Elevating Construction Foremen – Part 12

You cannot afford to wake up and accidentally win the day. You can’t just imagine the day going well. You have to plan for it, and as a crew leader that planning happens weekly, daily, and every morning before the crew arrives.

This is Part 12 of my walk-through of my book Elevating Construction Foremen. If you are just joining, start with Part 1. This part is about the foreman weekly work plan, the day plan and afternoon crew leader huddle, and the morning routine that sets up your day.

Short answer: The weekly work plan holds all your crew’s activities for this week and next, filtered from the Takt plan and committed by you as a promise to the other crew leaders. Every afternoon you plan the next day with the superintendent in the crew leader huddle. And a consistent morning routine, plus a start-of-work and end-of-work routine, is how you set your crew up to win.

What Is the Weekly Work Plan for a Crew Leader?

On a weekly basis, you will review and use the six-week lookahead to plan and make work ready. You will also use the weekly work plan, which is where you publish all your crew’s activities for the week. Why not just keep your own schedule that you are in control of? Because you’re not a lone wolf. You are not on an island. You work in a train of trades as part of a team, so your plan must be committed and coordinated with that team so you can enable the work of others.

We do not want individual contractors and crews winning with their scopes alone. We want to optimize the whole project and get everyone working together. The weekly work plan should have all your activities on it for this week and the next. It should be accurate, coordinated with all other activities, and ultimately committed to by you. That means it becomes a promise to the other crew leaders on site, a promise you intend to keep. It also lets you confirm equipment and material orders in the right amounts and for the right dates, and it enables you to plan the daily work. I walk through it in Making a Weekly Work Plan.

How Can You Tell When the Weekly Work Plan Is Done Wrong?

You will see it done wrong when the GC asks you to create your activities for next week based on a guess, or when the GC stacks work to make up schedule time. This should never be done. The weekly work plan is filtered from the master schedule, and the master schedule is a Takt plan that will always maintain trade flow. That means you should never see trade stacking, and you should not have to create your weekly work plan from whole cloth. The plan is filtered from the Takt plan, and you review it for accuracy and make commitments that enable the entire team to flow through the project.

The key here is to speak up. Once you commit, that is your promise to uphold. The project team will likely expect the trades to accomplish over 80% of the promises made on the weekly work plan. To do that, you will need to make realistic promises and projections.

What Happens in the Day Plan and Crew Leader Huddle?

Every day, the crew leader should be invited to plan the next day with the project superintendent. In this meeting, you will be asked about any needs for tomorrow and add your input to the overall plan for the day. This is crucial so the work of all crew leaders can continue without interruption or conflict, and it is the plan that should be communicated to the workers the next morning. You will turn in your daily reports, report on production for the day, and plan deliveries, inspections, and other logistical items. Speak up and get all your needs met as part of the overall plan for that day. See Making a Day Plan for the steps.

Why Does a Crew Leader Need a Morning Routine?

To center yourself and begin the day properly, you must have a morning routine. It should elevate your mind, body, and spirit and center your mind on what is important that day. It is like warming up an engine or preparing a piece of equipment. However you start your day is how you will execute it. Here is a brief example of a great morning routine:

1. Wake up.
2. Hygiene: brush your teeth and take a shower.
3. Breakfast, if applicable.
4. Physical exercise or walking.
5. Family time and pet care.
6. Prayers.
7. A spiritual or motivational thought.
8. Meditation.

Find the routine that works for you and stick with it. Form the habit for 60 days, and then lock it in over the course of a year. If you design your routine right, it will program you to be clean, healthy, clear-minded, moral, and ethical, with a mind full of gratitude and giving.

What Should Your Start-of-Work and End-of-Work Routine Look Like?

You also need a routine at the beginning and end of work. Be the first person at the site and the last person from your crew to go home. Take the lead on the morning safety meeting from time to time to show your commitment to safety. Lead the daily huddle and pre-task plan so everyone in your group knows what the team is going to do today and how it will get done with the highest quality and safety. Verify everyone has the right tools, and ask your crew if they need any help or have any questions. At the end of the day, verify the work your group completed and check the area for housekeeping and proper storage of materials.