Lead
Direct the crew, execute the scope, maintain quality and bring the job to completion.
← Business Systems
Clear Frameworks / Workforce Systems
HELP!
Helper doesn’t have to mean
the bottom of the ladder.
HELP is a development path for employees who work across jobs and responsibilities. It starts with helping one worker and can grow into coordinating work across the company.
The better you become at HELP, the bigger the problem you’re trusted to help solve.
Who is responsible for what?
HELP works alongside defined roles. A Lead still runs the job. Management still sets priorities. HELP takes on work appropriate to the employee’s experience.
In a small company, one person may hold several roles. The Owner may also manage production, and one office employee may handle both communication and records.
- Owner
- Company direction, major decisions, risk and growth.
- Management
- People, jobs, resources, priorities and operational results.
- Administration
- Complete, accurate business records and documentation.
- Office
- Calls, scheduling, messages and daily coordination.
- Lead
- The job’s scope, crew, production, quality and completion.
How HELP develops
- H1
Help the worker.
Learn the tools, materials and work. Follow direction and reliably assist the person beside you.
- H2
Help the job.
Prepare for upcoming work and complete appropriate tasks without needing instructions at every step.
- H3
Help the company.
Move between crews, jobs and the shop to handle work within your experience.
- H4 / XYZ
Take on a recurring responsibility.
Own a named function, such as materials coordination, while continuing other HELP work.
At H4, name the responsibility: H4 / Materials, H4 / Project Coordination or another function the work actually needs.
HELP and Lead are separate paths.
An experienced employee can develop as a Lead or continue in HELP. The choice depends on the work they are good at and the responsibility they want to take on.
HELP
Prepare materials, move equipment, help several crews and handle routine problems that interrupt their work.
What this looks like at work
H3: support more than one crew
An H3 might prepare materials for tomorrow’s job, move equipment to another crew, then help organize the shop. The assignment changes with the company’s needs.
That work lets an installer stay on the job and a Lead spend more time directing production.
H4 / Materials: own a growing responsibility
When materials work keeps returning to the same H3, the company can assign it as a named responsibility: H4 / Materials. The employee coordinates materials and continues other HELP work when time allows.
If the work becomes a sustained function, it may justify a dedicated Materials Coordinator position.
Where could HELP fit in your company?
Look at the work that repeatedly pulls your Leads, skilled workers or managers away from their main responsibilities. That is a useful place to start the conversation.
Discuss HELP with Michael.
Tell me about your crews, the jobs they handle and the tasks that keep getting interrupted.