https://doi.org/10.24928/2023/0251

What Does a Commitment to a Plan Mean?

John Skaar¹, Trond Bølviken², Bo Terje Kalsaas³ & Lauri Koskela⁴

¹PhD Student/Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Department of Engineering Sciences, University of Agder, N-4846 Grimstad, Norway, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-00032290-2374
²Professor, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Department of Engineering Sciences, University of Agder, N4846 Grimstad, Norway, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0003-4834-2408
³Professor emeritus, Dr. Ing., Faculty of Engineering and Science, Department of Engineering Sciences, University of Agder, N-4846 Grimstad, Norway, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0003-43831683
⁴Professor, School of Art, Design and Architecture, University of Huddersfield, UK, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0003-4449-2281

Abstract

A plan in the making should pull from what creates customer value and from the performers' knowledge and understanding of the context. A plan for commitment should represent the customer's intent in a way that calls for action on the intent's behalf. A promise to commit to a plan happens at many levels and in many forms toward execution, and every promise made becomes a push mechanism to keep that promise. Since a plan represents both push and pull around a commitment, knowledge about these mechanisms can help to understand a plan's function. The main contribution is a reflection on how a plan's push for commitment interacts with emergent situations and an analysis of what part of the commitment is within or outside the scope of the promise and the promiser's influence and control. The promise made committing to a workplan as input to a Percent Plan Complete measurement is used as a practical example. The paper's conclusion arguably strengthens many of the existing parts and principles of the Last Planner System but also gives suggestions for improvement.

Keywords

Complexity, Commitment, Promise, Construction, Project-Based Production

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Reference

Skaar, J. , Bølviken, T. , Kalsaas, B. T. & Koskela, L. 2023. What Does a Commitment to a Plan Mean?, Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC31) , 1407-1417. doi.org/10.24928/2023/0251

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