Generally speaking, I try not to be the one in charge.  You are the guy that winds up in the middle, between everyone; – The Boss and the men; The customer and the Boss; The architect and the engineer; The engineer and the inspector.

As a result I was never given the position of Foreman, which suited me just fine.

Many times I worked alone.  I actually preferred it.  In fact years ago I worked alone on government projects for months.  Towards the last they put me in charge of working out the “Punch List.”

When the inspector inspected the job, he made a list of all the things needing correction – the “Punch List.”  I noticed certain things came up again and again on the punch list.  I made up a list of my own.  I called it the “Pre Punch List.”

I showed my list to the Foreman and he thought it was great.  He took it to the upper echelon and they also liked it.  In fact they liked it so much they made copies and sent it to every one of their crews.  We eliminated the “Punch List” because of it.

Years later when working alone, I would use that system.  As a job neared its finish, I would make a pre-punch list and post it somewhere convenient.  I would add to the list as things needed to be done and scratch them out as things got done, and thus, no punch list.  You can punch out a job more efficiently using that system.

One job required us to drive 100 miles one way to get to the job site.  There were just two men, the foreman and me.  One day the foreman had to take the day off to take care of personal business.  He told me to take care of things while he was gone.  No problem!

And there weren’t any problems.

When I got my check at the end of the week the company had included foreman pay for one day.

Surprise, surprise.