PDCA Craftsmanship Forum: Fixing Painting's Image Problem

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Fixing Painting's Image Problem - How a Painter Becomes a Craftsman
Part 1 - Vigilance

By Mario Guertin—President, Craftsmanship Forum
President, Painting in partnership and
Steve Scanlan - Decorative Finisher, Painting in Partnership

Our Image Problem as Painters

Painters in our culture have a major image problem. They have a tendency to be viewed at the lower end of the totem pole when it comes to social prestige or career appeal. Why is that? In Europe, for instance, painters are viewed with considerably more respect. In fact, painters are ranked in the top 20 most desirable professional endeavors. What are we doing wrong in this country?

The reasons why such a condition exists are complex. One has to do with the fact that our society perceives painting as easy and simple. In your years in painting, you may even have heard the infamous phrase: "A monkey could do it", or some version of it. Why else would painting be the number one do-it-yourself home improvement activity? On the same lines, many people go into painting not because they love to paint, but because it is an easy way to make a living, so they think. They lack the necessary training and knowledge to do the work properly. In fact, the quality of their work often resembles that of their homeowner counterparts. How do we break this cycle and create a different reality for our craft?

A Proposed Solution

We would like to suggest that if we are to break the cycle described above, we need to find the nearest mirror and take a good look at ourselves. We, as painters, bear the bulk of the responsibility for the problems plaguing our industry. Our national Association, the PDCA, is involved in developing solutions to many aspects of the problem, such as contractor education, accreditation, branding, market recognition etc. Other solutions also need to be developed that focus specifically on the craftsmanship aspects of our image problem, such as Skill Standards, Standard Operating Procedures, Dissemination of Painting Knowledge, Training and, yes, the "C" word - Certification. This is the work of the PDCA Craftsmanship Forum, which sponsors the Craftsman?s Corner for this newsletter.

Why writing articles on Craftsmanship Development? Because, if we are to change our image problem, we must first take the work that we do as painters more seriously. In order for society to change its perception of us, we must first change the view we have of ourselves. How do we do that? By getting clear about what makes a painter into a true Craftsman! To be a true Craftsman involves more than being a good mechanic. In fact, it requires the full engagement of the whole person, not just the hands that do the work. More specifically, a Craftsman must successfully integrate the use of his/her MIND, his/her EYES and his/her HANDS to deliver an end-result that is aesthetically pleasing, meets the technical requirements, budget constraints and the promises made by the company to its clients. Would you say that doing all that is a pretty challenging and stimulating endeavor? We think so! Is that how you view the work of your painters?

For us to gain our proper place in society as painters, we must elevate our level of seriousness about craftsmanship! This series of 3 articles is designed to do that. Each article will address a different aspect of what makes a Painter a true Craftsman. The first one will be on Vigilance (MIND), the second on Aesthetic Appreciation (EYES) and 3d on Technical Know-How (HANDS). By having these 3 elements simultaneously engaged in the work of painting, great work can be produced habitually!

Defining Vigilance

Vigilance is the ability to stay focused and engaged with the work you are doing. Vigilance means being able to concentrate on all the aspects of a painting project from start to finish, in order to ensure high quality work, produced efficiently and without problems or hang-ups. Some cynics may call it "being anal about the details"; but that would be missing the whole point. The energy driving vigilance is the pursuit of excellence, a drive to be the best you can be. Over time, that energy leads you to the development of masterful skills and the achievement of extraordinary performance. Vigilance is the attitude and the mindset a painter needs to have in order to become a true Craftsman.

Measuring Vigilance

There are many tasks to do during a "routine" painting project? How would you score yourself in your ability to successfully complete all the demands of a painting project? I suggest you rate yourself on the following criteria to see how closely you are painting at a craftsman?s level. To quantify this, use a simple 3- point system:

3 = Always
2 = Sometimes
1 = Never

A. Initial Project Setup

1. On time to job.

2. Well rested, clean and properly attired (whites without tears or major stains).

3. Fully prepared for the job (All the equipment and tools you?ll need for that day, as well as food and water so that there is no need to leave the job site)

4. Know the scope of the job before starting anything (which surfaces are getting what kind of treatment ).

5. Safely move furniture and protect with plastic.

6. Lay tarps to protect all surfaces near painting.

7. Remove, label and store hardware and mechanical devices like blinds so that reinstallation is simple and quick.

8. Take inventory of previously damaged or inappropriately painted items (paint splatter on floor or hardware).

B. Survey Surfaces

9. Shine a halogen light at an angle to the surface to highlight imperfections, and mark all spots to be fixed.

10. Detect any hidden defects like water damage and bring to client?s attention.

11. Determine if surfaces are oil or latex.

C. Planning and Time Management

12. Check budget before starting any task.

13. Wear a watch or have cell phone nearby for monitoring time passage.

14. Sequence tasks effectively.

D. Tool Selection and Execution

15. Pick the best tool for the situation.

16. Willingness to change tool if desired result is not being achieved.

E. Monitoring Project

17. Keep ahead of supplies running out.

18. Pay attention to moods of client.

19. Communicate everyday with client.

20. Know the project as you approach completion

21. Identify add-on opportunities

F. Completion of Project

22. Take care of all loose ends and touch-ups.

23. No punch list from client.

24. Clean-up and leave home as neat as when you started.

25. Get the final payment.

TOTAL SCORE

How is your score? Where do you need to sharpen your saw? If you are a business owner, which systems are lacking in your business that would assist you painters in exercising that vigilance? What actions can you take today to bolster the level of craftsmanship you offer to your customers? As you can see there are many things to be vigilant about during the course of a "routine" painting project. To be a craftsman it is not good enough to just show up, turn on the radio and start painting. There are many things to be and stay aware of when being on a painting project. A painter is on track to becoming a craftsman when he/she can score a 3 on every detail of a painting project. In order for this to happen, the MIND must be engaged and vigilance must be cultivated.

Building a Team of Craftsmen
Part 3- Designing a Craftsmanship Development Program
January 2006

By Mario Guertin
President - PDCA Craftsmanship Forum
President - Painting in Partnership, Inc.

The focus of this series of articles has been to equip the reader with basic distinctions to enable you to build an extraordinary group of individuals, dedicated to their craft and committed to deliver on the promises you make to your clients. The first article described how to select people who share the values you represent as a business. The second article focused on the developing a corporate culture where the knowledge present on your team of craftsmen is freely shared for the benefit of all. The third piece of the puzzle has to do with designing a system that creates a path for the development of that team of craftsmen.

Why Does Development Matter?

In order to answer the ?why? question, it is important to remember that, if you applied the principles embodied in this series of articles, the motivation of the people working for you goes far beyond the salary and benefits you offer. in reality, their motivation may include the following:

- Welfare of their families
- Personal sense of accomplishment
- Personal work standards
- Personal sense of business ethics
- Desire to grow and learn
- Respect and appreciation
- Achievement of Mastery of their craft

Growing, learning and achieving Mastery are high values for the team you have assembled under those principles. Not meeting those needs, in the long run, has the following consequences: morale suffers, apathy grows, the vitality of the team decreases and some people are needlessly lost. So it is paramount that a Craftsmanship Development Program be instituted, so that people can develop their competencies and eventually achieve mastery in their craft.

Making Skills Assessments:

The first step in the establishment of a Craftsmanship Development Program is to make an honest Skills Assessment for each member of the team. First, you establish a Competency Scale. A competency scale sets observable levels of competency, that are then used to make the skills assessments. This is the scale we use at Painting in Partnership:

Second, you list all the relevant skills you wish to measure, that are important for your particular brand of Craftsmanship. In the summer of 2005, I developed a Skills Assessment Tool to help in that process. You can download a copy of the tool by going to the "tool" section of the Forum's web site at www.pdcacraftsmanshipforum.com. In this tool, you see a list of 84 skills, grouped in 11 different categories. The first 5 skills groups can be viewed, in a way, as ?personal characteristics?, as opposed to Technical Skills. Personally, I view them all as skills that can be developed over time. Which skills would be important for you to measure on your team?

Third, you use the competency scale and the skills list to make skills assessments. I believe that it is equally important that the assessments be made both by the craftsman and the company. Why both? Because an ingredient in developing mastery is the ability to make grounded assessments about one's competency and the competency of others. The sooner one can gain a footing on making assessments, the better it is. So, each craftsman on the team will assess their competency level for each of the skills listed on your Skills Assessment Tool. Similar assessments will be made by the company and discrepancies are highlighted. The scores can be summarized using the sheet provided in the tool.

Employee Development Meetings - A Joint Understanding

After the assessments have been completed, an Employee Development Meeting can then be scheduled. The first objective is to gain a joint understanding of both the strengths and the areas in need of development. It is important to realize that understanding one's strengths is as important as understanding one's weaknesses. Most people who are outstanding at something have a tendency to take it for granted and do not take stock in their strong points. So, make sure you spend adequate time on their strong areas. It is also important to address the discrepancies between their assessments and your assessments. Take time to ask why they rated themselves in this way (high or low) before offering your own assessment. This way, a mutual understanding is gained. The importance of having a clear picture of competency levels cannot be overstated. It is from this picture that solid actions can be taken to develop competencies further. It is important to mention that Employee Development Meetings are great opportunities to get to know your employees better and develop an understanding you might not get any other way.

Another important aspect of this meeting is to identify 2 to 4 areas that seem readily at hand to act on and develop further. You may find that, coming into the meeting, your employee walked in with a pretty good feel for the areas he or she wants to target for improvement. In some cases, they may already have most of an action plan drawn up. Remember that they are people who are motivated and eager to grow and learn.

Employee Development Meetings- A Plan of Action

Once a few areas have been targeted for development, a formal plan of action is developed for each areas selected. This plan will identify action steps, set time tables, commit resources and create a follow-up schedule. This plan will identify specialized courses, hands-on training opportunities, coaching, reading materials, etc. Developing one's competencies is the result of a partnership between your employee and the company. This is a fundamental principle behind this approach to employee development.

A Field Training Tool

Another important tool we use at Painting in Partnership, in the development of our craftsmen, grew out of a frustration shared by the owners of most paint companies. We implemented it in 2002 with much success. It deals with the following issue: On any team, you have people who are very proficient at doing a given task and others who are not as proficient. Commonly, the person most proficient will end up doing the task, while the person less proficient gets to do something else. The reasoning behind this practice is that "I would rather do it myself than take the time to explain how to do it right" - "If I take the time to explain, it is going to hurt my production numbers and make me look bad". How many of you can relate to this scenario?

How can you remove these obstacles to Field Training? In my company, we developed the Field Training Log (can be downloaded from the Tool section of the Forum's web site). The approach is simple: Go Off the Clock and record the date, time, who was involved, what the training was and how much time was spent. The beauty of this approach is that the time spent on Field Training does not hurt the production numbers, while allowing the company to monitor its Training expenditures.