8:00 am Check-In & Coffee

8:30 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

  • Collin Sutt Consultant, American Contractors Insurance Group

Becoming a Digitalized Organization

8:40 am Building & Managing Your Digitalization Roadmap to Create a More Efficient, Technologically Enabled Business of the Future

  • Lutalo Webb Vice President - Innovation, Guarantee Electrical Company

Synopsis

• Evaluating your digital maturity to create a roadmap for further digital enablement

• Establishing systems to identify bottlenecks and areas requiring digitalization as early as possible

• Enabling agile decision-making within and across organizations through collaborative digital review frameworks

9:20 am Audience Discussion: Embedding AI into Operational Workflows to Enable Doing More, With Less

Synopsis

• Allocating a task-force for the investigation and implementation of AI into operational workflows

• Exploring the tools on the market and their potential application in the construction value chain to assess the right direction for us

• Analyzing the impact of AI on jobsite organizational team structures and how we will evolve these to create a leaner organization

Foundations of Operational Excellence

Achieving Alignment Across Stakeholders

11:00 am Discover: Effectively Cascading Strategy to Enhance Employee Alignment & Ensure Sustainable Business Growth

Synopsis

• Effectively communicating your long-term business strategy at a regular cadence to keep teams aligned

• Ensuring each department, team and individual has clear and actionable goals that support the overall strategy

• Establishing feedback loops to maintain alignment and ensure continuous improvement

11:30 am Action: Adapting Your Workflows to Drive Excellence With Trade Alignment. How Can You Ensure Consistent Operational Excellence Across General & Trade Contractors with Different Operating Systems

Enablers of Operational Excellence

Standardizing Work Processes

11:00 am Discover: Supporting Business Leaders to Create Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to Embed Collaboration & Streamline Cross-Functional Workflows

  • Matt Schaeffer Director - Operational Excellence & Project Executive, The Weitz Company

Synopsis

• Creating SOPs to support standardization of work across the business

• Presenting SOPs in a clear and easily accessible format within a centralized single source of truth

• Holding all levels of leadership accountable for ensuring their staff are adhering to new standards

11:30 am Develop: Developing a Centralized Source of Information to Ensure Policies & Resources are Up-to-Date & Accessible at All Times

  • Matt Schaeffer Director - Operational Excellence & Project Executive, The Weitz Company
  • Michelle Palys VP of Performance Excellence and ESG, Graycor Construction
  • Adam Krob Director of Information Technology, Field Audit, and Process Improvement, Boh Bros. Construction Co.

Synopsis

• Understanding what needs to be captured within a centralized database to add value to operations teams

• Discussing the best structure to host standards and resources to make your database easy to use and searchable for all users

• Monitoring input and engagement without making individuals feel overly scrutinized

10:30 am Morning Refreshments

Adapting Business Models

1:00 pm Discover: Ensuring Consistency in Services Across Offices & Regions to Enhance Client Satisfaction

Synopsis

• Creating connections between office leadership to foster aligned cultures

• Supporting leadership to bridge the gap between business consistency and regional variance in standard procedures

• Building in flexibility with those responsible for developing work standards: What are the elements that must be standardized vs can afford some flexibility without impacting quality of delivery?

1:30 pm Develop: Adapting Organizational Strategies to Meet the Demands of Increasing Industry Integration & Collaboration

Synopsis

• Reconfiguring organizational structures to embrace more collaborative project delivery methods

• Overcoming the cultural challenges of integrating new functions and areas of expertise to ensure common language and understanding business-wide

• Addressing client reluctance towards unconventional business models as companies increasingly offer integrated solutions 

2:00 pm Action: Discussing the Change Management Strategies That Underpin Business Model Transformation. What Key Factors Need To Be Considered?

Project Team Dynamics

1:00 pm Discover: Managing the Transition to a New Software to Boost Project Effectiveness

  • Benjamin Carter Lean & Operational Innovation Manager, Talley Riggins Construction Group
  • Jim Guntorius General Superintendent, Talley Riggins Construction Group
  • Fernando Garcia Director of Technology, Talley Riggins Construction Group

Synopsis

• Re-training teams on new software while simultaneously managing projects reliant on older systems

• Transitioning from isolated implementations to establishing consistent practices for using new software across the organization

• Leveraging IT & Operations teams to drive widespread adoption

1:30 pm Develop: Fostering Transparency & Alignment for Project Teams to Achieve Project Certainty

Synopsis

• Streamlining operational planning with real-time project information accessible to the right people

• Eliminating discrepancies in project progress data across the stakeholders

• Assigning tasks according to your team’s strengths and interests to enhance the quality of results

2:00 pm Action: Improving Knowledge Transfer & Teaming Dynamics in Your Own Organization. How Can You Foster Collaboration?

12:00 pm Lunch Break

2:20 pm Afternoon Refreshments

Staying Ahead of the Curve

2:50 pm Building a People-Centric Culture to Boost Employee Satisfaction & Employee Retention

Synopsis

• Ensuring open channels of communication for cultural feedback through activities such as employee-engagement surveys

• Promoting communication and feedback between junior staff and management to understand the priorities and needs of the workforce

• Cultivating a culture of celebrating achievements to ensure employees feel valued for their contributions

3:30 pm Panel:Equipping Your Firm & Operational Excellence Team to Stay Ahead of Industry Advancements & Transformations

  • Adam Krob Director of Information Technology, Field Audit, and Process Improvement, Boh Bros. Construction Co.
  • David Maser Director of Operational Excellence, IMC Construction

Synopsis

• Maintaining Operational Excellence under different delivery and operating models

• Integrating increasing levels of automation, robotics and AI into jobsites and project planning

• Capturing and leveraging lessons learned to institutionalize learning and ensure long-term innovation 

4:10 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks

  • Collin Sutt Consultant, American Contractors Insurance Group

4:15 pm End of Day Two