Let's Rock! Successful Project Delivery depends on 6 key things

As I’ve traveled around Graniterock in recent months, it’s been exciting to see folks settling into the “new boots” of our Market-Facing Structure.

There have been challenges, of course, as we do not control all the variables of our business. We do, though, manage how we respond to those challenges and how we support one another.

In that response it is clear we are growing more cohesive as a Vertically Integrated business. And amidst the changes, you all have delivered solid financial results through the first half of the year. Well done!

Today I want to talk to you about Project Delivery.

As professionals in the horizonal construction business, you might think delivering projects is just the routine work we do, that projects are the jobsites we work on or deliver material to every day, and that project delivery is a piece of cake.

I want to challenge that thinking.

First off, it’s important to understand I mean something very specific by “Project.” The term applies to far more than just a jobsite.

I also mean something very specific by "Project Delivery.” This is a concept and a discipline that’s absolutely essential to our success together – across every single Group, division, team, and team member at Graniterock.

What is a Project? I think about this term broadly. We take on Projects in every corner of our business, on a very regular basis, whether it’s a specific maintenance effort at a plant, the Quality team’s work to enhance our collection of mix designs, or the rollout of a new IT platform. Add to those examples, of course, the specific work we do to deliver Quality and drive Efficiency for our customers.

Whenever we embark on a Project, it’s vital that we’re clear about our work and it’s vital that we deliver.

In order to achieve operational excellence, we must commit to the discipline of Project Delivery. Delivering on Projects – defined broadly – at times has been a challenge for Graniterock.

We must strive for consistent, effective Project Delivery.

Here is a set of principles that will help us.

Project definition. A Project is a defined scope of work that:

• addresses a specific critical issue, customer or business need, opportunity, or risk;
• operates with finite resources and within a specific period of time; and
• requires planning and execution to deliver.

Every Project must have a leader. For clarity of decision-making, every Project must have ONE leader. Team members need to know who has final authority and responsibility to clarify roles and tasks. This is right in line with our Working Together training.

The old adage is true: “when everyone is in charge, no one is in charge.” When a single leader isn’t clearly identified, folks make assumptions about who is taking care of what, miscommunications happen, and critical Project tasks and responsibilities fall through the cracks.

We have to resist the urge to share accountability and have the grace to accept leadership and membership roles in every project. Leadership can change as the Project scope changes, but there must always be a clear Project leader at any point in time.

Every Project must have a clear scope. Those of us in the contracting business know this better than most: everything we do on a Project must tie back to the scope. It’s what guides the execution of our tasks and provides definition for our work. All Projects, but especially organizational Projects, can suffer from scope creep. We must fight this. A Project scope can change – but any change in scope must be a specific, intentional act, clearly defined and clearly communicated by the Project leader.

Every Project must have a starting point and a definitive end point – the Project being delivered. Projects have a beginning and an end. We need to be able to define Project work in time. And that work ends with the scope achieved and the Project delivered. Some work may seem continuous, but often it can be broken into manageable, definable pieces that can be executed as a series of Projects. 

We must be aiming our Project work at a defined delivery date. That’s what allows work to be effectively sequenced and scheduled. Of course, unanticipated events occur on a Project and sometimes a delivery date must change. But when that happens, we should be clear about it, and the Project leader should explicitly schedule and communicate a new delivery date that the whole team aims at.

Each Project team member must understand his or her role, with clearly assigned tasks. This is perhaps the most vital aspect of our Working Together training. A Project leader is accountable to provide a clear role for each Project team member and is accountable to assign clear tasks. Team members who lack clarity about a task or their role are accountable to seek additional information from the Project leader. This clarity is essential for us to execute our Project work and deliver our Projects on time and on budget.

The Project leader must verify that the defined Project scope has been achieved. It’s the accountability of the Project leader to ensure the Project has been delivered. We know we've been successful in Project Delivery when, on or before the Project delivery date and within the Project budget, the defined Project scope has been achieved.

Every Project must be reviewed. This is a key part of our Working Together approach. At the end of every project, we have to look back. We have to understand how and why the project went well, or how and why the project struggled. In every project, I bet we’ll have examples of both.

No matter how busy we are, it’s crucial that we take this moment to learn, and then build what we learn into our next project. We have to be relentless about learning, improving and making Graniterock better. This project review is an opportunity we cannot pass up. 

I’ll be talking more about these Project Delivery principles in an upcoming video, and over the months to come. As always, if you have questions, please call or stop by my desk any time. I’d love to talk with you about this.

In the meantime, let’s continue to Rock!