Masonry Magazine October 2006 Page. 49
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Faster Project Completion
One thing that should be said is that a majority of masonry walls are made from materials that are in stock and ready for immediate delivery. Design-build, primarily because it allows for the right sharing of knowledge, uses this timing to the advantage of the schedule. No long lead times (for off-site activities) equals early starts, equals faster project completion.
Moderate Building Size
Especially for buildings of a certain size, design-build offers the potential to optimize the masonry construction process to arrive at a time-competitive schedule. Smaller to medium size buildings-single-story "big-box" buildings and structures up to four or five stories tall-are quickly erected with masonry. And the marriage of material with application is a good one. Many of the best attributes of masonry, like fire resistance, thermal mass and acoustic privacy, are captured for these types of buildings, such as hotels, theaters, commercial retailers and multi-family housing, such as apartments or dorms.
More Control, Better Results
According to Jim Rende, AIA, of Alternative Energy Design Inc., he has achieved better results when going the design-build route. His associate, Cooper Kessel, AIA, is an architect and licensed contractor in charge of the construction company and oversees the corporation that encompasses both entities. Rende said that architects will have more control over building design when things run smoothly. Getting the architectural and construction components working closely together on all phases of a project allows smooth operations. Ultimately, this leads to good design, and the subcontractors seem to take more pride in their work when they are producing a well-designed project.
People Need to be Challenged
MASONRY NEWS CONTRACTOR TIP
Are you challenging your people every day? Without designing the proper systems that measure and challenge your people to achieve greatness, your employees are probably just doing what they need to do to get by. On the other hand, if you set up systems to challenge your people, I can assure you that the result will be much higher performance from everyone in your operation.
Here's a lesson my three little girls taught me while they were learning to walk-it shows what challenging our people can do. With our oldest daughter Kaylee, I was determined to teach her to walk at 10 months old. I had heard of other kids learning this early so I constantly encouraged her to walk. After her first birthday, it concerned me that something may be wrong with her balance. Finally, at 14 months, she could actually walk on her own.
Then, our second daughter, Amy, was born 16 months after Kaylee. Amy had Kaylee around her playing, walking and challenging her to do the same. It surprised us that at 11 months Amy was walking on her own.
Our third girl Rachel was born 17 months after Amy. Rachel now had the biggest challenge of all; she had both Kaylee and Amy around her playing walking and challenging her to do the same thing. At six months, she could stand up on her own by pulling herself up next to the edge of the couch; at nine months, she was walking on her own.
The competition my girls provide for each other has certainly made each one of them stronger in other areas as well.
So how do you challenge people in the masonry business? Start with goals for each of them, or what I like to call "expected outcomes." Then, measure their progress toward reaching those goals.
In the field, measuring can be done by counting and paying a percentage of each block or brick laid, or square foot of stone or concrete installed. All employees are not, and will never be, "equal producers." Therefore, each person's pay must be based on the amount that person produces individually, as well as for the team. The highest performers should earn the most and the lowest performers should earn the least. This creates the "challenge" among employees.
Everyone in the company should be challenged and paid based on how well they handle their area of responsibility. This keeps everyone focused on the most important aspects of running your business. Office employees can be paid based on the monthly profit and loss statement, or total sales collected if your company doesn't do a monthly profit and loss.
Once all of your people are challenged by being paid based on results, they will all begin pulling in the same direction with you. Then, your job will become much easier.
Or, take the lesson from my youngest daughter Rachel when she said. "Daddy, why did Kaylee and Amy get rabbits when I didn't?" And I tell her, "It's because they gave up their binkies and you haven't yet." At four, she probably won't be long standing up to the challenge of giving up her binky if she wants her own rabbit. Simply, set the goal and watch them grow to meet the challenge.
Damian Lang is the author of the book "Rewarding and Challenging Employees for Profits in Masonry." To order a copy of his book or to attend one of his seminars held specifically for mason contractors, call Kermi Huck at Lang Masonry at (800) 417-9272.