I've forgotten field books, batteries, data collector, pencils, phone. Nobody to blame but myself. The real hazard I find, is going on autopilot. Easy to do when I'm preoccupied with the half dozen other jobs going on at any moment, personal issues, personnel issues. What I found helps me the most is just taking a quiet minute before pulling out of the parking lot and mentally walking through what I have planned for the day and often enough I'll hit on something I've forgotten or overlooked. Sort of become a habit now, taking a pause to think about what I'm doing and what I'm going to need. Like Bionicman said, a teaching moment. I've never found getting angry to produce much of anything of value.?ÿ
What I found helps me the most is just taking a quiet minute before
Excellent advice to follow throughout every day. ?ÿI try to pause and take a breather between tasks.
Coffee break.
Smoke break.
Nap.
Shower.
It is amazing what important thoughts float to the top when I allow my monkey mind to settle and quiet.
Many have mentioned creating a checklist.?ÿ One size does not fit all, as soon they will just ignore the checklist or just rubber stamp it.?ÿ I despise checklists of all types as they force you into a checklist mentality.?ÿ north arrow - check, scale - check...I'm aware enough that i don't need a checklist to tell me I need a north arrow on my maps.?ÿ Same goes for the field, the party chief needs to be aware and make adult decisions.?ÿ If he/she needs a checklist then they can make one on there own but I'm not forcing anyone under my watch to use a checklist.?ÿ Reminds me too much of government type work as well.?ÿ It's bloated and takes twice as long when compared to being on top of things and doing it the most efficient way you know how.
It is possible to explain the impact to the schedule and true cost in a productive way.
And those are exactly the types of conversations that need to be had - not just in the instance of a forgotten piece of equipment, but throughout the course of employment.?ÿ How else do people expect to learn more about the business end.?ÿ If the employee's ego is too fragile to have a conversation that addresses the specifics of what a negative action can have on the schedule and bottom line, then they might need to grow enough to understand that a discussion about a mistake is not automatically an attack on one's overall abilities.
Now there are many employers/managers who do not know how to have this conversation in a productive way.?ÿ I'm not sure I could do so.?ÿ But I have dealt with people who had the ability to do so and it is a valuable learning experience.
Is there a chance the field crew is going to make bonus money/profit on a job efficiently handled like the business will??ÿ If not, they get paid for good days and bad days.?ÿ When I was 15 building swimming pools, I did something stupid that cost the boss money and he took it out of my paycheck.?ÿ I told him that didn't fly with me and I quit.?ÿ I got the money back in the next paycheck and we never spoke of it again.?ÿ Now, owning my own company, I cost myself money all the time forgetting stuff and would no doubt fire myself if I could but I'm too nice of a guy to do that.?ÿ Then there are days when everything goes right and I make a gob of money and all is forgiven.
I told my helper today that we at least made enough money to pay his wages for the day, even though everything seemed to go wrong with my planning.
Nobody to blame but myself
That ought to answer the OP. ?????ÿ
great book:
Checklist Manifesto.
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the quiet you're talking about is hard where I work now because I'm literally being pushed out the door the second I step through it.
checklists work
deep breaths too.
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you're doing well keep it up.
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thanks for input. I've cooled off, and appreciate the opinions.
I became enamored of checklists when a former worker told me about his new son-in-law, an airline pilot.?ÿ They don't take off without having checked every box and line item, and I'm glad they do.
You may have a checklist in your head (we all do), but I would bet you couldn't duplicate it exactly the same day after day without mixing up the order, or worse, forgetting something.
I became enamored of checklists when a former worker told me about his new son-in-law, an airline pilot.?ÿ They don't take off without having checked every box and line item
The prototype B-17 bomber and its crew were lost when they took off without removing a "gust lock" from the controls. That accident led to the checklisting practice now commonplace in aviation.?ÿ
I spent a week, in a classroom, so I could get a badge that would allow me to drive on the AOA at SEATAC.
One of the things that stuck out, to me; the instructor said: If the airline industry had a 1% failure rate, planes would be dropping out of the sky every couple of hours.
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@norman-oklahoma that happened recently, small single engine airplane. My procedure was always box the controls immediately before takeoff. Full forward, full right, full back, full left, full forward, both rudder pedals full travel both ways.
@dave-karoly Isn't that part of every pilot's Standard Operating Procedure?
"Controls - Full and Free"
I few years ago I read that Sir Richard Branson of Virgin this-and-that, modified his benefits program to allow unlimited paid vacation for upper management.?ÿ Rumor has it that it was quickly followed with an subtle, but ominous, discussion about management performance metrics, and a possible link to the amount of time they chose to take for vacation.?ÿ Again rumors, the result was that his employees' vacation time plummeted.
I'm not interested in being that Machiavellian, but I do like to allow employees time to think about their mistakes.?ÿ I have a guy who's going through some legal stuff and it's turning into a scheduling nightmare for me.?ÿ He's one of my best party chiefs and I don't want to lose him.?ÿ It seems like every court date is scheduled on a Wednesday.?ÿ Instead of just telling him I'm not paying for his travel time home to make it to court and back to the jobsite, I asked him what he'd do if he were in my position.?ÿ I purposely waited to have this conversation when I knew he had a few hours of window time and I asked him to hold off from answering it until the next day.?ÿ He chose not to bill his travel time and seems more grateful after having done so.?ÿ
