Who’s on the Crew? Roles, Responsibilities, and Chain of Command

As your business grows, you’ll hire additional painters to help you get the work done.   You want to put together a team that works well together.  In order to keep things running smoothly, you need to establish a clear chain of command.  Each employee needs to know what his or her responsibilities are and who to go to when they have an issue.  Let’s look again at the players you may have in a multi-person crew, possible responsibilities, and who each should report to.

 Owner:  The Owner builds relationships with new leads and customers, estimates jobs, produces bids and proposals, and secures new jobs.  He or she communicates with the Project Manager on scheduling jobs and specific job progress.  The owner also handles hiring and training of new employees.

Project Manager:  Supervises all the crews, coordinates jobs, orders supplies, and deals directly with customers’ questions and concerns about specific jobs.  The project manager handles employee scheduling and training and reports to the Owner.

Crew Leader:  Is involved in all activities related to completing a specific job.  He or she supervises all members of the crew and reports to the Project Manager.  The Crew Leader is responsible for maintaining the crew’s equipment and monitoring the quality and safety of the crew’s work.  He or she is should handle questions and concerns from the customer for a specific job, performing the final walk-through, and collecting the final payment at the end of work on the last day of the job.

Lead Painter:  Assists with supervising and training.  The Lead Painter is an experienced painter can carry out paint-related duties in a professional and skillful manner.  In the absence of the Crew Leader, the Lead Painter assumes those responsibilities.

Painters:  These employees have been trained (completed apprenticeships) and can perform all painting-related tasks, including set up, preparing surfaces, painting, and clean up.  They report to the Lead Painter or Crew Leader and assist in training Apprentices.

Apprentice/Trainee:  Entry-level employees who require training and supervision.  They report to the Crew Leader.

Remember:  It’s important to have clearly defined responsibilities and a chain of command for each member of your crew.  This is the best way to keep your small business growing.