Building Contractor Case Study

Name: WD Meyers.

Sector: Construction

Project Description

The company is proud of its achievements and wants to give more structure to the business and demonstrate to customers and staff that it has efficient systems. This will attract new customers. The Directors are keen to make operations run more efficiently to ensure that new employees are equipped with the skills to do their job properly and to allow them to take more responsibility for achieving the company’s objectives.

1. To produce a business plan with measurable performance objectives.
2. Involve people in project planning.
3. Define team roles and responsibilities.
4. Make projects more profitable.

Consultants Online helped senior managers develop an action plan to ensured everyone had a contribution to project planning and understood the relationship between cost, time and quality.
 

A 12- month plan was agreed which included:

• A diagnostic to review the business strategy and people management strategy 
• A development plan to define the key business priorities, areas for improvement and timescales
• A leaning plan, including grant funding to develop leadership and management skills and project management skills.
• A review of the training needs for middle managers and staff.
• Developing a culture of continuous improvement.  
  

Project Results: 

• Managing Director much more confident about the future
• Projects are properly costed and more profitable.
• Succession Planning established to develop internal people.
• Performance measures agreed
• Site Manager role more effective
• Managers know how to plan, organise and give feedback

Project Skills:

• Establishing trust and engaging with the client in some sensitive areas.
• Coaching the Managing Director in Leadership and Management skills.
• Looking at different ways to introduce systems and procedures into the business in a practical way.

Tools and Techniques Used - One-page Business Plan

The organisation’s vision and values can seem like abstract concepts unless explained and translated into practical examples of behaviour, particularly the actions of leaders and managers. The M.D. was encouraged to spend time in "tool box" meetings and workshops getting people to think of how they plan projects better and be aware of waste and cost.

It is useful to involve your people in the process of setting Objectives.  Involvement assists with your peoples’ understanding and their commitment levels.

It's important to use the right language and presentation.  Colour and graphics can create a far more powerful message than words alone.  Formulate them creatively for sharing.
• Check that everyone understands the Objectives and what they mean to them. 
• Print up and display everywhere and in as many ways as you can.
• Get opinions on what needs to be done to ensure the Objectives are met. It is useful to develop an action plan for each one that clearly identifies what needs to be done, who will do it and by when.

Managers were encouraged to write down in detail what they wanted to achieve. The next step was to break down the big overarching objectives into lots of smaller ones.  We made the objectives specific not vague, realistic but challenging, focused on measurable quantitative or qualitative results.

We looked at the traits of inspirational leaders:

• They genuinely care: they approach their work and their colleagues
  with openness and honesty and both inspire and invest trust
• They involve everybody: through offering people both the support they need to be effective, and the freedom to put it into practice
• They listen a lot: to peers, subordinates and customers
• They show lots of appreciation: including small gestures
• They ensure work is fun: through celebrating achievement and rewarding effort and commitment.