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Too little is written to help those who lead frontline crews into developing into better managers. Notice the word "managers" rather than "leaders." Why the difference?

Leadership is critical to construction, including concrete-focused businesses. We need leaders who can motivate, inspire, direct and coach today's workers. However, just as critical to the overall success of any work crew is the need for the crew to be organized, disciplined, quality-based and timely in their work endeavors. This latter description of efforts falls under the umbrella of management. Managing is the act of fulfilling the duties necessary to empower or enable the workforce to be at the jobsite on time, to have all their tools and equipment, and to ensure that their materials arrive when needed. Let's look at a few critical components of effectively managing a crew for more profitable results.

1. Management of direction
There are several components to management that we could begin with, but let's look at the need to understand the direction of a project. Direction represents both how the schedule is leading a crew to accomplish a project as well as what direction the work crew is heading. The schedule is simple enough, but should be clearly understood by the manager (i.e., superintendent, project manager, supervisor or foreman) to understand the length of time involved for the upcoming project or projects. Likewise, the manager needs to fully understand the direction of his work crew. This suggests that the manager understands what his latest performance efforts have produced and whether his crew is both prepared and capable of taking on the upcoming schedule of work.

2. Management of time
Time management is of prime concern to any manager. Time management forces a manager to consider how to best utilize the clock so vital work efforts are scheduled, complied with or completed. It requires the manager to ensure the crews are prepared and have the needed resources to complete the work, job files are clear to read and have the most recent and accurate information, and tools and equipment are prepared for working conditions and placed in the appropriate holding spaces to prevent any wasted time looking for equipment and tools that work.

3. Management of resources
I just noted the importance of tools and equipment being ready for work crews - overseeing these items requires a manager to be on his or her toes. By developing an inventory management system, needed tools and equipment will always be available. Additionally, a manager should implement a preventive maintenance program to guarantee the available tools and equipment are in working order. Many construction companies fail in the management of their resources and thus spend thousands of dollars a year in crisis management "fix-ups" or wasted time looking for available substitutes from leasing companies or friendly competitors who will give them a "loaner."