Session 2 – Ugly projects can happen. This session will help you identify warning signs, preventative measures as well as rescue tips to minimize loss and increase successful completion without burning bridges. Contract negotiations, good project schedules, quantity of RFIs and CORs, executive involvement and collaboration with other trades will also be discussed. Learning Objectives:

• Identifying a project heading south

• Investigating the why

• Course correcting for a profitable outcome

• When and how to take legal action

Session 3 – Cash flow is one of the most important issues facing contractors today. As the market continues to stay strong, companies are faced with starting new projects, hiring staff, and investing in assets to support the business. More companies go bankrupt due to cash flow issues than due to profitability. Many things can and should be done to improve cash management practices. We will explore a range of tools and techniques, from simple to complex, which allow firms to manage and control cash flow. Examples include contractual negotiation strategies, pricing and bidding practices, development of cost and resource-loaded schedules that tie to billing activities in the schedule of values, use of 12-week cash flow forecasts, project closeout procedures, and managing the billings and collection cycle. An interactive cash flow simulation provides hands-on experience that enhances the learning outcomes. Learning Objectives: • Learn the importance of cash management practices • Increase profits with billings and collections • Apply tools and techniques that optimize cash flow • Maximize cash flow with process standardization • Create transparency and accountability with measurement

Session 4 – 

Every organization strives for greatness.  That greatness comes from the level of engagement and performance of the people within the company.  Team enablement and challenging the status quo is not about “being nice” or “being comfortable.”  Rather, it is creating a culture where input is encouraged and recognized.  It is an environment where people are unafraid to ask for assistance or admit making mistakes.  It is a space where ideas can be challenged constructively in the desire to pursue continuous improvement. 

During this session, we will:

• Discuss the benefits of team culture
• List the behaviors to avoid that will sabotage team enablement
• Outline the questions to ask to determine whether this is a problem for your organization
• Describe strategies for improving leadership practices to create the right environment for engagement

Session 5 – The construction industry is experiencing a transition between gut and experience led decision making and those based on data and analytics. Our youngest generations of staff and field are most comfortable with the shift towards the use of technology and data. The challenge is that moving our business models, workflows, and training in that direction takes time and focus to accomplish. We will discuss best practices behind definition, implementation, training, and engagement when moving our operations to this more objective, fact-based model. During this session, we will:

• Discuss why the need to shift to this model is necessary

• Outline the benefits of data-based project and field operations

• List the workflows required to be defined in order to provide quality information to stakeholders

• Show the financial transparency and predictability of outcomes this provides

Session 6 – In this session, the group will discuss contract risk management and preservation of rights in order to increase the chances of financial recovery during project execution. Since the most valued information for contract conflict resolution comes from those closest to the work, the basics of preparing that documentation and effectively translating the information will be discussed. The group will gain understanding and review examples of risky contract clauses, the process of claims management, the legalities of change order control, and preparation for lawsuits. We will have a workshop within the session that displays two scenarios to enhance the understanding of effective negotiations techniques.

Session 7 – Hiring mid- and upper-level managers in today’s market is extremely difficult. While hiring from the outside has been a leading strategy for those experiencing growth, the staff shortages being realized today call for stronger approaches to recruiting, engaging, training, and retaining top talent. During this session, we will explore proven strategies for growing your staff from within by investing in your employees. During this session, we will: • Discuss the concept of bottom-up growth and its value to the overall organization • Discuss the need for definition of success for each operational position • Outline the skillsets necessary for development and growth • Define the processes required for employee engagement and learning • Discuss compensation structures as a means for retainage

Session 8 – Well defined, scalable systems and processes deployed with technology and used consistently by everyone in the company are the foundation to minimizing risk and achieving predictable results. Many contractors know and understand this concept, and many have, at some point, defined their processes. Perhaps they are sitting on a bookshelf right now and are rarely used or even referenced in order to understand the company procedures. The more a company grows the more difficult it becomes to develop and deploy these systems. Yet the need increases dramatically. We will discuss how to define standard procedures in your organization, generate buy in that will operationalize their use, and how to utilize them as a platform to build bench depth that will move the organization to the next level.

Learning Objectives:

• Illustrate the value of workflow documentation and provide examples of how best of class contractors develop and document standardize workflow • Demonstrate how to leverage technology in the deployment of standardized processes and procedures that create consistency and predictable results.

• Describe the keys to successfully operationalizing processes including staff training and metrics that provide visibility on compliance and the bottom-line impact.

Session 9 – With the technology available to the industry, it is entirely possible to price work utilizing data in lieu of estimating software with the “hope” that it contains the right information to help land the job AND not lose profit. During this session, we will discuss the life cycle of estimating and the critical path of information that must be shared through the get work, do work, and keep score functions to allow for this critical information to be gathered, extracted, and utilized. Learning objectives:

• Define bid selection criteria - not all opportunities are good ones

• Discuss the utilization of data and data mining in bid strategy

• Outline the link of consistency required between estimating and work breakdown structure

• Show the critical role of the estimator in the essential preconstruction planning process

• List the lessons learned needed to close the information loop. This is the most valuable information that is so seldom shared