Kaizen in Construction: Implementing a Continuous Improvement Mindset 

Most people want to get better at doing the things they need to do on a regular basis. For a business, continuous improvement gets particularly powerful. It can boost productivity and expand profit margins. It can align teams and help the company best serve its customers. 

Regularly getting better has been captured in a Japanese business philosophy called Kaizen, a core principle of the Lean Construction method. 

Designed as a systematic management methodology, Kaizen centers on making small improvements over time. The goals driving this continuous improvement are widespread: refining processes, identifying and eliminating bottlenecks, making work more fulfilling for employees and more. 

Kaizen, then, seems to hold promise for construction companies that want to win more contracts, then perform the work with higher margins and happier teams. However, actually deploying continuous improvement in construction — both in the office and in the field — is a different story.

Challenges in Applying Lean Principles to Construction

The continuous improvement of Kaizen means looking at existing processes to identify where improvements can be made. 

Any seasoned construction professional will report, though, that every project is different. Processes aren’t necessarily repeatable in the same way they might be in, say, a corporate or manufacturing environment. That makes refinement more challenging. 

In some ways, technology has compounded this problem. Tech tools — particularly reality capture options — have promised to make things more visible. 

In practice, though, there’s often latency between when things happen on the jobsite and when the work gets captured and reported. When the gap between the work and the reporting is too big, it makes it even harder to understand, let alone analyze, processes. 

As a result, some construction professionals feel let down by lean practices, and particularly by Kaizen. The trouble might stem from the fact that continuous improvement seems like it should be widely deployed. However, narrowing the focus may help construction pros yield more from this practice. 

Getting Granular To Drive Continuous Improvement

A key concept in Kaizen is looking at the actual detailed work. Zooming in and looking more closely can help construction teams identify steps that actually are repeatable — and, then, refinable.

While every project has unique requirements, there are absolutely workflows that teams repeat time and time again. Taking a more granular focus on those individual steps helps teams identify where work is repeatable. Applying Kaizen in those areas then makes it possible to drive wins. 

What’s more, zooming in to find repeatable work, then continuously improving upon it, gives teams a way to capture the knowledge of their experienced builders. When they focus on setting a standard for repeatable work, then iterating on it, they create a process for gathering data and insights. That information highlights opportunities for improvement. It also gives even the greenest construction professional a baseline from which to work, built on the institutional knowledge of those who have come before. 

Stay updated on what’s happening in construction.

Subscribe to Blueprint, Procore’s free construction newsletter, to get content from industry experts delivered straight to your inbox.

Subscribe

Gain industry expertise, stay ahead of the curve

Explore valuable insights into the latest construction trends and project management best practices.

Subscribe to the newsletter

Gain industry expertise, stay ahead of the curve

Explore valuable insights into the latest construction trends and project management best practices, and learn how Procore's platform can optimize your projects.

Subscribe to the newsletterRequest a demo

Kaizen Principles to Apply to Repeatable Steps

When construction teams define small, repeatable steps that they can continuously improve, it’s time to apply some specific Kaizen principles to drive that improvement.

• ---

  u003cstrongu003eOne-piece Flowu003c/strongu003e

  With this approach, production is triggered by actual demand. To apply one-piece flow, teams need to set up systems for signaling. Applying one-piece flow to material delivery, for example, they might institute a “pull” signal. That means one trailer of material would arrive at the jobsite once the previous trailer’s load is diminished to a certain percentage. This way, the jobsite always has the materials it needs without multiple trailers of untapped material in the way. 

• ---

  u003cstrongu003eTakt u003c/strongu003eTime

  German for beat, “takt” time means finding the right rhythm for work. Takt time gets calculated by dividing the available working time by customer demand. In construction, takt time means finding optimized scheduling for the work that needs to happen, particularly installation. If a customer wants a project completed in one year, teams can apply takt time by dividing that available 52 weeks by the owner-demanded milestones to best optimize the schedule. 

• ---

  Gemba

  Gemba loosely translates from Japanese to “the place where things happen.” In Kaizen, it means going to where the work is occurring in order to study it and identify areas for improvement. That means physically spending time on the jobsite or the fabrication shop, for example. Sitting in the office trying to think of areas for refinement won’t be nearly as helpful as studying the work as it happens, where it happens. 

• ---

  u003cstrongu003eTrystormingu003c/strongu003e

  As a counter to brainstorming, "trystorming" blends ideation with rapidly acting on what was brainstormed. In short, trystorming encourages teams to go out and try it. This helps people see what will and won’t work faster, shrinking space for personal biases or historical rigors to get in the way. Plus, doing the work helps people understand it better, so trystorming can lay a foundation for meaningful change. 

• ---

  Measurable Standards

  Construction teams have historically discarded knowledge after a project is complete. Instead of washing their hands of the job, though, they can use what they learned to implement or improve upon standards for their company. Then, after any project, they have the opportunity to pause and study the work that happened. Was the standard met? If not, why not?

Putting People at the Center in Kaizen

Empowering people is a core tenet of Kaizen. The thinking goes that the people doing the work are the ones best positioned to identify areas for improvement. 

The key here is creating an environment in which people feel encouraged to come forward and suggest improvements and to trystorm them. Since failure often yields learning opportunities, teams deploying Kaizen need to move away from a fear of it. A company culture of psychological safety goes a long way. 

Putting people at the center helps to solve some of the issues raised by technology, too. When technology delivers a common understanding or helps model situations so they can be troubleshot beforehand, it supports the success of individual team members. 

Written by