Things I consider was taught have they been abandoned am I missing something?

First #7 is a must as long as it is possible to do. No matter how good you think the control is or how positive you are that you have not made a mistake in your set up. Take the damn check shot. The cost is very small.

1) in general 1200' between control points. When shooting 600' it is time to move up to the next control point.

2) It is a mildly enforced rule to set 1 additional control point every time you set up. Typically right before you breakdown the setup.

8) typically night before. Often a few days ahead. Sometimes day of.

9) Advance notice always. They have lives and responsibilities to manage.

@lurker Hey thanks. I know everyone has different management styles and leadership styles. And not always can we do what we want because someone higher in the chain does things differently. The way i am i like to plan and i like to absorb as much as possible to keep the most amount of stress off those below me. Shield them. Beat into me in the military i guess. And learning my people I learn who likes what. And have yet to find many that like last minute changes as the majority of time.  So i try and do a couple days ahead myself and those out of town jobs more. But it doesn’t always work that way. Unfortunately.

Answering all of these questions thoughtfully would require writing a novel.  1) it's not how far you let them trig out?  As far as you personally feel comfortable with.  You establish the procedures that they all should follow if you are signing the plans.

2)  Control is a situational thing that varies from job to job and no site is going to offer the same options as another, especially on construction sites or in the woods/fields.  On construction sites, follow closely behind the masons and start transferring your temporary control to hard surfaces.

3)  I am a big fan of field books for sketches and details as well as and important notes or observations, otherwise, digital field books are better for recording instrument readings.

4)  Again, situational, are you setting or shooting hundreds of points or two?  Any new control point should be set with a fresh BS.

5)  Depends on what the job is and what the expected closures/precision requires.

6)  Never leave a point out there alone if you are locating something unless you broke set up and relocated the point as a check before using it.

7)  Depends on the integrity of your control network.

8)  Our crews check in with the office staff daily between 1 & 2 to advise as to their job status and by 3:30, they have their following days work uploaded to their own digital folder that they can access remotely with their tablet.  In the folder is any special instructions, PDF documents and control files to do anything they need to do.

9)  We work statewide in NJ.  The furthest we usually go is 100 miles unless there is a big job beyond that range.  In these cases we require the crews to decide whether they want to put in 12 hour days or stay in a decent hotel with rooms and meals paid for.  These jobs are not sprung on them the day before.  We are a very family oriented company that tries to provide a work/homelife balance.  Nobody is forced to work overtime unless it is something like working 50 miles away and needing one hour to finish the job instead of having to return.  Our crews can certainly get all the overtime that they want but they have to ask for it.

@chris-bouffard yes my questions are not one line answers all ways.  But i just wanted to get a feel for how things were and see that i am taking care of my crews. I like your answers and what a great idea of knowing at x time of day it’s scheduled and i know where and what i am doing. I try to think of it from being on there side. As you stated family work balance. Nothing worse than wrapping up a days work getting home and then another hour of being lined out the next day while the wife looks at you for sure. Or kids. Seems you have a good system and everyone knows what to expect. Thank you for taking the time to share with me.  Always appreciated.

@olemanriver setting up the systems that we have in place are a process that constantly evolves into more efficient methods.  The key is setting standards that revolve around what you expect from your crews and enforcing your standards so that everybody is doing things the way that you want them done.  Everybody has a cell phone these days and if your Chief's have any questions, make the time to be available to take the call, even if it is after hours.  When they question why you want things done your way instead of theirs, always be able to answer them with your reasoning and the logic behind it instead of saying that it is just because you said so.  Logical answers are great teachers to those who are receptive.  If they counter you, listen to them because sometimes they are on to something that can change your thought process if they can support what they think but never just let them do what they want to do because it's easier for them and riskier for you.  I have a staff of 32 people under me and we have developed systems over 8 years that work for us and all of them.  Always keep in mind that to be an effective leader, you have to listen to your people and care about them coming to you with new ideas to entertain.

@chris-bouffard AMEN. You as we say down south shucked the corn clean down to the cob.  Just by the way you state things. From what I perceive is you not only understand management but also leadership which are not the same.  I imagine you have had some very successful people come from your mentorship over the years.   I appreciate your comments. Sometimes i get worried the way I think and was taught needs a check up. I have been under all sorts of people in power in private sector military govt.  Some good some bad but I always learned something from them all. Learned what and what not to do. Of course No one is perfect but those who constantly strived to be better seem to rise to the top and stay on top and they lifted a lot above them. Not just bringing them up under them. 

1-9

It depends....

1. Topo - How far?

About 300 feet for paved surfaces. Up to about 500 feet for graded surfaces. Natural ground, maybe 1000 feet.  But if I could do 1000 foot shots I would probably do it with RTK.  

2. Managing control on a job site.  

I like to make use of resectioning for instrument positions, and set the control on the margins, out of harms way as much as possible. For a big job I'm going to plan a control scheme ahead of time and be on site as it is set and run. Monument well with iron rods or better. Mag Nails are for temporary control only. Adjust, document, and maintain. I believe that time spent at this pays off. .  

3. What goes in a Field Book

Not a lot. A diagram of the control scheme. Detailed written descriptions of found monuments. Manhole and other structure dips. Level notes. Raw data (and by that I do not mean coordinate lists) downloaded daily and backed up.  

4. How often do you like to see BS checks during a all day topo or staking? 

BS checks (shot on the backsight recorded as a topo point) at the beginning of each setup. A third point check (as a topo point) included in the data set. A check to a known point (again, as a topo point) at the end of the setup.  A check about every hour- or about 100 points.

5. How do your standards go for traversing. 

Two FR/FL rounds make a set for control traversing. A Single FR/FL round for boundary ties.

6. Fly or temp points 

As previously stated, I'm doing a lot of resectioning for instrument positions, always with at least 3 points observed.  If setting fly points doing it from 2 backsights is often possible. If it is not, at least tie it a second time with a different target rod height.  

7. Do you require a third point check

Absolutely. See answer to 4. above. No play.

8. How is your schedule. 

Keep your guys in the loop. Usually the schedule is unknown to management more than a few days in advance. But why not share what you know, when you know it?  

9. Out of town advance notice 

Advance notice as much as possible. Field guys have lives, too.

@norman-oklahoma I love and used resection’s a lot when i was in the field. As a matter of fact when i set my primary travers control I always kept that in mind. One of my chiefs was never allowed to do resections at his other places so i am edumacating him on that. Lol. KTI keep troops informed reduces rumors and misconceptions i try my best to use that to let them know what i know. And make clear when i know its not finalized. Thank you. Seems about everyone is similar on topo and control. We do 4 rounds no matter what that’s from up high. With the s series it doesn’t take long .  I use to do way more manually and recorded and reduced in the field book on geodetic work so 4 is nothing for me.

I love and used resection’s a lot when i was in the field.

When doing topo or staking probably more than 95% of my instrument positions are resected.

This has implications for control placement. I'm usually setting control points across the street well out of the construction zone.  Control for resectioning could be reflectors glued to a wall across the street from the site. Such control would be useless to set up over. But most of it lasts the 3-5 year duration of the design-construction life cycle.    

@norman-oklahoma we use to turn to church steeples antennas as we traverses around a property angles only no direct reflex back then. So no matter where we were we had a azimuth back site and such on jobs use to work really nice. That was in the 90’s. When construction started made for a great thing.

@olemanriver I was once told by my late father in law that if I wanted to get anywhere worth being, I should switch jobs every few years and take on more responsibilities.  I took that advice and got into management fairly young.  I made my moves and was exposed to different management styles and ways to do things.  Out of seeing the good, bad and ugly I was able to figure out what works and what doesn't while putting my own twists on things that I learned along the way.  It's been a rewarding journey along the way and lead to my current position of 8 years where I was sought out to start my own department from scratch.  I given full reign to run things my way and it's been a huge success.  In the beginning there was only me, now I have six crews and a total staff of thirty people and another LS below me with two more working on their degrees.  I credit this to my father in law's advice and hard work on my part.  Always look at what other people are doing and how they are doing it, and especially what they are not doing.  By keeping an eye on the market you can identify niche markets and offer the services to fill those gaps.

@olemanriver

2.) I set a minimum of 4 points on a site, with at least 1 pair being intervisible if possible.  The nature of my work at the moment doesn't mean many return trips to a site so 99% of the time I set 'em and forget 'em.

3.) Again, small shop and my coworker and I are pretty much 1-man armies that do all of our own field and office work for a project, so we don't do a lot of paper notes outside of sketches.  I take hundreds of pictures on sites though.

4.) Mostly a seasonal concern for me, spring in particular are frequent checks.

6.) Depends what I'm shooting but if I'm going to the hassle of setting up the robot then I'm mostly likely going to treat it like a permanent control point rather than something lesser.

7.) The BS is also check so if that's good then most times I'm on to the task at hand.  But again, it depends on the nature of the project.

8.) Tenative plan for the next couple days since things can change quickly.

9.) Always a day or two notice.

10.) When I prepped jobs for crews I'd put together a folder that contained a basic parcel map and a snipped google earth vicinity map of the area, CP&Fs of the section corners I need tied, and records of survey and plats with the corners I need tied highlighted.

It's tempting to dummy it way down and do calc points or a .dxf but through my own experience I think that takes away the need for the employee to think which leads to them becoming disengaged.  I think it's important to give them the information they need to do the job, what I need, and let them figure out how they want to tackle it.  If they end up messing something up then use that as a teaching moment.

@chris-bouffard Terrific advice you received.  I started my surveying career as a you redneck country boy. A bush axe and I was going to the local tech schools and community colleges taknig night classes in civil engineering tech and surveying and construction classes. I had been running heavy equipment since 14 building hwys and grading lots for new houses etc. the first man i worked for surveying watched me my first few months. He said i will be retiring in about a year but you are going to stay with me until I retire and i am going to tell you exactly where you will go to work after I leave.  He did what he said he would do. As a matter a fact he helped me write my first two week notice. He retired i was off to a new company the same day.  Before i left he told me to work for them a few years then move and go west and study at a university and survey out west for a while.  I did and then joined the usmc as a geodetic surveyor and now coming back after doing other geomatics disciplines its fun. Only thing stressful is getting back in the swing of things and getting the timing down. The one thing that i love the most is i don’t have to worry about the money to much just learn and most of all i try and teach what little i know. I mean the younger chief i have have never really had to run a total station just robot and rtk i sent him home with some basic books on various topics. He reads them ask questions and i get him another one. He is going to go very far. He has everything it takes. Smart great attitude good work ethic. I am trying to get myself to the point of making the company profitable we are a start up office in new territory. So my ls has me and our 3 crew chiefs. He is trying to build the business and i am trying to protect his license. We need some help . I go out often when i can and meet people and uncovered a demand in my aea. Its just not in the overall business model for our company. But a huge demand is needed. I have found local guys that do that work and passed it on but they are already swamped. Had a investor friend of mine say just open your own shop and i will buy you whatever equipment you need and i do his work for fair market. Thats how bad it is he can’t make money because of waiting on getting the survey done.  I love the rural boundary work. But i have a ways to go before licensing. Still have a lot to learn.