problem solving in construction industry

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How to Encourage Problem-Solving in Your Construction Workforce

In construction, many of the phone calls and emails received are from companies or people presenting a problem they are experiencing. Construction managers and team members take that problem and form a solution for the customer or their business.

To provide quality solutions, construction team members need to be well-versed in problem-solving. What is problem-solving? It’s the process involved in identifying a problem , developing solutions to the issue and then taking the right course of action.

Honed problem-solving skills can lead to a stronger team, enhanced construction safety procedures and ultimately better service for customers. But how do construction managers encourage problem-solving in their construction teams? Are there steps that can help employees grow their problem-solving skills? Yes! Construction professionals can help their construction teams improve their skills and empower themselves by following these tips.

Problem-Solving Steps to Follow

The problem-solving process looks different depending on the problem being tackled, but following a problem-solving guideline ensures construction professionals can solve the right issues and pick the most effective solutions.

The steps given below are beneficial for managers to follow and are an excellent resource for team members to develop their problem-solving skills:

1. Identify the problem: First, a construction team must ensure they identify the problem correctly.

2. Analyze the problem: Next, team members should consider the problem’s causes.

3. Brainstorm solutions: A team can work together to generate a list of possible solutions to the problem. Thinking creatively can help with this step.

4. Develop the solution: Look through the list of possible solutions and choose the best one.

5. Allocate roles: Construction managers should decide who will be responsible for helping implement the solution. If necessary, different roles should be allocated to different people.

6. Implement the solution: Go through with the solution and fix the problem.

7. Evaluate the solution: Ask for feedback. Take that feedback and incorporate it into future problem-solving strategies.

What Helps Encourage Problem-Solving in Team Members?

An important starting point to help encourage problem-solving in team members is restructuring the team to be a self-directed unit. Self-directed units often are created to tackle projects and tasks and feature ample amounts of collaboration , which is ideal for solving issues and improving productivity in construction.

Self-directed teams can help elevate the group and ensure they are empowered to do their job and remedy issues effectively. Beyond self-directed teams, it’s also necessary to embody certain qualities that will ensure construction teams feel encouraged to problem-solve.

Trust and Comfortability

There needs to be a strong element of trust between team members. This is true whether the team is handling customer problems or internal issues, such as addressing broken construction equipment. Every individual should feel comfortable speaking up with their ideas and potential solutions, especially while brainstorming answers. Team members need to trust each other, and they need to know that their managers trust them.

For managers to fully show a team they are trustworthy, workers must be left to make decisions on their own and have at least some level of authority over the choices they make. The team must feel they are united and working together to reach their goal and aren’t continually being overseen by a manager. This allows them to view the solutions they develop as their own and have a sense of responsibility.

Responsibility

Each team member must build up a sense of responsibility for the problems they are trying to solve. A great way to develop responsibility is for the team to delegate specific tasks to each group member. When the tasks are completed, the whole group can come together and unite their pieces to get the whole.

If team members have a sense of ownership over a part of the project, they will also feel ownership over the complete project since every individual will contribute. Having delegated tasks encourages team members to do their best to work toward the common goal of solving the problem.

What Can Managers Do to Help Encourage Problem-Solving?

The previous section dealt with the hands-off portion of encouraging team members to problem-solve, but managers still need to participate in the process. Managers will still need to guide team members and help encourage their problem-solving skills with the following approaches.  

Provide Feedback and Answer Questions

Learning how to effectively problem-solve doesn’t come naturally to some people. It takes work and having that backboard to bounce questions and ideas off of is beneficial for team members learning to solve problems.

When something is done right, construction managers should make sure they acknowledge it. Especially in construction, it is easy to breeze over small wins when the team is always problem-solving. If the team is doing a great job, managers should notice them for that and give them kudos.

Engage the Team in Focus Areas

Engaging your workforce is easier said than done. But it’s worth the effort if you want to target your employees’ energy toward identifying and addressing the biggest issues on a work site. Make this task easier by making training and awareness resources available for everyone.

For example, some construction companies take advantage of industry-wide pushes like National Work Zone Awareness Week to offer extra resources and events for workers. Others feature employee spotlights and recruiting efforts for Women in Construction Week each March. Creating specialized events can help expose team members to new ideas and jog excitement about tackling industry problems throughout the year.

Give Employees Autonomy

For the larger-picture problems that high-authority professionals must solve, they should be sure to include their employees. They should ask workers for their feedback, especially if the issue includes changes to an internal process.

Employees need to be allowed to aid in making decisions on the task level, but managers also need to show them they value their problem-solving skills for more strategic questions.

If managers can delegate tasks to them  and give them more authority, they should do so. If team members feel they have authority, it often makes them feel encouraged. Higher-ups should challenge them with tasks that can help them grow and offer training to support their growth.

Problem-Solving Tips for Construction Teams

As long as these simple steps and tips are followed, any construction team will quickly develop their problem-solving skills. They will soon have the skills necessary to manage any on-the-job issue, whether internal or external. All the managers have to do is give them the tools they need to succeed, be a mentor for them and trust them.

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What Are the Best Problem-Solving Techniques for a Construction Engineer?

Last Updated on June 11, 2023 by Admin

As a construction engineer , problem-solving is an essential part of your job. The efficient execution of construction projects depends on how well you can manage unexpected challenges and obstacles that arise along the way. Given the complexity of many construction projects, it is vital to have a good problem-solving toolkit at your disposal. In this article, we explore the key problem-solving techniques that construction engineers can use to navigate the challenges they face.

Table of Contents

Understanding the Role of a Construction Engineer

A construction engineer is a professional who plays a vital role in the construction industry . They are responsible for overseeing the design, planning, and implementation of construction projects. A construction engineer is a highly skilled individual who has a deep understanding of the construction process, including the various materials, techniques, and tools used in the industry.

The role of a construction engineer is critical because they are responsible for ensuring that construction projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to the required quality standards. They work closely with architects, contractors, and suppliers to ensure that projects are completed successfully.

Key Responsibilities of a Construction Engineer

Construction engineers have a wide range of responsibilities that require a combination of technical, managerial, and interpersonal skills. Some of their key responsibilities include:

• Developing project plans and timelines: Construction engineers are responsible for creating project plans that outline the scope of the project, the timeline for completion, and the resources required to complete the project. They work closely with architects and contractors to ensure that the project plan is feasible and realistic.
• Preparing cost estimates and budgets: Construction engineers are responsible for preparing cost estimates and budgets for construction projects. They consider factors such as labor costs, material costs, and equipment costs when preparing these estimates.
• Overseeing the hiring of contractors and suppliers: Construction engineers are responsible for hiring contractors and suppliers to work on construction projects. They evaluate bids and proposals from potential contractors and suppliers to ensure that they are qualified and capable of completing the project.
• Monitoring construction progress and ensuring quality standards are met: Construction engineers are responsible for monitoring construction progress and ensuring that quality standards are met. They inspect construction sites regularly to ensure that work is being done according to plan and that safety standards are being followed.
• Ensuring compliance with safety regulations and legal requirements: Construction engineers are responsible for ensuring that construction projects comply with safety regulations and legal requirements. They work closely with regulatory bodies to ensure that projects are compliant with local, state, and federal regulations.

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Challenges Faced by Construction Engineers

Despite careful planning and preparation, construction projects face a range of challenges that can derail progress and interrupt timelines. Some of the most common challenges that construction engineers face include:

• Unforeseen design changes: Design changes can occur during the construction process, which can impact the timeline and budget for the project. Construction engineers must be able to adapt to these changes and ensure that they are implemented in a timely and efficient manner.
• Unavailability of resources and materials: Construction projects require a wide range of resources and materials, and delays in the delivery of these items can impact the timeline for the project. Construction engineers must be able to manage these delays and ensure that the project stays on track.
• Weather-related delays and disruptions: Weather-related delays, such as heavy rain or snow, can impact the construction process and delay the timeline for the project. Construction engineers must be able to plan for these delays and adjust the project timeline accordingly.
• Budget overruns: Construction projects can be expensive, and it is not uncommon for projects to go over budget. Construction engineers must be able to manage costs and ensure that the project stays within budget.
• Safety incidents and accidents: Construction sites can be dangerous places, and safety incidents and accidents can occur. Construction engineers must be able to manage these incidents and ensure that safety standards are being followed to prevent future incidents.

Overall, the role of a construction engineer is critical to the success of construction projects. They are responsible for managing resources, coordinating teams, and ensuring that projects are delivered on time and within budget. Despite the challenges that they face, construction engineers are highly skilled professionals who play an essential role in the construction industry.

Importance of Problem-Solving in Construction Engineering

Construction engineering is a challenging field that requires a unique set of skills. One of the most critical skills that construction engineers must possess is problem-solving. The ability to quickly assess a situation and come up with effective solutions can help keep projects on track and within budget. Here are some of the critical areas where problem-solving skills come in handy for construction engineers:

Navigating Complex Projects

Construction projects are often complex and involve many moving parts. From managing subcontractors to coordinating with architects and engineers, there are many different components to consider. The ability to analyze and understand the different components of a project is essential to delivering it successfully. This requires a problem-solving mindset that can break down complex issues into smaller, manageable tasks.

For example, imagine that you are working on a project that involves building a new hospital. There are many different stakeholders involved, including doctors, nurses, and hospital administrators. Each group has different needs and requirements, and it can be challenging to balance them all. A construction engineer with strong problem-solving skills can assess the situation and come up with a plan that meets everyone’s needs.

Ensuring Safety and Compliance

The construction industry is heavily regulated, with safety standards and legal requirements that must be followed. Construction engineers must stay up to date with these regulations and ensure that their projects comply with them. The ability to identify compliance issues and come up with effective solutions is an essential part of the job.

For example, imagine that you are working on a project that involves building a new high-rise building. There are many safety regulations that must be followed to ensure that the building is safe for occupants. A construction engineer with strong problem-solving skills can identify potential safety hazards and come up with solutions to mitigate them.

Managing Time and Resources

Construction projects operate under tight timelines and budgets. The ability to manage time and resources effectively is essential to delivering projects on time and within budget. Problem-solving skills can help construction engineers identify areas where resources can be optimized to achieve project objectives.

For example, imagine that you are working on a project that involves building a new bridge. The project has a tight deadline, and there are limited resources available. A construction engineer with strong problem-solving skills can identify ways to streamline the construction process and optimize the use of available resources to ensure that the project is completed on time and within budget.

In conclusion, problem-solving skills are essential for construction engineers. They help navigate complex projects, ensure safety and compliance, and manage time and resources effectively. By developing strong problem-solving skills, construction engineers can deliver successful projects that meet the needs of all stakeholders.

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Top Problem-Solving Techniques for Construction Engineers

Here are some of the most effective problem-solving techniques that construction engineers can use to navigate the challenges they face:

Root Cause Analysis

Root cause analysis is a problem-solving technique that involves identifying the underlying causes of a problem. The technique involves asking a series of “why” questions to get to the root cause of the problem. Once the root cause has been identified, construction engineers can come up with effective solutions to prevent the issue from occurring again.

Brainstorming and Mind Mapping

Brainstorming and mind mapping are creative problem-solving techniques that involve generating ideas and organizing them visually. These techniques are useful for generating ideas and solutions in a collaborative and structured environment.

The 5 Whys Technique

The 5 whys technique is a problem-solving technique that involves asking “why” questions to get to the root cause of a problem. The technique involves asking a series of five “why” questions to identify the underlying cause of the problem. Once the root cause has been identified, construction engineers can come up with effective solutions to prevent the issue from occurring again.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a problem-solving technique that involves identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a project. This technique is useful for understanding the internal and external factors that can affect a project’s success. By identifying these factors, construction engineers can come up with effective solutions to mitigate any risks.

Decision Matrix Analysis

Decision matrix analysis is a problem-solving technique that involves weighting and ranking multiple criteria to make a decision. This technique is useful for evaluating different options and choosing the best one based on a set of pre-defined criteria.

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Implementing Technology to Aid Problem-Solving

In addition to problem-solving techniques, construction engineers can also leverage technology to aid in problem-solving. Here are some of the key technologies that can be used:

Building Information Modeling (BIM)

BIM is a digital representation of a building or infrastructure project. The technology allows for collaboration between different stakeholders, which can help identify potential issues and solutions before construction begins. BIM can be used to optimize workflows, reduce errors and waste, and improve project outcomes.

Project Management Software

Project management software is a tool that can help construction engineers manage projects more effectively. The software allows for the creation of project plans, schedules, and budgets. It also provides real-time visibility into project progress and helps teams collaborate more effectively.

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies can be used to simulate construction projects in a virtual environment. This technology can help identify potential issues and visualize solutions before construction begins. The use of VR and AR can help reduce errors, improve safety, and optimize workflows.

As a construction engineer, problem-solving skills are essential to delivering successful construction projects. By understanding the different problem-solving techniques and leveraging technology, construction engineers can navigate the challenges they face and ensure that projects are delivered on time and within budget.

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Developing problem solvers to advance lean construction

FEATURE – Construction is rife with waste, and yet lean is not widely adopted in the industry. The authors highlight how lean could benefit the sector, emphasizing the importance of developing problem-solving capabilities.

Words: The LGN Lean Construction Working Group

As far as work goes, it is hard to deny the complexity that construction companies face on a daily basis. In part, this is the result of the diversity in the types of projects that they take on (from infrastructure to residential and mining), but also of the difficulty of coordinating and integrating the work of several players – including owners, designers, suppliers, contractors and subcontractors – throughout the process, from planning to product delivery and aftersales. Quality self-control is all but missing, and incomplete designs often cause errors, delays, cost overruns and rework. Add to the mix a common lack of leadership across the value chain, stressful working conditions at the front line, adversarial relationships in the traditional Design-Bid-Build contracting system and a tendency to not trust that people (at all levels) can really solve problems, and you might be excused for thinking that construction is beyond saving.

And yet, this traditional industry is evolving. As a movement, construction industrialization – inspired by manufacturing techniques – has existed since after World War 2, when the need to rebuild entire countries put pressure on the sector to deliver faster than it ever had. In recent years, we have seen a new wave of industrialization, with innovative offsite techniques like modular construction, jobsite assembly rationalization, and advances in digital technologies (such as BIM, Building Information Modeling, and new planning and management software).

In this new stage in its evolution, construction is also showing an increased interest in Lean Thinking. More companies are realizing that lean can bring a deep transformation to this industry, as it did in almost all economic sectors. With a few notable exceptions, however, construction companies still tend to perceive lean as mere process improvement. What happened with lean in manufacturing 40 years ago, when people thought all there was to it was Kanban and a bunch of other tools, is happening today in construction. What’s worse is that the improvement work is often taking place in isolation – perhaps in one job site – and even when it leads to good results the fact that the rest of the organization has no exposure to lean makes progress limited and hard to sustain.

At the Lean Global Network, we aim to help companies to achieve a sustainable lean transformation by addressing five dimensions of our very own Lean Transformation Framework (LTF): value-driven purpose, improving processes, developing capabilities, changing management systems and leadership behaviors, and transforming mental models. If we look at construction from the perspective of the LTF, one can see that most of the improvement work in this sector is limited to the process pillar of those five dimensions. Even then, it only touches on the planning stage. Indeed, in a project-based industry like construction, planning is fundamental, which makes the commonly used Last Planner System a valuable tool for organizations interested in achieving some basic stability. But there is much more to lean construction that just Last Planner!

The LTF teaches us there is much more to explore here. What can we say about people development in construction? Can construction companies define value for customers well enough? How often do managers in construction go to the gemba to see the work with their own eyes, listen and provide support to people as they try to solve problems? Does the management team understand the value stream in detail, from start to finish, and work with the team on the ground to improve it as a whole?

In the construction industry, lean is still not seen as a strategic asset that can transform the entire organization – and its culture – by turning front-line workers into autonomous problem solvers so that more value can be provided to the end customer. We believe that it is about time that changed. A broader adoption of Lean Thinking as a socio-technical management system is fundamental to help the industry to overcome its most pressing issues, like safety, cost overruns, low productivity (according to OECD data, productivity in construction hasn’t changed in 20 years), quality problems, and chronic delays.

DEVELOPING PROBLEM SOLVERS IN CONSTRUCTION

To solve the problems highlighted above, however, we need to primarily focus our efforts on developing the problem-solving skills of everyone, from top executives to foremen, from tradesmen on site to employees working in supporting functions. But what does it take to create an army of problem solvers in the construction sector? In our mind, it requires us to provide people with the ability to raise problems, the tools and knowledge to solve them, and the support to make problem-solving a part of their every-day work.

Critically, we also need to make sure that the right people are addressing the right problems. For this, Art Smalley’s 4 Types of Problems framework is particularly useful. Before we delve deeper into problem solving, let’s see how the framework can apply to construction.

First of all, as a precondition for any sustainable improvement to happen, we need to create basic stability in the process. This can be achieved by fixing Type-1 (Troubleshooting) and Type-2 (Gap from standard) reactive problems right at the front line. Unfortunately, in construction, there are usually few standards in the work, which makes problem-solving difficult. How can you address a gap from standard if you don’t know what the standard is? Before any improvement can be made, therefore, it’s necessary to establish clear work standard.

Once basic stability is achieved, the company can start paying attention to more high-level, strategic issues that concern the entire value flow – Type-3 (Target condition) and Type-4 (Open ended Innovation). To solve these problems requires management to get involved, together with all business functions – from supply chain to design. At this stage, an organization can begin innovating on a regular basis. By achieving basic stability and establishing a structured approach to problem solving, Lean Thinking can give innovation in construction a clear purpose.

Let’s now look more specifically at how we can turn our job site workers into skilled and autonomous problem solvers.

To develop problem-solving skills at the gemba, we first need to take fear out of the workplace and replacing it with trust. This can cause a huge shift in the mindset of an organization and encourage people to raise their hands whenever a problem occurs. To have this in place, we need to change behaviors and to build a system in which visual management allows for problems to be tracked and people across the business to be aware of them and know what to do about them. This is a particularly big problem in construction because of the project-based nature of the work, with different companies and teams acting in each job site. That is why a lean implementation should be seen as a company-wide transformation rather than an initiative taking place in one site or project.

Communicating to everyone what should be done, by who and how is hard on a construction site, where thousands of people might work at any one time and deadlines are often tight. The foreman typically makes the decisions on what work to do and when, but the focus is typically on production rather than productivity. With this approach, as soon as a problem occurs the answer is normally to throw more resources at it (in the form of people or overtime, for example). Alas, that’s often not enough to avoid compromising safety and quality. Conversely, standardization breaks the work down into smaller tasks, clearly defines roles and responsibilities and, more importantly, makes it easier to recognize deviations before they become problems that are too big to manage. (More on this in the next article from our working group.)

Once problems are seen as opportunities for improvement and a system is put in place to identify them and tackle them swiftly and effectively, it’s important for a company to focus on providing everyone contributing to the creation of value with the tools they need to become problem solvers. When they hear training, people normally think about classroom training, but in the lean world capability development happens at the gemba, on the job. Simply put, there is no other way of developing problem solvers than having them solve problems!

But how can we solve process problems without mentors helping people through it? As ever, the role of leadership here is absolutely critical, as the following examples show.

Turner Construction Company (one of the largest construction companies in the USA and a co-learning partner of the Lean Enterprise Institute) has been on a lean journey for the past six years, with a strong focus on developing the problem-solving skills of senior leaders through LEI’s Lean Leader Program (LLP). We all know how important coaching is, but if you want leaders to be coaches, they need to first become problem solvers themselves (“We need to model the behaviors we want to see in our people,” a senior exec from Turner recently said). Following several “lean field trips” at the gemba, senior leaders clearly appreciated that to truly engage their people they had to ensure the improvement work focused on their problems. They committed to understanding the work from the perspective of the workers, and to making things easier for them. This transformed attitude, fueled by an extensive use of A3 Thinking, has become a powerful catalyst for change at the North America-based construction company.

A3 Thinking was also a fundamental tool at Socovesa, a Chilean construction company that has been on a lean journey for four years. LGN affiliate Lean Institute Chile has helped Socovesa to understand this important problem-solving framework. Their first step was to stabilize and standardize the planning process for all projects – no matter how different. This helped to generate a common language and create an opportunity for weekly interaction. The initial experiments with problem solving, which concentrated on one specific project and three teams, led to exceptional results. According to the project manager, however, the best outcome was the fact that the area supervisors began to develop the capabilities of their team members and that everyone started to learn to solve problems.

A similar approach is being followed at Battistella Spa, a small construction firm in northern Italy, which recently started its own lean journey, with Italy’s Istituto Lean Management’s help. After receiving some basic lean training, the management team started focusing on real business problems (using the Lean Transformation Framework as a reference) while A3 Thinking at the front line led to a number of quick results in process efficiency. This is gradually creating awareness across Battistella that change is possible and that processes can be improved continuously.

Indeed, the most effective way to engage people in problem solving is showing results, especially those that most directly impact their work. Leadership should get involved in small cycles of PDCA, while at the same time showing workers how their problem-solving efforts are making the work safer and the company more productive.

This strategy worked for conglomerate Andrade Gutierrez, a major Brazilian infrastructure company that operates in several countries, which Lean Institute Brasil (another affiliate of the Lean Global Network) helped to create a different culture by supporting the development of an initial group of lean facilitators. LIB provided them with the lean knowledge they would need to effect change across the group. This clearly paid off, since over the years Andrade Gutierrez has developed four generations of facilitators, who have progressively been able to introduce Lean Thinking in all job sites and business areas.

A MORE HOLISTIC APPLICATION OF LEAN

Lean Thinking is more than just transforming operations. If looked at as an all-encompassing framework, lean can cause a shift in the company’s overall mindset, in its leadership, and in its strategy. When it is applied to the entire value-creating process (as it should), it can lead an organization to a complete turnaround. We already know how impactful Lean Thinking has been in industries like manufacturing or healthcare, and there is no reason to believe it shouldn’t bring just as many benefits to construction.

As briefly mentioned above, the construction process is very atomized and the supply chain supporting it incredibly fragmented. It is normal, therefore, that investors and construction companies interact with one another through lawsuits, that designers and builders have to deal with constant project changes, that material suppliers deliver late, that invoices are routinely disputed at the end of each month, that aftersales service is slow, and so on. Additionally, and more dangerously, the culture that permeates the industry discourages people from highlighting problems. Ultimately, all of this impacts the real customer, be it the owner of a house or an operator in a hydroelectric plant.

Thanks to the holistic, “big picture” view it affords, lean can help the industry to overcome these obstacles, thus becoming a powerful differentiator for the businesses that decide to take the lean leap. In particular, we believe it can be extremely beneficial in addressing issues like culture, supply chain, and the industrialization of the construction process.

Transforming the culture that prevails in the industry, which is notoriously tough and based on a command-and-control approach to leadership, is perhaps the most fundamental outcome that lean can achieve. In an environment in which trust is lacking, people tend to hide problems rather to flag them up, compounding an already difficult situation. In such a scenario, problems only appear at the end, when the project is handed over to the customer. Lean teaches leaders to respect people, to lead by example, which is key to the creation of a working environment where problems are welcomed.

Lean Thinking can also contribute to the effectiveness of the construction supply chain, by boosting collaboration among owners, designers, suppliers, contractors and subcontractors and moving past the toxic relationships that so often exist between them. Much like with culture, this is a matter of injecting trust in the communication and interaction among different players, for example by running experiments like relational contracts and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD). The increasing use of BIM (Building Information Modeling) is another enabler of supply chain integration, and combined with lean concepts it can represent a powerful catalyst for change.

Finally, lean can help this sector to fully leverage the opportunities provided by new technologies to achieve a full industrialization of the construction process. For this to happen, the industry will need to incorporate the principles brought forward by Lean Product and Process Development, which emphasize the importance of bringing design and production (in this case, construction) together from the very beginning.

In conclusion, applying lean to construction can lead to:

• Greater safety in the work.
• Higher quality in the delivery to customers.
• Shorter delivery times.
• Increased productivity.
• Reduction of materials wasted.
• A working environment conducive to continuous learning and collaboration.
• The ability to anticipate problems and better manage risk.
• More integration between subcontractors and project owners.

To make the most of these benefits and sustain them, the construction industry needs to engage in a broader and more strategic application of lean management. A shift from tools to problem solving can help it to improve considerably and support its evolution into a real 21st-century industry.

The Lean Global Network’s Lean Construction Working Group aims to contribute to the development of the industry. We have witnessed and supported several experiments in lean construction and believe that our global and multi-industry experience might contribute ideas and concepts that until now have not received the attention they deserved.

THE AUTHORS

NOTES FROM THE GEMBA – The author visits a private engineering school to learn about their approach to teach Lean Thinking and apply it to their own work.

INTERVIEW – By making lean its way of thinking and acting, a hospital in Porto Alegre, Brazil was able to dramatically improve patient flow and transform its culture.

FEATURE – Is there such a thing as a lean plan? There is, but it's not an off-the-shelf solution that will appease your boss – and that's why traditional, bureaucratic organizations continue to exist.

NEWS - Back from his annual trip to Shanghai, Anton Grütter, CEO of the Lean Institute Africa, shares a few interesting insights into the Chinese culture.

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BuildBinder Blog

Problem solving in construction.

When the end of a construction project is near, results must be measured. If results aren't the ones you and your team expected, then clearly something went wrong in the process. It's not enough to only check the end result, the whole process needs to be evaluated as it goes. Learn more about proper problem solving in construction. 

Establishing a problem solving framework for your construction project

Traditional project management is generally the framework that construction professionals follow to organize and complete their construction project. Within that framework, milestones need to be set as a way of evaluating quality and progress of the construction project. If these milestones aren't set, then quality control cannot exist, and thus the end results will suffer greatly. A few tips on how to place the proper framework for your construction project:

• Establish milestones or KPIs 

A construction project needs to be broken down into smaller projects. Each project must reach a milestone and follow a Key Performance Indicator. Establish what these are, and by what date should they be achieved.

• Establish minimum quality standards for materials 

Materials need to comply not only with legal regulations, but also with budget, and with the original design. If these terms are not met, then they need to be replaced by better and more satisfying materials. Establish this rule beforehand with your providers and procurement personnel. 

• Assign responsibility to team members

All stakeholders need to have a level of responsibility. They will be held accountable when things go right and wrong. It is this person's job to deliver on their assigned tasks on time and format. 

• Behavior manual

Establish a behavior procedure or manual with your staff. If something goes wrong, then what should they do? Given them enough room to make decisions on the spot as to not cause any more delays or budget overruns in the long term. 

• Contingency plans

If something gets out of hand, or cannot be fulfilled (like a missed deadline), there needs to be a contingency plan in place to correct these mistakes. 

With these tips in mind, your construction will be more resilient to any complication that may come your way. 

Problem Solving Skills in Construction

In the construction industry, fixing issues is what trained professionals do on a daily basis. Things don’t often go according to plan, so possessing problem-solving skills is a key character trait of successful project managers.

Today, with the aid of modern technology, we can approach problems from a data-driven standpoint and provide solutions to them. Years ago, this was unthinkable, but today it has become a reality. Solving problems and decision making is a regular activity in the construction business, but nobody was born with problem-solving skills. Rather, it is a skill that is honed via experience and relentless application.

Steps to solving construction project problems

Problem-solving is a learned skill that can be developed over time. Find below some steps you can deploy to develop your problem-solving skills so as to become a successful project manager .

• Identity the root cause of the problem: The first step to solving a problem is to identify the root cause of the problem. Root cause identification will offer you clarity about what needs to change.
• Identify the stake of all participants in the process: You cannot solve the problem on your own unless it is a limited one. Identify the parties involved and prioritize their recommendations.
• List all the possible solutions that come to mind: Brainstorm to come out with every conceivable outcome.
• Evaluate all solutions: Evaluating all solutions will help you identify the ones that will address the issue. Rating the success of each solution with a 0-10 rating helps.
• Pick the best option: From your list of solutions, pick the one with the best rating.
• Expand the solution: Expand the possible outcome of your desired solution by writing down in detail the far-reaching implications of executing it.
• Make Contingency Plans: A change in the expected outcome of your solution may have a knockdown effect on your plan. To avoid this, make a contingency plan by consulting your list for other solutions. You can do this by making a plan using your next best solution.

Problem-solving may or may not require a step by step process. You may also need to use the recommendations of others to achieve the best possible outcome. This is why it is important to seek the opinion of other people involved in the process or those who will be affected by the eventual outcome. And finally, recording problems and the solutions adopted to solve them creates a very healthy database for the future . Consulting your database from time to time will open you to a new perspective and improve your problem-solving skills maximally.

Do you have tips on solving construction project problems? Let us know in the comments section below!

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Persistent Problem Solving in the Construction Industry

Persistent problem solving using Lean solutions in the construction industry. Field Driven Lean’s Brian Winningham explains how to solve those pesky persistent problems with an array of Lean tools.

No Rats Allowed!

I once worked with a superintendent named Red who used to sign off our telephone calls with an odd phrase: “All right, I’m gonna let you get back to your rat killing.” It’s a weird thing to say, but I’ve always thought it was on the money as a description for the work that we project managers do, and for our industry as a whole. The AEC industry has a “rat killing” problem.

That’s meant as a metaphor, but it works literally as well. I’ve worked on quite few projects over my twenty years spent a project manager. Most of those involved working from a trailer or modular building on the project site. On a small handful of those projects, my teams experienced a rodent infestation in our workspace. In my experience, they usually approached it the same way: denial. If the interlopers have chosen a place in the office you can avoid, you can ignore the little black pepper specks that have suddenly started to appear. If it is your desk, your table, or the kitchen, it is a little harder to ignore, but not impossible. A quick bleach wipe down first thing in the morning and you can forget about it until tomorrow. Problem solved—but problem NOT staying solved.

There are a couple of problems with ignoring rodents though. They are prolific breeders and when they find something good, they invite all their friends. At some point, they become impossible to ignore and a lot more trouble to deal with. First you must identify and close-off all their points of entry. Then, they must be trapped and removed one by one. It isn’t easy to get rid of them (and, frankly, it’s pretty gross). I’m certain it wasn’t a task anyone ever anticipated when beginning their construction career. By far, the best solution I’ve seen is to fill all the holes in your office trailer where animals could gain access (like the ones you drilled through your floor to install internet) with steel wool. Mice can’t chew through it like they can foam or insulation. If you think ahead and fill these holes as you make them, then you never get a rodent problem in the first place.

Ignoring the Problem

I’ve seen some project teams address their project problems the same way some of my teams dealt with rodent infestations. They start by ignoring their problems, hoping they will somehow magically disappear. One way we do this is by blaming it on something out of our control, like the owner or our trade partners or any “outside force”. We end up trying to shift blame the same way we try and shift risk. For instance, many folks blame the current supply chain issues on Covid. While the pandemic has made our supply chain problems easier to see and much more extreme, these problems persisted well before 2020. The same logic applies to other problems we chronically ignore in this industry, like suicide, mental health issues, diversity equity and inclusion (DEI), workforce development, technology, employee retention, aging workforce, prompt payment, and more.

Because facing problems head on and dealing with them is scary, people tend to avoid or delay dealing with them. That NEVER leads to a good result. The projects where someone jumped in and began working the problem as soon as those black specks started to appear usually meant we were over the infestation in the matter of a few days as opposed to weeks or even months for those that stayed in denial.

Constraint Management Board

A great countermeasure to procrastination—and a way to visually surface problems on your project and to work them systematically—is to keep a project constraint board . You must make this board/log a featured part of every meeting you hold: one project, one constraint log (YMMV). Keyan Zandy of The Lean Builder wrote an outstanding article about how to get started and manage a constraint board on your project. You can find that article here: Constraint Management Techniques on the Jobsite .

Scrum is another great tool for making work visible and easy! Visit scruminc.com to learn more about how Scrum and Agile systems can help our issues bubble to the top before they become a serious problem.

What about those folks doing that daily bleach wipe down and kicking the can down the road until tomorrow, EVERY DAY?! They are issuing that CPM schedule revision every week but ignoring the real problems and not offering any real solutions on how to overcome the issues. These folks tend to fall back on the contract to force people to comply, not understanding how little the contract actually buys. When you start quoting the contract in emails and letters to subcontractors , what that “buys” you are really terrible working conditions, delay claims, extremely long punch lists, poor quality, and higher prices from the trades on your next projects, if they will even give you a price on the next one at all.

An alternative to approaching your problems like we detail above is to buy these same trade partners lunch. Sit and eat together and talk about anything but your current problem(s) until everyone finishes eating. After lunch, as the leader you will need to stand up, look those folks in the eye, explain the situation as best you know it, and humbly ask for their help. If they have some arguing that they want to do, then just stand there and listen to them. When they finish, tell them you hear them and ask them again if they will help. At this point, they will usually either agree to help or become so frustrated with you that they will leave and subtract themselves from the problem. This approach has helped me on several occasions and has always turned out better than sharing my knowledge of the contract with those folks in some sort of correspondence.

How can we apply steel wool to our problems, to head them off before they can derail us? Steel wool works like culture. The type of culture on your project is a great indicator of your project’s success. What kind of reputation do you have? How do the people you work with see you? Do you seek input? Are you humble? Brash? Funny? If you constantly have to yell, if the subcontractors aren’t following your plans, if you are constantly frustrated, or if your schedule is changing every week, then your culture is the best place to start to get things on track. All of the ways that we show up impacts how culture gets built into your projects. We all play our part in creating the culture we have.

Persistent Problem Solving in the Daily Huddle

Daily huddles are a great place to start building a better project culture. This is also the perfect place to practice active listening as the leader, to make sure everyone understands the plan. Another tactic you can try is to have someone else lead the meeting every so often. This allows you to step outside the huddle, so you can see and hear it as an observer. This can help you see areas for improvement for your huddles regarding inclusion and participation.

There are lots of great posts and videos and other media out there detailing the steps to getting started with daily huddles . Some key things to remember as you begin your journey are to keep the daily huddle short (10-15 mins) and focused on production. Also, stay curious, be humble, and strive to be an active listener. If you can do those things consistently, your project will improve over time, even if it is already very good.

Be on the look-out for the little black pepper specks, because it is the little problems ignored over time that cause us the greatest issues on our projects and in our lives. Being proactive about addressing these problems is a great first step to overcoming your issues. I hope some of the tools I have talked about today can help you complete those next steps in your construction journey. Please respond in the comments with your best “rat prevention” techniques and stories. Thank you for reading, I hope everything in your life gets better, and easier.

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Brian Winningham, Field Driven Lean

Brian Winningham spent more than 20 years leading construction projects with PCL, Turner, Skanska, and SpawGlass. He is passionate about sharing the many ways Lean can improve your work and also your life. Brian is a Combat Veteran of 3/75 Ranger Battalion. He actively encourages Veterans to join the Construction Industry and still mentors several former co-workers who are Veterans. Brian, his wife, and their two daughters happily share their home with Bridgit the Bouvier, Gus the Schnoodle and Lulu the Miniature Poodle.

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The Critical Role of Problem-Solving in Construction Project Management

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Problem-solving is one of the most important skills for a good project manager. The construction industry is no stranger to problems and delays. It involves a million moving parts to finish a project, so there are a lot of risks and potential roadblocks that may hinder the project’s completion. In an article from Emerald Insights ( Causes of delays in construction industry and comparative delay analysis techniques with SCL protocol | Emerald Insight ), a delay means that the owner will lose money and the contractor will have higher overhead costs. While these may seem inevitable, what makes a difference is knowledge and how well you use that knowledge to solve a problem that is happening now or will happen soon.

In project management, figuring out how to solve problems is a strategic process, and it needs to be learned step by step, using a framework and considering some important things. In this short guide, we’ll show you the step-by-step process of how to solve problems efficiently and effectively. But first, let us look at the critical role of problem-solving when managing projects in construction. 

The Importance of Problem-Solving in Construction

By its very nature, project management – especially construction, is a very complicated thing to do. You are leading an organization, or a company to reach its goals for the project or to work with other team members to determine the steps and approaches your project needs. No matter your job as a project manager, you will probably have to solve many problems. This will be done on both a small and a large scale, from day-to-day problems to bigger issues that could threaten the whole project.

As a result, you must know how to solve problems in project management while keeping costs and delays at a minimum. So, why do we need to focus on honing our problem-solving skills?

For Project Managers

How project managers approach problems, their strategies and procedures, and their methods will directly affect the project’s and the team’s success. You will need to look at the best ways for teams and leaders to solve problems when putting together and working on a project. For example, you need more stock levels due to late deliveries or inadequate forecasting of inventory requirements. You can create an effective construction inventory management system to help you stay on top of things – this way, you will always have the right amount of resources whenever you need them.

For Individuals or Crew members

During a project, when problems, concerns, or conflicts arise, it can be very stressful and hard for team members to deal with them effectively and on time. They might need more confidence to decide or strategize on how to go about the project. It can be scary when an employee does not know the answer. Problems need answers, but knowing how, when, and where to start looking for them can take a lot of work. Problem-solving skills are important soft skills that must be honed for each individual.

Six Steps To Solving Problems When Managing Construction

As a project manager or a general contractor, you want everything to go as smoothly and seamlessly as possible. But with the risks and potential roadblocks that can occur when managing construction, keeping your project moving with a hitch is challenging. As a result, problem-solving is a skill you can learn and improve over time.

In this section, here are six steps that you can take to improve and boost your ability to solve problems.

Find Out What The Problem Is All About

The first critical step to solving a problem is defining it and figuring out what is causing it. Getting to the bottom of what’s going wrong will help you see what needs to change. How you try to solve a problem will depend on how you describe it.

For example, you constantly need more workers for a specific period or deal with overworked crew members – which is dangerous. You could use construction crew scheduling software . This software will give you a quick overview of how many workers are assigned for a specific task or how many tasks are assigned per worker. You can assign efficient schedules for your crew with just a few simple clicks.

Find Out What Is At Stake

If the problem is small enough, you can solve it independently. Find out who is involved and put their suggestions in order of importance. When you know the problem, you can discover what is causing it. This level of analysis is important to make sure that your solutions deal with real problems, not just their symptoms.

Write Down All Possible Ideas and Solutions

Once you have done the hard work of defining the problem and figuring out what caused it, it is time to get creative and think of ways to fix it. Think of every possible outcome and its solution, then write them down. Brainstorming and mind mapping are great ways to solve problems and develop ideas.

Evaluate The Proposed Solutions and Choose the Best One

By evaluating all of the solutions, you can find the ones that solve the problem. Giving each solution a score from 0 to 10 for how well it worked helps. You can do this by figuring out the most important parts of the problem that you can use to compare each solution. Choose the solution with the highest rating from the list you made.

Take Action

Once you have decided on a solution, it is time to implement it. The solution requires more than one step or the help of others. In this case, making an action plan and considering it a mini-project would be smart.

Prepare Contingencies

Changes in how you think your solution will work out could make your plan fall apart. Make a plan B by looking at your list to find other ways to avoid this. You can do this by using your next best option to make a plan.

How Can You Improve Your and Your Team’s Problem-Solving Skills?

Managers are part of the process – you need to lead their teams and help them learn how to solve problems. This is why asking other people involved in the process or who will be affected by the final result what they think is important. You can get valuable insights from the people you work with, whether your stakeholders, subcontractors, or trade partners. In this section, read for tips on improving and developing your and your team’s problem-solving skills.

Start With A Solid Base

Companies can avoid and solve problems in the early stages of setting up new projects if they have the right foundations. Start from a strong position and let everyone take accountability for their tasks and responsibilities.

You can utilize an efficient construction workforce management system to seamlessly manage your crew members without micromanaging them. This way, everyone can see where their work fits in, who is in charge of specific tasks, and how it affects other parts of the project in real-time.

Collaborate and Communicate

Good communication and close collaboration are important at all project management stages. When giving or taking away roles and responsibilities and setting new expectations and goals, communication needs to be clear and to the point. Throughout the process, people must be able to talk to each other.

A construction task management system can help you access real-time information with simple clicks. Every team member is on the same page, reducing the risk of communication and mismanagement. This also lets you see which activities are progressing well or if your workers need assistance to finish the task.

Use Your Mind and Be Creative

No two problems have the same solution – as a result, you will need to think of solutions that will solve that specific cause. There are many creative and not-so-creative ways to solve problems. Depending on the problem, the size of your team, how your company works, and many other factors, some ways to solve problems will work better than others. Make sure you know which ones work best, and remember that you can use them alone or together.

Answer Questions and Give Feedback

Some people need help to figure out how to solve problems well. As mentioned earlier, your team might still need more confidence to make decisions and solve problems independently, especially when there are significant consequences. It takes work and helps team members learn how to solve problems to have someone to bounce questions and ideas from.

Give Your Workers More Freedom

When people with a lot of power have to solve bigger problems, they should include their employees. They should ask workers for feedback, especially if the issue involves changing an internal process. At the task level, employees must be able to help make decisions. Still, managers need to show them that they value how they solve problems, especially regarding more strategic questions.

Managers should give them more power and tasks if they can. When team members feel like they have power, they work harder. Higher-ups should give them tasks that will stretch them and help them grow, and they should also give them the training to help them grow.

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Construction’s Productivity Problem — and 9 Ways to Help Fix It

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Construction Contract , Construction Technology

The construction industry makes up a large portion of the US economy: over 6 percent of all employment, and 4 percent of the entire nation’s GDP. With one industry playing such a key role in the direction of the nation, it makes sense to take a look at ways to improve it. And bolstering construction productivity is one of the best ways to do so. 

Construction productivity in the US has been on the decline in most of the past decade, despite some signs of incline in recent years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), productivity in both residential and public construction dropped more than 15% from 2015 to 2019. Commercial construction fared worse in that period, with a drop of 30%. 

But there’s a complication: Construction productivity has always been hard to quantify . When it is measured, it consistently shows that productivity improvements lag far behind other industries. So what are the issues stifling construction productivity growth? What is holding the industry back, and what can business owners and those regulating the industry do about it?

Table of Contents

Construction labor productivity statistics

Construction productivity is difficult to quantify, but when researchers are successful, it’s significantly behind comparable industries . 

Three out of the four construction sectors below have shown a decline in productivity since 2007, with one showing only slightly improved numbers.

Single-family residential productivity

In the early 2000s, single-family residential productivity, output, and hours worked were at an all-time high. By 2008, output declined sharply, followed by a more gradual decline by both hours worked and productivity. All three reached the lowest points since 1987 between 2008 and 2012, rebounding briefly through 2013.

Productivity then declined steadily between 2014 and 2019 until turning around with increases in 2020 and 2021.

Multi-family residential productivity

Like single-family building, multi-family residential construction experienced high productivity and output in the early 2000s, with a relatively consistent number of hours worked. After a temporary decline around 2008, all three values rose again until another slight decline starting around 2016. After 2019, productivity turned around and has been on a continuous upswing.

Overall, productivity is higher than it was 30-plus years ago but not as high as it was at its peak around 2013 and 2015.

Industrial building construction

The one outlier of the group is industrial building construction productivity, though it isn’t exempt from its ups and downs. After 2008, industrial construction productivity and output spiked for a year or two while hours worked remained largely unchanged. 

From 2010 to 2013, productivity remained relatively flat while output started to increase. Both output and productivity peaked around 2015 and steadily dropped off before flattening around 2017, where it has enjoyed relatively uneventful slight growth ever since.

Highway, street, and bridge construction

Public works projects aren’t exempt from productivity issues (surprise, surprise). The industry’s output and productivity spiked between 2008 and 2009 and has since been on a relatively steady incline. Output followed a similar, albeit less extreme curve as well. Hours worked? Well, they had been on a slow rise since 2008, but productivity, output, and hours worked all began to slip between 2019 and 2021.

The challenge of measuring construction productivity

The act of successfully measuring productivity in the construction industry has always been a difficult one. The industry’s unique characteristics make it difficult for researchers to determine where productivity comes from, where it’s lacking, and how to improve it. The following key areas make up the majority of the challenge.

Measuring output

Measuring the construction industry’s output is a challenge all of its own. Unlike widget manufacturing or determining trucking routes, the variables affecting construction change from project to project.

According to the BLS, “Productivity is difficult to measure for construction industries because of the challenges in measuring both output and hours worked.” 

For instance, 2,000-square-foot homes come in an endless number of styles and contain a wide variety of materials — and the challenges of building one on the east coast will differ from the midwest, south, or west coast. Even building these homes in different areas of the same county can have drastically different results. Most industries don’t experience the same degree of variability .

Deflating construction prices

To really quantify an industry’s productivity, you need reliable data to base current, past, and future costs off. Finding those deflators within construction is difficult because it’s a unique industry. The Bureau of Labor Statistics agrees, saying “it is difficult to develop reliable output price deflators to convert observed revenues into constant dollar measures of output growth.”

Also, the act of painting with a broad brush simply muddies the water. According to the Building Futures Council , “The use of proxy indices in construction also contributes to the problem (e.g. using the Census Housing Index to deflate commercial and military construction).” 

Other industries don’t have these same issues, as accurate deflators are much easier to determine and can be reliable for longer periods of time. 

Subcontracting

How a typical construction project comes to fruition also makes it difficult to determine the actual cost of labor. Typically, the general contractor subs out work to specialty contractors. Rather than accounting for those labor hours directly, they’re accounted for in materials inputs. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics states, “The services of subcontractors would normally be included as purchases of materials inputs, much as any other firm purchases necessary inputs from its suppliers. Since the present analysis considers only labor productivity growth, it does not account for materials inputs.” For that reason, the BLS can’t quantify them.

Undocumented labor

Skilled undocumented labor makes up a large portion of the construction industry workforce. According to some estimates, 13 percent of construction labor is performed by undocumented labor, though the actual number is obviously hard to nail down. This creates a significant (if not impossible) challenge for determining construction productivity.

According to the BLS, “It is likely that at least some undocumented laborers are included in official measures of employment,” through one means or another.

However, if those workers are entirely off the books, they may not be included in labor hours, therefore significantly skewing the level of productivity.

9 ways to improve construction productivity

With that understanding of the productivity struggles and why it’s hard to put a finger on it, it’s worth exploring how to improve it. 

The following tips could provide the answers necessary to not only boost productivity but also kick the nation’s economy into high gear. 

1. Streamline the regulatory process

Construction is one of the most highly regulated industries in the country, and it’s for a good reason. Building safety, life safety, and environmental impacts shouldn’t be taken lightly, so regulatory agencies must exist to oversee projects. But regulation often slows productivity, affecting output while extending hours worked. 

Streamlining permitting and approval processes (possibly through web-based portals and apps) can allow the regulatory agencies to help keep the project on schedule.

2. Simplify contractual processes

It should come as no surprise that when two entities work together toward any common goal, the work goes faster and typically smoother. So why do we approach contracting with such an antagonistic, me-vs-them attitude?

The industry needs to consider moving toward a more synergistic, collaborative system focused on solving problems rather than undercutting the next bid. This attitude shift can lead to open communication—the harbinger of better-quality projects, fulfilled and valued contractors, and happy project owners.

Crash Course: Everything You Should Know about Construction Contracts

3. Supply chain management

One of the most significant issues that the construction industry deals with is the ever-changing supply chain landscape. Fluctuations in materials pricing, availability, and shipping costs chew construction company profits to the bone. Yet it remains an issue, year after year.

Obviously, companies need to diversify their supply chain and leverage their efforts to protect their profits. But, the supply chain moving toward digitalization will allow for better logistics management, allowing the chain to fill orders and deliver materials faster, decreasing hours worked while increasing productivity and output.

And not letting cash flow bog down the supply chain is another area worth considering. Financing designed for the supply chain in the construction industry allows contractors to keep moving forward and secure their place in line with an order before they receive a single check.

4. Improve payment transparency

If there’s one thing that can bring a thriving project to a halt, it’s payment problems. And it’s not always a lack of money or dishonesty that causes them. Often, a project owner or GC doesn’t know who needs to get paid, and a check might go unwritten. This missing check can turn into a project delay when the unpaid contractor files a mechanics lien and pursues legal action .

That’s not good for productivity.

To improve transparency, some projects moved to a publicly available database of contractors working on a project. This means that the project owner, GCs, subs, and suppliers all know who is working on a project, keeping everyone on a level playing field.

Also, general contractors or project owners requiring all participants on a project to send preliminary notice will solve a large part of the issue. As the preliminary notices roll in, the GC can develop its own database of involved parties, ensuring everyone gets paid for their efforts.

5. Prequalify contractors

Ever notice that some contractors seem to have a black cloud following all of their projects? Every project is late, over-budget, and riddled with productivity-sapping issues. What if there was a way to identify these contractors before doing business with them? There is, and it’s called a contractor payment profile .

The data that makes up these profiles will help vet contractors and subs for their past performances and technical proficiency. These factors allow the hiring party to estimate how the contractor might handle their project. Also, these profiles include the information necessary to determine whether or not a contractor values transparent payment practices—a must-have for well-oiled productivity.

6. Invest in technology

It shouldn’t come as a shock that one way to improve productivity is to lean on technology. The right technology can limit the number of hours spent working on simple tasks, allowing employees to stretch their problem-solving muscles and improve output. This leads to happier employees and better productivity.

Technology has a place in several areas in construction management:

• Smart contracts automate payments, approvals, orders, and other critical processes to speed up payments, scheduling, and more
• New design technologies like BIM and VDC provide better accuracy for office staff and help reduce errors in the field
• Software that links the field and back-office can improve communication and streamline contract changes 
• Real-time management software can improve accounting, subcontractor scheduling, and other regular tasks
• Payment software can reduce the stress on administrative and financial staff while keeping vendors, suppliers, and subcontractors happy

With so many areas typically realizing the benefit of automation, staff can do the more important tasks that a computer program cannot. 

7. Prioritize safety

Prioritizing safety is key when it comes to construction productivity. According to the National Safety Council , 99 million days of productivity were lost from work injuries in 2020, with an additional 50 million days of lost productivity projected for future years tied to those same injuries. 

Job delays due to injuries can decrease productivity exponentially. It’s important to know what to look for and implement policies that may help prevent loss on projects. 

Read more: OSHA’s top construction violations and how to prevent them

Investing in a safety program, training employees to follow safety procedures, and making safety a key component in company operations can help prevent project delays and additional costs that may be incurred due to worker injuries. Implementing safety protocols can also mitigate accidents from occuring on job sites and increase productivity levels. 

8. Take advantage of prefabrication

Prefabrication can boost productivity on construction projects as it saves time and doesn’t rely on unforeseen hiccups like inclement weather or scheduling conflicts that are likely to occur during onsite work. Spending less time tangled up in project delays means companies can take on more projects and streamline their process.

It is important to consider some of the drawbacks that accompany prefabrication, however. Since the majority of labor and materials aren’t incorporated into the property until they are installed onsite, modular build methods may run into payment problems. Mechanics lien laws , for example, come into play for improvement on real property. Prefabrication projects are considered an improvement until after the majority of the structure is built. 

Read more: Prefab construction: Getting paid for offsite work 

This can further muddy the water with efforts to quantify labor, as mentioned above with subcontractor work. Prefabrication is a favorable route to consider to increase productivity on construction projects, but contractors should keep in mind that it is difficult to track data that reflects how productivity is affected by this method of construction. 

9. Improve access to project financing

Construction is a cash-hungry business, and it’s impossible to keep productivity up while scraping the bottom of the barrel. In fact, a lack of cash flow is the main reason why construction companies fail . Without the money to spend on project labor, materials, and technology, productivity plummets and takes output with it.

Luckily, contractors have an increasing number of financial options to choose from, and they’re specifically tailored to the industry. Resources such as 120-day materials financing can remove the financial limitation that reduces productivity while also giving a contractor the boost, confidence, and opportunity they need to grow their business.

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What does it mean to be “creative” in engineering and construction?

For an industry founded upon solving problems, creativity is a quality that may well be as fundamental to projects as the laws of physics.

Creativity is behind every breakthrough material that changes the way structures are conceived and every process that helps streamline project schedules. It’s as far-reaching as a life-saving safety improvement and as humble as a bit of jobsite thoughtfulness that makes a client’s day.

To John Hillman, president and CEO of HCB Inc. and the 2010 recipient of ENR’s Award of Excellence, creativity is best defined by how memorable it is. “Chances are that if you take the time to reflect on something that you have never seen or experienced before, then it probably qualifies as creative,” he says.

Though some people seem to have a knack for good ideas, the process itself can be just as important to making creativity happen. Neil Deans, senior vice president of Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc., sees creativity as a natural result of a full understanding of the objective.

“Sometimes the end result exhibits a creative ‘flair’ that outwardly demonstrates the creativity employed,” he explains, “but often it is simply a building, bridge, machine or road that meets the ultimate objective—achieved through a remarkably creative design process.”

However creativity is defined and exhibited, the need for it has never been greater, because the design and construction environment has never been more complicated. Challenges such as multi-stakeholder involvement, long-term resiliency, labor shortages and environmental concerns now compound long-standing considerations of cost, schedule, quality and public safety. So too do external factors such as regulatory issues, public opinion and client and community preferences.

Successfully tackling these and other challenges would indicate a need for more “out of the box” thinking. But like a Russian nesting doll, design and construction professionals may find themselves hemmed in by other boxes. As a result, some say there may well be a tendency for project teams to simply take the path of least resistance, falling back on “safe” solutions when other approaches could offer greater value.

Chilling Effect

Some professionals point to the emergence of regulations and the threat of liability issues for having a “chilling effect” on creativity. Hillman notes that because today’s designs must be compliant with code provisions, most importantly for public safety, “one could make the case that when the design codes were simpler and covered the basic principles, that more opportunity existed for creative solutions backed up with sound engineering judgment.”

And even if a design or building professional has a creative solution to offer, there must be a client who not only wants it but also is willing to pay for it.

Indeed, although design-build and public-private partnerships are intended to foster innovation, “least cost” often trumps “best value” in the selection process, Hillman says. “More often than not, owners only facilitate a solution that is compliant and not compelling,” he says.

“Focusing on hours and margin tends to discourage creativity,” adds John Atz, Kimley-Horn’s president and CEO, who says that such mind-sets are more prevalent in the public sector. “If you include time for innovation as a line item, it will be the first thing to come off.”

Other project delivery approaches such as construction manager at-risk or lump-sum contracts may afford more freedom for creativity. “But even then, if you connect risk on result, rather than what went into justifying that approach—and the willingness to take risk—there will be fewer opportunities to be creative,” Atz says.

Though it might be tempting to blame client practices, regulations and  “institutional” constraints for suppressing creativity, other factors closer to home are in play as well. Because individual talent and training underlies how individuals approach tasks, people with technical mind-sets may have more difficulty tapping the right-brain “soft skills” that spawn innovation.

“If you can apply your technical tools to meet a project’s quality and cost goals, you should be able to hit it out of the park,” says Jim Wells, executive vice president of Iowa-based contractor The Weitz Co. Wells adds that while his firm strives to do just that, “some clients subsequently told us they weren’t happy with the overall experience.”

Kaan Celebi, operations manager for international project management firm TA Group, argues that experience can sometimes be as much of a handicap as an advantage because it may cause some professionals to defer too often to the status quo.

“This can be as tangible as the projects themselves—boring designs with no aesthetic or functional concerns—to something as simple as using the same document forms and templates for the last 20 years,” Celebi says.

An engineering or contractor’s culture can likewise inhibit creativity, particularly in environments where there’s little obvious incentive to stray from the tried and true.

“The bigger the organization, the less agile it tends to be,” says Charles Thornton, the 2001 ENR Award of Excellence winner and now chairman of Charles H. Thornton & Co. LLC, a management and strategic consulting firm. “Yet the current, most efficient industry management approaches—lean and Six Sigma—all encourage agility.”

Creativity 101?

Attempting to make creativity routine across design and construction may seem a paradoxical and quixotic ambition, given the diversity of external constraints. However, refinements to corporate culture may well be a more practical starting point for sparking new ways of thinking. Monetary incentives and company awards are already found among many engineering firms and contractors, says Celebi, but “upper management’s’ genuine vision and support are the greatest enhancers of creativity.”

Atz agrees, but asks, “If someone sticks his or her neck out, do you as a corporation recognize and reward it or look only at the result?” He adds that decisions shouldn’t be made “based just on the downside of taking a risk,” even if the idea doesn’t pan out.

The simple act of communication can foster more collaboration among project teams, creating a more fertile environment for creativity. Up-front constructibility reviews and model sharing are just some of the keys that differentiate the more successful design-build projects, Thornton says.

As for those who may worry about potential liability due to defects, Thornton responds that by sharing the model, “you find the defects and eliminate the problems. If you have brains and nerve, collaboration gives you a niche.”

Wells says his company goes so far as to look for problems to solve. To fully understand a client’s specific expectations, he explains, project leaders ask a series of questions aimed at not only determining the “whats” of a project but also its “whys.”

“The more we know, the more we can plan around it,” Wells says, adding that there’s a risk of receiving difficult responses. “It’s better to know where the land mines are and what we can innovate around,” he says.

How well contractors and engineering firms cultivate creativity also will be essential in their efforts to recruit and retain the next generation of professionals, who are coming from environments where innovative thinking is the core of  advancement.

“In general, I will say the way we teach engineering has evolved since, say, the 1950s,” says Stephen Muench, associate professor of construction engineering at the University of Washington. For example, Muench strives to “coach” the students’ creativity as they tackle large, complex problems with incomplete information and no one right solution.

“This is, I think, different than the old-school format of homework, homework, tests that involved a lot of memorization and not much higher-order thinking,” he says.

Interestingly, the biggest driver for creativity may well be when project teams have no choice, such as when time or resource limitations make conventional solutions unfeasible. “To me, the best projects are where time is of the essence, and you’re forced by the client to find a solution,” Thornton says.

That’s why a regular team of trusted partners is critical in such situations. “You can waste little chunks of time defending things or trying to convince other team members, which quickly adds up,” he says. “If you’re used to working with each other, you know what your partners can and can’t do. That helps move things along.”

To be sure, nobody should be faulted for electing to dip a toe into the idea pool rather than jumping in with both feet. “At the end of the day,” Hillman says, “everyone is a lot more comfortable being the 42nd man on the moon rather than the first.”

Nevertheless, Hillman adds, design and construction professionals should never pass up an opportunity to consider what may lie at the end of the less-traveled path.

“You might be rewarded, or you might fail,” he says, adding that the trade-offs of this approach were best summed up by Canadian rock musician Neil Peart, who said, “The point of the journey is not to arrive.” 

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Jim Parsons is a freelance writer who covers the industry from metro Washington, DC.

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What Soft Skills Are Important When Working in the Construction Industry?

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In the construction industry, soft skills are arguably more important than any hard skill you can ever learn. In fact, if you have a good set of soft skills , hard skills tend to fall into place once management recognizes this talent. In addition to being easily recognized, your ability to become a role model for your team will improve your credibility and give you a leg up on the competition. Given this reality, it is vital that you figure out how to develop these soft skills before it’s too late.

Sam, the Director of Doors Delivered says " Having hard skills in the construction industry is crucial, but your soft skills are what will help take you to higher levels. ”

In this article, we discuss some of the most crucial skills that everyone in the construction industry should have.

Let’s dive right in.

1. Time Management

Time management is an important soft skill when working in the construction industry. The construction industry is one of the toughest jobs because of its tight schedules and deadlines, and so it needs people who can handle the pressure involved. To work in the construction industry, you need to always understand your assigned task and ensure you meet the set deadline.

The construction industry also needs people who can keep track of multiple tasks, juggle different deadlines, and who can communicate efficiently. To develop great time management , always ensure you understand your schedules, and the deadlines. That way, you can make sure you spend a specific amount of time on each task and be done with them all at the end of the day.

2. Communication

Communication is an important soft skill in the construction industry because you must be able to develop relationships with employees, customers, suppliers, and other involved parties.

Communication is a learned skill. It is important to develop good communication skills in order to become proficient at working in the construction industry. When developing good communication skills, it is first important to listen. So, listen carefully and actively , and ask questions when necessary, express yourself clearly, and provide the right information. This will help you to understand how to communicate effectively with your both your fellow employees and bosses. Moreover, strong communication skills can help subcontractors in negotiation situations. They need to negotiate terms, project specifications, and deadlines with general contractors and clients, enabling them to assert their interests and find mutually beneficial solutions for successful project outcomes.

3. Problem Solving

Problem-solving is another crucial soft skill when working in the construction industry.

This skill involves the use of logic and creative thinking to come up with a viable solution to a problem. It is vital in the construction industry because every problem is unique, and there will never be a 'one size fits all' answer.

When working on projects, you will inevitably face many situations where the answer is not obvious, or there may be various opinions or perspectives that could be correct. Being able to spot a problem, draw conclusions and come up with a viable solution is, therefore, essential to the success of any construction project.

The construction industry is very fast-paced, and problem-solving is a skill that can be learnt and developed with practice. If you are not sure about a problem, you can always ask the superiors until you get the hang of it.

4. Stress Management

Stress management is equally important in the construction industry because employees often work long hours and typically work under stressful conditions. Construction workers also often work in dangerous or hazardous conditions. Statistics show that in 2014, construction was the industry that had the highest rate of fatal occupational injuries. The construction industry also has the highest rates of employee stress compared with other industries.

Here are some recommendations that can help you cope with stress better:

• Get enough sleep.
• Eat a well-balanced diet.
• Keep a positive outlook.

5. Leadership

Leadership is the ability to inspire others to achieve a common goal.

The construction industry has an enormous need for leaders at all levels.

The skills that are required of a leader are similar to those required in any industry. However, the construction industry places additional demands on leaders.

Successful leaders in the construction industry have leadership skills that enable them to motivate , inspire, communicate, negotiate and delegate effectively.

Developing leadership skills in the construction industry can take time, but it can still be done. Leadership isn't something that just happens by chance. It requires conscious, constant effort.

To build leadership skills, start by understanding yourself , and defining your core values. What are your strengths and weaknesses ? What motivates you? What drives you?

Take the time to understand yourself so that you can effectively lead others.

Next, understand your people. Take the time to get to know your co-workers.

Taking the time to understand yourself and others will make you a better leader.

6. Project Management

Construction projects are usually complex. They need people with experience, knowledge, and practical skills. A project manager in this industry is expected to possess the following skills:

• The ability to listen and to understand.
• The ability to lead, persuade, influence and motivate team members.
• The ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
• The ability to negotiate with clients and other construction team members.

Project management also includes technical knowledge such as building codes, safety practices and techniques, as well as the ability to read blueprints. These skills can be learned through a variety of methods, including on the job training, seminars, and classes.

As with any career, project management is not for everyone. Those who thrive in a project management environment are typically well organized, detail-oriented, self-motivated and goal-oriented.

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The second edition of or bestselling eBook is ideal for anyone who wants to improve their skills and learning potential, and it is full of easy-to-follow, practical information.

Soft skills are important in the construction industry. Construction workers are in high demand, and the people who succeed in it are the ones who have these skills.

In addition to a strong work ethic, you need some soft skills, like the ability to work well with others . You will work hand in hand with your colleagues, so being able to get along with them is important. Plus, you will deal with the public. So, if you want to succeed, you will need to become the type of person who gets along well with people.

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Bridging the labor mismatch in US construction

The US construction sector seems set for a jobs boom. The US Bipartisan Infrastructure Law  projects $550 billion of new infrastructure investment over the next decade, which our modeling suggests could create 3.2 million new jobs across the nonresidential construction value chain. That’s approximately a 30 percent increase in the overall US nonresidential construction workforce, which would mean 300,000 to 600,000 new workers entering the sector—every year.

This is a big ask for an industry that is already struggling to find the people it needs. In October 2021, 402,000 construction positions 1 Included both nonresidential and residential construction openings. Further granularity is not available from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. remained unfilled at the end of the month, the second-highest level recorded since data collection began in December 2000.

In this environment, wages have already increased significantly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting intense competition for employees, with employers offering higher pay or other nonwage benefits. Between December 2019 and 2021, construction wages grew by 7.9 percent. 2 Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Competition from other sectors for the same pool of labor is heating up, too. For example, over the same period, transportation and warehousing wages grew by 12.6 percent. The prospect of higher pay and better working conditions is already tempting experienced workers away from construction and into these and other sectors.

No end in sight

Today’s mismatches are likely to persist because of structural shifts in the labor market. The relationship between job openings and unemployment has departed from historical trends. In January 2022—two years from the start of the pandemic—the US unemployment rate stood at 4.0 percent, close to its prepandemic level of 3.5 percent. Job openings remained exceptionally high, however, with 10.9 million unfilled positions as of the end of December 2021, compared with 5.9 million in December 2019.

This labor supply imbalance has multiple root causes, some shorter term and cyclical while others are more structural in nature. For example, the pandemic brought forward the retirements of many in the baby-boomer generation, with an estimated 3.2 million leaving the workforce in 2020—over a million more than in any year before 2016. According to the American Opportunity Survey , among those who are unemployed, concerns about physical health, mental health, and lack of childcare remain the dominant impediments preventing reentry into the workforce. Research on the “Great Attrition/Great Attraction”  also highlights the importance of nonwage components of the employee value proposition. Record job openings and quit rates highlight employees’ growing emphasis on feeling valued by their organization, supportive management, and flexibility and autonomy at work.

Additionally, the pipeline of new construction workers is not flowing as freely as it once did. Training programs have been slow to restart operations after pandemic-driven safety concerns led to their suspension the spring of 2020. The industry is finding it more difficult to attract the international workforce that has been an important source of talent for engineering, design, and contracting activities. Net migration has been falling since 2016, a trend accelerated by COVID-19 travel restrictions. 3 Population estimates, US Census Bureau. Between 2016 and 2021, net migration declined steadily from 1.06 million to 244,000.

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Impact on projects.

The interconnected nature of the construction value chain means that the labor mismatch generates knock-on effects across the project life cycle and supply chain. By late 2021, project owners were reporting that up to 25 percent of material deliveries to sites were either late or incomplete. In project execution, the combination of higher hourly rates, premiums and incentives, and overtime payments was resulting in overall labor costs as much as double prepandemic levels. Meanwhile, difficulty accessing skilled and experienced people was leading some owners to report project delays related to issues around the quality and productivity of on-site work.

In some US cities and their suburbs, wage growth has surpassed the level seen in core Gulf Coast counties at the height of the shale oil boom. Labor shortages in the shale sector drove wages up by 5 to 10 percent and were correlated with steep drops in productivity. The productivity of some tasks fell by 40 percent or more during shale construction peaks (exhibit), and overall productivity declined by about 40 percent per year when labor was in short supply. This forced owners to extend project timelines by 20 to 25 percent. The impact of a long-term, nationwide labor mismatch might be even more severe than the shale industry’s experience, given that oil companies were able to attract new workers from around the country.

Getting back into balance

The labor mismatch in the construction sector is bad today, and set to get worse. To avoid a decade or more of rising costs, falling productivity, and ever-increasing project delays, companies in the industry should consider thoughtful actions now.

Those actions could address three components of the challenge. First, companies could do everything possible to maximize productivity through measures aimed at improving efficiency across the value chain. Second, they could expand the pool of available labor by doubling down on accessing diverse talent and working harder to retain the employees already in their organization. Finally, they could consider making labor a strategic priority, with senior leadership attention within companies.

Improving construction productivity

Companies could access a range of levers to reduce the labor content required per job and drive to improve productivity in project development and delivery. Those levers involve changes to project designs and fresh thinking about when, where, and how work is done.

Improvements in productivity occur long before work starts on the ground. They include rigorous control of project scope, design simplification, and standardization. Increasing the use of off-site and modular construction , for example, could allow projects to capture multiple benefits, including accelerated design cycles; the greater productivity associated with industrialized, factory floor manufacturing techniques; automation; and less time spent on site.

Smarter execution management, enabled by digital technologies and analytics techniques could drive better, faster decision making during project delivery. Real-time data collection, for example, gives project managers earlier, more detailed insights about progress, allowing them to intervene more effectively to maintain productivity and keep projects on track. Intelligent simulation software allows teams to evaluate hundreds of thousands of possible critical paths, identifying approaches that could be more efficient or less risky than the conventional wisdom.

Lean construction is another proven way to drive significant and sustainable productivity improvements. Establishing a centralized, continuous improvement engine could enhance on-site execution through integrated planning, performance management, and waste elimination. Key stakeholders across the project work with a common, agreed set of key performance indicators. That allows them to address issues in real time and facilitates collaboration to reduce waste and variability work. Capability building across the planning and construction teams could help team members understand and adopt lean construction practices.

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Reimagining talent.

To ensure access to the skills they need, construction sector companies can accelerate the onboarding of recruits, boost retention by revisiting what employees want beyond wages, and invest more in developing their pipelines of future workers.

In the near term, employers could prioritize review of job applications and reduce the number of steps in both the interview and onboarding process. In the medium term, both the public and private sectors could look to reduce hiring timelines and shift to a skills-based approach when hiring.

In the medium term, retaining current staff and attracting new talent will both turn on understanding of what employees value beyond wages. Competitive wages are now table stakes, so employees are thinking about a broader set of benefits and workplace characteristics when making decisions about where to work. Research on attrition in the postpandemic workplace  has shown that they are placing more emphasis on autonomy, flexibility, support, and upward mobility.

In the longer term, the construction industry can consider a new approach to talent attraction, development, and retention. Talent acquisition could begin early, through partnerships with educational institutions including universities, colleges, and high schools. These partnerships could boost awareness of the possibilities of a career in the sector and ensure future employees have appropriate skills prior to onboarding.

Companies could also look more widely for potential recruits, considering individuals who have taken alternative educational paths, such as technical degrees or hands-on experience. The Rework America Alliance , a Markle-led coalition in which McKinsey is a partner, illustrates the importance of skills-based, rather than credential-based, hiring. A skills-based perspective  is key to tapping into the talents of the 106 million workers who have built capabilities through experience but whose talents are often unrecognized because they don’t have a four-year college degree. A skills-based approach could be complemented by reimagining apprenticeships to bring younger students and vocational talent into the industry at an earlier stage in their careers.

Employers could consider working with a range of nontraditional sources of talent, including veteran-transition programs, formerly incarcerated individuals, and others. Homeboy Industries provides an example of the local impact, effectiveness, and potential of working with often overlooked population segments. Moreover, identifying and attracting talent from outside the traditional paths used by the construction industry could also help it to increase the diversity of its workforce. Today, 88 percent of the sector’s workforce is White and 89 percent is male. 4 Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey Database, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed March 10, 2022.

Looking at labor through a strategic lens

Labor and skills shortages have the potential to slow growth and erode profitability across the construction value chain. For C-suites, there’s no other single issue that could protect against significant cost erosion. Companies could consider establishing a systematic talent acquisition and retention program, led by a C-level executive and a core part of the CEO agenda. That program could first be tasked with building a robust fact base on current and emerging labor needs and availability gaps. It could then identify a bold set of initiatives that address labor-related issues across the value chain. This exercise starts in the boardroom, but it doesn’t stop there. Leadership will likely need to be increasingly present in the field and on the job site too, celebrating and recognizing top talent throughout the organization.

The labor challenge extends well beyond corporate boundaries. Since the successful delivery of a project could be jeopardized by labor shortages in a single value-chain participant, project owners and contractors may want to adapt the structure of project relationships and contracts. Moving away from traditional contracting methods to collaborative contracts , for example, allows participants to share market risks and opportunities as a project evolves, rather than baking in worst-case estimates at the outset of negotiations.

The US construction sector is poised to revitalize, replace, and expand the country’s infrastructure. Done right, that will power inclusive growth and set up the economy for success in the 21st century. To do so, the sector will need to address its labor challenges. That calls for the application of a diverse set of tools and approaches to create better jobs, get the most out of its people, and optimize agility and collaboration across the value chain.

Garo Hovnanian is a partner in McKinsey’s Philadelphia office, Ryan Luby is a senior knowledge expert in the New York office, and Shannon Peloquin is a partner in the Bay Area office.

The authors wish to thank Tim Bacon, Luis Campos, Roberto Charron, Justin Dahl, Rebecca de Sa, Bonnie Dowling, Bryan Hancock, Rawad Hasrouni, Adi Kumar, Jonathan Law, Michael Neary, Nikhil Patel, Gaby Pierre, Jose Maria Quiros, Kurt Schoeffler, Shubham Singhal, Stephanie Stefanski, Jennifer Volz, and Jonathan Ward for their contributions to this article.

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Top 15 Construction Issues & Industry Challenges in 2024

Introduction, 1. slow technological adoption speed, 2. managing documentation, 3. issues with cash flow, 4. the problem of “pointing fingers”, 5. irregular equipment maintenance/replacement, 6. “forgetful” clients, 7. keeping up with compliance regulations, 8. construction safety, 9. working on a schedule, 10. communication problems, 11. lack of a skilled workforce, 12. insufficient productivity, 13. issues with supply chains, 14. vandalism/theft on site, 15. lack of reliable subcontractors, the future of the construction industry.

The construction industry has been living through an exciting phase, growing nonstop, and facing many challenges simultaneously. A single construction contractor in the U.S. called the Turner Corporation managed to acquire over 16 billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2022. That same year, the overall construction market in the United States reached over 1.8 trillion U.S. dollars – a very lucrative market for most companies involved.

That is not to say that the industry is easy to work in. It has plenty of issues, some relatively new, while others are decades old. There are a variety of different approaches to these construction issues. For example, slow rates of technological adoption are sometimes treated as a single big challenge, and sometimes as a multitude of problems, including communication problems, scheduling issues, and problems with documentation.

Now, we will go over some of the most significant issues in the construction industry, starting with the problem of compliance in a world of constantly changing rules and regulations. Other issues will be mentioned, too. We will also attempt to offer solutions to these issues, no matter how insignificant or ineffective they may seem.

The construction industry is notoriously slow to adopt new technologies, and the problem has existed for a long time. Even though many business owners acknowledge the various benefits that newer technologies can provide, it is still fairly common for the technological departments of construction businesses to have relatively small budgets.

A solution to this issue

There are many different technologies and advancements that are rarely used by construction companies, including:

• Internet of things
• Drone surveillance
• Robots, and more

Ironically, these technologies are incredibly beneficial in counteracting some of the oldest problems in the construction industry. As we have mentioned, one of these problems is scheduling, but it is not the only one on the list.

Unsurprisingly, construction generally involves a lot of documentation, such as contracts, receipts, insurance certificates, and material orders. Dealing with all of this regularly makes the document management process slower and more prone to human error.

Running entire businesses mostly paperlessly has been possible for a while now. There are many systems and solutions on the market to help with document management in various ways, such as via categorization and monitoring due dates and project deadlines.

That being said, not all of the problems and issues in the construction industry are easily fixable or technology-related. Our next issue in construction is a clear example of that.

Construction companies must have free cash to pay for several things semi-regularly. The list includes payments to subcontractors, vendors, suppliers, and employees. However, the payment for a completed project may come only once, after the project is completed.

Fund management is a surprisingly common problem among construction companies, and this can spawn an impressive number of issues. The only viable solution for these kinds of problems, aside from getting steady cash flow (which may not be feasible in some cases) is to have a line of business credit open for “worst-case scenarios” or to get through periods that are financially challenging for the company.

Financial issues are not the only ones you have to deal with when working on a construction project. Another relatively frequent problem comes from people’s unwillingness to take responsibility for anything.

It is statistically impossible for construction projects to always go smoothly and without problems. And when a crisis happens, the finger-pointing begins, more often than not. For example, the contractor points fingers at subcontractors, the client blames the contractor and gets reprimanded by the project manager.

This kind of finger pointing (the “blame game,” as it’s sometimes called) is completely pointless and only prolongs the time frame for resolving the issue. A specific policy – a builder’s risk policy – can help with the problem.

A builder’s risk policy is a type of property insurance that covers the majority of possible problems that may happen during the construction process – from vandalism and theft to natural disasters and extreme weather conditions.

This policy can also be elevated to cover more questionable actions, such as the client claiming that they do not like the work after it is done and citing a contract breach. In these cases, the combination of a liability policy and faulty workmanship coverage can protect your side of the deal from paying extra for a project with a pre-established price tag.

One thing that many companies tend to skip over is construction equipment costs, or maintenance/replacement costs, to be specific. It is also one of the biggest reasons for project overrun costs, since replacing your equipment mid-construction means additional expenses. These expenses easily lead to less revenue from a project, as construction equipment tends to cost a lot of money.

Some of the means of trying to fix this problem include keeping a close eye on equipment that begins to show signs of malfunctioning all of a sudden and being quick on your feet if your equipment breaks down mid-construction (replacing it as soon as possible, whether via an equipment loan or by using funds on hand).

That is not to say that equipment costs are the entirety of project overrun costs. They may also be the result of the client “changing their mind” at the last minute.

This issue is somewhat similar to what we’ve discussed in the context of “pointing fingers,” since it is a similar type of client behavior. One of the most common cases here is for a client to request a change mid-project and then pretend to “forget” it when paying for the completed project.

The only way to avoid this situation is to get a signed change order for every change in your project if anything is requested after the initial plan is finalized.

Unfortunately, this questionable behavior is not limited to clients or owners, and the number of unreliable contractors is far more significant.

Technology constantly changes and evolves, and the various rules and regulations must keep up. Keeping up with all this is challenging, especially since companies are affected by different levels of restrictions. This includes worldwide compliance rules and country-specific laws and regulations, or even things that are extremely local and specific for a single state or city.

It is not uncommon for regulation update messages to get lost and unnoticed in the daily flood of work-related mail. And yet, compliance breaches due to unnoticed changes can turn out to be disastrous for a company.

It is a good practice to try and reroute regulation-related messages to a specific place where you can find them more easily. Additionally, some people dedicate a part of their day to catching up with regulatory updates and rule changes.

The construction industry is well-known for its high risk of on-site injury. An essential part of any construction project is the stage where the building is physically created with the help of heavy machinery, weighty materials, and many construction workers. The nature of the work in the industry implies a significant possibility of an injury happening sooner or later.

A single on-site injury can be a massive problem for the company overseeing the construction project. The fact that the damage itself is often quite severe is an even bigger problem with factors such as lawsuits and insurance compensation. Depending on the position of the injured person, there may also be delays to the entire project if there is no ready replacement.

Most on-site construction injuries are entirely random, making it difficult to predict and counteract them beforehand. The best way to approach this is to adopt a more safety-focused attitude toward on-site work, investing more in protective equipment, safety training programs, and even safety protocols for when something happens or is about to happen.

While experience does matter, it is not uncommon for even the most knowledgeable of professionals to make mistakes when scheduling is managed manually. This is a problem that modern-day technology can mitigate to the highest degree with various automation systems, project management applications for different devices, and virtual task boards.

This is one of many problems that modern technology and its advantages can solve partially or entirely. However, this list would not be very long if it were not for another massive problem that the entire construction industry has been dealing with for a while now.

A surprisingly high percentage of problems within a construction project are directly related to the lack of timely communication between different teams and departments.

This is another massive problem that is easily solvable by modern-day technology in multiple ways. For example, your workers’ smartphones can make communication much faster (since billions of people worldwide have access to personal smartphones) – via emails, regular messages, or even various construction-related apps.

This approach can easily prevent most minor problems in the project from becoming more prominent and challenging, and it is also another example of technology bringing massive potential benefits to construction companies. On the topic of technologies, we are missing one more major field of work with the same possible solution.

The lack of a skilled workforce might be one of the biggest problems in the construction industry today, and it is one that also gets worse every year, with fewer and fewer young people interested in working in the construction industry and older employees being closer and closer to retirement.

The demand keeps growing regularly, and the problem is not specific to a single country or continent. While some initiatives have been attempted on that level to fix this problem, it is also possible for construction companies to try and mitigate the effects of the issue for themselves.

Two of the most significant potential approaches to this are mentoring and construction staffing agencies. Mentorship can work for inexperienced students/college graduates and existing skilled labor, allowing more potential employees to be brought in. On the other hand, staffing agencies are tasked with covering most of the recruiting and pre-screening, offering the workforce exactly when you need them.

Productivity and efficiency have been some of the industry’s most prominent issues for a long time. Many technological advancements have been made in recent years to make most industries more productive, but the construction industry is not among them, and the overall stagnation of productivity is something everyone knows about already.

Customers’ expectations grow over time, and construction companies that do not want to evolve and change will sooner or later fall into obscurity, incapable of competing with other players on the market regarding budgets and deadlines.

Productivity is an extensive topic, and there is no single solution to this massive issue. In a way, the issue is similar to the problem of the slow adoption of technology that we mentioned above. Both of these issues have a relatively simple yet complicated solution: investment in the adoption of new technologies and methods. Transforming an existing company structure to enable the implementation of BIM is an excellent example of such an investment.

The supply chain has never been a simple topic in this industry, and the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic made it several times worse than ever before. With companies closing left and right, it was not surprising to see shipping times getting longer and prices rising all over the planet. The problem persists to this day, although it is better than it was just two or three years ago.

This problem may be one of the most difficult on this list because there has yet to be a simple solution to something that has plagued the entire planet for several years. There may be partial solutions to the problem, such as researching and investing in local material sourcing, using more efficient inventory management solutions, or optimizing a company’s supply chains by adding new potential suppliers.

Theft and vandalism are issues that are not typically associated with the construction industry, but it is a problem that has existed for a long time and shows no signs of stopping. It is terrible for construction companies, since every missing or unusable piece of material decreases the overall margin of a project.

Fixing this problem requires some investments in regular surveillance equipment, such as fences, cameras, alarms, more lighting on-site, and more closed containers to store materials in.

This construction issue is the one that hinges the most on networking and recommendations. The number of subcontractors on the market, in general, is massive, and it might take some time to pick one for the job without in-depth knowledge.

One excellent way to avoid picking an unreliable contractor is to ask your vendors or material suppliers for recommendations. Asking subcontractors you have worked with before also works wonders in finding reliable connections.

It is also recommended to check subcontractors’ licenses and general liability insurance and list yourself as additionally insured on their insurance before finalizing the hiring process.

This industry has been around for a long time, changing and evolving multiple times before becoming the way it is now. Despite its setbacks, construction is still one of the most critical parts of the global economy. Even industries as conservative as the construction industry will have to evolve and improve sooner or later because of rising demand, rising quality standards, and shorter deadline expectations. Trying to do everything you can to get ahead of the competition in the industry is a given, and turning to new technologies might be the competitive edge some smaller companies need right now.

The construction industry is old and has been through a lot. Some of its problems are ancient, while others have become more prominent in recent years and were not a problem before. In this article, we have tried to go over the most significant construction issues on the market and some of the means of avoiding or eliminating them.

BIM/VDC Specialist. James Ocean is Head of BIMspiration at Revizto and keeps everything moving onwards and upwards. From supporting and teaching our internal team as well as our clients, James shows us the ins-and-outs and how to best leverage Revizto to maximize workflows, cut costs, and get all types of projects through the finish line.

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Problems in the Construction Industry: Challenges & Solutions

What’s one of the most inefficient industries in the world? Simple: The construction industry. With Alpin Innovation Labs (AILA), we intend to change this and solve the problems in the construction industry. Here’s how.

Why is the construction industry in need of innovation?

Here’s the thing: The construction industry is notoriously inefficient. 

Projects are rarely delivered on time or within budget. Operational costs are often higher than predicted. And while there are many solutions out there, the industry is still lagging behind when it comes to sustainability. 

In fact: According to  the Economist , the construction industry is the least efficient industry. Plus, the industry is one of the least sustainable industries.  About 20% of the world’s emissions are caused by the construction industry. 

And it makes sense. While most other industries are quickly adopting digital tools and becoming more sustainable, the construction industry often is not. 

It’s clear that the industry needs new ideas and solutions. And that’s what we do at Alpin Innovation Labs.

How AILA is changing the construction industry for the better

At AILA, our mission is to provide innovative practices that solve the problems in the construction industry and change the way construction projects are run. We want to see efficient and cost-effective practices in place. 

How do we do this? For example:

• We introduce new services to the market that will help the industry transition from paperwork to digital solutions.
• We develop processes that support the efficient delivery of projects’ success targets.
• We utilize technology to ensure the highest levels of quality development.

To achieve this, we use technologies like augmented reality, drones, and proprietary software that is integrated into our services.

But what does it look like in practice? That’s what we’ll look at next.

How AILA helps you create better construction projects 

How does AILA help you set up and implement more effective construction projects? Here are our core focus areas:

MEP forensics and independent analytics

Construction projects are getting more complicated than ever. With our forensics services , we investigate and analyze the cause of any failures or defects that might arise during a project’s operational phase. 

Building asset condition assessments

With our condition assessments , we deliver high tech data that helps you determine the condition of your building assets. Because we’re able to pinpoint risks and problems before they become major issues, we can minimize costs and the environmental impact. 

Building performance analytics

At AILA, we simulate how a building will function over time both during the early design stage and the operations stage. This way, we can determine what can be done for energy-efficiency and cost-efficiency. 

Thermal Imaging drone inspections

With the help of drones , we can carry out cost-effective site inspections. You see, by using drones to detect faults, we help reduce the need for expensive manpower. You get faster feedback, which helps you take action right away.

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Alpin CxCloud

Alpin CxCloud is all about offering applications and software solutions that enable you to deliver better-performing systems for your buildings, improve operations, and quickly adapt to changes in business demands. 

Noise control is a must for the  health and wellbeing of your building’s occupants. With our acoustics services, we help you create the best acoustical solutions for your project.

What’s ahead for the construction industry?

That’s it. That’s how we’re working on solving the problems in the construction industry and changing the industry for the better. 

After all, we need innovative solutions to figure out how to make the industry more sustainable and effective now and in the future.

Want to learn more about the work we do at AILA?  Read all about it here.

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Last Updated on May 5, 2021

Construction Problems: 15 Challenges in the Industry

It’s a great time to be in construction. Private construction spending is higher than it has ever been , and there’s no sign of a slowdown coming any time soon. However, construction problems have always existed, and an uptick in the market hasn’t magically made them disappear. In fact, increased spending in the private construction sector can even make some of these problems worse. In other words, construction is great right now, but it isn’t all roses. We’re all dealing with our fair share of thorns, too. In this post, we walk through 15 of the most pressing challenges in the construction industry today. Read on to learn more.

Biggest Challenges Facing the Construction Industry

You don’t have to be in this business long to encounter some of the problems in the construction industry. If you’re been doing this for very long at all, you have more than likely encountered at least one of the following construction challenges:

1. Regulation

The world is changing fast, and with it, laws and guidelines related to construction change. Adding to that, if you’re a cross-state or multinational construction company, you have to balance all kinds of competing laws and regulations that deal with construction to varying degrees. It’s a lot to keep up with, and even if you have a lot of time and resources to devote to this particular issue, you can easily miss a notification about a change in the current laws or an entirely new rule. When that happens, you can get to the end of a project and be slapped with the shocking realization that you have just lost countless thousands of dollars because you’re going to have to go back and remedy the issue.

2. Scheduling

Scheduling is one of the most frustrating construction problems to date. Why? Because the advent of all kinds of automation and related technology has not solved the problem of getting people to show up when they say they are going to. If you’re a general contractor, you know this well: You can’t have certain subcontractors on the site at the same time or you will risk work conflicts or injuries. Even when you get everyone to agree on a date and time ahead of time, you inevitably have a conflict or someone calling you saying they’re not going to make it. And subcontractors aren’t the only thing you have to deal with in this arena. You also have to schedule your own people, who, thanks to a construction labor shortage, are already stretched thin. Making matters worse, of course, are the supply chain problems that have halted key construction materials. Some days, everyone can show up on time but still not have enough to do because the materials and tools they need are floating on a container ship somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

3. Technology adoption

For decades, the construction industry has been technology-heavy. That sounds like a good thing, but it’s actually one of the most acute problems in the construction industry. That’s because having technology doesn’t mean you have the latest technology. It’s true — new tech comes out every year, and it is inevitably sold as “can’t-miss” innovation that will leave your company in the Stone Age if you don’t adopt it. As a prudent business owner, you can’t drop thousands of dollars on every new software or tool some salesperson calls you about. But if you say no to everything, you can be left behind. It happens all the time. Construction companies are now known for being slow to adopt new technologies, many of which could cut costs and improve efficiency.

4. Communication problems

Communication is important in almost any industry, but in construction, it’s absolutely critical. That doesn’t mean, however, that it’s always done right on or off the build site. In fact, communication is one of the biggest construction problems most professionals in this industry face. Communication problems can look a lot of different ways. Workers may be relying on word of mouth to communicate critical jobsite information, or they may be using apps or platforms to communicate that inherently leave particular staff members out of the loop. Meanwhile, communication between various subcontractors and general contractors is notorious for being difficult, if not sometimes impossible.

5. Managing documentation

Material orders, receipts, contracts, construction drawings, insurance confirmations and more — these are the files in the documents that cover most construction company managers’ desks. It’s a lot to manage, and failing to manage it properly can lead to extremely serious construction problems. Here’s just one example: Let’s say a critical insurance document gets lost in the shuffle. Then, an accident happens at the construction site, knocking down most of the structure that was already built. The insurance wasn’t current, so your company is going to have to foot the bill for the fallout.

6. Available cash flow

Your subcontractors, vendors and suppliers don’t really care about when your clients pay. They want to be paid when they do the work or provide the service. That leads to one of the most stressful challenges in the construction industry: cash flow problems. Compounding the problem is the fact that, by and large, construction company owners and managers didn’t come to the game with a background in finance and accounting — they bring real-life construction expertise to the table. That means that financial problems can look and feel a lot bigger to construction companies than they might to professional accountants.

7. The “blame game”

Every person on a construction site has 10 fingers on average, and you can expect most of them to be pointing at someone else when something goes wrong. The problem is that there are so many people to shift the blame to when you’ve done something wrong that causes a problem. Executed a particular part of the flooring incorrectly? It’s not the flooring contractor’s fault — it’s because of unclear construction drawings. Of course, those unclear drawings were the result of a miscommunication between the crew and the architect. And that, of course, comes down to a problem with the client. As you can see, the blame game can take you everywhere except one place: a reasonable solution. And that creates major problems for many construction companies.

8. Labor/skill shortages

Blame it on the big push for everyone to get a liberal arts education or anything you like, but the problematic truth remains: There are not enough people to fill the open positions in construction in many countries. And even when there are enough people, there aren’t enough skilled people who can actually get the job done within spec. This is a construction problem that creates ripple effects throughout the entire life of a construction project. Too few people means a delayed timeline. Not enough skilled people may mean hiring a separate contractor, inflating the budget. The list goes on.

9. Vandalism/theft on site

Since Ancient Greece and probably before that, people have been vandalizing things. And there is just something about construction sites that is particularly attractive to vandals who are looking to leave their mark. Graffiti and eve destruction of property can cause untold thousands of dollars of damage in a single night, and there’s very little many construction companies can do to stop it completely. Perhaps even worse is the problem of theft at construction sites. Thieves have always seen construction sites as great targets — they have raw materials, expensive tools and little supervision after hours. And now that material costs have skyrocketed, the problem is only going to get worse.

10. Equipment management, upkeep, and replacement

There’s a lot to keep track of at the site of even a relatively simple and straightforward construction project. The tools involved are often irregular and astronomically expensive, and they require not only regular maintenance and upkeep, but relatively frequent replacement to remain up to code. This is more than just a headache for construction companies. It’s a major expense that only gets much worse if you fail to keep up with it. Failing to do routine maintenance can lead to total failure, for instance, and that means a total replacement or a ridiculously expensive repair.

11. High insurance costs

Contractor insurance is a major expense, but that can be just the start if you’re running a full-blown construction company. You also have workers’ compensation insurance (depending on the laws of your state or province), as well as general liability insurance and a variety of other business-related insurance policies. The problem, of course, is that you see so little return on your monthly investment in monthly insurance premiums. Even on the rare occasion that you do make a claim, you’re met with resistance from the insurance company at every turn, and your claim may even be denied or result in an unfairly low settlement.

12. Stagnant productivity

While technology and other workplace advancement have propelled productivity forward in a huge number of industries, productivity has turned into one of the major construction challenges builders face today. Productivity, for one reason or another, has stagnated in the construction industry, and that means building homes and other buildings is less profitable than it used to be. It also means that construction timelines are often not in line with customers’ expectations. That means we’re dealing with overall lower satisfaction, and that is never a good thing in a customer-facing industry like construction.

13. Supply chain and materials

The COVID-19 pandemic was not kind to the global supply chain. With countless businesses shut down in every country on the planet, the timelines for shipping and sourcing materials have gotten longer and longer. Even now, when businesses have largely opened back up, construction companies are waiting for months to receive materials and tools that used to take mere weeks to source. Meanwhile, the prices of goods have skyrocketed, meaning materials are not only in short supply and high demand, but their prices are in the stratosphere. This has become one of the biggest challenges facing the construction industry — an industry that already faced slim margins and logistical challenges before the pandemic struck.

Construction is consistently one of the industries that presents the highest risk of injury, and the reason why makes sense. You have a lot of people working on the same site, a place filled with heavy machinery and potentially deadly payloads. Injuries are bound to happen. When they do happen, they are tragedies in and of themselves, but there’s a secondary disaster waiting to happen to construction companies whose employees suffer injuries: lawsuits and skyrocketing workers’ compensation insurance premiums. That’s not to mention, of course, the issue of scheduling when you’re short a few workers who were injured on the job.

15. Clients/homeowners

Not all construction problems are about building or builders. Some challenges in the construction industry are about the customers. In fact, clients and homeowners can become a seemingly insurmountable problem for some construction companies for two key reasons: They forget to provide feedback or responses when the timeline dictates, and they change their minds often. Dealing with those two issues on a daily basis takes a toll not only on your stress, but on your business’ bank account if you’re not careful.

The good news of all of this is that, for all of the construction problems we face, there are plenty of construction solutions to help. For example, Cedreo is a powerful, fast and intuitive floor plan software that can solve several challenges in construction. For example, when you are dealing with indecisive and noncommittal homeowners, you can push them forward to the decision point by sharing photorealistic designs that stun them and create an emotional connection with the completion of the proposed project. We’ve seen it work for countless construction professionals, and it can work for you, too. Try Cedreo today .

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Student engineers solve industry problems and deliver economic value

By Mike Krapfl, news service March 28, 2024

Editor's note: This feature is the second in news service's  2024 Innovation at Work  series of stories, photos and videos that highlight economic development and the impact of Iowa State's contributions across the state. A new entry will post every Tuesday through April 23.

Mechanical engineering students huddle in "The Mine" in the basement of the Black Engineering Building while working on their capstone project. Counter-clockwise from left are students Nick Felbinger, Jacob Fosse, Wee Sean Koh and Isaac Bibus. Distinguished Professor of Practice Jim Heise teaches the course. Photo by Christopher Gannon .

To get a vintage trolley to stop, an operator grabs the handle of part SA-26, an independent brake valve, and pushes to the right. Compressed air runs through the system and forces brake shoes against the wheels to slow and stop the trolley.

To get going again, the operator, no doubt dressed in throwback hat and uniform, releases the brakes with a pull to the left and a rush of vented air.

That brake valve is an essential part if you want to restore a trolley or build an authentic replica. But what do you do if you're the Gomaco Trolley Co. in Ida Grove, and that valve is no longer on the market?

If you're Lex Jacobson, a 1998 Iowa State mechanical engineering graduate and the manager of the trolley company, you contact Iowa State's capstone course in mechanical engineering. That gets two teams of senior student-engineers doing some reverse-engineering.

Video story

Innovation for Business , featuring the Gomaco Trolley Co.

You'll ask them to take SA-26 apart -- there are 46 diagramed parts and pieces that are no longer protected by patents -- and figure out how the pieces can be manufactured and assembled.

Nine students worked on the problem during a recent class session, one team working on the cast-iron casing, the other working on the pins and springs of the inner workings. It turned out to be more of a challenge than they expected.

The scanning laboratory gave them a good start on producing proper 3D engineering drawings. But it didn't answer all the questions: "What sizes are the parts? What are they made of? What are the angles? What are our manufacturing recommendations?" said Nell Jaskowiak, a student from St. Louis.

Just as important as working out the engineering specifications, said Tyler Hentzel, a student from Ankeny, "is understanding what our sponsor wants."

Making a pitch for student teams

Jim Heise, a Distinguished Professor of Practice and one of the instructors of ME 415, "Mechanical Systems Design," said 214 seniors are working in 38 teams this spring semester. And he would love to have more projects for the students to manage, engineer and design.

Since the class started in 2008, students have completed 354 projects for 144 Iowa manufacturers. The companies pay a sponsorship fee (now $5,000 for Iowa companies and $8,000 for out-of-staters) to support the course and its expenses.

"The beauty of the program is you get two teams of students, with four or five to a team, all focused on one problem," Heise said. "You get two parallel paths of ideas."

But wouldn't assigning the project to an intern be as useful?

Heise shakes his head: "The capstone course gets more students working on a problem than an internship would, at the same cost."

Who could use a capstone team

Mayra Stephanie Ramirez, a workforce engagement specialist who works with capstone courses for Iowa State's Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS), shares a one-pager to help companies identify potential capstone projects. It lists four phrases that could indicate a company's need for one:

• "I wish I had the time to ..."
• "It's not that difficult, it's just not a priority."
• "It's on the back burner."
• "That's on my engineer's 'to-do' list."

Capstone projects are important, Ramirez's document says, because they "can be a hiring conduit for companies to identify potential students for future hiring." And course projects "help create millions of dollars in economic impact and dozens of jobs per year."

Big numbers compiled by CIRAS quantify the breadth, scope and value of Iowa State's capstone courses: Students across the university have completed more than 1,280 capstone projects for more than 440 businesses and delivered an economic impact of more than $447 million.

Engineering for the bottom line

Dave Sly -- a teaching professor in industrial and manufacturing systems engineering who teaches industrial engineering's capstone course, IE 441, "Industrial Engineering Design" -- said his students make about seven trips to the companies they work with.

The students collect data on their field trips. They work with employees. They learn about machines. They observe processes. And they do all they can to find solutions and savings. Those could include improvements to assembly lines, productivity or quality control.

"As industrial engineers, we're very focused on the bottom line, the financial returns," Sly said. "We're not really creating products; we're making products more efficiently."

So much so, the course has a goal of creating $100,000 in net value over three years for each project. The actual returns can be in the millions. Sly said last fall's course included nine projects with a total economic impact of just more than $8 million.

One student team, for example, determined overtime shifts wouldn't be enough to meet production demands for an Ames manufacturer and recommended adding assembly lines instead. The change would ultimately create a gain in net present value of more than $25 million over five years.

That's a big return on investment for the company. There's a big return for the students, too.

When their capstone projects are complete, Sly said, "Our students can engineer, and they can communicate, and they can deliver economic value. Those are important attributes we're producing here at Iowa State."

Putting student projects to work

Lex Jacobson of the Gomaco Trolley Co. had good reasons to turn to Iowa State capstone students for help reverse-engineering the brake valve the company often uses in its manufacturing and restoration work.

First, the students have access to laboratory tools (such as a 3D scanning lab) that the company doesn't have. Second, it can be a great learning exercise for students to take an existing part and figure out how it works and how to build it. And third, the company doesn't always have the time or staff to get to these kinds of projects.

So, Jacobson turned to students. After the two capstone teams working on the brake valve made their midterm presentations, "I thought they were doing well," Jacobson said. "I felt like they had a pretty good approach to the project."

The students said the project has been a learning process. "It's not just cut and paste," said Jonah Magneson, a student from Des Moines. But they're making progress.

That progress is very important to Jacobson and Gomaco: "We're really looking for a solution we can put to work."

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Hamas Took Her, and Still Has Her Husband

The story of one family at the center of the war in gaza..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

I can’t remember the word, but do you know the kind of fungi connection between trees in the forest? How do you call it?

Mycelium. We are just — I just somehow feel that we are connected by this kind of infinite web of mycelium. We are so bound together. And I don’t think we really realized that until all this happened.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

It’s quite hard to explain, to me in a sense, because some people would say, oh, I’m so hoping your father will come, and then everything will be OK. And it’s very hard to explain that really this group of people decided to bring us up together, shared all their resources over 75 years, grow into each other, fight endlessly with each other, love and hate each other but somehow stay together. And their children will then meet and marry and make grandchildren.

And there’s so many levels of connection. And I’m sitting here in the room, and I see their faces, some of them. And we are incredibly — it’s hard to explain how much these people are missing from our kind of forest ground. [CHUCKLES SOFTLY]

From “The New York Times,” I’m Sabrina Tavernise, and this is “The Daily.”

It’s been nearly six months since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 and took more than 200 people into Gaza. One of the hardest hit places was a village called Nir Oz, near the border with Gaza. One quarter of its residents were either killed or taken hostage.

Yocheved Lifshitz was one of those hostages and so was her husband, Oded Lifshitz. Yocheved was eventually released. Oded was not.

Today, the story of one family at the center of the war.

It’s Friday, March 29.

OK, here we go. OK.

Good morning, Yocheved. Good morning, Sharone.

Good morning.

Yocheved, could you identify yourself for me, please? Tell me your name, your age and where you’re from.

[SPEAKING HEBREW]

OK, I’ll translate. My name is Yocheved Lifshitz. I’m 85 years old. I was born in 1938. When I was 18, I arrived at kibbutz Nir Oz. I came alone with a group of people who decided to come and form and build a community on a very sandy territory, which was close to the Gaza Strip.

And my name is Sharone Lifschitz. I am 52 years old. I was raised in kibbutz Nir Oz by my mom and dad. So I lived there until I was 20. And I live for the last 30-something years in London.

And, Sharone, what do you have next to you?

Next to me I have a poster of my dad in both English and Hebrew. And it says, “Oded Lifshitz, 83.” And below that it says, “Bring him home now.” And it’s a photo where I always feel the love because he is looking at me. And there’s a lot of love in it in his eyes.

And why did you want to bring him here today, Sharone?

Because he should be talking himself. He should be here and able to tell his story. And instead, I’m doing it on his behalf. It should have been a story of my mom and dad sitting here and telling their story.

The story of Oded and Yocheved began before they ever met in Poland in the 1930s. Anti-Semitism was surging in Europe, and their families decided to flee to Palestine — Yocheved’s in 1933, the year Hitler came to power, and Oded’s a year later. Yocheved remembers a time near the end of the war, when her father received news from back home in Poland. He was deeply religious, a cantor in a synagogue. And he gathered his family around him to share what he’d learned.

And he said, we don’t have a family anymore. They’ve all been murdered. And he explained to us why there is no God. If there was a God, he would have protected my family. And this means that there is no God.

And suddenly, we stopped going to synagogue. We used to go every Saturday.

So it was a deep crisis for him. The shock and the trauma were very deep.

Abstention.

Abstention. Soviet Union? Yes. Yes. The United Kingdom? Abstained.

Yocheved’s father lived long enough to see a state establish for his children. The UN resolution of 1947 paved the way for a new country for Jews. And the next spring, Israel declared its independence. Yocheved remembers listening to the news on the radio with her parents.

The General Assembly of the United Nations has made its decision on Palestine.

We had a country. So now we’ll have somebody who’s protecting us. It’s a country for the people, to rebuild the people. This was the feeling we had.

In other words, if God could not protect you, this nation maybe could?

Yes. But the next day, it was already sad.

Israel was immediately forced to defend itself when its Arab neighbors attacked. Israel won that war. But its victory came at a great cost to the Palestinian Arabs living there. More than 700,000 either fled or were expelled from their homes. Many became refugees in Gaza in the south.

Suddenly, Yocheved and Oded saw themselves differently from their parents, not as minorities in someone else’s country, but as pioneers in a country of their own, ready to build it and defend it. They moved to the south, near the border line with Gaza. It was there, in a kibbutz, where they met for the first time.

The first time I met him, he was 16, and I was 17. And we didn’t really have this connection happening. But when we arrived at Nir Oz, that’s where some sort of a connection started to happen. And he was younger than I am by a year and a half. So at first I thought, he’s a kid. But for some reason, he insisted. Oded really insisted. And later, turned out he was right.

What was it about him that made you fall in love with him?

He was cute.

He was a cute kid. He was a cute boy.

What’s so funny?

He was a philosopher. He wrote a lot. He worked in agriculture. He was this cute boy. He was only 20, think about it.

And then I married him. And he brought two things with him. He brought a dog and he brought a cactus. And since then we’ve been growing a huge field of cacti for over 64 years.

What did it feel like to be starting a new life together in this new country? What was the feeling of that?

We were euphoric.

And what did you think you were building together?

We thought we were building a kibbutz. We were building a family. We were having babies. That was the vision. And we were thinking that we were building a socialist state, an equal state. And at first, it was a very isolated place. There were only two houses and shacks and a lot of sand. And little by little, we turned that place into a heaven.

Building the new state meant cultivating the land. Oded plowed the fields, planting potatoes and carrots, wheat and cotton. Yocheved was in charge of the turkeys and worked in the kitchen cooking meals for the kibbutz. They believed that the best way to live was communally. So they shared everything — money, food, even child-rearing.

After long days in the fields, Oded would venture outside the kibbutz to the boundary line with Gaza and drink beer with Brazilian peacekeepers from the UN and talk with Palestinians from the villages nearby. They talked about politics and life in Arabic, a language Oded spoke fluently. These were not just idle conversations. Oded knew that for Israel to succeed, it would have to figure out how to live side by side with its Arab neighbors.

He really did not believe in black and white, that somebody is the bad guy and somebody is the good guy, but there is a humanistic values that you can live in.

Sharone, what was your father like?

My father was a tall man and a skinny man. And he was —

he is — first of all, he is — he is a man who had very strong opinion and very well formed opinion. He read extensively. He thought deeply about matters. And he studied the piano. But as he said, was never that great or fast enough for classical. But he always played the piano.

[PIANO MUSIC]

He would play a lot of Israeli songs. He wound play Russian songs. He would play French chansons.

And he had this way of just moving from one song to the next, making it into a kind of pattern. And it was — it’s really the soundtrack of our life, my father playing the piano.

[PLAYING PIANO]:

[CONVERSATION IN HEBREW]:

[PLAYING PIANO]

So one side of him was the piano. Another side was he was a peace activist. He was not somebody who just had ideals about building bridges between nations. He was always on the left side of the political map, and he actioned it.

[NON-ENGLISH CHANTING]:

I remember growing up and going very regularly, almost weekly, to demonstrations. I will go regularly with my father on Saturday night to demonstrations in Tel Aviv. I will sit on his shoulders. He will be talking to all his activist friends. The smoke will rise from the cigarettes, and I will sit up there.

But somehow, we really grew up in that fight for peace.

Yocheved and Oded’s formal fight for peace began after the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. Israel had captured new territory, including the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Gaza Strip. That brought more than a million Palestinians under Israeli occupation.

Oded immediately began to speak against it. Israel already had its land inside borders that much of the world had agreed to. In his view, taking more was wrong. It was no longer about Jewish survival. So when Israeli authorities began quietly pushing Bedouin Arabs off their land in the Sinai Peninsula, Oded took up the cause.

He helped file a case in the Israeli courts to try to stop it. And he and Yocheved worked together to draw attention to what was going on. Yocheved was a photographer, so she took pictures showing destroyed buildings and bulldozed land. Oded then put her photographs on cardboard and drove around the country showing them to people everywhere.

They became part of a growing peace movement that was becoming a force helping shape Israeli politics. Israel eventually returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in 1982.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

Whenever there is a movement towards reconciliation with our neighbors, it’s almost like your ability to live here, your life force, gets stronger. And in a way, you can think of the art of their activism as being a response to that.

And why did he and your mother take up that fight, the cause of the land? Why do you think that was what he fought for?

My father, he had a very developed sense of justice. And he always felt that had we returned those lands at that point, we could have reached long-term agreement at that point. Then we would have been in a very different space now. I know that in 2019, for example, he wrote a column, where he said that when the Palestinians of Gaza have nothing to lose, we lose big time. He believed that the way of living in this part of the world is to share the place, to reach agreement, to work with the other side towards agreements.

He was not somebody who just had ideals about building bridges between nations. Two weeks before he was taken hostage, he still drove Palestinians that are ill to reach hospital in Israel and in East Jerusalem. That was something that meant a lot to him. I think he really believed in shared humanity and in doing what you can.

Do you remember the last conversation you had with your father?

I don’t have a clear memory which one it was. It’s funny. A lot of things I forgot since. A lot of things have gone so blurred.

We actually didn’t have a last conversation. The last thing he said was, Yoche, there is a war. And he was shot in the hand, and he was taken out. And I was taken out. I couldn’t say goodbye to him. And what was done to us was done.

We’ll be right back.

Yocheved, the last thing Oded said was there’s a war. Tell me about what happened that day from the beginning.

That morning, there was very heavy shelling on Nir Oz. We could hear gunfire. And we looked outside, and Oded told me, there are a lot of terrorists outside. We didn’t even have time to get dressed. I was still wearing my nightgown. He was wearing very few clothes. I remember him trying to close the door to the safe room, but it didn’t work. He wasn’t successful in closing it.

And then five terrorists walked in. They shot him through the safe room door. He was bleeding from his arm. He said to me, Yoche, I’m injured. And then he fainted. He was dragged out on the floor. And I didn’t know if he was alive. I thought he was dead. After that, I was taken in my nightgown. I was led outside. I was placed on a small moped, and I was taken to Gaza.

And we were driving over a bumpy terrain that had been plowed. And it didn’t break my ribs, but it was very painful.

And I could see that the gate that surrounds the Gaza Strip was broken, and we were driving right through it.

And as we were heading in, I could see so many people they were yelling, “Yitbach al Yahud,” kill the Jews, slaughter the Jews. And people were hitting me with sticks. And though the drivers on the moped tried to protect me, it didn’t help.

What were you thinking at the time? What was in your mind?

I was thinking, I’m being taken; I’m being kidnapped. I didn’t know where to, but this decision I had in my head was that I’m going to take photographs in my mind and capture everything I’m seeing so that when I — or if and when I am released, I’ll have what to tell.

And when I came to a stop, we were in a village that’s near Nir Oz. It’s called Khirbet Khuza. We came in on the moped, but I was transferred into a private car from there. And I was threatened that my hand would be cut off unless I hand over my watch and my ring. And I didn’t have a choice, so I took my watch off, and I took my ring off, and I handed it to them.

Was it your wedding ring?

Yes, it was my wedding ring.

After that, they led me to a big hangar where the entrance to the tunnel was, and I started walking. And the entrance was at ground level, but as you walk, you’re walking down a slope. And you’re walking and walking about 40 meters deep underground, and the walls are damp, and the soil is damp. And at first, I was alone. I didn’t know that other people had been taken too. But then more hostages came, and we were walking together through the tunnels.

Many of whom were from kibbutz Nir Oz. These were our people. They were abducted but still alive. And we spoke quietly, and we spoke very little. But as we were walking, everybody started telling a story of what had happened to him. And that created a very painful picture.

There were appalling stories about murder. People had left behind a partner.

A friend arrived, who, about an hour or two hours before, had her husband murdered and he died in her hands.

It was a collection of broken up people brought together.

So you were piecing together the story of your community and what had happened from these snapshots of tragedies that you were looking at all around you as you were walking. What’s the photograph you’ll remember most from that day?

It would be a girl, a four-year-old girl. People kept telling her — walk, walk, walk. And we tried to calm her down. And her mom tried to carry her on her arms. It was the most difficult sight to see a child inside those tunnels.

What were you feeling at that moment, Yocheved?

Very difficult.

Where did they lead you — you and your community — from Nir Oz.

They led us to this chamber, a room, that they had prepared in advance. There were mattresses there. And that’s where we were told to sit.

I saw people sitting on the mattresses, bent down, their heads down between their hands. They were broken. But we hardly spoke. Everybody was inside their own world with themselves, closed inside his own personal shock.

Yocheved was without her glasses, her hearing aids, or even her shoes. She said she spent most days lying down on one of the mattresses that had been put out for the hostages. Sometimes her captors would let her and others walk up and down the tunnels to stretch their legs.

She said she was given a cucumber, spreading cheese, and a piece of pita bread every day to eat. They had a little bit of coffee in the morning and water all day long.

One day, a Hamas leader came to the room where she and others were being held. She said she believes it was Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, who is believed to be the architect of the October 7 attack. Two other hostages who were held with Yocheved also identified the man as Sinwar, and an Israeli military spokesman said he found the accounts reliable.

He came accompanied with a group of other men. He just made rounds between the hostages, I suppose. And he spoke in Hebrew, and he told us not to worry, and soon there’s going to be a deal and we’ll be out. And others told me, don’t speak. And I said, what is there for me to be afraid of? The worst already happened. Worst thing, I’ll be killed.

I want to say something, and I spoke my mind. I told Sinwar, why have you done what you just did to all of the same people who have always helped you? He didn’t answer me. He just turned around and they walked off.

Were you afraid to ask him why Hamas did what it did, to challenge him?

I wasn’t afraid.

I was angry about the whole situation. It was against every thought and thinking we ever had. It was against our desire to reach peace, to be attentive and help our neighbors the way we always wanted to help our neighbors. I was very angry. But he ignored what I said, and he just turned his back and walked away.

In this entire time, you had no answers about Oded?

What was the hardest day for you, the hardest moment in captivity?

It’s when I got sick. I got sick with diarrhea and vomiting for about four days. And I had no idea how this will end. It was a few very rough days. And probably because of that, they decided to free me.

They didn’t tell me they were going to release me. They just told me and another girl, come follow us. They gave us galabiya gowns to wear and scarves to wear over our heads, so maybe they’ll think that we are Arab women. And only as we were walking, and we started going through corridors and ladders and climbing up we were told that we’re going home.

I was very happy to be going out. But my heart ached so hard for those who were staying behind. I was hoping that many others would follow me.

It’s OK. Let’s go. It’s OK. Let’s go.

You go with this one.

Shalom. Shalom.

There was a video that was made of the moment you left your captors. And it seemed to show that you were shaking a hand, saying shalom to them. Do you remember doing that?

I said goodbye to him. It was a friendly man. He was a medic. So when we said goodbye, I shook his hand for peace, shalom, to goodbye.

What did you mean when you said that?

I meant for peace.

Shalom in the sense of peace.

An extraordinary moment as a freed Israeli hostage shakes hands with a Hamas terrorist who held her captive.

I literally saw my mom on CNN on my phone on the way to the airport. And it was the day before I was talking to my aunt, and she said, I just want to go to Gaza and pull them out of the earth. I just want to pull them out of the earth and take them. And it really felt like that, that she came out of the earth. And when she shook the hand of the Hamas person, it just made me smile because it was so her to see the human in that person and to acknowledge him as a human being.

I arrived in the hospital at about 5:30 AM. My mom was asleep in the bed. And she was just — my mom sleeps really peacefully. She has a really quiet way of sleeping. And I just sat there, and it was just like a miracle to have her back with us. It was just incredible because not only was she back, but it was her.

I don’t know how to explain it. But while they were away, we knew so little. We were pretty sure she didn’t survive it. The whole house burned down totally. So other homes we could see if there was blood on the walls or blood on the floor. But in my parents’ home, everything was gone — everything. And we just didn’t know anything. And out of that nothingness, came my mom back.

It was only when she got to the hospital that Yocheved learned the full story of what happened on October 7. Nir Oz had been mostly destroyed. Many of her friends had been murdered. No one knew what had happened to Oded. Yocheved believed he was dead. But there wasn’t time to grieve.

The photograph she had taken in her mind needed to be shared. Yocheved knew who was still alive in the tunnels. So she and her son called as many families as they could — the family of the kibbutz’s history teacher, of one of its nurses, of the person who ran its art gallery — to tell them that they were still alive, captive in Gaza.

And then in November came a hostage release. More than 100 people came out. The family was certain that Oded was gone. But Sharone decided to make some calls anyway. She spoke to one former neighbor then another. And finally, almost by chance, she found someone who’d seen her father. They shared a room together in Gaza before he’d gotten ill and was taken away. Sharone and her brothers went to where Yocheved was staying to tell her the news.

She just couldn’t believe it, actually. It was as if, in this great telenovela of our life, at one season, he was left unconscious on the floor. And the second season open, and he is in a little room in Gaza with another woman that we know. She couldn’t believe it.

She was very, very, very excited, also really worried. My father was a very active and strong man. And if it happened 10 years ago, I would say of course he would survive it. He would talk to them in Arabic. He will manage the situation. He would have agency. But we know he was injured. And it makes us very, very worried about the condition in which he was — he’s surviving there. And I think that the fear of how much suffering the hostages are going through really makes you unable to function at moment.

Yocheved, the government has been doing a military operation since October in Gaza. You have been fighting very hard since October to free the hostages, including Oded. I wonder how you see the government’s military operation. Is it something that harms your cause or potentially helps it?

The only thing that will bring them back are agreements. And what is happening is that there are many soldiers who have been killed, and there is an ongoing war, and the hostages are still in captivity. So it’s only by reaching an agreement that all of the hostages will be released.

Do you believe that Israel is close to reaching an agreement?

I don’t know.

You told us that after the Holocaust, your father gathered your family together to tell you that God did not save you. It was a crisis for him. I’m wondering if this experience, October 7, your captivity, challenged your faith in a similar way.

No, I don’t think it changed me. I’m still the same person with the same beliefs and opinions. But how should I say it? What the Hamas did was to ruin a certain belief in human beings. I didn’t think that one could reach that level that isn’t that much higher than a beast. But my opinion and my view of there still being peace and reaching an arrangement stayed the same.

You still believe in peace?

Why do you believe that?

Because I’m hoping that a new generation of leaders will rise, people who act in transparency, who speak the truth, people who are honest, the way Israel used to be and that we’ll return to be like we once were.

I go to many rallies and demonstrations, and I meet many people in many places. And a large part of those people still believe in reaching an arrangement in peace and for there to be no war. And I still hope that this is what we’re going to be able to have here.

Bring them home now! Bring them home now! Bring them home now! Bring them home now! Bring them home! Now! Bring them home! Now! Bring them home! Now! Bring them home!

Yocheved is now living in a retirement home in the suburbs of Tel Aviv. Five other people around her age from Nir Oz live there too. One is also a released hostage. She hasn’t been able to bring herself to go back to the kibbutz. The life she built there with Oded is gone — her photographs, his records, the piano. And the kibbutz has become something else now, a symbol instead of a home. It is now buzzing with journalists and politicians. For now, Yocheved doesn’t know if she’ll ever go back. And when Sharone asked her, she said, let’s wait for Dad.

So I’m today sitting in this assisted living, surrounded by the same company, just expecting Oded, waiting for Oded to come back. And then each and every one of us will be rebuilding his own life together and renewing it.

What are you doing to make it a home for Oded?

We have a piano. We were given a piano, a very old one with a beautiful sound. And it’s good. Oded is very sensitive to the sound. He has absolute hearing. And I’m just hoping for him to come home and start playing the piano.

Do you believe that Oded will come home?

I’d like to believe. But there’s a difference between believing and wanting. I want to believe that he’ll be back and playing music. I don’t think his opinions are going to change. He’s going to be disappointed by what happened. But I hope he’s going to hold on to the same beliefs. His music is missing from our home.

[SPEAKING HEBEW]:

[SPEAKING HEBREW] [PLAYING PIANO]

I know that my father always felt that we haven’t given peace a chance. That was his opinion. And I think it’s very hard to speak for my father because maybe he has changed. Like my mom said, she said, I hope he hasn’t changed. I haven’t changed. But the truth is we don’t know. And we don’t the story. We don’t know how the story — my father is ending or just beginning.

But I think you have to hold on to humanistic values at this point. You have to know what you don’t want. I don’t want more of this. This is hell. This is hell for everybody. So this is no, you know? And then I believe that peace is also gray, and it’s not glorious, and it’s not simple. It’s kind of a lot of hard work. You have to reconcile and give up a lot. And it’s only worth doing that for peace.

[PIANO PLAYING CONTINUES]

After weeks of negotiations, talks over another hostage release and ceasefire have reached an impasse. The sticking points include the length of the ceasefire and the identity and number of Palestinian prisoners to be exchanged for the hostages.

[BACKGROUND CONVERSATION IN HEBREW]:

Here’s what else you should know today. Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday, capping an extraordinary saga that upended the multi-trillion-dollar crypto industry. Bankman-Fried, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, was convicted of wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering last November.

Prosecutors accused him of stealing more than $10 billion from customers to finance political contributions, venture capital investments, and other extravagant purchases. At the sentencing, the judge pointed to testimony from Bankman-Fried’s trial, saying that his appetite for extreme risk and failure to take responsibility for his crimes amount to a quote, “risk that this man will be in a position to do something very bad in the future.”

Today’s episode was produced by Lynsea Garrison and Mooj Zaidie with help from Rikki Novetsky and Shannon Lin. It was edited by Michael Benoist, fact checked by Susan Lee, contains original music by Marion Lozano, Dan Powell, Diane Wong, Elisheba Ittoop, and Oded Lifshitz. It was engineered by Alyssa Moxley. The translation was by Gabby Sobelman. Special thanks to Menachem Rosenberg, Gershom Gorenberg, Gabby Sobelman, Yotam Shabtie, and Patrick Kingsley. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Sabrina Tavernise. See you on Monday.

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Hosted by Sabrina Tavernise

Produced by Lynsea Garrison and Mooj Zadie

With Rikki Novetsky and Shannon Lin

Edited by Michael Benoist

Original music by Marion Lozano ,  Dan Powell ,  Diane Wong and Elisheba Ittoop

Engineered by Alyssa Moxley

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music

Warning: this episode contains descriptions of violence.

It’s been nearly six months since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, when militants took more than 200 hostages into Gaza.

In a village called Nir Oz, near the border, one quarter of residents were either killed or taken hostage. Yocheved Lifshitz and her husband, Oded Lifshitz, were among those taken.

Today, Yocheved and her daughter Sharone tell their story.

On today’s episode

Yocheved Lifshitz, a former hostage.

Sharone Lifschitz, daughter of Yocheved and Oded Lifshitz.

Background reading

Yocheved Lifshitz was beaten and held in tunnels built by Hamas for 17 days.

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We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

Fact-checking by Susan Lee .

Additional music by Oded Lifshitz.

Translations by Gabby Sobelman .

Special thanks to Menachem Rosenberg, Gershom Gorenberg , Gabby Sobelman , Yotam Shabtie, and Patrick Kingsley .

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

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