A contractor recently asked me if I had any notes he could use in giving a talk to his foremen — the people who supervise his workers in the field. As I looked to find some answers, it occurred to me this is an area that is most neglected in our industry. We have numerous technical schools willing to teach prospective students the ins and outs regarding the operation of a furnace or air conditioner — some with a great deal of sophistication. Then, of course, we have a countless number of two- and four-year colleges and universities that will teach anything and everything regarding the details of operating a business. As an aside, even the best ones have difficulty teaching the way things really are out here on a day-to-day basis. However, they do provide the theory regarding how a business should be operated.
In between these two, there is very little training available for journeymen or apprentices who desire to be leaders within their groups. Yet, from a contractor’s standpoint, there’s probably no one more important to the success of the business than the supervisor who dictates everything is happening as efficiently as possible every day. I thought it would be worthwhile to provide some of the notes I discovered in researching this subject. I will be using the words foreman and supervisor interchangeably in this discourse. The concepts I’m presenting are just as important for one of several foremen on a large job or project as they are to the small operation, where perhaps the boss himself has to take on the additional role of supervisor.