[jwholden]

When we were working on the job of the week I left the guys to lay the soldier course after I cut the edge. They had done this before and I figured it would be done the same as last time (though 'last time' I had 3/4 of a pallet too many pavers and this time I was three rows short). We are using a paver with five different sizes and I said not to use the long skinny ones where the walk curves because they won't flow with the curves.

I got busy cutting farther down the walk figuring that this was a pretty straightforward task. When I walked to the pile and grabbed some I got a dirty look. I went over to see what the look was about and saw he had been alternating two different paver sizes continuously. I can't say I exploded but I'm sure he saw the look of disappointment in my eyes.

Needless to say I told him to mix it up and make it more random sizes so we don't have to do the entire edge that way. He seemed baffled and then mixed it up with the other sizes.

When I started laying the middle of the walk farther down I asked for some random size pavers. However, all that was left was about 1 1/2 rows of one square size. Why the heck wouldn't he have used more of the square sizes in the edging. I just don't understand.

One part of employees that I am always frustrated with, though I know it's just part of the territory, is that these mistakes end up making the job take 3x longer than it should. Once to explain how to do it (though I didn't bother to explain again at the start of this job because I thought he already got it), once to do it wrong, once to explain how to do it right, and once to do it right again.

Is this kind of stuff common when training or perhaps I am under training?

[dan deutekom]

Maybe I am missing something here or I am about to learn something new but I thought a soldier course always used just one size of paver.

As far as training is concerned I find it takes at least 2 explanations and 3 supervisions with partial explanations for something to really sink in.

[jwholden]

Um, sailor course.

[Stonehenge]

Yup. Same here.

[Rex Mann]

JW,

With so many styles of pavers and different design options it is difficult to train employees how to do seemingly simple tasks. Soldier or Sailor course. Random, alternating or uniform for the pattern. I explain why we are doing it like this and also why we are not doing it a certain way. Then I keep an eye on them. I do not make it obvious, but keep it low profile. I also try to explain why we are doing a sailor or soldier. Form follows function or something like that.

Peace,

Rex

[Paul]

Rex is right with so many different pavers and ways to install them you need to have something written down for them to refresh their memory. A small sketch might be the way for them to understand. We work off drawing all the time and the foreman has the pattern and edge courses on a separate sheet of paper that way he knows what is happening at each part of the job.

[jwholden]

Rex,

In your part of the country do you work with many spanish speaking employees? My guys speak spanish first and english second and I suspect that our different cultures and my spanish get in the way at times. How do you overcome this obstacle?

I think the guys get about 50 % of what I say from my four semesters of spanish in school. However, every barrio del mundo tiene un differente estilo de la lengua. I'm happy that the new guy is teaching me some of the slang sayings like

Como vas
si o que
weedediendo - I'm convinced these guys make the language up as they go, especially when I hear this one!

[jwholden]

I always do keep an eye on the guys, sometimes not as low profile as I should be. This was one day I thought I'd loosen the reigns and let them go with it.

When I catch myself giving the guys too many nastly looks I try to spend some time explaining something so I'm sure we are all on the same page.

Don't know if it's my fear of public speaking or just general sense of beeing in a rush but I suspect I need to slow down the explanations sometimes. Again, perhaps I take some things a little too for granted.

[Stonehenge]

Weedediendo

Wha?

I'm no linguist, but I studied Spanish awhile in college. Is that 'weeding'?

[Rex Mann]

My guys Speak Very Little English. And, I only have "jobsite" Spanish skills. My Belgard rep is bilingual, English & Spanish and a friend of mine, who does pavers is from Mexico and is bilingual. Whenever I have a complex idea to convey and can not accomplish it I call them and have them do it.

A sidebar: It is important to show a sense of urgency as the crew leader/foreman. However, the difficult part to that is urgency can be confused with rushing around.

Peace,

Rex

[jwholden]

Weedediendo = Weed wacking

[jwholden]

Rex,

Whenever I make a mistake that can somehow be attributed to rushing around, as opposed to standing around with my finger up my ___. I hear the guys say priza priza priza (rush, rush, rush). I am big on keeping the jobsite organized and try to get them to keep the tools in one or two areas as opposed to all over the place. I still get caught organizing the tools a couple times a day.

One thing these fellahs have taught me is that steady is better than rushed. They keep going all day where I try to get it all done in the morning and pay in the afternoon. My current employees also have more common sense than those of the past. Finally, attendance isn't a big issue, I'm confident the guys will come back tommorrow (This used to not be a given).

[scott C]

Its funny, I was talking to a supplier on Monday about how baffliing it is when an employee can do an awesome job one day, come back into work 12 hours later and completely forget how he did the same job the day before.

BTW in my eyes slow and steasy wins the race.

[LerchBros]

I agree with Rex on the different styles and patterns issue. We are constantly selling the Belgard Bergerac 3pc. system. It is supposed to go in a random pattern. Every job has been laid the same, until this year. One of the laborers got the bright idea to make a pattern by laying a large paver, medium, and small in a line, kind of like a running bond. After I saw 200 sq. ft. installed I almost shot the foreman, who isn't the brightest and reemed out the crew in my best spanglish. The excuse was, you wanted it done faster, this is a faster way of doing it. I had to gently remind them who was the boss and not to mention the one who trained them. I told them that if I thought there was a faster way to lay a pattern, I would have tried it. Since then they are asking more questions, many are the same but at least they are thinking. You got to wonder what goes through their heads sometimes.

[jwholden]

We cut the second half of the walk today and I went over everything again at a nice easy pace. The guys have gone the other way now and if they see alternating pavers for more than two units they think something is wrong. I tried to explain that it's ok for a little bit of the edge, just now the whole thing.

I get a sense that the guys want to learn this stuff and I know they are impressed by our final product. I think it would be difficult to convince them they could do this themselves someday, as they have watched me sweat the details on the projects.

They've almost got the soldier course down and perhaps I'll let them do some fill if we have time on the next project. Baby steps!

One concept that I have a hard time conveying to the guys is that it should be done right but staring at it for 10 minutes isn't going to make it any better. Though they probably picked up this habit from watching me ponder the job, I tend to stare as well. I just take for granted doing the things that they still have to think about.

Thanks for the great input all.