Daily and Weekly Planning: The Discipline That Prevents Chaos
Daily and weekly planning is where strong PMs separate themselves from firefighting supervisors.
1. Daily Huddles
- Confirm today’s workfaces and handovers.
- Confirm hazards and controls for the day’s critical activities.
- Confirm inspections booked and responsibilities clear.
2. Weekly Trade Meeting
- Review last week’s commitments (what slipped and why).
- Agree next week’s targets with realistic constraints addressed.
- Lock delivery and access plans.
3. Visual Management
Use boards for tasks, constraints, QA hold points, and decisions required. Visibility creates accountability.
A Simple Weekly Agenda (That Actually Works)
- Safety: high-risk activities this week + controls.
- Workfaces: what areas are ready, and what handovers are required?
- Constraints: drawings, selections, inspections, deliveries—who owns each removal?
- Quality: upcoming hold points (waterproofing inspections, pressure tests, fire stopping).
- Programme: confirm the controlling sequence and the “must-win” tasks.
Practical tip: keep commitments small and measurable. “Start plaster” is vague; “plaster Level 2 bedrooms complete and ready for set” is measurable.
Turn Plans into Commitments (Not Wishes)
Weekly plans fail when they are “targets” rather than commitments. A commitment has a clear definition of done, a workface, and a named owner.
Two Simple Tools That Scale
- Constraints register: a list of blockers with owners and due dates (drawings, selections, approvals, deliveries, inspections).
- Handover checklist: what must be true before the next trade starts (tolerances, fixings, protection, access).
Measure Reliability (So You Improve)
Track Percent Plan Complete (PPC): what proportion of last week’s commitments were completed? Then capture reasons for misses (late drawings, access, weather, trade availability). PPC turns planning into a learning loop.