In performing my duties as project manager, there is one thing that is a constant irritation or maybe I should say frustration to me, and that is the relationship between me as the project manager and my project superintendent. I know, almost every day is filled with irritating experiences with the general contractor in one form or another because they are our “adversary” and that is to be expected. But I shouldn’t be irritated or frustrated with my own company’s employee; an employee that is supposed to work with me and not against me. After all, aren’t we on the same team trying to win the same “game”?
The source of the problem seems to be centered around who is boss or responsible for the performance of the project. Since every company does things a little differently, I should explain that my responsibility is as an estimator until I have a contract on one of my projects, and then I must project manage the project. At the end of the day, I am accountable for the performance of the project.
The superintendent is accountable to maintain budgets, install the work per the plans and specifications (or in the absence of adequate documents, at my direction), safety, monitor material waste, and of course, quality. In short, he directs the men on a daily basis.
Where we seem to conflict frequently is on issues such as scheduling the project. I work with the general contractor to make a schedule that is adequate and acceptable. Most of the time, I do that with the input and hopefully with the approval of the superintendent. However, most of the time, the project does not progress according to the schedule and the superintendent wants make all of the day-to-day decisions. I don’t allow that. I can’t. I have to control our performance as I am responsible for our compliance with the project schedule. I also have to ensure that the necessary materials are at the site when they are needed. When the Superintendent makes changes, sometimes (more often then not), the result is that he uses materials that were stocked for another area. That situation really makes my job extremely difficult.
Another challenge is when there are changes to the work. The typical reaction of the superintendent is to maximize efficiency and incorporate the changes into the work when the contract work is being performed. I usually have to instruct him not to proceed with the change until I give him authorization. Once again, it seems like this happens on every project, regardless of how many times I have worked in the past with the Superintendent. Our company has very talented Superintendents, so I guess that their talent to be as productive and efficient as possible is just too hard for them to control. Unfortunately, while the project benefits from this talent, it places challenges on the working relationship.
Probably the most frustrating thing for me with regards to our field supervision is their ability to maintain budgets. At the beginning of every project, I go over every assumption I made about the labor productivity. I carefully discuss the specific production rates (or piece work rate) with them and get their input. Many times, I alter the bid production rates based on our meeting. Many times, I show them historical justification for my estimated rates as support of my assumptions. Despite this, on every project we have to re-hash this meeting. I wish I had the time to do that, but I don’t. On every project, the field wants more money for this activity or for that one, but it is very rare when they come to me and tell me to reduce the budget. The few times that that has happened, they ask me to move the remaining money to another activity. The net result is a conflict for me since I am accountable for the gross profit of the project, and the field staff continuously asks me to hack away at this.
These are only three of the typical items that seem to pop up and irritate me job after job. There are several more, and of course there are many more that are project specific. I have tried to solve these issues using many different methods from trying to be more active in the project to being less active; from trying to be more of a friend to the superintendent to just being an (expletive). So far, I have not been able to find that successful method that will enable me to work with the superintendent most of the time instead of against him. If you have any suggestions, please let us know. Until then, I am just going to enjoy a little cheese with my whine.
