
Elevate Construction Ep.127 – The Last Planner System – Lean Series
The Last Planner System isn't just another meeting cadence; it's how you get total participation, real commitments, and predictable flow instead of a "shoved-down" schedule that nobody follows. In this episode, Jason breaks down what Last Planner is, why traditional CPM schedules often fail in the field, and how planning must get more detailed as you get closer to the work. He walks through the five key elements (master scheduling, pull planning, make-ready, weekly work planning, and day planning), plus practical rules for commitments, roadblock removal, and tracking Percent Plan Complete so teams can learn, improve, and stop the chaos.
What you'll learn in this episode:
- Why total participation is the missing ingredient in most scheduling systems and how Last Planner fixes it
- Why planning should get more detailed as you get closer to the work (and why day-level plans months out are fake certainty)
- The five elements of Last Planner: master scheduling, pull planning, make-ready, weekly work planning, and day planning
- How to remove roadblocks fanatically, make reliable promises, and track Percent Plan Complete to drive continuous improvement
- Practical rules that make the system work: own your commitments, don't move others' tags, plan geographically, and protect reliability
If your schedule "looks good" but crews keep showing up to unready work, what would change if you ran Last Planner with real commitments and real accountability?
If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you'll never miss an episode. And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two 😊).
Also, here are links to our YouTube Channels: · Jason Schroeder YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4xpRYvrW5Op5Ckxs4vDGDg · LeanTakt YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/leanTakt · LeanSuper YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzQDevqQP19L4LePuqma3Fg/featured · LeanSurvey YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Ztn3okFhyB_3p5nmMKnswSample
