From The Field to The Office

One of Astra’s Superintendents/Assistant Project Managers, Kyle Glasgow, has recently made the transition from strictly being a superintendent in the field to starting his new office position in Operations as an assistant project manager. We asked him a few questions to get a better understanding of what his transition looked like.

Q: What was the hardest part about making the transition from the field to the office?

A: The hardest part for me was getting into the office mindset and starting to look at the job from “the other side of fence” so to speak.

Q: What do you enjoy about working in the office?

A: I enjoy learning how to become a project manager, helping my team set up jobs, and being in the A/C!!

Q: What inspired you to make this change? What were your reasons?

A: I wanted to progress in my career and become well rounded in the construction industry.

Q: If someone else was thinking about making a change similar to the one that you have, what advice would you give them?

A: I would tell them, “Decide what you like best. They [field and office positions] both have their advantages and disadvantages. Basically, I would give them kind of that whole where-do-you-want-to-be-in-the-next-five-years speech.”

Q: What has this experience taught you?

A: It takes a lot to become a PM [project manager], there are a lot of parts and pieces to setting up a job, and as a superintendent, I would always have those things handed to me at the beginning of the job. Now, I’m the one finding, setting up, and doing the front-end work.

Q: Have you had to make any tough decisions so far?

A: Not really. I am still getting a lot of help from my team so I haven’t had to make a hard decision on my own yet.

 Q: How are you ensuring that your projects stay on track?

A: Communication! Daily communication is a must to make sure everything is lined up and on track. Sometimes it takes over communicating… repeating a lot of the same things so that the little things don’t become big things.

Q: So, where do you see yourself in the next five years.

A: It’s hard to say now, but I will continue to work hard to become the best Project Manager I can be.