The Successful Construction Supervisor and Foreman

Construction is desperate for good, experienced, skilled and dedicated supervisors and foremen. Construction needs you. Being a construction supervisor or foreman is challenging, it’s hard work, but it’s also rewarding watching projects take shape under your watch. A supervisor’s job is never boring – every day is different, each project is different, different locations and different people, all presenting new challenges.A construction foreman, foreperson or supervisor, supervises a work crew, or manages a section of work. They’re at the coalface of every construction project – the critical link in the construction process. Good foremen and supervisors are essential to the success of every construction project and every construction company, indeed, they’re invaluable. Yet, few managers and supervisors are prepared to mentor and train the next generation of supervisors and foremen. Most supervisors and foremen have years of experience on the tools, learning their trade, sometimes through apprenticeships, but mostly learning from others. These skills are focused on a particular trade or skill. But, being a supervisor is a different ballgame. Where before, as a trades-person they were doing the work themselves, now as supervisor they must organise and manage others doing the work.I’m a construction professional with 30 years of experience and the author of several acclaimed construction books, including: ‘Successful Construction Project Management: The Practical Guide’ and ‘Construction Management: From Project Concept to Completion’. As a young engineer and later as project manager, I was fortunate to learn from many excellent supervisors and foremen. I wouldn’t have achieved what I did without the foremen on my projects. They were the powerhouse on my construction projects, and I only had to steer the project to a successful conclusion. Now it’s my turn to share my 30 years of construction experience and knowledge with construction supervisors and foremen. To explain why things are done in a certain way, why good paperwork is essential, but more importantly, to help supervisors and foremen become the very best.