Efficient Forecasting

3 steps to efficiency

Caitlin, Field Engineer for an industrial general contractor based in Vancouver, told Session 9B of Turbo Leadership Systems’ Leadership Development Lab:

“Each week I print off a cost report called a ‘Green Sheet’. The company ‘Green Sheet’ breaks down our costs on a project by phase. The report shows what we estimated would be spent, what actually has been spent and what is forecast to be spent. Each week, the Project Manager goes through the Green Sheet carefully to make sure all costs look good, and that our spent costs aren’t higher than what we had forecast. If they are higher, we go into a new program to update our new updated forecast costs.

“The time line and each of the steps of the process are important so we can keep an eye on the project budgets and have a pretty good idea of what our profit margins will be. I had just learned how to read and update the forecast report, and not even a week later, a coworker asked me about how to look through the ‘Green Sheet’ and update the forecast amounts. I asked him come over to my desk to watch me and I showed him what I was doing as I made an update to a report. I walked through it step by step, told him what I was doing and why each step was important.

“Then we went to his desk and I had him give it a try while I walked him through each step . Next, I asked him to make an update himself and to explain to me what he was doing and why. He asked a few questions but learned quickly and now he can update forecast costs all on his own.

“The lesson I learned from this experience is when I take my time, and carefully follow Turbo’s 3-step on the job training process, people understand better, have fewer questions, and become more independent, faster.

“The action I call you to take is to use this 3-step method when you are training people in a new process, take the time to explain and make sure your coworker shows you that they understand the process or procedure you have taught them.

“The benefit you will gain is having coworkers up-to-date more efficiently and tasks will be done correctly. This will reduce errors and frustration for everyone involved.”

Turbo Leadership Systems™ has conducted thousands of employee surveys, in companies of all kinds across America and Canada. One of the 36 questions that companies score low on is “Our training equips us all to succeed.” How sad that people do not feel they and their teammates have been adequately trained to succeed.