Superintendent Needs To Develope Organizational Skills

dfxdrywall

I am contractor turned superintendent. I recently acquired the position but have little organizational skills and have problems schedulling. It all seems so overwhelming at times. When I was on my own I did things at my own pace and had no one to answer to but my clients. My clients knew they were getting quality work and were willing to wait patiently. Now, the company I'm with could care less about quality, they just want to crank'em out. I'm going to have to find a compromise. Regardless, my organization sucks and I need some help. Any Ideas?

Glasshousebltr

I knuckled under twice to assume super. The first time was a hell of an eye opener. All Union, 9 carpenters, 4 aprentices, 4 Laborers, while juggleing a Union HVAC sub, a Union Elec. sub, a non-union plumber and 8 non-union roofers........and that was the easy part.

The developer and his investors stuck thier hands down the cookie jar the day the bank closed on the morgage.

Then I found out, after trying to save the project, dam near everybody on the title co. pay list gave a kick back to the in-man, in this case the developer. Try recollecting that.

I was buying dinner before the freakin orgy, and I didn't even get invited.

Bob

Glasshousebltr

Sorry, I must have gotten tunnel vision in the memory zone.

Advice?.......Yes, keep some really good records, cause it always gets deep where the buck stops.

Bob

PipeGuy

Hi DFX - Before I went on my own I was a superintendent for a small contractor. Many aspects of the job were very rewarding - some were overwhelming. I grew and learned a lot during my time as a superintendent. A lot of what I learned was simply coming to better understand how much more I had to learn. That being said, here are some of my observations:
1. All the organizing in the world won't get you past this - if your job requires you to do things that are contrary to your value system then your job will either kill you or it will turn you into someone else. If you are a guy that values doing quality work and your job requires you do do crappy work then something will have to give - either your values or the job requirements.
2. The most useful 'organizational' stuff I've learned has come from Franklin Covey materials (do a Google or https://cert.franklincovey.com/regis...5501&sc=Google ). For me though, finding the "right system" or learning a new skill always winds up being of secondary importance. I usually come to grips with the fact that I just need to 'grow up' some more; get over some fear that's holding me back and take action that I am otherwise uncomfortable taking.
3. Sometimes the "overwhelming' feeling is being stuck in a situation that you don't have the skills to handle. Other times (dare I say most) it's being in a situation that you don't want to be in. If you don't know what to do you can usually find someone who can help you. If you know what is required and just don't want to do it then no one can help you.
4. You can't fix what you don't have control over.
5. Like crap, accountability won't flow upstream - that is to say you will never be in a position to require your boss to change. If you think your boss ("they") needs to change in order for you to do your job properly then either hurry up and get over it or find another job. After all, he's the boss and you're the servant.

I'm happy to share with you what I know about the mechanics of 'scheduling' if you'll tell me more about what you have to get done in terms of # of crews, # of jobs running at a given time, typical job duration, pieces of equipment you have to schedule, etc.

__________________
Fortunately I keep my feathers numbered for...for just such an emergency. -Foghorn Leghorn

Teetorbilt

After my first experience I kept a second set of books. The next time that I was called to the table and grilled I excused myself, went to my office and retrieved MY copy, then got down and dirty AND learned big business 101.
Sales are the golden boys, no charges applied to them. Free office space and their equipment was charged off to the general office. They could also implement change orders without repercussion.
General operations got off pretty lightly as well so that product could show light markups and be competetive. Warehousing was going for $6.00 a sq. ft.
Who wound up on the short end of the stick? The guys that were actually doing the work! Construction was being charged $12.00 a sq.ft. and that included the parking lot and surrounding weedbeds. Subsequent investigation revealed that all of the extra charges from the company were being dumped on us AND WE WERE STILL MAKING MONEY!
I stuck that job out for a few years for the same reason as the owners, money, and CMA the whole time. After forcing their hand, life was quite a bit easier though.

PipeGuy

Good God I hope I never need a job that bad. Was this during the great depression or something? Why the hell would a guy like you put up with that BS? Don't tell me - don't tell me - you already said it..$$$.

__________________
Fortunately I keep my feathers numbered for...for just such an emergency. -Foghorn Leghorn

Teetorbilt

Pipe, Remember Pres. Carter, 16% interest rates and trade embargos?
I was staring 30 hard in the eye and wanted a family, sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do to get what you want.
On the upside, T-bills were selling at 11 1/4% and I still have a bunch of them. Gold was deregulated and I made a small fortune off of that, short term as it was.