of integrated management systems will ensure that we...
We're collecting information about how remodelers use technology for an upcoming issue of Professional Remodeler magazine.
As a special incentive, respondents to the survey will be entered in a drawing to win one of three American Express Visa gift cards.
You can fill out the survey here.
