Put yourself in a new foreman’s shoes as you think about Fundamental #2. It’s the weekend, and Monday is Day 1 for you as foreman of a crew of six.
Make no mistake about it, you’re about to tackle one of supervision’s toughest transitions when you realizes that you can’t do it all yourself. After all, you’re probably one of the better craftsmen on the jobsite — and it’s likely that your skill as a craftsman was one of the important reasons why you were made a foreman in the first place.
But — and this is the bedrock assumption underlying Fundamental #2 you can’t do it all yourself. In fact, you must learn to work thru
— and depend on — others whose craft skills may not be quite as sharp as yours. Your task is to get the best result — a team result, not necessarily individual results — from your crew. This means you must concentrate on four basic supervisory tasks that are new to you, and some of them have only a little to do with craftsmanship:
- understand the work — exactly what must be done, how it can be done safely and to meet specs, and by when it must be done;
- make assignments and give instructions to crew members;
- as each task moves forward, communicate about the work with crew members and with the people who supervise you;
- follow up to see that all aspects of the work you supervise are implemented safely, meet quality specs, and your part of the project is moving forward within the budget, and will be completed as scheduled. This requires a major change in your viewpoint. It sounds a little tricky, but you can do it!
it’s true — you can’t do it all yourself. On the other hand, every now and then you may have to put on your tool belt and set the pace by showing your crew that the work can be done safely, to specs, and in the time allowed in the schedule. But this is an occasional “demo” — you’re stepping up to lead — not stepping back to become a crew member again.
Stuff To Think About. As a foreman, how do you have to think differently than you did as a crew member? And how do you have to act differently?
