THE NECESSITY OF DEVELOPING PERFORMANCE-BASED SUPERVISION ACTIVITIES IN THE CURRICULUM

INTRODUCTION

Construction supervisory personnel are expected to know their job. Simply stated, whenever something is being built, they are expected to know how to build it. This basic premise appears to be easily followed by those supervisory personnel who have substantial experience. An experienced supervisor's ability to adapt to a new process or construction activity is frequently accomplished by recognizing similarities with other construction activities previously encountered.

How does the adaptability of the experienced supervisor compare to the adaptability of an individual graduating from a construction program? The general background of most construction graduates includes an in-depth education with a limited amount of jobsite experience. Therefore, the graduate entering the construction industry generally will not have the broad base and intuitive knowledge of the processes which would help him or her plan and organize assignments as a supervisor. Is it correct to assume that jobsite experience is the only way to acquire this adaptability for planning and supervising a construction activity, or can a student develop these supervision skills through applied activities in the curriculum? There are several limitations of using work experience as the primary method for developing adaptability. They are the elements of time, obtaining appropriate feedback required for an effective learning process, and the probability of having similar activities on a previous project.

An alternative to using work experience as the primary method in developing adaptability is using applied supervision activities in the curriculum, as long as these activities are performance-based and a structured pre­planning process is used.

PERFORMANCE-BASED SUPERVISION ACTIVITIES

The major difference between a traditional course activity and a performance-based activity in a construction supervision course, is that a performance-based activity places the student in a position of responsibility for the actual supervision of the "entire process" of a construction activity. This is accomplished by assigning a specific construction activity to the student supervisor and requiring the student supervisor to complete the activity, to the standards established by the project. The student supervisor defines the technical information needs, plans the activity, executes the activity, and completes the activity using quality control checklists on the product and process. The depth of performance-based supervision activities can range from several related jobsite activities involved with framing an entire steel building, to a simple jobsite activity of sequencing and constructing a job-built concrete formwork system. Performance-based activities require the student supervisor to thoroughly define the conditions and anticipate potential problems of a construction activity.

The actual performance of the student is guided by several factors, including the construction specifications, standard construction practices, expectations of the labor force, conditions of the jobsite, material and equipment applications, and his or her own expectations as a supervisor. When completed, all performance-based activities should meet the standards that would typically be required of the jobsite supervisor. The effectiveness of performance-based activities is primarily a result of a structured planning process. This planning process is commonly expressed as "pre-planning," and is broadly defined as any organized system of planning that produces detailed "written" instructions to facilitate field execution of a task.

The goal of every pre-plan is to help the supervisor and labor force complete a construction activity in a more orderly fashion, and to allow time to make changes necessary for productivity improvement. Depending upon the size and complexity of the performance-based supervision activity, leadtimes for completing pre-plans can vary from one day to several weeks. Types of pre-plans range from creative problem solving of a major task, to the daily written instructions to a small crew. In general, all pre-plans describe what the task is and how it is to be done.

DEVELOPING A SUPERVISION PRE-PLAN

The pre-planning process of a performance-based supervision activity, requires the student supervisor to think through the details of an activity, and to try to anticipate the interferences, shortages, and pitfalls before the work is executed. One of the misconceptions and mistakes frequently made, is that the student supervisor assumes the work force has the ability to correctly interpret the plans and specifications of a project. All levels of employees, from the foremen to the laborers, need to receive the appropriate information related specifically_ to their participation of the construction activity. The plans and specifications generally do not include specific details of the process that is involved with each activity.

To develop a written pre-plan for a performance-based supervision activity, the following six-step process should be used by the student supervisor.

Technical Information Outline

The development of the technical information outline is the first and foremost of the six steps. The student supervisor should take an open approach to identifying the type of information needed on the pre-plan. Often, the simplest information is the most important to the user of the pre­plan. The first step in identifying this information is to construct a detailed outline of the technical information needed to complete the performance-based construction activity. This outline must be complete and comprehensive, including a range of information from the production schedule to hand tool safety. The following is a technical information outline for the framing and alignment activity of a simple two-story steel-frame building.

The student supervisor should generate as many questions as possible for each category listed on the outline; there may be as many as 25 questions for some categories. The questions developed for each category listed, should cover a broad range of topics within that specific category. The following questions would be typical questions developed for the category "required hand tools."

The list of questions for the category of hand tools should continue until all of the information needed on hand tools has been identified. It is not necessary to answer the questions at this phase of pre-plan development; the purpose of developing the questions is to identify the technical information needed by everyone associated with the construction activity, Answers to the questions can be obtained at any time during the pre-planning process, using the source that provides the most accurate answer for the specific jobsite application. Sources for the answers include the plans and specifications, jobsite labor force, field management personnel, material manufacturers and suppliers, and reference manuals and textbooks. Upon completion of asking all of the potential questions for all of the major categories listed in the technical information outline, the student supervisor should have established an adequate informational base to properly supervise a performance-based supervision activity. Brief descriptions are stated for the remaining five steps of the pre-planning process.

Safety Awareness Outline

The safety awareness outline should identify the safety needs for entire project, including general jobsite safety and specific safety information necessary to maintain a safe work environment. The information identified on this outline will be used to promote safety on-the-job by the student supervisor, and will also be used to assist decision­making throughout the pre-planning process.

Materials. Tools and Equipment Lists

The completed materials, tools and equipment lists should be thorough and comprehensive. These lists will be used for acquisition of the items listed. All items must be properly described, with appropriate specifications where necessary. These lists should include items ranging from a pound of nails to a portable generator, including tool and equipment lists for individual crew members.

Working Drawings or Field Drawings

The working drawings or field drawings are designed to show specific details of a construction activity, using information from the shop drawings, construction plans and specifications, and material installation and specifications. The primary purpose for constructing the drawings, is to clarify and illustrate the technical information needed by the labor force to complete a task to the specifications of the project.

Sequencing of the Activity

Sequencing a construction activity is performed by developing a list of the individual steps necessary to complete the activity. The information generated by developing this step-by-step process can be used by the student supervisor to assist with other pre-planning processes. The sequencing will assist the labor force towards a timely and orderly completion of the activity.

Quality Control Checklists

The quality control checklists must identify the requirements of the materials and processes which meet the standards established by the plans and specifications. These checklists are to be used during execution and completion of a construction activity, and should be designed to control safety, interim process quality, overall product quality, and to record relative jobsite information.

There is an inter-relationship among the six steps of the pre-planning process. The technical information outline should be used to identify the informational needs of the entire pre-planning process. During the completion of the other five steps of the pre-planning process, every decision made has to be analyzed for its potential affect upon the other activities on the jobsite. If answers to the questions listed on the technical information outline establish a standard, then this standard should govern decisions made during the development of the materials required to complete steps 2-5. An opposite condition can also occur. The development of a particular list, drawing, or checklist may identify a standard that was not established on the original technical information outline. If this occurs, appropriate adjustments should be made to the technical information list.

If the pre-plan for the performance-based supervision activity has been thoroughly completed, an adequate base of applied knowledge should have been developed to support the actual supervision of the construction activity by the student supervisor. The performance-based supervision activity requires the student supervisor to execute the construction activity, using the written pre-plan as a guide for supervising and communicating to the labor force.

EVALUATING OF THE STUDENT SUPERVISOR

The evaluation process for a performance-based supervision activity includes a review of the written pre­plan and an evaluation of the actual supervision. The criteria used to evaluate the written pre-plan has been established in the pre-plan development section of this paper. The following criteria can be used as a standard measure for evaluating the performance of a student supervisor.

Organizational Skills

Instructions at the beginning of the supervised activity Identifying individual tasks to be completed Identifying the competencies of the labor force

Leadership Skills

Control at the start of the construction activity Maintenance of control during the construction activity Adaptability and initiative of the student supervisor

Communication Skills

Instructions using the working drawings

Qualifying the laborer's comprehension of the instructions Identifying interpretation problems of the labor force

Performance Skills

Coordination of the construction activity

Control of the entire construction activity

Completion of the activity to the plans and specifications

Safety Control Skills

Prevention of unsafe acts and conditions by the supervisor Anticipation of unsafe acts or conditions by the labor force Management and control of safe acts and conditions on-the-job

ASSESSMENT OF PERFORMANCE-BASED SUPERVISION ACTIVITIES

A performance-based supervision activity requires the student supervisor to apply knowledge and skills acquired from previous construction courses, such as construction materials and methods, construction layout, scheduling, materials management, estimating, and bidding. This application of skills previously acquired, supports the need for performance-based activities in those courses preceding the construction supervision course.

The pre-planning process requires the student supervisor to research a construction activity, to the degree that all elements affecting the completion of the construction activity have been identified. This training in research will develop the skills which are needed by the student supervisor, enabling him or her to react to changes on the jobsite, and to become adaptable to planning construction activities which have not been previously experienced.

If a student in a construction supervision course has completed a performance-based supervision activity to the minimum standards established by this paper, the student graduating from a construction program has developed the basic skills to plan, execute and control a construction activity which he or she has never done before.