Reliable Promises

The built environment is, by nature, a very unpredictable industry. Construction projects are huge undertakings that can involve hundreds or even thousands of workers with different ideas, agendas, and roles.

Teams utilizing traditional project delivery systems – the models most are accustomed to – struggle with keeping up strong lines of communication and with aligning goals towards one purpose.

This lack of communication makes promising difficult, since project workers may fear that unknown variables can stop the promise from being delivered upon. Because of this, you’ll often hear people say they’ll “try” to accomplish something, which is not a promise.

Furthermore, there is a surprising deficit in planning and anticipating future problems in the built environment, making promises even more precarious. Nobody wants to put their neck on the line for a promise they don’t feel confident they can deliver – because they haven’t planned that far ahead!

These are all fears that lead to bad promises (or to no promises at all) in the design and construction community, and it’s one reason why people don’t trust promises that are made.

Construction projects can be thought of as a vast network of promises made between team members and within individual teams.

If you think about it, every individual task that is completed in a project is a promise, whether big or small. Examples include:

• I will complete the lighting layout for the first floor by next Wednesday.
• I will deliver this information to the owner of the project via email by the end of the month
• I will deliver these materials to the construction site on Tuesday.

A promise can be thought of as any commitment that you make with another person or group of people in which everyone involved has a shared purpose. Promises build trust, and by delivering upon a promise, you gain the trust of your coworkers.

When everyone in the team makes promises and keeps them, communication lines are vastly improved, and everyone’s job becomes easier because team members know what to expect.

The Customer

The person making the request.

The Performer

The person fulfilling the request

The Conditions of Satisfaction

Developed by the customer and the performer in tandem, the Conditions of Satisfaction (CoS) make up the language of the promise.

Conditions of Satisfaction are mutually agreed upon, measurable statements that help define what “success” looks like for this project. The CoS outline what conditions must be met in order to call the project a success. The CoS drive the decision-making process for all parties involved throughout the project. Well-developed Cos will include a timeframe, which often is what makes people most uncomfortable about making a commitment.

Not all promises are created equal. When making a promise, it’s important to know what promises are helpful and what promises are unhelpful.

Good promises are…

1. Documented

Promises should be clearly communicated to the team, both verbally and in writing, so that the necessary parties understand what you will accomplish.

2. Planned

Making a promise without a clear understanding of how it will be accomplished is not helpful. The person making the promise needs to do so only when they are certain they will have the means (time and knowledge) to fulfill it.

3. Declarative

Do or do not, there is no try. This is especially true when making promises! Intentions are not promises. “I will…” or “I will if…” are promises. “I hope to…” or “I will try to…” are not promises. Make sure that your promises are full commitments and own the responsibility of making sure that promise is fulfilled.

4. Voluntary

Promises are only valuable when the person makes them voluntarily, knowing that they have a choice in the matter. Promises made under coercion are not helpful. The person making the promise needs to agree to own that responsibility, not feel like the responsibility was forced upon them.

5. Valuable

Is the task you are promising to complete providing value to the project, or is it unnecessary and wasteful? Remember that promises should be made with the CoS in mind and should be worth the time it will take to complete.

In Lean, reliable promises are most associated with the Last Planner System® (LPS®). Promises are a key component to the first three levels of LPS, which includes pull-planning (should), make-ready planning (can), and weekly work planning (will).

When using LPS, team members make promises to one another about work they are planning to accomplish during a set timeframe (usually, this is concerning work to be done before the next daily huddle or weekly work meeting, though promises can also be made further in advance).

During these daily huddles and weekly work meetings, team members review the promises they made during previous conversations and note which ones they were able to complete, and which ones they were not able to complete and why. In some cases, root cause analysis may be necessary to determine the breakdown that prevented the promise from being followed through on.

By making, keeping, and tracking promises diligently, work becomes far more predictable for all parties involved. Team members will understand each other’s responsibilities and will know with a high degree of certainty when and how that work will be completed, allowing them to plan their own work around that.

The Lean Construction Institute is committed to transforming the design and construction industry by providing Lean educational resources, conducting field research, and facilitating local and national Lean events. Explore the supplementary resources below to further your understanding of The Last Planner System.