Today, many people use smart phones on the job. What rules do you have in place to ensure that your workers are doing actual work on the smart phone and not fooling around? In other words, how do you know the employee is using a legitimate work-related app and not playing “Angry Birds”?
I only allow the superintendants to use any cell phones on job sites. Employees are not allowed to use their cell phones during working hours.
—Anonymous
It is an old game revived and the winner gets a bonus from the boss (boss gets to decide). The name of the game is called Frisbee! Any fellow employee can win by simply making a Frisbee out of any cell user’s phone that is not being used to increase the employer’s profits. It may start a fight, but it will let you know who is slacking, and it creates a self-disciplining team.
—Mike Brussa, Brussa Construction, Reno, Nevada
You cannot, but by maintaining project milestones, you can limit the amount of downtime that may entice an employee to squeeze in a game or a Tweet. Ultimately, the employee’s performance will dictate if their time is well spent.
—Ruben Lara, PM, Fire Wize, LLC, Lyons, Illinois
Take them away! Problem solved! What in the world ever is going on in the workplace when we have to rely on electronic thing-a-ma-bobs to replace gray matter (brains, to you youngsters) and common sense. Put the phones down, get your hands dirty and learn your trade/job. Whatever happened to a note pad complete with pencil? Problem solved!
—L.K. DeGeorge, Consultant/Inspector and General Contractor for 33+ Years
What is Angry Birds?
—Anonymous
Well, if they are using a phone in the drywall industry, then most likely they are not working as they should be. It takes two hands to hang [wallboard], it takes two hands to hold a pan and knife, and I do not know anybody who can hold a phone while spraying primer and texture. Bottom line is no phones until a break so as to not distract them with their task at hand.
—Mike Schultz, Owner, Drycon, LLC, Tacoma, Washington
If the foreman is not out there getting the job done, he is risking losing his bonus.
—Anonymous
If I see one of my guys using a phone or smart phone, I determine if it is a legit call. If not, then I go into the area they are standing and inspect their progress, and that usually makes them uncomfortable enough that they end their call pretty quickly without a word. If I see it very often I will confront the person and let him know I’m not paying for the time he is sitting on the phone.
—Kevin, KL Drywall LLC
I have a policy in place that personal calls are for personal time only. Remember that just a decade earlier, nobody had a personal phone with them, and the wives or girlfriends had to call the office, job trailer or wait until Joe Worker got home. Unless they are superintendents, the cell phone stays in their lunch box or car.
—Barry Barbas, Glass Restoration Inc., Sarasota, Florida
I am looking for that app!! Just had that conversation yesterday.
—Anonymous
Simple answer: production measures. If you’re not getting your job done, you’ll have all the time in the world to play Angry Birds—at home! I am raising my children, not my employees.
—Kevin L. Kaufman, President, Gen Ex Builders, LLC, Miami, Florida
Cell phones are to be left in the lunch bucket. Period. As far as managers, we don’t issue smart phones, as it is not smart.
—Anonymous
We don’t [allow it], but he is in a position of authority and trust. You expect professionalism.
—G.J., San Antonio, Texas
I have no problem with cell phones on the job. One easy rule that I have is no phones except foremen (who need to be trusted). Everyone else comes under the rule that if you use the phone on my time, you will have two choices: I will smash the phone, or you will quit—and no second chances, even if I hear it ring. You can use the phone at lunch but not on breaks, for I am paying for that time and it is for rest and focus. If there is an emergency of some kind, a simple OK will be granted.
Rule #2: If you’re late for work or from lunch without a phone call for your excuse, you will go home for the day. We are not here for friendship or some kind of game; we are all here together to make money.
—Pat Brashler, Bradshaw & Assoc. Inc., Anchorage, Alaska
Our business is relatively easy to know whether or not work is getting done. The job is obvious, and productivity is predictable and visible. If the crew is screwing around, it will show up very quickly. If one member is screwing around, the others will quickly correct him/her—no one wants to row the boat alone. :)
—Anonymous
It is quite useful on large jobs for the foreman to be able to communicate with workmen—especially the laborers—to give directions without having to go find him.
Decades ago we tried two-way radios and they worked OK.
Pagers were wonderful when that was all there was (thank goodness we don’t have to rely on them anymore!).
Then came the cell phone. Especially with the two-way radio feature, they were the tool we really needed for prompt, effective communication throughout the job site.
Of course, in short time, we discovered that men were talking with their girlfriends, their dealers, their mothers, and with one another on the same job or other jobs. So we had to put a ban on cell phones on the job site save for the foreman and his designated other workers.
Today, with Angry Birds and countless other apps, the temptation to use a smart phone while working is strong.
But with the tight prices and the new normal of poorly coordinated jobs and incomplete documents, every way that we can find to be more efficient and productive is essential to our continued success.
—Robert A. Aird, President, Robert A. Aird, Inc., Frederick, Maryland
[Get an] inexpensive, small cell phone signal scrambler. Use the land line or look for other employment
—Jeff, Devcon Associates, New Jersey
