Production and keeping track of employees

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bernardmulherin1978

bernardmulherin1978

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augusta georgia
I am a electrical supervisor for a small company, I am new to supervision, been in the trade 20 years, been foreman on big jobs (foreman over certain areas)so I am new. I see a lot of problems and I am sure someone has had this one here. I base what other people should be accomplishing off of my work pace, which is average. I cant always be on the jobs all the time. Ill print the things that need to be done, I want to know what these doing, keep track of it, etc.what applications can I use, and what application is the best you have found for blue prints and keeping notes

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Yesterday I had five guys, 3 helpers and 2 electricians. 1 of the electricians is a foreman ,so I am not so worried about his production, but total the other guys all day, put 10 foot of 3-1/2 rigid up. Pulled 4-500s in 30 feet of that rigid, added two emergency lights in, which we pulled mc ,both were about 8 foot of mc a piece. And thats it, am I being to hard, I just don't think the job will get done this way and we wont make a profit. How can I handle this, we definitely need good help but there hard to get

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bernardmulherin1978 said:
Yesterday I had five guys, 3 helpers and 2 electricians. 1 of the electricians is a foreman ,so I am not so worried about his production, but total the other guys all day, put 10 foot of 3-1/2 rigid up. Pulled 4-500s in 30 feet of that rigid, added two emergency lights in, which we pulled mc ,both were about 8 foot of mc a piece. And thats it, am I being to hard, I just don't think the job will get done this way and we wont make a profit. How can I handle this, we definitely need good help but there hard to get

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How much time did they spend actually working, and how much time did they spent in idle mode waiting for other trades or factory employees to get out of their way? How much time was spent trying to get old equipment to work correctly? How much time was spent moving stuff out of their way? You can't just judge productivity by how much of the print got installed, there are other factors, too.
 
I would try and dig deeper.
Is there a logistical problem or time delay with tools or materials or confusion about the tasks.
Is the work being divided up when possible so you don't have 5 people hanging each emergency light, etc.
Are the electricians working or just telling the helpers what to do.

Don't know what is tasks are coming up but for what you described so far it seems like 3 helpers is too much.
Going on to say that 1 helper per electrician is enough. The above probably could have been done with 2 electricians and maybe 1 helper, depending on distances between areas.
 
I have never thought my employees work fast enough. But they probably are. I think the process in my brain that causes me to underestimate the hours required to do a job also causes me to overestimate what can get done in a day.

The only way to tell if people are working fast enough is to stand there all day and watch what they are doing. Don't interfere or comment. Just let them work. You will quickly discover if there are outside forces at work, or they are just slow.
 
cdslotz said:
What size jobs are you doing roughly?
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Its an average size, here is the service, its only 400 amps, the picture of the service, I am standing in the warehouse, the whole building is roughly as big as a football field, the lighting print is two pic of the lighting, its to big for one picture. This is my first job that I am fully in control, a guy started the office space and quit, and they through the prints on me, and said can you handle it. It was a disaster, I have had to go through each room to make sure nothing was left out, which there was a bunch of, lighting, power, you name it it wasn't done, switches, three -ways and singles were screwed up and a piece of 12-3 from switch and just hanging out the wall. Thats all they did, power was pulled, most hot feeds were left out, now here is another spin, we were way behind, they were suppose to be done for sheet rock, sheet rock was up when I inherited the job. We have brought it back without to much sheet rock damage, the superintendent has tremendous faith in me, my attitude has been positive, the whole time. I started keeping notes, by writing them in a notebook, then I went to Google keep and its organized, I can send the owner emails on my notes and what has been done. The past four days I've had to be at another job to fix it, same person, same contractor, in the morning I go to the first job, then the other, when I get off I go by the first job to see progress and / or get things under control. I feel like I need to manage the guys better for maximum production, I am more of a pusher, I lay everything out, pipe runs, I organize everything and put it on paper for the guys to get done, and on my lists I spell out exactly what to do and it seems there just not getting it, so what can I do different
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active1 said:
I would try and dig deeper.
Is there a logistical problem or time delay with tools or materials or confusion about the tasks.
Is the work being divided up when possible so you don't have 5 people hanging each emergency light, etc.
Are the electricians working or just telling the helpers what to do.

Don't know what is tasks are coming up but for what you described so far it seems like 3 helpers is too much.
Going on to say that 1 helper per electrician is enough. The above probably could have been done with 2 electricians and maybe 1 helper, depending on distances between areas.
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Your correct, this job only needs one if I can be there or two if not two possibly three top hands, but we just cant get what we need, there has been a few who come out, but its mostly what I get from the electrician pool there coming from is, (well I got this in the way)or (what you want me to do here).and its simple, one supposedly electrician did this, this is two days work the pipe out the panel, and he knocked out some holes I needed in one other panel, I bent the kick in the rigid, five people spent all day including the guy who did the pipe, they spent all day trying to figure out how a kick was going to work in this case, cut up twenty foot of rigid, I put that in in two hours panel to 90 and the kick, me and my helper
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I have EXACTLY the same problems with our crew. If you come up with something that works I'd love to hear it.

Some days I think I need to have them filling out daily sheets just so I can understand what is happening and why the pace is what it is.

One instance, here about 8 months ago, the guys were running emt off a lift at a pace I thought wasn't as fast as they could be going. Since I'm always busy during the week with phone calls and other interruptions, etc, I'm never able to get a full day in on a project like the guys can. So I decided to come in on a Saturday when no one was around to run some of the conduit they had been running. I was able to run more than twice what they had been doing. After I told them what I was able to do, they took it as a challenge and were able to get about 60-70% more ran in a day after that.

In my opinion, most of the speed in a project doesn't come from moving quickly, but instead from organization and efficiency. How organized are your guys and how well do they understand the plan at hand?
 
JMNSHO.

Jobs that have more people than are really needed take more labor than is necessary. It just takes more time to coordinate and get lunch and coffee breaks, and any little delay or slow down is multiplied by how many people are involved.
 
Cow said:
I have EXACTLY the same problems with our crew. If you come up with something that works I'd love to hear it.

Some days I think I need to have them filling out daily sheets just so I can understand what is happening and why the pace is what it is.

One instance, here about 8 months ago, the guys were running emt off a lift at a pace I thought wasn't as fast as they could be going. Since I'm always busy during the week with phone calls and other interruptions, etc, I'm never able to get a full day in on a project like the guys can. So I decided to come in on a Saturday when no one was around to run some of the conduit they had been running. I was able to run more than twice what they had been doing. After I told them what I was able to do, they took it as a challenge and were able to get about 60-70% more ran in a day after that.

In my opinion, most of the speed in a project doesn't come from moving quickly, but instead from organization and efficiency. How organized are your guys and how well do they understand the plan at hand?
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Yeah, your right, I have had days where I planned on this many guys on the job and one lay out sometimes two and it really messes everything off, I plan my days and I plan the other guys also, I use the Google keep application to keep my notes, on this specific job and a lack of trust for the guys working I print a list of things I want each person to do, when they complete these projects, check them off, I am active I am constantly back and forth, I have not been there this week, I am fixing another job, and the one electrician I have, who I do trust but still I check after him, I left him in charge and I am finding out he needs someone to stay on him, he was suppose to start this project, downtown, he is going to start it but ill have to keep am eye on him, I have a problem and I am wondering if any one else has it, I am real respectful when I ask, I never tell someone to do something, I will ask someone to do specific things, it specific because I have put the thought and effort to make it specific and as simple as possible, and they will still try to complicate it, I have even come back and what I told them to do, its not even close, they have either thought they were doing me a favor or thought that I did something wrong and there right, why is it so hard to follow simple instructions, I always did what was asked of me and still do, I worked till 7 last night because the gc said it had to be done, my helper didn't complain one time, the other guy he couldn't stay to help, I have been that same way, I've been lazy, and sorry my problem was, I was focused on the wrong things, it was something else that was making me this way, I think a lot of people are just this way, is this familiar to any one

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bernardmulherin1978 said:
I am a electrical supervisor for a small company, I am new to supervision, been in the trade 20 years, been foreman on big jobs (foreman over certain areas)so I am new. I see a lot of problems and I am sure someone has had this one here. I base what other people should be accomplishing off of my work pace, which is average. I cant always be on the jobs all the time. Ill print the things that need to be done, I want to know what these doing, keep track of it, etc.what applications can I use, and what application is the best you have found for blue prints and keeping notes

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Are you given the estimate with all of the data showing the man/hours allowed for each task?
Do they break down the labor man/hours into codes and supply that to you?

or....did they just hand you the plans and say go?
 
Is the labor frequently interrupted to fix mistakes of the past, or even answer questions.
That can really kill the continuity of the job. Depending on how much there is to repair, you may want to dedicate 1 electrician just for that.

Sometimes it can help by asking the worker to set their own goals.
Such as telling them you need this conduit run, and asking them how long they think it should take.
If it's an unreasonable response of time call em out on it.
Otherwise hold them to it.

The key is to have goals set in the morning and or for the week.

Also split people apart when possible so they can be accountable for their own production.

You can create competition, just by having them do similar tasks but separately, then sizing what was done, and who's the star as a group.
Like offer to buy lunch the next day for who ever hangs the most emergency lights. Or pizza for all if they can get something done by a time.

For the size of a football field with lots of past mistakes I would guess you need more electricians.
 
Sounds like you *may* be micro-managing too much.

"I print a list of things I want each person to do"

Is that based on what they are good at, what they like to do, what they need improvement on, or just what you want? When I ran smaller projects, I assigned work based on employee strengths; I want it done reasonable fast, always correct, and I like to be able to tell someone at the end of the day 'great job!' or the like.

In my experience, a lot of tasks go much faster with a team of two. Maybe pair them off. Make sure your guys are free to come to you for questions on your 'simple instructions'. I'd rather have the help clarify something with me for a minute or two than spend hours doing nothing, or doing it the wrong way.

Dead weight or super slack employees drag down smaller crews faster and more noticeably.
 
I don't want to say it's the case, but sometimes your workforce is just not that good.

It could be from unmotivated, out of shape, lacking skill, experience, or training.

Were these people brought in only for your project or came from the company pool?
What can happen, the managers with a higher standing with the company will get 1st pick of the labor.
The lower lever leader will get the leftovers.
Labor that has not performed well, but not bad enough to get rid of them.

Also if the company hires off the street, perhaps their pay rate, benefits, or qualifications are too low.
The office gets the cheapest labor possible and lets someone else deal with it.
Such as in some areas they can get away with hiring an unlicensed electrician with maybe 2 years experience, yet call him a journeyman.
Then pair that 2 year guy with a person that's never been on a job site.
Don't get me wrong, there a places for them to work. Sometimes companies expect too much from them.

Around here it's not uncommon for some EC to hire 1 knowledgeable guy, call him the working foreman.
Then load them up with unskilled or low skilled labor.
Between laying them out, answering questions, planning, materials, equipment, paperwork, and the other foreman work is enough.
But you end up having to be the one to fix things, wire things that are more than a few conductors, bend the larger conduit, and check every last detail, it gets to be too much. And the office wonders why it's taking so long.
 
Cow said:
I have EXACTLY the same problems with our crew. If you come up with something that works I'd love to hear it.

Some days I think I need to have them filling out daily sheets just so I can understand what is happening and why the pace is what it is.

One instance, here about 8 months ago, the guys were running emt off a lift at a pace I thought wasn't as fast as they could be going. Since I'm always busy during the week with phone calls and other interruptions, etc, I'm never able to get a full day in on a project like the guys can. So I decided to come in on a Saturday when no one was around to run some of the conduit they had been running. I was able to run more than twice what they had been doing. After I told them what I was able to do, they took it as a challenge and were able to get about 60-70% more ran in a day after that.

In my opinion, most of the speed in a project doesn't come from moving quickly, but instead from organization and efficiency. How organized are your guys and how well do they understand the plan at hand?
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But you also went over there when no one else was around so no other distractions, and you were gonna show them, so you busted your butt, and while you may be right, could you keep that pace up all week? I've gone in and worked so hard for four days that I was worthless on Friday. Now does it matter if I got five days of work done in four days? Not to most supervisors, if I'm there on Friday they expect a full days work for a full days pay.

Now that being said, your guys could very well be dogging it, simply because you're not there.
 
cowboyjwc said:
But you also went over there when no one else was around so no other distractions, and you were gonna show them, so you busted your butt, and while you may be right, could you keep that pace up all week? I've gone in and worked so hard for four days that I was worthless on Friday. Now does it matter if I got five days of work done in four days? Not to most supervisors, if I'm there on Friday they expect a full days work for a full days pay.

Now that being said, your guys could very well be dogging it, simply because you're not there.
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I've never said I busted by butt with my pace. I just made sure I worked efficiently with no wasted motion. So yes, I could of kept that pace up all week. Just as they could.

Organization and efficiency, not necessarily moving quickly.
 
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