Picking up sticks around the house and determining if the job is done well can cause discourse in the family. I believe I have developed a method that employs the “scientific method” used in the engineering industry, combined with some Dale Carnegie principles from his book How to Win Friends and Influence People. Hopefully, this method will reduce family stress.
Brainstorming and developing a statement of work
Items to be considered
• How many remaining sticks for a given area (sticks per 1000 sq ft) – nothing is perfect.
• Verification method: The inspector will only be sampling areas of the yard (might call it quality control). We need to have a quantifiable verification criterion to avoid arguments about whether or not enough sticks were picked up.
•Acceptable Sigma level (1, 2, or 3 sigma)– probability that the yard meets the sticks per 1000 sq ft requirement (68%, 95% or 99.7 % probability that it meets requirements, and the extra effort required)
- Stick diameter
- Stick length
- Color of stick
- Viewing distance from the house
•Eyesight, no magnification should be allowed
•Grass length and thickness – helps hide the sticks
• “Class” of the neighborhood: Main Street perfection, upper class subdivision, working class, country, red neck, or “I can’t see the house because the brush has grown too thick.”
• Measuring method – some type of tool that will quickly determine if the stick needs removal.
• Reward system – a robust, “best in class” reward system to assure that you have the very best “stick-picker-uppers” who are motivated, hardworking, honest and have a can-do attitude. This will require good working conditions, a safe environment and excellent benefits.
• Can you just run the stupid sticks over with the lawnmower? This is an option, but if you have a picky inspector, you might end up with a boat load of smaller sticks to pick up. It is suggested that you not use this method until you have a close working relationship with your inspector and you fully understand all of the stick removal requirements..
Developing and documenting stick removal requirements with your inspector.
Start by gathering sticks of a known length and “average” diameter and color. Place the sticks in different areas of the yard, at different distances.
Typically, as the sticks get farther from the viewing area (house), bigger sticks are acceptable. However, allowing bigger sticks farther from the viewing area creates a more difficult inspection because you need to know distance as well as size of the stick. It is better to get agreement on one stick size as long as the inspector isn’t too persnickety.
Once the inspector decides on the stick length. develop agreement on the number of sticks per 1000 sq. ft. that can be “accidently” missed and still meet the acceptable quality level (Sigma level). It may be helpful to procure a long handled stick measuring tool in case there is disagreement on if the stick requires removal.
Picking up the sticks
Stick-picker-uppers typically come trained. However, a good work environment is recommended if a “best in class” job in a reasonable length of time is desired. Some suggestions are:Music and headphonesProper dressDon’t send them out when the weather is bad; productivity and attitude will suffer.
• Visit the worker from time to time to see if they need anything, but don’t make them think you are “checking up on them” (even if you are).
• Compliment them on how much they have gotten done, but don’t mention that it looks like they barely made a dent in the sticks remaining in the yard.
• Bring them a snack (drink and a cookie are nice), but keep the snack light so they don’t want to stop and take a nap.
• Offer to help with the sticks, but casually mention that it would mean that dinner would be delayed. Usually, the worker will decline the help, thinking about being able to stop when a nice meal is ready.
Inspection
This can be tricky. You want to have a good job, but it is important to make the stick-picker-upper think you are happy with the job. Scan the area to see if the yard still exceeds the “sticks per 1000 sq. ft. that you agreed on. The worker often knows if they did a half-ass job; if this is the case you can call the worker on it. If you need more time to evaluate the job, you can use your stick length inspection tool to buy some more time to determine how much more “stick picking up energy” your worker has left.
If you have been discreetly checking up on the worker, and the number of sticks is just overwhelming, it is often better to tell the worker that it is a really big job, they are doing well, and suggest that they take a break and continue on another day.
From a nerdy engineer with spell check on.