For solutions, some company managers ask their workers.(The Providence Journal)

PROVIDENCE, R. I. _ As revenues grew during the late 1990s, profit margins kept shrinking at Chaffee Industrial Roofing, in East Providence, R.I.

Steven Chaffee, 49, who took over the third-generation family business in 1982, knew that this latest business boom was different from the one he sailed through in the mid-1980s.

"Back then, when revenues trended up with the economy, they more than covered cost increases," he said.

This time around, although there was plenty of work, there weren't big jumps in roofing prices to offset rising premiums for health and other insurance, higher truck acquisition and repair costs, and skyrocketing fuel prices.

So about a year ago, Chaffee, for the first time, gathered his management and administrative staffs to address the problem. He even brought in the five foremen of his production and service crews for a daylong strategic-planning meeting.

But instead of leading the discussion, he turned the reins over to two Rhode Island management consultants, Jay Cumming and Harry Graff. They led employees through an exercise where they had to make all the business decisions for the company over a two-year period. Office workers helped to estimate job time and materials; site supervisors had to allocate funds to pay overhead costs.

It was an eye-opening experience, said John Brinkman, production manager for the 30-person company. He oversees the crews that apply rubber membranes on roofs and make service calls on roofs that have already been installed.