Leadership Skills: Promoting Teamwork, Productivity

By Brian Hook

Back in the day, construction sites were no place for the thin-skinned, and not just because of the extreme weather swings in locations like the Upper Midwest or the Southwest. If work was falling behind or somebody had messed up, a superintendent often would just yell, and then everybody would suck it up and get to work. So-called “soft skills” were out of step with the gritty reality of field work.

Times have changed, however, and if your field team hasn’t yet honed those leadership skills relating to emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, teamwork and effective communication, it’s time to get with the program. Across our industry and many others, successful organizations are sharpening their focus on non-technical, teamwork skills that can make a big difference in productivity and building relationships.

The really great superintendents have always understood successful people management skills, through innate ability coupled with mentorship, and often handed down from one generation to the next. Today, industry-leading employers are more proactive about identifying and elevating leadership skills and addressing these goals from multiple angles.

Jobsite experience

Traditionally, many superintendents have come up through an informal pipeline by way of working as a carpenter or laborer on the jobsite. Superintendents identify promising candidates who show an aptitude for people, as well as processes, and elevate them to expanded responsibilities. This still happens, to be sure, but in today’s faster-paced, higher-stakes world of workforce shortages, change orders and numerous RFIs, there’s much to gain by becoming more intentional, focused and formal about professional development of field leadership skills.

Core competencies

Including leadership skills within a firm’s core competencies and standards is a good way to identify and align goals and call out their importance to your team. When general superintendents, safety leaders and other key field team members come together to develop and describe your firm’s list of core competencies, be sure the list includes critical leadership skills, such as team building, ethics, motivating others, coaching employee performance and problem solving.

Talent acquisition

The old adage of “hire attitude and train skill” applies to our hiring approach for superintendents. In our industry, new technologies and process improvements are a way of life; continuing education and training should already be a given. A thoughtful and thorough job description should include expectations of teamwork and strong communication skills, as well as an indication of continuing education opportunities and responsibilities. As interviews are conducted, taking the time to get to know the individual job candidate and get a sense for how they approach team building and conflict resolution is a good indicator of their future success in your organization. In addition, invite qualified referrals from employees and others who already succeed in your positive work culture.

Education and internships

While most superintendents still emerge through the ranks of the carpentry trades and labor foremen, we are also seeing excellent candidates coming up through the college pipeline. The same construction management coursework that produces our project management engineers is also producing field engineers who are good communicators, committed to professional development and aspirations toward expanded leadership opportunities.

Well-crafted college internship programs are another approach to identifying and fostering promising job candidates in a culture of collaboration and leadership foundations. Providing interns with an immersive experience working closely with high-performance project teams and observing your organization’s leadership culture is a great approach to talent acquisition and retention.

Corey Parris became a Kraus-Anderson intern while attending the University of Wisconsin-Stout’s Construction Management program. He said his internship at KA provided first-hand knowledge and experience that complemented his coursework.

“The internship gave me invaluable onsite job experience on a large K-12 education project, assisting the project superintendent to learn how a job is run efficiently and how to handle the challenges and obstacles that come up every day,” said Parris. “These superintendents have become my mentors and are also helping me learn more about team building and collaboration as I develop my own leadership skills.”

Dedicated leadership training

We’ve been taught all manner of basic skills from grade school forward, yet some of the basics—like listening skills—have been left out. It’s never too late to learn. Employers: consider making an investment in your field team’s leadership skills.

For instance, KA provides a dedicated six-week, field management academy course designed specifically for project superintendents and foremen in every stage in their career. The classroom course is intended to help these professionals strengthen relationship skills, enhance communication skills, develop leadership skills and elevate trust among clients and partners.

Each three-hour session covers a different leadership topic or concept, discussion of when and how to implement the concept and instructions to try out newly learned approaches on the jobsite; then report back the results. It’s an investment of time, taking them away from their jobsites. But the opportunity to share best practices and lessons learned, reinforced among peer colleagues, will pay off in productivity and teamwork, as well as employee loyalty. Some participants have even decided to try out some of the concepts at home.

Those who have attended the classes believe the academy helps to determine between a leader and a manager.

“I am learning to encourage employees and subcontractors to understand what drives them to do the best job they can,” said Brad Kloos, project superintendent. “I engage each situation by asking questions and letting the employee talk about what they are doing and how they are going to get the job done on schedule. Also, having other superintendents in the room that can relate to the same situations can share their experiences with seasoned and upcoming employees, making easier to engage and learn.”

The coursework is also available to all field personnel. Parris, now a KA field engineer, said he is learning different techniques to enhance working relationships on projects.

“I am increasing my self-confidence and using different methods to gain cooperation and to avoid conflict,” said Parris. “The variety of topics taught in the field management academy are all beneficial as I engage with different trades and individuals on a daily basis. Not one person is the same, and these techniques are helping me understand how to effectively communicate with others on an active jobsite.”

From their remote jobsite islands, project superintendents shoulder awesome responsibilities for safety, schedule, budget and quality. But they don’t do it alone. Investing time and attention in addressing communication and leadership skills will strengthen your field force, your business partner relationships and your reputation.

Brian Hook is director of field operations, Kraus-Anderson Construction Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota.