Masonry Magazine June 1999 Page. 12
Coupling this technique with the old long-term schedule (which still would control long-range scheduling items such as big-ticket material deliveries, inspection benchmarks, etc.) not only enables the project to be managed more productively, but also helps to make the (mammoth) undertaking a little less overwhelming easier to grasp-to the superintendent or project manager. Short-term scheduling also assists in avoiding those all-too-often "early morning-stumbling-around-locating-tools-and-people" gyrations that can plague some jobs.
Another form of planning happens on the jobsite. These are the everyday common-sense (yet, mundane - so often overlooked) items like scheduling your people so they're not working in in the same place at the same time (congestion). When workers are stumbling over one another or constantly in each other's path, productivity will surely suffer - and tempers may begin to flair.
And then, there's the place-ment of material on site. I know this one sounds elementary, but I still occasionally walk onto sites where the majority of (perhaps) the carpentry is occurring on the west side and all the lumber is stacked 85' away on the east side. By itself, one trip doesn't hurt, but remember, we're talk-ing about many workers X many trips X the time required to make the trip. This can add up to real dollars by the end of a job. Another peculiar aspect of this longer trip has to do with how much more often our worker will stop to chat (or otherwise get dis-tracted) while on his trek across the site.
Leadership
Weak, lax, or unclear leadership is a profit-killer. The more defined and clear cut the project goals, the more clear and precise the target will become for your workers. Besides preaching to your people that "Productivity equals profit", always keep in mind that lead-ership is contagious. If the executive branch is clear and focused, the project manager and superintendent will fol-low suit, and so on down the line. With everyone cognizant and clear regard ing their goals, targets are met more often and outcomes are reached in a far more linear fashion.
Worker Skill & Training
This one can be difficult to discuss but, the truth is, we all know there re-ally are workers who are consistently more skillful, attentive, and productive than their co-workers. From a produc-tivity standpoint, this means that - when it comes to profit there is going to be a real and accountable difference between having your "A" crew frame that building versus the less-experi-enced, less-acclimated (and perhaps less motivated) workers acquired through temporary agencies or the local hall.
Now, I don't mean to imply that these workers are just "bad news". On the contrary, many times the lack of pro-ductivity is less about the worker's competence and more about the lack of familiarity with the company and/or project, the learning curve that comes with any new job, and the lack of the cohesiveness that comes with being part of the team - an attribute that can - in itself - facilitate a more productive work atmosphere.
Job-Cost & Field Reporting
This is all about documentation; keeping daily and weekly job logs, job progress meeting minutes, transmittal letters (with all correspondence), and more. Now, I know it's not easy finding time to stop and write something down. This is a habit born of strict per-sonal discipline along with clear and enforced policy from the executive branch on down. Thorough written record assists the contractor regarding disputed change orders or claims that may pop up once the job is over and ba-sically (and effectively) bolsters overall organization throughout the job. An odd side benefit to keeping sound records is that I've noticed that you ac tually seem to encounter less day-to-day dispute, due mainly to the fact that the antagonists are aware that you're prepared and so are less likely to ap-proach you with frivolous or petty items.
Change Orders
All jobs are going to have changes or clarifications during the course of con-struction. And it's easy to in the heat of the battle-let minor additions to your scope of work go un-compensated. But, like those man-hours in our example above, seemingly (at the time) small changes can add up to large amounts of money by the end of a multiple-month job.
Discipline and documentation is the key with changes. Make it clear to the architect and owner that oral instructions and/or changes will not be accepted; they need to be presented on paper. Also, define early on who is authorized to communicate changes and who is not - and stick to your guns! I know that sometimes it's hard to do I've been there. It's natural to want to be accommodating to the owner and the schedule. But business is business and most people un-derstand (and respect) that you are simply protecting your com-pany's interest.
Taking the Easy Way Out
You may have noticed there are a few items that we didn't discuss. When you began this article, you probably thought you'd be reading about cost-cutting methods associated with vehicles & fuel, small tools & blades, or trendier hints like how to save $6.00 a month on your long-distance by switching to SPRINT, and so on. But you didn't-and there's a reason. You see, for years, I've observed wonderingly as well-inten-tioned (but myopic) construction own-ers and managers berated and chastised field workers for things like using too much gas, burning up too many blades, and making too many phone calls - all the while ignoring (or missing) the far more costly big picture.
12 MASONRY- MAY/JUNE, 1999