Learning library

Crews, labour planning and productivity

Labour is the cost a site team controls most directly, and most lost hours are lost to waiting. These lessons cover how many people the work needs, what keeps crews from working, how to set targets a crew believes in, and how to keep the work moving through absences, handovers and hot weather.

15 articles · about 45 minutes of reading in all

Sizing a crew for the work: when adding people slows it down
Find the optimal crew size for a task from the quantity, the open work fronts and the supervision it needs, and spot when extra people slow it.
3 min read
A weekly labour plan that matches crews to the look-ahead
Turn the look-ahead into a weekly labour plan by trade, set it against the crews you have, and close each shortfall two weeks before it arrives.
3 min read
Finding where crews wait: a one-day observation
Use work sampling on one shift to see how much crew time goes to waiting, walking and fetching, then fix the biggest cause and measure again.
3 min read
Staging materials at the workface so crews do not go looking
Stage each crew's material, fasteners and tools at its work area before the shift, from a daily kit list, so crews start work instead of fetching it.
3 min read
Timing the first run of a repetitive task to set a realistic rate
Run a first-run study on a repetitive task: time each step, improve the method with the crew and set the production rate from the improved runs.
3 min read
Planning around absences so the critical work keeps moving
Plan for crew absenteeism before it happens: map who holds each critical skill, qualify backups and replan in ten minutes when someone is out.
3 min read
A new worker's first day on site: an orientation that sticks
Give each new worker a site orientation that sticks: the hazards, rules and people to ask, a walk of the site, the first task shown and a signed record.
3 min read
Tracking rework hours so the causes can be fixed
Track construction rework by coding the hours with a cause, totalling them every week and fixing the causes that cost the most hours first.
3 min read
Handing work over between crews and shifts without losing information
Run a shift handover that passes partly finished work to the next crew with a short note and a walk of the work, so nothing is lost, repeated or left unsafe.
3 min read
Setting a daily quantity target the crew agrees with
Set a daily production target with your crew from the rate it has reached and today's conditions, post it, check it at 15:00 and record why a day falls short.
3 min read
Keeping equipment working: planning maintenance around the work
Cut construction equipment downtime: track hours and pre-use checks, act on reported defects, service machines in planned gaps and keep a fallback ready.
3 min read
The real cost of pulling a crew off and bringing it back
Count the remobilization cost of pulling a crew off site and back, from trips and set-up to slower first days, decide whether to leave, and record it.
3 min read
Getting a subcontractor to commit to crew numbers, and tracking them
Get a weekly subcontractor manpower commitment from each trade, count its workers on site every day, and raise any shortfall the same week.
3 min read
A work package that gives a crew everything on one page
Prepare a one-page construction work package for each crew task, with scope, current drawings, materials, bookings, checks and hazards, so no one stops to ask.
3 min read
Planning work in extreme heat
Write a construction heat stress plan: measure heat at the work, move heavy work to cool hours, add water, shade and rest, and watch for symptoms.
3 min read