Day in the life of a Gardening Supervisor

In our latest day in the life feature Gary discusses juggling planned and urgent jobs, his love of darts and why his job is like Chelsea FCs season

I joined Squared during the COVID pandemic, which was a tough time for all of us but also a strange time to start a new job. I’m nearly five years into working at Squared now, which seems crazy to write down. How time flies!

My role combines delivering the planned gardening work across our estates and projects while also helping the Homes teams deliver and remove furniture to empty properties so they can be let out again quickly. I also use my van to help with helping to clear properties as part of getting them ready for new customers. From delivering beds to removing wardrobes, getting empty properties clear quickly means we can provide a home for a new customer more quickly, which makes all the difference for them and for us.  

The gardening that we do is largely maintenance based, such as mowing lawns and trimming hedges. Over the year we have a rota of when to go to specific states at consistent intervals to ensure they are kept to a good standard.

Maintaining outdoor space is more than simply keeping a nice aesthetic, it shows that we take pride in our homes and our estates. By looking after our homes, we believe this encourages our customers to do the same which is crucial in their journey to independence.

Each day begins with a meeting with my team, discussing what work is planned for today and what jobs need to be done urgently. While new situations can and will arise throughout the day, this meeting is still really important for us to be organised and effectively manage our time.

One of the biggest challenges is that you never know what the day will bring. I find myself juggling planned work that needs to be done with urgent work that comes in and that can mean that your entire day changes in an instant.

It requires coordinating with several different teams along with my own to ensure everyone is on the same page and that we’re completing the jobs we need to within the required deadlines. Sometimes it’s a matter of being direct and transparent when a job can’t be completed by a certain deadline as other work has to come first. Urgent jobs often seem to come in groups rather than evenly spread out over the week!

Another way to look at it is through one of my favourite quotes about the difference between knowledge and wisdom:

‘Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit,

Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad’

Miles Kington

I like that I’m working at an organisation that trusts me and gives me a degree of autonomy, empowering me to lead my team and get the work done. It makes a big difference as it instils a sense of feeling valued by the organisation. I’m quite an easy going person generally, which does allow me to adapt to the moment quite quickly which certainly helps with this role.

When I’m not mowing lawns or clearing empty properties, I follow my football team and play darts.

I’ve played darts since 1982 and a member of my local darts team. Earlier in the season I was playing quite well however recently my form has dipped a bit. I’m hoping that a new set of darts that I’ve recently purchased will be the catalyst for a return to form! It’s a very social game but also quite competitive, I really don’t like to lose.

I’m also a season ticket holder for Chelsea FC. In some ways the unpredictability of my role is quite similar to my football team, as I’ve no idea what they’re going to put me through from minute to minute. Plans often go out of the window but that is what makes sport great to watch, even if I’d like us to be winning more games. From the brilliant to the ridiculous, I still enjoy travelling to the games even if my mood for the journey home depends on the result!