First off, most companies mix up 360 reviews and employee reviews. 360 reviews involve feedback from peers, superiors, and those the employee manages or that work with him or her at a lower level. This provides a well-rounded (360-degree) perspective. They need to by anonymous (as much as possible) and must provide honest feedback. This includes feedback on negatives, but in such cases they should be provided in a constructive manner and they need to provide some examples or depth to the...
Blogs
2 years 3 weeks ago
By: Jonathan Sweet
Missed our recent webinar with Rich Harshaw on “Micro-Marketing Strategies for Remodelers: How Narrowing Your Prospect List Can Increase Your Results”?
You can check out the archive here.
2 years 3 weeks ago
By: Denis Leonard
Theory of Constraints is based on the premise that the rate of achievement is limited by at least one constraining process. Only by increasing flow through the constraint can overall throughput be increased.
Assuming the goal of the organization has been established then the steps are:
- Identify the constraint (the resource or policy that prevents the organization from obtaining more of the goal)
- Decide how to exploit the constraint (get the most capacity out of...
2 years 4 weeks ago
By: David Barista
New-home sales guru and Professional Builder columnist Bob Schultz is conducting a free sales and marketing webinar tomorrow at 2 pm EDT, titled “Bootstrap Sales and Marketing for Builders.”
Schultz says that even in this slow market thousands of buyers are out there looking for new homes every day. It's important to build a sales presentation that tells your story and puts your homes in the best possible light.
- WHEN: Wednesday, April 27, 2011...
2 years 4 weeks ago
By: Denis Leonard
The use of Evenflow for construction scheduling can revolutionize a builders business. Perhaps one of the biggest problems is that builders assume it can only be used if your building 300 homes per year minimum. That’s wrong. Its about using a disciplined scheduling system. The two links below discuss evenflow in detail for large, medium and small builders.
...
2 years 4 weeks ago
By: Jonathan Sweet
I recently talked to remodeler David Merrick, president of Merrick Design & Build, outside of Washington, D.C.
He says the market is strong, and is keeping them much busier than many of his cohorts in other parts of the country. Even there, though, project sizes are smaller and competition is heating up.
Take a look at what David had to say by clicking here.
2 years 4 weeks ago
By: Patrick O’Toole
Several of us at Professional Builder are traveling the country this spring, speaking at The Pro Expos presented by Pella. The events are being held in 30 cities. For us, it is an invaluable opportunity to connect with builders, architects, and developers and to hear their strategies and tactics for managing through the downturn.
One of the presentations we offer in every market is: “Bootstrap Sales and Marketing for Builders,” written by our sales columnist Bob...
2 years 4 weeks ago
By: Denis Leonard
There two key things needed to really help start on the quality journey or to become refreshed on your journey.
- A detailed example of how a home builder has successfully implemented quality management and sustained it for years.
- Specific metrics showing the impact of quality for home builders
These provide the means of proving the impact of quality and giving guidance and support in driving forward.
Here is a link to a detailed case study of...
2 years 5 weeks ago
By: David Barista
The April 2011 issue of Professional Builder features our latest report on the adoption of building information modeling (BIM) and 3D design tools in the home-building market.
Beazer Homes, Oakwood Homes, and Winchester Homes are among the builders that have made the switch to BIM technology and never looked back.
These firms are benefiting from BIM in a number of...
2 years 5 weeks ago
By: Denis Leonard
Five major national energy home building programs, Energy Star, LEED for Homes, Environments for Living, Building Americas Builders Challenge and the National Green Building Standard all have as a core element of their programs the use of the Blower Door Test (ASTM Standard E1827). Due to this the simple blower door test has had a national impact in the building of millions of energy efficient homes. For example by just focusing on the Energy Star program, its impact has meant that...
