Project Manage Much? Make Your Schedule Visible (Video)

Have you ever wanted to peer behind the curtain to observe how other organizations are addressing some of the shared challenges that all businesses face? For better or for worse, our video on Creating a Visible Production Schedule walk you through our process for making our team's work flow visible. Simply put, these are our project management tips and resources from managers for managers to help managers manage. 

Key objectives for our team as we worked through the production system optimization process:

1. Our system must be simple – we need tools that incorporate resources that we are already using. Many programs that we reviewed required a full time commitment to entering, managing and updating data which was problematic as the point of the system was to improve production processes not slow them down.
2. Our system must be visible – we needed a means to keep our existing work in visible categories for response as well as prepare for new upcoming projects or critical transitions in progress. We incorporated an open office or shared space concept, which we wrote more extensively on in Restoration & Remediation magazine (HERE), so it made sense to have our work load accessible for discussions throughout the work day.

Our organization was willing to spend money on the right program, but as noted above, we found that many of the most extensive programs were also too labor intensive for our needs. More than return on investment, we were concerned with practicality of the process, clarity of the communication portals and engagement within the team to help propel our mission forward. If you have worked with the insurance process than you know there is no shortage of paperwork for all parties involved, adding another lengthy data heavy process was going to be counter-productive.

What are the benefits of scheduling? Communication is our organization showing our customers that we value them. Clarity and consistency is our organization showing our employees that we value them. Scheduling creates 1) transparency, 2) a baseline for clarity and 3) consistency (read more HERE).

Communication within the organization is essential to setting up service teams for success when they are on the front lines of taking care of customers. Without clear and consistent communication an organization will at best struggle to reach its potential, a common ailment for many businesses of all sizes, and at worst will fold up altogether. Let the desire to improve the process push your leadership team to make communication a priority, or if you are tired of all the negative customer calls and high turnover, perhaps it’s time that management takes some responsibility (see our article published at R&R on The Five Layers of Communication). 

Video credit @thelegitabbie / Youtube

Jon Isaacson is a friend to facilities and risk professionals, partnering to enhance education, networking and assisting with recovery when the worst of it all hits the fan. While in college, the young Jon responded to an ad in the local paper for carpet cleaning and discovered the world of property restoration.  Continuing the pattern of mentorship taught to him, Jon has built his business acumen growing organizational strength through professional relationships, employee development and process improvement. In addition to working full time, raising a family and volunteering, Jon writes, speaks and serves as director of local facilities networking group LFMC. 
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