The Power of Maximizing Foreman Availability at the Workface

Few items can have as far-reaching positive impact during the construction phase of a project than maximizing the project's foreman availability to their crews.   By Foreman Availability, I mean how available is each crew's foreman to their assigned crew, to provide the immediate support they require for any issues or opportunities as they arise.  It has always been intuitive that any time you can provide proactive leadership to a work group, they will be more productive, with less rework and most importantly, they will work more safely. In the world of industrial construction, the major contractors and labor unions that are serving industrial clients spend millions every year on foreman leadership training, trying to get the most out of those most critical resources on a project.

Traditionally, contractors have always managed this availability issue through the use of craft to foreman ratios. These ratios can vary from the single digits, say 8 to 1, to very large crews, maybe 14 or 15 to 1. Measuring and managing this ratio allows the contractor to make adjustments to this ratio, stretching it as thin as they can without exceeding acceptable risks to safety, quality or productivity performance. Thin mixes, 12 to 1 or higher, offer a lower cost for a project's front line supervision.  The other extreme, single digit ratios, offers the perceived benefits of improved safety, quality and productivity performance compared to the thin mixes. But those improvements come at a cost.  Although it is intuitive that the bigger the project, the bigger the leadership impact of implementing a single digit mix, contractors and owners know there is no guarantee they'll get a proportional return on the added investment, so they often work with as thin a mix as they feel they can get by with.

A new approach has been developed that can improve foreman availability without adjusting the ratio of craft to foreman. Recent studies have shown that the biggest opportunity with how foreman availability is managed in the field is with how foreman responsibilities are assigned. In reality, foremen often find it difficult to spend as much time as they would like at the workface with their crew, and it's not always because they have too many crew members to supervise, but also because their admin and other responsibilities require them to constantly leave the workface. Whether it be to attend a meeting, run down a permit or some material, and a number of other responsibilities that pull them away from the work area, a good hard look at what is pulling these leaders you've invested in away from the workface, and either shifting those responsibilities or mitigating the amount of time away from the workface through logistical improvements (e.g. foreman "kiosks" in the work area where he or she can take care of some of their administrative responsibilities without physically leaving the work area) can deliver huge dividends across 3 of the most important project measurables; safety, cost/schedule and quality. A recent development that allows for a different measurement perspective on foreman availability is by taking statistical samples throughout the work shift. This baseline measurement should be used to identify the biggest opportunities to improve foreman availability at the workface. From there, more in-depth tools used to target opportunities identified in the baseline, can help find the root causes of poor availability in the segments of the data showing the most promise. Take a look at these 2 linear regression charts. The first shows the relationship between improved foreman availability and Direct Activity (you can think of this as "Time on Tools"). Each "diamond" is a crew. The chart shows the Direct Activity for each crew plotted against the respective foreman's availability percentage. The second, which follows the same format, demonstrates the inverse relationship between foreman availability and craft travel. These are intuitive relationships, but these charts can give you an idea of just how influential those relationships are. 

By utilizing this approach of highlighting foreman availability then using targeted improvement tools to optimize it, a construction team can enjoy the benefits of improved productivity, quality and safety performance without having to thicken the mix and add first line supervision cost. These measurements don't have to be ongoing. An initial baseline and periodic follow-ups intended both to validate the impact of recent changes, and to quantify current levels and opportunities can be implemented cost-effectively. For projects seeing the most value with this concept, they can implement the full foreman availability optimization process which employs those aforementioned targeted improvement tools. Some examples would include time distribution studies and alignment surveys/interviews of targeted segments of the project foreman population.

In summary, when addressing the topic of foreman availability, construction companies have typically managed in the only way available to them, an appropriate ratio of craft to foremen. Due to the ongoing cost ramifications of a thicker mix of low craft to foreman ratios, it may not be the best way to manage the issue. It is recommended that a hybrid approach that includes the following:

• improving supervisory/leadership skills through effective training
• employ an appropriate craft to foreman ratio
• commit to foreman availability optimization through a review of roles and responsibilities and periodic sampling

This approach is sure to deliver most any project improved production performance, along with improved quality and safety performance; three of the most important variables to manage during the construction phase of projects. Let the professionals at MPC help guide you through your transition to optimizing foreman availability. We've seen outstanding results, and want to add you to our list of delighted clients!!