Saturday, February 08, 2020
Starting the Day: Spending money, but what is the return?
The start of each day is a tremendous opportunity to either succeed or fail. This is determined specifically by the frontline supervisor. Getting started is the key to reaching maximum efficiency for any task.
When crew members come to work, many are not in the frame of mind to begin efficiently working. They are still thinking about being tired, what they did the night before or perhaps a personal issue. Often times they have it in their minds that their supervisor will take the first of the shift to get set up and prepared and then they eventually "work up to really cranking." This assumption is the result of current and past experiences.
Many employees have come to work for a long time and have learned to work within a system that does not utilize proper preplanning. They have grown accustomed to being told what they need to do in the morning and then spending time planning the task, finding material, gathering equipment and then getting questions answered. This is the very cycle we are attempting to change.
If layered management is used correctly, the crew members report to work with an installation plan waiting for them including finding all the material and equipment they need in one place. The material should be organized and marked for easy identification and ultimately in the work area. This will allow the crew the opportunity to begin work quickly and begin producing almost immediately. However, having the installation plan ready and the material pre-staged is not enough.
The crew has developed habits over time and simply having the material ready and the plan in place will not get the crew members to a productive level. The frontline foreman must be with the employees at the start of the shift. The frontline foreman must be familiar with all the details of the installation plan and know exactly where the material and equipment is located. The frontline foremen must then meet with their crew members in the morning and explain the work for the day. Throughout the day, the frontline foremen work with the team getting them started in a productive manner. The beginning of the work shift is not the time for doing paperwork.
A supervisor that allows his crew to start the day without him, is burning man hours but is getting nothing for the investment -- "the wheels are spinning but there is no movement." Superintendents and supervisors must make it clear to all frontline foremen that they are to be with their crews at the beginning of the day, at the beginning and end of breaks and lunch and at the end of the day, at a minimum. Of course, if the superintendents and supervisors are doing their part, the frontline foremen should be able to be with their crew members much more than this.
Here is a thought to ponder: Imagine a Jobsite with 25 workers. If each worker requires 1 hour to reach a point that they are producing efficiently, then we are paying for 25 man-hours per day but not receiving a return for that investment. How much of an increase in productivity would we see if we cut this startup time in half? We must always remember that the purpose of everything we do as Jobsite management is to make the electrician in the field as productive as possible. Another way of saying this is the electrician is our customer. We must meet our customers' needs in order to meet our production requirements. This means we need to make their job as simple and efficient as possible
Thank you,
Ted "Smitty" Smith
Director of Education and Loss Prevention
E Light Electric Services, Inc
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