Any one of these behaviors will make it tough for you to succeed. If you have two or more of these shortcomings and can’t get rid of them, you may not be considered for foreman. If you’re selected and your “killer mistakes” continue, you’re likely to fail. This may sound harsh, but it’s reality.
You don’t have to be perfect to be a successful foreman — far from it.
But, some kinds of mistakes are so troublesome that they can overpower everything else.
- Turning a blind eye to a real or potential safety problem. Safety training and safety rules are everywhere. “I didn’t know” won’t ever stand up as an excuse. If you cut corners — or allow anyone on your crew to cut corners — you’ll cause problems and create liabilities — and costs — that won’t be tolerated. And neither will you!
- Shortchanging quality. If you accept sub-standard quality or allow your crew to produce work that doesn’t meet specs or requires rework, you can be sure that your part of the project will encounter budget and schedule problems. If shortchanging quality ever takes hold in your company, sooner or later you’ll lose customers.
- Treating individuals unequally because of friendship, age, sex, culture, personal or educational background, etc. Each employee is unique and must receive the same consideration as any other.
- Crew members will quickly notice if you play favorites Discrimination can show up as harassment of individuals or of groups. It can be open or sometimes it’s subtle. Favoritism and discrimination are both killer mistakes.
- Breaking trust with a co-worker. The fastest way to destroy a relationship is to make a commitment, then fail to keep it — or receive information in confidence, then pass it on to others.
- Blowing hot and cold. Consistent behavior is essential when supervising others. If you act like a drill sergeant Monday and a slacker on Wednesday, your crew won’t know how to react to these mixed messages. It will be hard to hold their respect.
- Failure to follow basic company policies and procedures. Your company has certain policies and procedures that are Hard Rules. Usually, these rules are written down, but not always, and even if some of them are informal practices, it’s your job to know exactly what they are. If you break these rules, you’re asking for trouble.
- Losing your cool in front of others. Everyone reaches a breaking point every now and then. But as a foreman, you need to keep your temper in check. Blowing up can destroy relationships. It’s seldom an effective way to win your point, and it may inhibit the vital flow of information between you and your crew — critical and timely feedback you need to keep everything on track.
If you feel that any of these habits is something you need to correct, put a note on your smartphone to follow up every week. These really are “killer” mistakes, and if any one of them is troublesome to you, put it the top of your “To Do” list, and
Fix. It. Now.
If a “Killer” Mistake is part of “your way” – and you simply ignore it – that mistake will undercut your effectiveness as a foreman and the performance of your crew. And it may eventually bring you down.
Stuff To Think About. Think about a project that “went sour” because of one of these “killer” mistakes. How could that have been prevented? Or minimized? What did it take to recover from this mistake? And how long did it take? What were the side effects and the direct & indirect costs? (Review Safety and Jobsite Security: Direct and Indirect Costs.)
