Meaning

Meetings, emails, check-ins, and coordination only add value if they reduce confusion and make decisions easier. When engagement increases the amount of effort required to move work forward, it drains the team instead of helping it.

APMs, PMs, and Superintendents often stay busy communicating, but the work itself does not get clearer. People attend more meetings, send more messages, and escalate more often, yet the same issues keep resurfacing. The problem is not a lack of engagement. It is engagement that does not reduce effort.

Example Under Pressure

A project begins to fall behind schedule. In response, the PM schedules additional meetings, increases reporting requirements, and asks for more frequent updates. The Superintendent spends more time preparing for meetings than managing the field. The APM spends hours updating logs and reports that do not lead to decisions.

Despite the increased activity, nothing becomes clearer. Trades remain unsure of priorities, decisions take longer, and frustration grows. The team is working harder, but control has not improved. Engagement increased, but energy was not reduced.

Principle Clarification

This principle establishes that engagement is only effective when it removes uncertainty and lowers the effort required to execute the work. When engagement adds layers without producing clarity or decisions, it becomes a source of friction rather than control.

“If engagement increases effort, it is not working”