The Client.

Director of Operations
Pacific Northwest
$50 Million Utility Construction Company

The Situation.

The Director of Operations was alarmed by the amount of salary dollars being spent on overtime, when he knew the workload wasn't overwhelming. He knew that time was being lost but he wasn't clear on where the problem really lay.

The Frustration.

He wants his crews out of the shop and on the job as early as possible in the morning, but they seemed to always be slow to get away and late getting the work done.  Hours of overtime every day had become the rule instead of the exception.

The Action.

He consulted with SynRG on devising a Time Strategy Process that looked at how the employees actually used their time.  Then they compared the results with the strategic imperatives for the company.

The Insights.

The Director of Operations discovered that the company's current procedures fostered an "around-the-water-color" environment that slowed productivity but increased socializing. He realized that by changing the sequence of events - stocking and inspecting the truck for the next job the night before instead of first thing the next morning- completely changed the crew's objectives. With the shift in timing, the crew was anxious to get home, instead of being anxious to share the day's news.

The crew members were unaware that their pace was hurting their overall productivity and were happy to embrace the new procedures.

The Results.

Productivity improved immediately: Crew productivity increased between 10% and 25%

Costs went down: The new process saved one to two hours of overtime each day.