PM Manual – Leadership, Management, Mentoring of On-Site Team

Leadership, Management, Mentoring of On-Site Team

I. Purpose and Outcome
II. Process Steps
III. Tips and Supporting Information
IV. Example
V. Form(s)
VI. References

I. Purpose and Outcome

Productivity is the effective utilization of resources to achieve the quantity and quality of output within specific timeframes without sacrificing safety.  When you break it down, productivity is defined by two key elements:

What is effective:  Do the right things (Process)
What is efficient:  Do things right (Quality)

In short, if a company can be effective and efficient it will be productive.  The roadmap for that success is possible through the use of 9 Critical Factors:

Expect Excellence – Make it a journey
Construction Basics
Teamwork
Leadership
Organization
Motivation
Customer Satisfaction
Developing People
Managing Change

II. Process Steps

Expect Excellence

Define excellence for your team

• Give the customer what they cannot get anywhere else
• Use the resources of our superior team
• Have the safest project
• Set High-Quality standards
• Make labor budgets by hour and rate

Set Requirements for achieving that excellence

• Set all goals as it pertains to Safety, Quality, and Productivity

Clarify and delivery values

• Use our core values when making decisions

Build commitment

• Creating challenges and opportunities for individuals builds commitment

Build trustworthy leadership

• Empower and validate/follow up

Construction Basics

Defining Productivity

• What are the trackable productivity items on the job
  • Develop a plan at the beginning of the project to track and report on productivity daily, labor hours, and break out estimated hours/cost codes into buckets for JLPR.  Foreman to break cost codes out further to provide crew members with specific task labor goals.
  • Labor Hours – Are you where you said you would be at the beginning of the project?

Creating everyday productivity on the job site

• Daily Huddles should have a Safety, Quality, and Productivity feature to it every day.
  • Safety – Discuss any job site safety concerns daily.  Discuss upcoming tasks and any new safety concerns associated with them.
  • Quality – What is your QC plan, are crew members aware of the quality of install that is expected of them.  Talk about what kind of quality is expected every day.
    • Work needs to be done right the 1st time
    • Define quality expectations of your job, give examples
  • Productivity – Is the project on schedule?  Is Encore on schedule?  How many man-hours are left in the project?  Are there enough hours to complete the project including testing and commissioning?  Provide each crew member with daily expectations and within what time frame they should be completing a specific task.  Get their buy-in.

• Trackable buckets of hours (small enough to be trackable and not overwhelming) so the teams know what they are to have done by break time, lunch time, or at the end of the day.  They also need to know the longer term schedule, so convey this as necessary.  Have a format (JLPR or similar) to share the results with the team so they know how they are doing.

• Prefabricate as much as possible to help with productivity, schedule, labor rate, crew size, issues like trash generated on the project, etc., will be less with prefab.

Clarifying the Foreman’s role

• The Foreman needs to fully understand his role as it pertains to productivity
  • The Foreman’s role is to keep the lead guys informed and moving forward, always looking at least 3 weeks ahead.  Doing what it takes to keep the crews moving forward.  Communicating the project status and any upcoming roadblocks to the PM.
  • Assign the right person to the right tasks, keeping in mind people need to learn new skills along the way.
  • Foremen need to fully understand the scope of work including the specifications.

Strengthen the PM/Foreman Partnership

• Work with the PM on the budget, JLPR, and breakouts for productivity, manpower should be discussed monthly to ensure CTC’s are accurate and PM and Foreman are on the same page.

Removing the hidden barriers to productivity

• Bad news is better early.  Don’t try to hide bad news, if something is going bad put it on the table with the team and try to find the best solution.
• Material handling can be the biggest waste of time on a project.  Make sure you have a great plan for this including; mobile material carts and just-in-time deliveries to eliminate multiple handling of the same material.
• You need the right equipment, tools, material, and proper labor force assigned to each task and make sure the area is clear of obstructions to work productively.
• Make sure your guys have adequate transportation to the work area.  Example:  Vertical high rise projects need man hoists or scaffolding stairs, etc.

Building Teamwork

Create a team mentality

• If you do not already have an established well known team, get to know them so you can lead them properly.  Hold regular meetings with lead guys to discuss the project.  The lead guys will take any pertinent information and communicate it to their crews.

Explain why we need teamwork

• Make sure to keep all communication walls knocked down between Pre-con and construction, office and field, field Foreman and field, from Pre-Con to Construction, and then Construction to Service to ensure the flow of information.
• Don’t forget the team can be vendors, suppliers, other trades, our subcontractors, the GC, and the Owner’s Representative.

It all starts with a plan

• Work with operations to properly set up the crew structure
• Make sure everyone on the job understands the roles and responsibilities of each team member and that clear expectations are communicated.
  • Roles and expectations should be clearly defined when each new person comes to a specific job site or if their responsibilities change.
• Set the tone with our customers, the Owner, GC, other subcontractors, and vendors that we are partners.
  • Work with, not against each other.  Build relationships with the Owner, GC, Subcontractors, and vendors.  Working together usually means that everyone can be profitable.

Project Schedule

• Work with the project team to indicate specific job milestones.
  • Develop team goals based on the project schedule and discuss weekly how those goals are tracking.
  • Notify GC and Operations immediately when dates are not being met.
  • If GC allows schedule slip, develop a mitigation plan for recovery and communicate this plan to the GC.

Meeting the Leadership Challenge

Define the key components

• Align your project with the GC’s for PM, PE, and Superintendent communication and coordination

Develop leadership effectiveness

• Coaching
• Mentoring
• Evaluating each member
• Remember it is always about the “How”

Leadership mindset

• What did the owner pay for when they selected Encore for the project

Elements of effective leadership

• Put issues on the table
  • Effective Communications leads to solutions
• Have fierce conversations
  • Make it about the issue, not the person
• Have below-the-line conversations
• Stay out of the box
• Be prepared for the Subcontractor and OAC meetings
  • Start preparing for this meeting the minute the last one ended
  • If you bring something up in a meeting and it is the first time anyone has heard it, it may put people on the defensive.  Make sure you have an open communication policy with the other trades and the GC.

Organization and Alignment

Get organized

Establish a results-driven approach

• Manage results, not methods, no one likes working for a micromanager

Set production goals and monitor

Make weekly planning a reality

• Use your Daily Huddles as a plan execution tool
• Get feedback from your crew

Close out the job

• Successful turn-over with the Service Department should start early.  Don’t wait until everyone is off of the project.
• Make sure you evaluate each team player (exit evaluations) before they leave your job, whether their review is up or not.

Motivation

Develop motivation skills

• Get to know your people and what makes them tick so you can lead them properly.

Establish a motivation culture

• People like challenges; so come up with creative challenges based on the individual needs of your crew; this can be very motivating.

The Customer

Define Customer Satisfaction; the Customer should never question why Encore was picked for this project.

Deliver Customer Satisfaction; the Customer wants us for the next project and allows us to negotiate a price.

Move towards Customer Service Excellence

Focus on Great Performance for our Customer

Developing People

Creating Effective Supervision

Retain Great Employees

Managing Change

Organizational change or a culture shift

Change is inevitable; make sure change is not a demotivator.  Explain that it is more revenue for us and it is like adding work to the company; we will get paid.

Now, after all of this, how do I know I am being productive?  Take the following test to see how you are doing:

Productivity Assessment Indicator
Use a Rating Scale of any number between 1-5 for each statement: “1” meaning the activity “hardly ever occurs” and “5” meaning the activity “occurs quite often”.
Activity		Rating
1.	The Foremen set production goals for lead guys; lead guys set production goals of their crews.
2.	The Foremen track, code, and report production daily.
3.	The Foremen maintain adequate manpower on the job, looking at least 3 weeks ahead, knowing what kind of guys are needed, trying to establish a manpower curve shaped like a bell curve.
4.	Foremen have a thorough knowledge of the scope of work, the prints, and the quality specs for the job.
5.	Work is done right the first time.  Expectations are set often on the quality of the installation that our crews produce.
6.	Assigns the right people to the right tasks and has the right crew structure.  Guys are given opportunities to learn new skills as long as they are capable and willing.
7.	Provides project team with a Jobsite Information sheet.
8.	PM/Operations Support Managers provide the Foremen with the resources they need when they need them.
9.	Foremen provide positive leadership on the job.
10.	Foremen know how to effectively plan, organize, direct, and control.
11.	Foremen provide coaching and mentoring; each employee knows their role and expectations as required.
12.	Foremen communicate effectively with all of the players in the construction process.
13.	Foremen listen to input from others
14.	Foremen encourage feedback from their crew.
15.	Pre-job Planning Meetings are held for all jobs.
16.	Foremen do weekly planning.
17.	Foremen conduct Daily Huddles.
18.	Foremen complete all paperwork accurately and submit on time.
19.	Foremen review all documents before job starts and meets with Preconstruction, using the turnover process to get answers to any questions.
20.	Foremen hold crew people accountable for substandard performance.
21.	Foremen know what the productivity standards are for each key job responsibility.
22.	Foremen follow up and assess the work of the crew and provide coaching as required.
23.	Foremen document barriers to their productivity.
24.	Exit Reviews/Project Closeout Meetings are conducted when jobs are completed.
25.	Schedule is being reviewed regularly and used as a management tool on the project.
	Final Score:
	Excellent Productivity:              112-125 Good Productivity:                     100-111 Fair Productivity:                        75-99 Poor Productivity:                       less than 75 If your score is below 100, you should consider doing an Organizational Assessment to identify the barriers to productivity.

III. Tips and Supporting Information

IV. Example

V. Form(s)

VI. References