Make Project Team ?Leaders Accountable

If I asked each of your construction project managers, field superintendents and crew foremen exactly what they were responsible for, would they know? Could they list their goals? One of the biggest problems business owners face is getting employees to be accountable for achieving goals. But, fixing this epidemic problem is one of the easiest challenges to overcome.

When your team leaders don’t have specific targets to work toward, you can’t expect them to achieve results. To ensure your company reaches its project goals, start by making your expectations for a project clear. For example, if you want a project to be completed by July 1, write the deadline in large letters on a poster board and post it on the job trailer. If you want the project manager to make $50,000 gross profit on a job, encourage him to stay focused by writing the number on a chart and displaying it on the office wall, so everyone on the team will know the goal. If you want to meet or beat your goals for estimated production crew hours on a certain job, give your foreman a scorecard with the target for total job hours, and provide weekly updates on the crew’s progress.

Develop Project Manager Job Descriptions

Give each of your company employees a detailed job accountability scorecard listing specific goals, duties and responsibilities. Instead of providing generic job descriptions, take time to communicate exactly what you want your employees to accomplish. For example, a typical ineffective job description for a project manager might say, “The project manager serves as ‘captain of the team.’ The PM is the common link from business development to project completion. A PM has a clear understanding of the chain of events in the construction process and can foresee the impact that changes will have on the three major areas: cost, schedule and quality.”

This type of job description becomes a long list of words that no one understands. Concise lists of accountabilities are more effective. For example, an effective job description for a project manager should be written as follows: “The PM is 100-percent accountable and responsible for the following: finish projects on or under budget; write all required subcontracts and purchase orders within the first 20 days of starting projects; maintain and update project budgets and job cost reports by the 10th of every month; invoice customers by month-end; document all project issues, notices, change order requests, requests for information, etc. within three days of occurrence or per contract.”

Define Accountability

When I work with construction company owners and managers, I ask them who is responsible for a safe jobsite, quality work, meeting budget or making sure projects are finished on time. The typical answer is, “Everyone!” However, when everyone is responsible, no one is responsible. Only one person can be accountable for each jobsite occurrence. For example, only one person actually directs the field workers to do quality work without mistakes. When foremen don’t do the final walk-through with project owners, they are not accountable for getting their crew’s work approved. And when they are not held accountable for poor workmanship or callbacks, foremen won’t take time to make sure quality work is performed and no punch-list items exist before they leave the jobsite.

Track Key Metrics

When coaching companies, I have the project managers, field superintendents and crew foremen make a list of everything required to meet the project goals, including:

• Budget vs. actual job costs
• Field production results
• Crew labor
• Company equipment
• Material

• Material and equipment 
delivered on time
• Subcontractor performance

• Paperwork and correspondence
• Documentation
• Change orders
• Obtaining approvals

Next, I tell them to decide what fosters excellent performance in each category and assign a responsible team leader.

In only a few hours, you can make a complete list of the responsibilities for your team leaders, and your whole team will be better equipped to successfully achieve your company goals.

Email [email protected] to get your copy of ‘Accountable 
& Responsible Construction Job Descriptions!’