REGAINING  THE  SCHEDULE Many unanticipated problems appear during the execution of your tasking. All of these problems will likely  have  at  least  some  impact  on  the  schedule. Finding yourself 1-2 percent or several days behind schedule is not a catastrophe. But you will need a plan to get back on track and regain the schedule. There are nearly limitless possibilities for solving the problems and  regaining  the  schedule. Better Methods Often  there  are  faster  methods  of  construction than  the  ones  you  originally  planned  or  are  currently using.  If  you  are  behind,  a  quick  scan  of  the  CAS sheets’   upcoming   activities   might   reveal   an opportunity  to  shave  some  man-days  by  changing methods.  Better  equipment  frequently  results  in  less time being expended. For an underground pipe job, renting a trencher would save many man-days over using the backhoe. Better methods and equipment are tied to the availability of project funds. Consult others in   identifying   man-day   saving   alternatives,   and remember  to  “work  smarter,  not  harder.” Increase Effective Workday Obviously,  by  skipping  quarters  every  morning you could get another 20 minutes of work out of your crew. But it is not likely your chain of command will find that to be an acceptable method of increasing the workday. Another way of getting more hours out of the same number of people is to increase your actual availability.  Remember,  for  planning  purposes  you used a site specific factor that was somewhere between 0.75 and 0.85. You can calculate the actual availability factor for the project using the following formula: To  determine  an  actual  availability  factor  you need  to  know  the  size  of  the  crew  assigned,  the man-days they expended over a certain period, and the number  of  workdays  in  that  period.  If  the  actual availability  is  low  (below  0.75),  you  may  want  to consider  permanent  changes  to  the  daily  crew  routine (haircuts,  paychecks,  liberty,  gedunk  runs,  and  such) to increase availability. Even if your availability is average you can increase it for a short time to get back on  schedule.  Work  with  your  chain  of  command  to coordinate  dental  appointments,  disbursing  problems, page twos and other things that take crew members away from the jobsite. Increasing availability by 10 percent has the same effect as adding another member to your crew. Phasing of Activities Projects are usually laid out initially on a logic diagram  using  nearly  all  finish-to-start  logic relationships.  This  has  the  effect  of  stretching  project duration  and  reducing  required  crew  size.  It  also leaves  plenty  of  opportunity  to  compress  the  schedule by working several activities at the same time. You may be able to squeeze a few days out of your schedule by splitting your crew and having some of them work on the next activity. To make any real gains on your schedule you will probably need additional people. If you  present  your  chain  of  command  with  a  plan designed  to  get  back  on  track,  you  could  get  those additional  crew  members  temporarily. MEETING  THE  SCHEDULED  PROJECT COMPLETION DATE After  the  45-day  review,  project  schedules  are firm.  The  battalion  is  committed  to  meeting  the scheduled project completion dates. As soon as the crew  leader  feels  the  completion  date  is  no  longer within reach, the chain of command must be informed. If   the   company   staff   cannot   get   the   project   on schedule,  the  Ops  officer  should  be  informed.  The customers   are   counting   on   getting   the   facilities delivered on the scheduled date, and delays may have a big impact on their plans. Delays may also impact on the schedules of the follow-on battalion. EFFECTIVE MANPOWER UTILIZATION In  maintaining  project  schedules,  crew  leaders must  make  effective  use  of  personnel  assigned  to them. An established policy for mid-watch sleep-ins and a means for getting them to the job at the correct time must be coordinated. Many of the paper work problems can be handled by the company staff/chain of command. Use them to help your crew members get their  problems  solved  and  minimize  time  lost.  People are either involved in productive work or they are not. It  is  the  crew  leader’s  responsibility  to  keep  the  crew productively   employed.   To   maximize   productive output,  the  crew  leader  must  remove  obstacles  to productive  work.  Look  at  some  potential  time-wasters and  consider  how  you  could  best  increase  the productive  output  of  the  crew. 2-30