The Crew Preparation Huddle

The best way for crews to prepare for the day, know the plan, and succeed as a group is to take the time to huddle and plan as a crew.

Modeling after Paul Aker's book, "2 Second Lean," crews can spend time together in the morning to share best practices, make 2 second lean improvements, deliver training, 5S their work area, and learn about the 8 wastes in construction.

Here is a sample agenda:

All workers would have attended the site worker huddle, know the plan for the day, and begin preparing with the crew in their area. Crews would be provided materials, FOW boards, tools & equipment, and any needed drawings for installation. Foremen would lead meeting with just workers in their company.

Agenda: (15-25 Min.)

1. Positive Shout-out

2. Safety training topic

3. Share 2 Second Lean improvements from day before

4. Walk area of work and plan for safety

5. Fill out PTPs, orient, and sign

6. 5S work area while Foremen are filling out PTPs

1. Sort (Seiri)

 2. Set in order (Seiton)

 3. Shine/Sweep (Seiso)

 4. Standardize (Seiketsu)

 5. Sustain/Self-discipline (Shitsuke)

7. Setup work area for success by eliminating the 8 wastes, especially:

1. Excess Inventory

 2. Wasted Transport

3. Wasted Motion

8. Gather all tools and needed equipment to prevent treasure hunts.

9. Safe off work areas

A waste of time? Absolutely not. A prepared crew will do more work in 7.5 hours than an unprepared crew can do in 8.

Don't waste time in treasure hunts, bad communication, and unclear expectations. Set up a huddle system on your project that will scale communication and reduce waste and wasted efforts.