Expecting too much from your workers?

I ask this question because I’m always curious as to what your answer will be. I can almost guarantee what you’ll say because though I’m not a gambler, I’ve got enough historical data to back up my educated guess. That’s right, an educated guess. Much different than a plain old guess because a plain old guess is much like a shot in the dark.

My historical data tells me that most of you will tell me that your workers should be cranking out more work than they’re doing. Or maybe you’ll tell me that you’re foreman needs to learn how to get your guys or gals working a little quicker.

Did you ever wonder why you seem to have to “crack the whip” to get almost every single job done within the time frame that you estimated?

Tell me…have you ever looked in the mirror? Maybe it’s YOU!

Well, okay, perhaps not you personally but did you ever think for a minute that the production rates of your workers are just fine? And that you may be estimating with unrealistic numbers?

Perhaps your expectations are too high. Or maybe you have no clue as to what production rates are needed to make a job run smoothly while still realizing a profit.

Business shouldn’t be a push, push, push proposition. That’s not the way it should be at all. A worker should be able to perform his or her normal quota each and every day without always being under pressure. Why is there pressure anyway? If you estimated the job properly and used production rates that reflect reality…there shouldn’t be any pressure…right?

Do yourself a favor

Start realizing that production rates are everything in the commercial sector. Every item that gets installed on a project has a production rate attached to it. Learn these production rates and you’ll eliminate problems and realize more profits.

Harry Carter

Carter School of Estimating
My estimating courses cover material, man days, production rates, difficulty factors, overhead and a whole lot more! Call (603) 263-0345 or write harry@estimatingcourse.com today and I’ll change the way you think about a lot of things regarding estimating. Estimating is an art. I’d like to think of myself as a great artist when it comes to estimating. Let me bring out the estimating artist in you.
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