Denis Leonard has a degree in construction engineering an M.B.A. and a Ph.D. in quality management. Denis is a Fellow of the American Society for Quality, a Certified Quality Manager, Auditor and Six Sigma Black Belt. He has been an Examiner for the Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Examiners a Judge on the International Team Excellence Competition and a Lead Judge on the National Housing Quality Award. A former Professor of Quality at the University of Wisconsin, he has experience as a quality manager in the homebuilding industry as well as construction engineer, site manager and in training, auditing and consulting with expertise in strategic and operational quality improvement initiatives. His work has achieved national quality, environmental and safety management awards for clients.
Denis is co-author of 'The Executive Guide to Understanding and Implementing the Baldrige Criteria: Improve Revenue and Create Organizational Excellence'.
Disorganized and untidy job sites are covered with destroyed or damaged materials, reflect chaos between trades, reduce productivity and send the message to those homeowners beside and near your homes under construction just how their homes were built, not to mention are safety violation and injuries just waiting to happen. From another...
We spend a lot of time and effort training our teams and developing them in our culture and so the retention and ongoing development of our talent is critical. But to retain and continue to develop our teams does not just mean spending more money, which in this economy we don’t have. Treating people with respect and listening to them has a huge...
The construction industry dramatically impacts the environment, with buildings consuming 17 percent of the world’s fresh water, 25 percent of its wood harvest, and 40 percent of its material and energy flows.
For years, the construction industry has practiced social responsibility by focusing on sustainable buildings in the commercial and...
It might not be exciting, it might be work, but a key to a successful builder and home is a strong set of Scopes of Work. Scopes ensure clear communication of what is needed by each trade. In the best cases Scopes use diagrams, photos, links to websites, and clear step by step instructions on what material to use, the stages of construction and...
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...
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,...
There are 4 key areas that make up the Quality Management Environment.
Core Values
Corporate Strategy
Quality Performance Excellence Models
Tools & Techniques
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...
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,...
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...
One of the key difficulties any builder has in managing quality is deciding which quality tools to use at which point in time and more broadly how to manage an improvement team and project.
A key tool to help coordinate an improvement team/project is the Six Sigma DMAIC or Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control cycle. By following each of...
The American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) announced the release of an interim procedural guide that will provide a documented, optional process to extend...
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