{"id":14505,"date":"2019-04-25T01:38:45","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T06:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/?page_id=14505"},"modified":"2023-05-11T13:13:32","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T18:13:32","slug":"gootee-construction-and-align","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/","title":{"rendered":"Gootee Construction Built a Culture of Accountability with Align"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gootee Construction Built a Culture of Accountability with Align<\/h1><\/div>

Ben Gootee, CEO of Gootee Construction<\/a>, had built his company into a regional leader with an established track record of success. But, he knew they would have to establish a culture of efficiency and team alignment if they wanted to keep scaling.<\/p>\n

Align gave Gootee the structure to implement the habits that moved the business forward and turned a culture of engagement into a competitive advantage.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Before Align, people knew generally what they needed to be doing. But Align's accountability tools are what gave us that extra 20% to really move us forward.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Ben Gootee, CEO<\/h6><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Gootee Construction<\/a> is based just outside of New Orleans, Louisiana, and in their nearly 30 years of existence they\u2019ve created quite a name for themselves, attracting clients as wide-ranging and impressive as Tulane University, the Ritz-Carlton hotel, and several large local hospitals.<\/p>\n

And their services are as diverse as their clients. Gootee can meet all commercial plumbing and HVAC needs: from basic plan and spec projects to complicated redesigns, Gootee can take the lead as a prime contractor or step in as a subcontractor.<\/p>\n

But a wide range of work can come with a wide range of challenges.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of moving pieces,\u201d explains President and CEO, Ben Gootee, referring to the more than 25 different projects with which his company is involved at any given time. \u201cAnd there are a lot of different people working on those pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s the project management team, the services team, the tools and equipment maintenance team \u2014 just to name a few.\u00a0 \u201cPlus,\u201d Ben says, \u201can actual construction team of approximately 100 people doing the work in the field.\u201d\u00a0 Partly due to all these different teams and people focused on their diverse, individual tasks, the construction field requires a heightened level of communication, as well as an alignment of priorities throughout the organization.<\/p>\n

Gootee was having success \u2014 never short of clients \u2014 but Ben knew he would have to improve these pieces if his company was to continue to scale.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople think of scaling up as growing financially,\u201d Ben says, \u201cbut \u2014 to me \u2014 I felt it was about growing culturally.\u00a0 And, I thought if we could improve the culture of transparency and accountability within our organization \u2014 and better align our team members\u2019 tasks to our organizational goals \u2014 then that would have financial benefits, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

So four months ago, Ben took his longtime, financially stable company and began working with Align to transform Gootee\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n

And how has it gone?\u00a0 \u201cThe cultural growth has been tremendous,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think it would have happened this way on our own.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Transitioning to Align<\/h2>\n

Ben first discovered Align as part of Entrepreneurs\u2019 Organization (EO) \u2014 a collaborative association of entrepreneurs originally founded by Verne Harnish.\u00a0 Harnish is now most famous for his books, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits<\/em> and Scaling Up<\/em>, both of which are a compilation of the guiding leadership and management principles thought to make John D. Rockefeller and his Standard Oil one of the great success stories in American business history.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had been in EO for two years, so I knew the \u2018Rock Habits\u2019 well \u2014 and I valued them \u2014 but we weren\u2019t executing them properly,\u201d Ben admitted.\u00a0 \u201cWe had goals, for example, but they weren\u2019t measurable, and they weren\u2019t on a finite timeline, so we weren\u2019t achieving them in a meaningful way.\u201d<\/p>\n

To see change, Ben knew Gootee had to focus on a handful of improvements \u2014 integral to a company working in such a fast-paced and communication-reliant field:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • The alignment of his Executive Team around a unified strategic plan for the company\u2019s future.<\/li>\n
  • Organizational transparency that would allow team members to understand what Gootee\u2019s strategic priorities were, as well as what their own role \u2014 and the role of their fellow team members \u2014 was in achieving those priorities.<\/li>\n
  • A culture of accountability toward the individual and company-wide priorities being set. An understanding of what needs to get done and when, as well as a way to track that progress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s possible we could achieve these on our own,\u201d he said, \u201cbut how many setbacks would it take? Working with Align has been a much shorter path to success.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Ben admits there are always going to be some challenges to implementing a culture of accountability.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re only four months into adding Align, so of course there was a little bit of \u2018Geez, what kind of tool is Ben making us roll out now?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

    But he also sees team members beginning to notice a difference \u2014 especially when it comes to transparency and communication.\u00a0 As they started to implement better business habits through Align, they began to get results.\u00a0 \u201cAnd as employees saw results,\u201d Ben noted, \u201cthey started to buy in to what we were doing, which created a positive spiral of better results and more buy-in.\u201d<\/p>\n

    In the quarter before Gootee began using Align, Ben says the company would maybe address, define and accomplish one or two meaningful priorities.<\/p>\n

    But this past quarter?\u00a0 \u201cCloser to 30,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

    And Ben believes that change is in part due to the specific ways they were able to leverage Align as a tool to reach their goals.<\/p>\n

    <\/h2>\n

    A Tool for Tracking<\/h2>\n

    \u201cBefore Align, we were setting goals,\u201d Ben said, \u201cbut they just didn\u2019t have any meat to them.\u00a0 No real teeth.\u201d\u00a0 Meaning they weren\u2019t specific and measurable.<\/p>\n

    Gootee had had other kinds of software for years \u2014 simulation software, accounting software \u2014 and software that helped manage construction \u2014 but Align was the first time they had a real strategic accountability tool.\u00a0 They used it as a way to set company priorities and list organizational targets.\u00a0 And they used it as a visual display for the metrics that would help them arrive at those targets, and to ensure they reached them in the desired timeframe.<\/p>\n

    \u201cAlign was the first time we actually got it all written down.\u201d\u00a0 Working with Align required Gootee to implement habits that exposed them to what Ben calls \u201creal accountability\u201d for the first time.\u00a0 Due dates.\u00a0 Follow-ups.\u00a0 Priorities and tasks.<\/p>\n

    Ben says Gootee lacked a regular culture of follow-up.\u00a0 \u201cBut having it written down for the entire team to see and share really invigorated members to action.\u00a0 Then \u2014 when you can see that progress on a visual display \u2014 it kind of forces you to do the things you say you\u2019re going to do or everyone knows you didn\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

    For Ben, perhaps the most important piece was that it gave him an eagle-eye view of his company.\u00a0 He could see where progress was taking place \u2014 as well as where progress was being held up \u2014 in a way he had never been able to before.\u00a0 Ben believed the best leaders acted as a coach for their company. Now he was able to more effectively be that for Gootee.<\/p>\n

    \u201cBefore Align, people knew generally what they needed to be doing,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cBut these accountability tools are what gave us that extra 20% to really move us forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

    <\/h2>\n

    A Tool for Communication<\/h2>\n

    It\u2019s not like Gootee didn\u2019t have goals before Align.\u00a0 \u201cThe difference,\u201d Ben said, \u201cwas that, before Align, we maybe met about them \u2014 I don\u2019t know \u2014 once a month?\u201d\u00a0 In part because of that, the company never met those goals with the speed they\u2019d hoped for.<\/p>\n

    Working with Align pushed them to implement the habit of meeting daily in what is referred to as \u201ca huddle.\u201d\u00a0 Huddles were an opportunity for individual teams to remember the big strategic priorities Gootee was aiming at, and then break down their own work into individual, assignable, bitesize tasks.<\/p>\n

    \u201cAll of a sudden we had attainable steps toward achieving our longer-term goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

    These tasks could be logged into Align \u2014 along with an owner \u2014 and during the next day\u2019s huddle teams could exercise accountability by doing a very quick check-in on them.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt created a culture of knocking down one domino at a time,\u201d Ben said, \u201cand that\u2019s how you hit a goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

    And how long did these daily huddles take?\u00a0 \u201cAt first our team was worried that extra meetings would be a waste of time,\u201d Ben laughed, \u201cBut these took about 12 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

    And his team was pleasantly surprised to see that these short, regular meetings actually eliminated the need for many longer meetings throughout the week, saving them time.<\/p>\n

    This culture of communication stretched all the way up to the Executive Team.\u00a0 Through Align, Gootee implemented a One-Page Strategic Plan, which is equivalent to an organizational roadmap to success.\u00a0 The team posts this plan on the software, and meets quarterly to check-in on \u2014 and, when necessary, to adjust \u2014 the goals they believe will help them achieve that success.<\/p>\n

    \u201cUsing Align in this way \u2014 as a strategic management tool,\u201d says Ben, \u201chas been invaluable.\u201d<\/p>\n

    <\/h2>\n

    A Tool for Your Company?<\/h2>\n

    Four months into his company\u2019s work with the team at Align, Ben is already seeing the benefits.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s certainly taken a lot of effort, but the cultural growth has come faster than I expected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

    And he believes financial growth will follow as a result.\u00a0 \u201cWhen we\u2019re able to draw the connections between our company\u2019s big strategic goals and our team member\u2019s individual tasks, we get worker buy-in and enthusiastic employees,\u201d explained Ben.\u00a0 \u201cAnd when our customers interact with employees that are excited to work with them, then you\u2019re going to have enthusiastic customers, too.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we\u2019re looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Ben thinks the \u201cRockefeller Habits\u201d Align is helping to instill in Gootee are especially useful in the construction industry, with a fast-paced culture that requires transparent organizational-wide communication for success.<\/p>\n

    But, of course, a fast-paced culture and a need for strong communication isn\u2019t only important in the construction business.\u00a0 It\u2019s important to every industry.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Gootee Construction turned to Align when they needed a system to improve the culture of their scaling business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":14506,"parent":11712,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14505","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nGootee Construction Built a Culture of Accountability with Align<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gootee Construction turned to Align when they needed a system to improve the culture of their scaling business.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gootee Construction Built a Culture of Accountability with Align\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gootee Construction turned to Align when they needed a system to improve the culture of their scaling business.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Align\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/alignme\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-11T18:13:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/service-team-picture_800x800_acf_cropped.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@aligntoday\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/\",\"name\":\"Gootee Construction Built a Culture of Accountability with Align\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/service-team-picture_800x800_acf_cropped.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-25T06:38:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-11T18:13:32+00:00\",\"description\":\"Gootee Construction turned to Align when they needed a system to improve the culture of their scaling business.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/service-team-picture_800x800_acf_cropped.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/service-team-picture_800x800_acf_cropped.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Success Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Gootee Construction Built a Culture of Accountability with Align\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/\",\"name\":\"Align\",\"description\":\"Strategic Execution System for Business\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Align\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/ALIGN-LOGO-1.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/ALIGN-LOGO-1.svg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":550,\"caption\":\"Align\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/alignme\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/aligntoday\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/aligntoday\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/2676498\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCc_GllLXH7A2_-TFwu8pCRQ\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gootee Construction Built a Culture of Accountability with Align","description":"Gootee Construction turned to Align when they needed a system to improve the culture of their scaling business.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gootee Construction Built a Culture of Accountability with Align","og_description":"Gootee Construction turned to Align when they needed a system to improve the culture of their scaling business.","og_url":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/","og_site_name":"Align","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/alignme","article_modified_time":"2023-05-11T18:13:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/service-team-picture_800x800_acf_cropped.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@aligntoday","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/","url":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/","name":"Gootee Construction Built a Culture of Accountability with Align","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/service-team-picture_800x800_acf_cropped.jpg","datePublished":"2019-04-25T06:38:45+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-11T18:13:32+00:00","description":"Gootee Construction turned to Align when they needed a system to improve the culture of their scaling business.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/service-team-picture_800x800_acf_cropped.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/service-team-picture_800x800_acf_cropped.jpg","width":800,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/gootee-construction-and-align\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Success Stories","item":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Gootee Construction Built a Culture of Accountability with Align"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/","name":"Align","description":"Strategic Execution System for Business","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/#organization","name":"Align","url":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/ALIGN-LOGO-1.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/ALIGN-LOGO-1.svg","width":1080,"height":550,"caption":"Align"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/alignme","https:\/\/x.com\/aligntoday","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/aligntoday\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/2676498\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCc_GllLXH7A2_-TFwu8pCRQ"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14505"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28414,"href":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14505\/revisions\/28414"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}