I have a small construction company and we have a mix of workers that are employed directly by us and subcontractors.
I’m going to try to give you the framework-
I try to create a relaxed environment where people can set their own hours and come and go when they please especially if they are a single parent.
You cannot find a single text from me to anyone that says to rush or hurry or do anything other than the best work they can do- And yes I do encourage them to work efficiently and be productive-
By and large nobody takes advantage of that and it works pretty good.
We pay as high, if not the highest, of anybody in the area.
Here is the rub-
I only ask for one thing from everybody that works for me, and I this is what I want consistently-
When you get done at the end of the day let me know how much work do you have left to do, how much time you need to do it, any material you need and if you need help.
It doesn’t matter if things took longer or anything- I just need to know and this is the reason why:
Every single day most clients want to know what we plan to do next- Sometimes it’s because they want to know how to schedule their day or if they’re going to be needed for questions or whatever- And I respect that and it is my duty to keep them in the loop the best I can.
In addition to that we have other workers that want to know if they can go to the job to do certain task and that will often be dependent on the progress of the work and before them- You don’t want a painter in a room when somebody is trying to lay tile.
It can be as simple as a text that says - “floor done, need 4 hours to grout, need garbage picked up, room available
Monday.
I am finding myself where I literally feel like I am pulling teeth trying to get a tidbit of information.
I even had one person that texted me about 100 words explain to me why they didn’t have time to text me 20. I’m calling bull on that.
I promise you they’ve got the time because I’ll pay them for that time.
It is literally shutting down their ability to make the company function the way it needs to function.
What I’m asking for is some ideas- Is there a way that I can store a text on my phone that I can automatically send?
I have begged threatened pleaded and done everything I know to do to get people to understand how important this is to someone that is trying to coordinate hundreds of activities to achieve a unified goal.
What I do not like to see his construction turn into a disjointed effort. It will hurt your reputation and it will invariably in sure you don’t make any money- And you will be having no fun the entire time.
Clients do get an overall view of the critical path at the beginning of the job and some reminders along the way- And we are going in the direction of not working in occupied homes or not working in any house we don’t have access during work hours.
I know some people have trust issues and I respect that but they can find somebody else to distrust-
We’ve never had any problem with theft but we did have someone signed and returned a Rolex watch that someone had lost once.
Anyway- I would be grateful for any ideas and appreciate you guys taking time to read this and respond.
Andy
I’m going to try to give you the framework-
I try to create a relaxed environment where people can set their own hours and come and go when they please especially if they are a single parent.
You cannot find a single text from me to anyone that says to rush or hurry or do anything other than the best work they can do- And yes I do encourage them to work efficiently and be productive-
By and large nobody takes advantage of that and it works pretty good.
We pay as high, if not the highest, of anybody in the area.
Here is the rub-
I only ask for one thing from everybody that works for me, and I this is what I want consistently-
When you get done at the end of the day let me know how much work do you have left to do, how much time you need to do it, any material you need and if you need help.
It doesn’t matter if things took longer or anything- I just need to know and this is the reason why:
Every single day most clients want to know what we plan to do next- Sometimes it’s because they want to know how to schedule their day or if they’re going to be needed for questions or whatever- And I respect that and it is my duty to keep them in the loop the best I can.
In addition to that we have other workers that want to know if they can go to the job to do certain task and that will often be dependent on the progress of the work and before them- You don’t want a painter in a room when somebody is trying to lay tile.
It can be as simple as a text that says - “floor done, need 4 hours to grout, need garbage picked up, room available
Monday.
I am finding myself where I literally feel like I am pulling teeth trying to get a tidbit of information.
I even had one person that texted me about 100 words explain to me why they didn’t have time to text me 20. I’m calling bull on that.
I promise you they’ve got the time because I’ll pay them for that time.
It is literally shutting down their ability to make the company function the way it needs to function.
What I’m asking for is some ideas- Is there a way that I can store a text on my phone that I can automatically send?
I have begged threatened pleaded and done everything I know to do to get people to understand how important this is to someone that is trying to coordinate hundreds of activities to achieve a unified goal.
What I do not like to see his construction turn into a disjointed effort. It will hurt your reputation and it will invariably in sure you don’t make any money- And you will be having no fun the entire time.
Clients do get an overall view of the critical path at the beginning of the job and some reminders along the way- And we are going in the direction of not working in occupied homes or not working in any house we don’t have access during work hours.
I know some people have trust issues and I respect that but they can find somebody else to distrust-
We’ve never had any problem with theft but we did have someone signed and returned a Rolex watch that someone had lost once.
Anyway- I would be grateful for any ideas and appreciate you guys taking time to read this and respond.
Andy
