Turning Electricians into Managers

 

By Andrew White

You have spent years perfecting your craft as an electrician, learning everything you can about equipment and circuitry, about installation, maintenance and repair. Congratulations. As a result of this hard work, you've been named job supervisor, a position replete with more money, more responsibilities - and more lessons to learn.

You can surmount this challenge. After all, when I became an electrician in 1993, I had no experience. After passing the journeyman exam in 1996, I turned my attention to learning another craft: How to be a successful and well-qualified manager, a good boss for employees, immediate supervisors and the general contractor. By adding management skills to your electrical prowess, you will become an even greater asset to your organization.

If you too are on this adventure, I suggest you consult your company policies and safety standards, and consider some of the following suggestions.

You're the Boss, Now What
Congratulations, you have been promoted to Job Supervisor. The last supervisor quit and you are at the top of the food chain, the bull's eye on your back. Will you make it? If you don't have prior experience or your boss doesn't hold your hand, you have a 60 percent chance of failing.  

By paying attention to the management details you can succeed. After all, you know the electrical business, the language and the challenges. Add some business skills and you can go far.

Leadership
You are now the leader. Yesterday you were an equal, part of the crew; today you are the boss and will have to earn the trust of your peers, the crew and your general contractor.  This can put a damper on your social life, as hanging out with one or two team members will, invariably, lead to charges of unfair treatment by the others on the team.

After all, you are now a decision-maker, someone responsible for overseeing much of the day-to-day operations on a job and, as such, cannot be seen as a particular person's buddy.

Plan ahead
Becoming a manager means taking extra initiatives, sometimes on your own time.

Stay behind an extra 30 minutes each day to walk through the job to see what was accomplished. Make sure the job is ready and safe for your crew to work and create the next day's schedule for them. Always arrive 30 minutes early to the job so you can get set up before the crew arrives. Take a look at the schedule and make sure you have all the materials, tools and safety equipment for each day's activities. This may sound like a waste of an hour each work day but it will save between 5 and 10 hours of your crew's time. Even more importantly, it will give you a clear, big picture view of the job and earn your employees' and employer's trust.

Delegate
You must delegate work and not take on everything yourself. As a new supervisor you are probably the best electrician on the job and easily could get frustrated when it takes someone else twice as long to do a job. Remember, you are building a team that trusts each other. How can your employees trust you if you don't trust them?

Tip: Wear your tool belt when you are training someone on a new job and a of couple hours each week to earn respect. At some point, however, wearing your tools will get in the way and will slow you down. I find that if I am responsible for more than eight people I cannot effectively wear a tool belt because I am managing materials and resources.

“Our success comes from empowering others”. As contractors and business owners we must give our talented employees every tool available. In the coming months, we will offer tips and techniques on how management training can get your jobs on schedule, under budget and ultimately make the organization more successful.

 
Andrew White
andrew@complete-cfl.com