Need some advise on running a project

[jsharvey]

I need some advise from some of you who have been around the block a time or two. Friday I was handed a set of prints for a project the company i work is is getting ready to start in the next few weeks. It's for an apartment complex cosisting of 4 buildings with 112 units.
I was informed that I was going to be running this job with 10-12 guys working for me. I've never handled a job this size and haven't had to supervise this many people since I was in the service, a long time ago, and military supervison doesn't always work well in the civilian sector,,lol.
Anyway, Is there any advise any of you can give a newbie so to speak, to keep the project running smooth and things to watch out for as it goes?
Thanks in advance

J.S.Harvey

 

[George Stolz]

Four 28-plexes? What kind of time frame?

Check out this thread for some inspiration.

 

[Tim Hinson]

I have had to run large industrial/commercial projects over the years with more than 50 men on-site. Although the thought of supervising a lot of people can be intimidating, you have to keep in mind a couple of responsibilities that will make or break your job.
As the leader, you have to make sure there are enough tools and material available for your men. That will keep them satisfied and productive. It will kill you if they have to keep scrounging around the job site for these items. Eventually, they will become disillusioned and productivity will grind to a halt.
You also have to have ALL of the information your men will need to perform their work. You have to provide elevations, relevant dimensions, installation details, etc...
You have to look ahead as well. That many men can eat up a lot of material and get a lot of work done so part of your time has to be spent looking at the next project or work area and you have to get things lined up so they can transition into the next assignment without standing around waiting on you.
If you do your homework as listed above, you should be able to have a smooth running job. Good Luck!

 

[dduffee260]

That is a pretty good size job. If you are not really sure you might just be upfront with your employer and tell him this is alot larger than you have ever ran before. You may need some management help and so forth. If you are going to run it there are three ways to be successful. Planning, planning, and planning. Oh by the way, did I mention planning? Break it down day by day, room by room. Basically know where every wire is going to go before you start. Schedule aggressively and you should be ok. Do not get lax because it will come back to bite you. Good luck !!

 

[zbang]

With that many people, don't expect to get much "real work" done yourself.

You'll spend a fair bit of the day--
checking on the progress of everyone on your crew
checking on the progress of the other trades to know when your crew can start and if you're holding up other workers
making sure that they're well supplied with materials
tracking change orders
updating the materials orders to follow the change orders

Good luck with the job (and I mean that in the nice way).

 

[jsharvey]

Four 28-plexes? What kind of time frame?

Check out this thread for some inspiration.

That's about right. Some buildings have one or two more smaller apartments and another builing has fewer but bigger apartments. 3 story, all romex. We're also doing the telecom, catv, and LAN wiring in the project. It sounds like I'm going to have three other journeymen, three apprentices, and 4 helpers/gophers. Time frame right now is for the first "units" to be ready for occupancy by 1 Aug. Just before classes start at the university across the street.

J.S.Harvey

 

[jsharvey]

With that many people, don't expect to get much "real work" done yourself.

You'll spend a fair bit of the day--
checking on the progress of everyone on your crew
checking on the progress of the other trades to know when your crew can start and if you're holding up other workers
making sure that they're well supplied with materials
tracking change orders
updating the materials orders to follow the change orders

Good luck with the job (and I mean that in the nice way).

Thanks, The boss has already told me that my tools will be lucky if they see the light of day for more than an hour or two a day. Talk about a switch.

 

[e57]

~I've never handled a job this size and haven't had to supervise this many people since I was in the service, a long time ago, and military supervison doesn't always work well in the civilian sector,,lol.
Anyway~

J.S.Harvey

Having had experiance in both Military style leadership and CivDiv - I will say this... Being able to be both and blend Autocratic, and Democratic styles - will serve you well.

I have run a crew of 50 in the USMC, but these were people used to taking direct orders and completing them without question. And I have run crews in the civilian world around 20 people and it can be like herding cats....

My suggestion would to break the group up into teams, and delegate a Lead for each group. And standardize communication with them, and between them and thier crews. That way all are interchangable when they start to rub eachother wrong, or start to rub you wrong. In other words - appoint yourself E-6, and appoint some E-5's, and E-4's over a few E-1-3's...

If each floor is going to be the same, as the one below, Standardize that too. Laminate a line diagram of the units for each team. Assign the unit as a task to a team and double check the work when done. Punch-list it, and send the same team in to fix it. Never send someone else to fix someones work - unless you fired them.

I wrote this a while back, feel free to use it if you like:
Line Diagrams

Start the day with a meeting to assign tasks, follw up on stuff etc. Enforce breaks, and make sure to take yours too. Have fun!

Oh, see post 30 in that thread George linked to....