Landscape Management, October 2013
continued from page 50 driveway and it takes an extra 10 seconds to walk the additional distance thats 600 seconds Once each worker makes a round trip covering the additional 10 seconds walking back double that to 1200 seconds or 20 minutes If youre paying them 15 an hour you pay them 5 each or one man hour unnecessarily But thats not really what it costs If your billing rate for each man is 50 an hour that 20 minutes cost 1660 per man or 50 If this is repeated at each job once a week for 26 weeks thats 1300 dollars down the drain Now lets say you have five crews operating the same way Thats 6500 dollars That seemingly insignificant 10 seconds looks pretty significant now doesnt it How far into this story were you before you asked Why are they carrying five at a time instead of putting 20 in a wheelbarrow That would be an alternative to carrying them but how many times have you seen it done the hard WHEN YOU SEE HOW THE NUMBER S ADD UP AND CONSIDER HOW MANY OTHER ASPECTS OF YOUR DAILY OPERATION MAY BE DONE INEFFICIENTLY DAY AFTER DAY TRAINING BECOMES IMPERATIVE NOT OPTIONAL way because thats the way its always been done Or maybe it was because of a lack of preparation they didnt have a wheelbarrow or they had one but the tire was flat This is an example of just one small task among many that make up your daily operations When you see how the numbers add up and consider how many other aspects of your daily operation may be done ineficiently day after day training becomes imperative not optional Fortunately the investment doesnt need to be as much as you may think Youll want to show your crew leaders best practices for some specific tasks but youll never cover every situation in your operations It has to be a mindset Your crew leaders need to watch each situation and ask if theres a better way to do something Its the work smart not hard mentality Best practices will set precedents and your crew will see processes diferently Ineficiency isnt dificult to spot if youre looking for it To that end the ROI for eficiency training may be more significant than you think LM Hessong a coach and consultant with Pro Motion Consulting can be reached at dave@ mypmcteam com Avoid plant loss and replacement which is time consuming and costly Landscapers BioNutrition gives you peace of mind and an insurance policy by offering a one step method to reduce stress and transplant loss on trees and ornamentals An easy to use granular product combines 5 strains of beneflc al soli bacteria 11 strains of endo and ecto mycorrh zae and key organiC soil conditioners for the ultimate in tree and landscape preservation LED lighting to fit every need including profit Light fixtures for landscape applications such as garden path fountain and pond lighting Fast Delivery Always In Stock 866 590 3533 Order by 1 00 p rn CST for same day shipping OCTOBER 2013 I LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET 75
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