Scott Sedam | ProBuilder

Scott Sedam

Scott Sedam is president of TrueNorth Development, a consulting and training firm that works with builders to improve products, process, and profits. A senior contributing editor to Pro Builder, Scott writes about all aspects of the home building business and won the 2015 Jesse H. Neal Award, business journalism's most prestigious prize, for his commentary in Pro Builder. Scott invites you to join TrueNorth's Lean Building Group on LinkedIn and welcomes your feedback at scott@truen.com or 248.446.1275.

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Business Management

Taming the Chaos: Secrets of the Successful Home Builder

Complexity is inherent to home building, but you must manage it or it will manage you

Reduce variation to control the chaos in home building

Business Management

An Antidote to the Trade Shortage Epidemic

You don’t have to be at the mercy of trade shortages. Streamlining your scheduling and operations—and paying quickly—can move you to the front of the line

tradesmen measuring and working on construction site

Business Management

Overdue Diligence, Part II: The Builders Speak

Builders respond to Scott Sedam's model detailing all of the critical factors that determine a company's ultimate profitability

Business Management

Overdue Diligence, Part I

An alternative look at land, project, and builder valuation

New-Home Sales

Closing the Sales Fulfillment Gap, Part II: Action Amidst the Angst

Builders weigh in with their own, still-evolving solutions on how best to shepherd customers from contract to closing

New-Home Sales

Closing the Sales Fulfillment Gap: The Missing Link in Lean, Part I

Builders would benefit from proactively shepherding customers from contract to closing more than they would from merely focusing on gaining more sales

three people at table with laptop and blueprints

The Lean Builder

Sales Fulfillment's Missing Link

A builder’s ability to proactively manage a customer from contract through close with every option and selection made on time profoundly impacts the bottom line

Leadership

Home Builders That Show Leadership in Action

These home builders take the responsibilities of leadership seriously, providing great examples of what leadership in our industry looks like today

one black game piece with group of red pieces

Leadership

7 Leadership Examples That Work

It's much more productive and insightful to leave the attributes aside and understand instead what leaders are responsible for doing

one red paper origami boat leading ahead of smaller blue origami boats

Leadership

The 7 Responsibilities of Leadership

What makes a leader? The answer isn't found in rank and privilege. The answer is found by understanding a leader’s responsibilities

Business Management

The Margin Gap: Part II

On the long road back toward sales levels rivaling the best years in the industry, are similar profit levels still available? Where will we find profit?

Business Management

The Margin Gap: Beyond the Usual Suspects

Finding building companies full of good people operating with no better than marginal processes is common. What’s that got to do with profit margin? Plenty

The Lean Builder

Even Lean Is Local

It's said that home building is a local business. Regardless, you should still measure all of your costs

The Lean Builder

The immigration conundrum

As often happens in my articles and columns in Professional Builder Magazine, I set out to write one article, which quickly morphs into...

The Lean Builder

Design for failure

When I travel with my wife, or sometimes just run to the grocery, cleaners or hardware store, she frequently has to remind me, “Scott,...

The Lean Builder

How do you lead a leader? Looking for some answers!

My December column just came out on HousingZone.com and you can read it here: http://www.housingzone.com/scott-sedam-how-do-you-lead-leader...

Lean Building

How Do You Lead a Leader?

Without buy-in from top management, Lean practices are sure to fizzle out over time. So what does it take to get support from the very top?

Labor + Trade Relations

10-Step Labor Shortage Immunization Plan for Builders

As the housing market bounces back, more builders are certain to face scarcity in qualified contractors and laborers. Here are 10 ways to protect your business from the coming labor shortage

Labor + Trade Relations

10 Strategies for Managing the Coming Labor Shortage

As the housing market revives, more builders are experiencing a dearth of skilled contractors. And no one in Washington, D.C., seems to care

Man holding help-wanted sign as labor shortage looms for builders

Business Management Best Practices

Less Waste, More Profit in 10 (Not So Easy) Steps

By tracking, managing, and ultimately minimizing jobsite waste, home builders can save as much as $1,000 per house. Follow these proven steps for getting there

Construction site dumpster full of debris

The Lean Builder

Election 2012: The elephant in the room for home builders

I travel this country meeting with builders virtually every week and between my monthly Professional Builder article, my weekly blog on...

The Lean Builder

The rule of 8, 9, 12 but never 16

Todd Hallett and I are running a LeanPlan Workout session this week in Tennessee with one of my favorite builders. In the years I have known...

The Lean Builder

10 steps to mastering field quality – A positive indicator for a recovering industry

The 5th article in my series on Quality Management was just published by Professional Builder Magazine and appears concurrently on www...

Construction Quality

10 Steps to Mastering Field Quality

Proven processes for getting your field quality in order

Construction Quality

10 Tips to Get Your Field Quality in Order

The recovering housing market has left many builders short-staffed, and field quality is suffering. Here are 10 best practices for improving field quality

construction worker and timber house framing

Demand for Distressed Properties Weakens

As Prices Remain Elevated, Second Homes Become Less Common

With Less Buyer Competition, Down Payments Begin to Drop