Letter From The Editor

True North | Spring 2020

Happier times! The author shown here with Ontario Land Surveyors Pat Haramis and Mike Matthews at the 128th AGM in Huntsville, Ontario on February 27th.

How are you in your own company?

I don’t mean the company you work for or the one you own and operate. I mean quite literally, how do you manage time on your own? Do you allow yourself these solitary moments or are you constantly seeking tasks to occupy, improve, engage? Or maybe a combination of idle time and productive action is the right formula for you. This is something we are all reflecting on these days.

I remember when robotic total stations and GPS entered into our industry in the 90’s and how it changed the work dynamic. Apart from productivity gains there were other human factors that began to present themselves. Those of you who have followed my Letter from the Editor from the beginning are aware that it is the human element of our actions that interests me most. In speaking with party chiefs all over Ontario about a year after they started using this new technology, an interesting sentiment started appearing. A lot of them were lonely. Now that they were working on their own there was no one to have a coffee with on the way to the job site. No one to play cribbage or rummy with at lunch time or while waiting out a flash storm. No one to commiserate with over the loss of the Leafs to the Bruins…again.

The fondest memories I have of my days ‘in the field’ were of the friendships I made. These arose from the collaboration that was required to solve a problem, a measurement predicament – as I like to call them. Stack these together and they turned in to trust. Trust turns into friendship. Only last month I reconnected on LinkedIn with an old colleague with whom I spent several years surveying in ‘the bush’ in Dufferin County. It brought back a flood of good memories.

But I digress…

The next crew dynamic that developed in the 90’s was just as telling. Where companies had gone from three person crews to one, some were now moving back to two person crews. This new technology was making very efficient use of two people. Safety factors, collaboration and employee retention were all becoming part of the new formula for success. Today, two person crews execute a topographic survey with one picking up hard surfaces (curb, gutter, centreline) with the robotic instrument while the second is collecting original ground data with GPS or a drone. For traditional surveys (boundary retracements, property surveys, building and subdivision stakeout), robotic and GPS equipment is operated by one while the other pounds stakes, talks with clients, carries out reconnaissance, spills over data, plans and notes. Companies now, for the most part, operate with a combination of one and two-person field crews. They can react quickly to ever-changing work environments and client demands. In short, they have become nimble. The day, the week, the month is not a bust if employees become sick, or if a global pandemic results in fewer staff to keep the business running. One person, in a pinch, can do it all.

So, with a heavy sigh, Facetime, Zoom and Skype will have to do for now. And the tools we use for surveying, with their inherent social distancing characteristics will ensure that production is maintained. Still, we are social human beings running robots, not the other way around, right?! I will personally look forward to the first handshake, the first pint at the bar, and sharing stories without my audience disappearing when the battery on my phone dies. Stay well, stay safe and stay apart…for now.

Pat Hills
Director Technical Marketing, Geospatial
Cansel