Blogs

Residential Products Online content is now on probuilder.com! Same great products coverage, now all in one place!

Quality Management

Meetings: Critical methods of communication

The title of a best selling business book 'Death by Meetings' says it all. No one likes meetings, however, they are a crucial part of a well...

Quality Management

Don't just say no !

Whatever the issue. Whatever the idea. The first response was, no. Not an adamant no, not an angry no, not even a thoughtful considered...

The Sweet Spot

Embrace what is, not what was

I recently got to spend some time in Madison, Wis., for one of our PR Night educational and networking events. Madison is one of those...

Quality Management

GRASS ROOTS IMPROVEMENT IDEAS

While running a Kaizen Blitz (a short term improvement effort focused on a specific issue) or having a systematic Six Sigma project can have...

Quality Management

MISSION STATEMENTS

Mission, Vision and Values are commonly used together, but what do they mean? Mission is why you exist Vision is what your striving to do ...

Great Solutions for Builders

Blog: Social media grows up

Last month, I had the pleasure of spending a day in Seattle speaking to local home builders and remodelers about the growing importance of...

blog_entry

The birds, bees, flowers, and trees

Oh yes, and let’s not forget the fish. ITS BREEDING SEASON! For those of you that have inherited projects with regulatory agency...

Quality Management

FOCUS GROUPS

You may feel that by talking with customers on a regular basis and reviewing surveys, that you have you finger on the pulse of your...

Quality Management

TRADE RELATIONSHIPS

For a real relationship with trade PARTNERS we need to practice what we preach. First of all do you have a good partnership and relationship...

Quality Management

CONSTRUCTION QUALITY

This is where so much time, effort and money is lost. Doing it right the first time, not having rework, call backs, defects and warranty...

The Sweet Spot

NARI members optimistic about market

Jersey City, NJ -- Writing from the NARI Spring Business Meeting here, and the news seems to be mostly positive.Most remodelers I've...

Quality Management

TUNNEL VISION

A critical danger in any business is tunnel vision. The focus on just one thing at the expense of others! We can be the best at one...

Quality Management

Strategic Planning

Strategic planning basics to boost your business success

Quality Management

LEADERSHIP & REFLECTION QUESTIONS

It’s a cliché but everything starts with and ends with Leadership. It’s from leadership that the vision comes, the inspiration for the...

Quality Management

HOW QUALITY TOOLS & HIGH PERFORMING HOMES PROGRAMS FIT INTO NHQA

The NHQA criteria may look simple at first glance, just 8 headings, but this is deceptive, it has depth and complexity. Think of the range...

Quality Management

A3 IMPROVEMENT TOOL

Looking for a way to focus and coordinate improvement initiatives? A3, which is named after the size of paper it is meant to be printed on....

Quality Management

Blog: The importance of process management in green building

Whether you are planning to or currently use Energy Star, NAHB National Green Building Standards, DOE’s Builder Challenge or another program...

Quality Management

BENCHMARKING HIGH PERFORMERS

Reinventing the wheel can take a lot of time. So why not consider benchmarking best practices. The 2011 National Housing Quality Award...

Quality Management

THE IMPACT OF QUALITY FOR BUILDERS

What REAL bottom-line impact can Quality have on my business! When we look at the cost of not having quality, quality quickly becomes an...

Quality Management

THE TRUE VALUE OF THE NHQA FEEDBACK REPORT

When builders apply for Professional Builder’s National Housing Quality Award they receive much more than the chance to win an award — they...

Quality Management

THE VALUE OF CHECKLISTS

Whether you like checklists or not, there’s no denying the impact they can have on ensuring things get done right the first time, every time...

Quality Management

THE ‘HOUSE OF QUALITY’ MODEL FOR THE NHQA

The NHQA consists of a set of eight criteria but how does it actually function? The criteria does not consist of isolated standalone...

Quality Management

IMPROVING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION THROUGH EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION…. PROVE IT!

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION While it has been long established that organizations with a quality foundation have better leverage to achieve high...

Quality Management

LEAN & SIX SIGMA IN CONSTRUCTION

The key benefits of lean and six sigma include providing structured methods of improvement to reduce waste, shorten production time,...

Quality Management

CHANGE MANAGEMENT & IMPROVEMENT TOOLS

Creating change is not easy, neither is coming up with fresh ideas and perspectives to prompt those changes in the first place! Below I...

Home Builders Institute's Schools to Skills Grant Application Open Through December

As Mortgage Rates Rise, Buyers Lose Purchasing Power

Renters Are Choosing Single-Family Homes for These Features