Production

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…

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 …

Exploring the Decent Human Being Theory with Nick Slavik – [Best of The Tim Faller Show]

July 18, 2022 Hiring, Management, Production, The Tim Faller Show, Uncategorized 00:39:21

Many remodelers, builders and business owners make resolutions or commitments to create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and then they get caught up in the daily grind and it never happens. 

Another challenge for many companies we work with is attracting and hiring people, especially new people to the industry, and getting them trained to “do things our way.”

Our guest today, Nick Slavik, has done an outstanding job of developing SOPs for his company and then implementing training to meet those internally. It turns out he has some other views of the world that are extremely helpful in running a business, as well.

Nick is the Proprietor of the Nick Slavik Painting & Restoration Co., Host of Ask a Painter Live, and contributes to This Old House. He has been a national and international speaker on topics such as entrepreneurship, trades reformation, working with millennials, harnessing technology for trades business, financial benchmarks, and industry standards. Nick has been a craftsman for more than 25 years. His company has been awarded more than 5 National awards for craftsmanship over the last 3 years. He has created a rigorous apprenticeship program where he finds, trains, and mentors young people in his craft. In 2018, he was made a family member at This Old House.

Tim, Steve and Nick talk more about:

  • Background and description of the Decent Human Being Theory.
  • Creating & developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
  • Holding teams accountable and getting them to adhere to SOPs.
  • Balancing the demand for work, growing the business and training new personnel.
  • And more…

 

Special Guest Kevin O’Connor of “This Old House” [Best of the Tim Faller Show]

July 11, 2022 Operations, Production

Television is full of construction and remodeling shows, but we all know many of them leave false impressions of how fast and easy the process can be. But the pioneering program, This Old House, still shows viewers how complicated it can be.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the program, and they’re tackling a net-zero retrofit, a mid-century modern remodel, and spearheading outreach programs to get more workers into the trades.

In this episode, Kevin O’Connor, host of the Emmy Award-winning This Old House and Ask This Old House, talks with Tim and Steve about what you see on TV, and how it helps the construction industry as a whole.

Kevin has appeared on the two shows since 2003, and serves on the editorial board of This Old House magazine. He also hosts This New House airing on the DIY Network and Hidden History in Your House airing on the History Channel’s H2 network. Along with his four brothers and two sisters, Kevin grew up on various job sites led by his father, a civil engineer. When Kevin and his wife, Kathleen, were renovating their 1892 Queen Anne Victorian they sent an e-mail seeking advice from the Ask This Old House experts. The house call served as Kevin’s first screen test to serve as the new host (the third host in the history of the home-improvement series).

Kevin talks about the evolution of the show and about the Generation NEXT campaign, cosponsored by the mikeroweWORKS Foundation. It’s a high-profile effort to close the skills gap in the trades, encouraging young people to master those skills and look at construction careers. He also talks about the challenges of working on a job site that’s also a TV shoot, including:

  • Scheduling
  • Scrambling and adapting
  • More about the show’s two projects this season
  • How the show’s contractors juggle TV and their businesses
  • Using their big megaphone
  • And more…
 

Ep.197: From Project Manager to Production Manager with Morgan Thomas

June 20, 2022 Management, Operations, Production, The Tim Faller Show 00:32:21

Join Tim and Steve as they talk to Morgan Thomas about her role as a production manager at Leff Design Build.  Morgan discusses how she had to shift her focus from individual projects to looking at the business on a global level, and from solving problems herself to coaching others on how to solve them.

Morgan was born and raised in Sonoma County, and after moving out of state to pursue a degree in Journalism from Gonzaga University, she returned to Sonoma County and landed in a career in commercial construction management.  She then found her way LEFF, where she worked her way up to become the company’s production manager.

Tim, Steve, and Morgan talk more about:

  • The differences between Project and Production managers
  • Tools needed by a Production Manager
  • And more…….

Ep.196: Inventory Management on the Go With Selema Lawson-Jack

June 13, 2022 Management, Operations, Production, Technology, The Tim Faller Show 00:33:57

Selema Lawson-Jack joins the show and discusses how she found a technology fix to solve an inventory management issue, but was able to expand its capabilities to create efficiencies across the organization, and generate revenue at the same time.  She talks about how Sortly, the affordable app she implemented, operates and how she was able to successfully integrate it into the organization.

 

Selema works for Schroeder Design Build of Fairfax, VA and is the Director of Production, where she oversees all projects in the construction phase.  She is the first point of contact on job sites and leads a team of project managers, project developers and carpenters. She was recently named to Pro Remodeler’s top 40 under 40.

 

Tim, Steve, and Selema talk more about:

  • Organizing inventory using Sortly
  • How Sortly improves the processes for the team
  • And more……