Operations

Design and Production: Can we really get along? with Morgan Thomas and Candice Rania [Tim Faller Show] S4 E7

November 14, 2022 Operations, Production, The Tim Faller Show 00:45:36

On this episode of The Tim Faller Show, Candice Rania and Morgan Thomas join the show to answer the question: Can design and production get along? While the production and design teams have the same overall goal of completing a project that will delight their clients, they do it differently. Morgan and Candice talk about their struggles with time constraints, delays, and change orders and how they developed new processes that involve team reviews with proposed estimates to ensure each department has the proper budgets and limit unexpected client costs.

Morgan Thomas started at Leff Design Build in Sonoma County, California 5 years ago as a project manager and was then promoted to her current role as the production department manager. She is excited and proud of her team’s input to the project’s budget, which she thinks has created an improved sense of ownership among her coworkers.  Candice Rania is the pre-production manager at Leff design-build and works closely with Morgan.  

Tim, Steve, Morgan, and Candice talk more about

  • Integrating production and design and how that creates a better customer experience
  • Evaluating current methods and creating new processes can lead to better businesses
  • And more…

Co-Building Long Distance Jobs with Jordan Smith [The Tim Faller Show] S4 E6

October 31, 2022 Management, Operations, Production, The Tim Faller Show 00:36:04

Jordan Smith joined the show to discuss partnering with another remodeling company to complete a job two hours outside his service area.  He discusses the benefits, risks, and challenges associated with the job type and the steps he took to mitigate problems.

Jordan and his wife Veronica started the Smith House Company four years ago to create beautiful and functional spaces that harmonize with their natural surroundings.  

Join Jordan, Tim, and Steve as they discuss:

  1. How to handle projects that are outside of the current service area
  2. The risks and benefits of partnering with another remodeling company to complete a job
  3. How to handle the relationships between the design company, build company, and customer

Click here to listen…

The Tricks of a Lead Carpenter with Doug Horgan- Season 4 Episode 5

October 24, 2022 Operations, Production, The Tim Faller Show 00:44:29

Tim and Steve welcome Doug Horgan to the show to discuss the role of a lead carpenter. Doug talks about his responsibilities, including research, being an internal “help desk,” managing people internally and externally.  He also manages scheduling and explains the meaning behind the saying “make ready planning” and why it’s essential for a lead carpenter.

Doug Horgan is Vice President–Best Practices at BOWA, the Washington DC area’s premier custom and remodeling builder. In this training, quality, and troubleshooting role, Doug’s goal is reducing construction defects through sharing knowledge. Doug’s thirty years of tools-on carpentry, warranty troubleshooting, and instruction experience, are the foundations for visually rich presentations on how to build properly and avoid construction problems.

Tim, Steve, and Doug talk more about

  • Having an organized job site
  • Client relations and communication
  • Advice for a lead carpenter
  • And more…

Emotional Intelligence as a Management Tool – Season 4 Episode 4

October 17, 2022 Operations, The Tim Faller Show 00:41:02

Jesse DeBenedictis joins the Tim Faller show to talk about emotional intelligence. Jesse tells us his definition of emotional intelligence and how he, as a leader, uses it to better his business. He discusses how being self-aware is the most critical piece of emotional intelligence. He also talks about how having good emotional intelligence can help your clients.

Jesse DeBenedictis is the proud owner of Works by Jesse DeBenedictis located in Beverly Massachusetts. He is focused on building long-term relationships with clients and vendors, some of whom he has worked with since the company was founded in 2001. Jesse continues to drive the company to deliver a better higher quality service to their customers.

Tim, Steve, and Jesse talk more about:

  • How to use emotional intelligence as a business owner
  • Self-regulation
  • Motivation
  • And more…..

Concierge Service With Aimee Cianfarani – [The Tim Faller Show] S4 E3

October 10, 2022 Management, Marketing, Operations, The Tim Faller Show 00:33:47

Today on The Tim Faller Show, Aimee Cianfarani discusses how her company has made concierge services (a/k/a handyperson services) a successful part of the overall business.  In this high-failure segment of the industry, Aimee and her team have overcome significant odds to find great success by applying a strategic approach and using marketing as a key part of the process.  Aimee said hiring the right person for this role is also critical.  

Aimee is the Concierge Services Coordinator at Teakwood Builders in Saratoga Springs, NY.  Aimee has helped grow Concierge Services from a one-person operation into significant operations with jobs booked into 2023.

Listen to this episode where Aimee, Tim, and Steve talk about:

  • How to use this to service upsell customers to more significant projects or as a follow-up to other projects to keep them happy
  • Determining the right customers and employee talent for this service
  • And more…

Time Management for Project Managers – [The Tim Faller Show] S4 E2

October 3, 2022 Operations, Production, The Tim Faller Show 00:32:29

Today on the Tim Faller Show, we welcome guest John Vendafreddo to discuss time management. John talks about how to organize jobs based on importance or urgency, and how planning can help with time management. John also discusses how to handle in-office meetings while working on job sites. John finished the show by giving some advice to new project managers.

John has been interested in building since he received his first Fisher-Price toolset. Upon graduating high school there was no question about what field John would enter. John joined the Hogan Design Build team as a laborer but his drive and eye for perfection helped develop him into the company’s head trim carpenter. As Hogan Design Build grew, John’s attention to detail led to him being promoted to Project Manager and now, Senior Project Manager. John is married and has three sons. He lives in a house that he built from the ground up in Batavia.

Tim, Steve, and John talk about:

  • How to prioritize your time
  • How much time to spend with clients
  • On the job site time management
  • And more…

The Partnership Between Owner and Production Manager With Clark Harris and Eric Bain – [The Tim Faller Show] S4 E1

September 26, 2022 Operations, Production, The Tim Faller Show 00:28:22

Season 4 Starts With This Special Episode Recorded Live at The Remodelers Summit!

Listen to this episode and get tips on creating an effective and highly functional relationship between company ownership and the production team.  Clark Harris and Eric Bain of Innovative Construction discuss how they have built an open, trusting, and team-based relationship that allows them to work effectively together while creating a culture for innovation, growth, and change.  

Innovative Construction is a high-end design firm in Atlanta, GA, with the goal of improving lives through design, craftsmanship, and teamwork.  Clark and Eric run their organization with a philosophy of “do it badly and improve.”  They do this with a relationship of openness and trust.

Join Clark, Eric, Tim, and Steve as they discuss:

  • Radical Candor
  • Failure as a growth opportunity
  • Overcoming challenges and fears
  • And more…

The Impact Your Production Team Has on Marketing with Spencer Powell – [Best of The Tim Faller Show]

September 12, 2022 Management, Marketing, Operations, Production, The Tim Faller Show 00:39:17

Raise your hand if you are a salesperson… Maybe a few business owners raised their hands, but most likely, our production people and our Project managers, Lead carpenters, and Production managers all kept their hands down. Not so fast!

In this episode, we step out of our comfort zone a little and talk about your production teams’ impact on sales and marketing. For this discussion, we bring in an expert in the marketing world who has worked with hundreds of remodelers and home builders all over the country, Spencer Powell.

Spencer is the President of Builder Funnel, a Colorado-based firm that provides sales and marketing services for homebuilders, remodelers & contractors. Spencer earned his Inbound Marketing, HubSpot, and HubSpot Partner Certifications in 2010 and has been practicing and teaching inbound marketing to businesses ever since.

Tim, Steve, and Spencer talk more about:

  • The impact production has on the Client Experience
  • The Top 3 things that will create negatives in the clients’ mind
  • The Top 3 things that create a positive reaction with a client
  • How the production team can create vital content for the marketing effort
  • How owners and leaders can get buy-in from the team and show the impact they have on the business

Let’s Revisit Zero Punch List Production with Mike Volochuk – [Best of The Tim Faller Show]

August 30, 2022 Management, Operations, Production, The Tim Faller Show 00:38:00

On our third episode, in March of 2018, we talked with Mike Barkhouse from Amsted Design Build about achieving “Zero Punch List” production.

We heard from a few listeners about that episode, and the concept of Zero Punch List, so we wanted to revisit it. We are now evangelists pushing to see the term “Punch list” eliminated from the remodeler’s vocabulary.  In a zero punch list scenario, after a project, no items remain to be addressed or “punched” because the items will have been addressed during the project and not at the project’s end.

A punch list is so ingrained within the industry that it is tricky to conceive of not having one. Every blog article about working with a contractor says something about that punch list. Usually, “Don’t pay until it is done.”

Our guest for this episode is Mike Voloschuk, Production Manager at Hurst Design Build Remodel in Westlake, Ohio. Mike is a member of our Roundtables for Production Managers peer group, and when he mentioned how his firm had adopted the Zero Punch strategy, we invited him to join us and discuss it.

Mike has been with Hurst since 2008 and moved from Carpenter to Production Manager.

Tim, Steve, and Mike talk more about:

  • Background on Hurst Design Build Remodel (size of projects, type of work, etc.).
  • Why Hurst moved to Zero Punch List production.
  • How Hurst made the transition and how the team reacted and adapted to the change.
  • How Hurst is doing with the new production mindset and how the clients have responded.
  • And more…

Hindsight is 2020 with Tim Faller and Steve Wheeler- [Best of The Tim Faller Show]

July 25, 2022 Hiring, Management, Operations, Production, The Tim Faller Show 00:29:48

If you’ve ever wondered what you’d do differently when starting your remodeling business if you only knew then what you know now, you’re not alone. 

Tim and Steve do, too. 

In this episode, the guys talk about what they’ve learned in their time at Remodelers Advantage and from their podcast guests that they wish they knew when they were running their own businesses.

They each identified the five biggest takeaways that make remodeling businesses stronger, more profitable, and built for growth. Learn what they think is important and why, including:

  • The power of job descriptions
  • Being financially transparent
  • Protecting profit through data
  • Making business decisions based on numbers, not feelings
  • Learning to sell, not just take orders
  • Getting to a zero punch list
  • And more …