Amelia : Hello! We’re back with Day 4 of our Winning Week Challenge. I’m Amelia.
Duayne : And I’m Duayne.
Today is all about communication and the importance of setting up good communication practises that you can regularly use in your building business.
A lot of the problems I see for builders in our industry is that they don’t know how to regularly communicate with their clients, their team, their subbies or their suppliers.
I know this was my problem too. For a long time, I’d get so frustrated at how others were behaving, and the mistakes being made, and how much of my time was being wasted. But as I learned and started reviewing what I needed to improve, I realised it was because I was making so many assumptions about what I thought others should know. I was also not setting or managing expectations when I worked with people - especially my team and my clients.
Amelia : As an architect, I’ve seen first hand how hard it can be for builders to communicate well. It can mean that your client takes advantage of you, and expects you to be available at all hours of the day and weekend to take their calls. It can mean they get really unhappy and frustrated with things happening on site. And it can mean that small issues turn into massive problems which can be costly for your business and reputation.
I remember speaking to a homeowner after she’d finished their project, and I asked her how things had gone with her builder. She said to me this: it went really well. He did a great job of managing our expectations.
Clients need you to communicate with them openly, honestly and regularly. You do this everyday. If it’s their family home, they’ll be doing it once, maybe twice in their life. The more you communicate with them, help them feel informed and up to speed with what they can expect, how you work, what it’s like to do business with you, and any issues that come up along the way, the smoother your relationship will be overall.
Duayne : It’s also important to remember this with your team, your subbies and your suppliers. People aren’t mind-readers and just because something seems really logical and the best way to do things to you, will not mean it’s the way others will think or make decisions.
It’s your business, and so, it’s worthwhile taking the time to regularly communicate with those who help you deliver your projects about what you expect, and how you can work together well to make that happen.
You may think “I’m flat out building projects. I don’t have the time to stop and communicate with everyone.” That’s what we know many builders think. However, if you’re finding that you’re having the same problems, the same misunderstandings and mistakes, you’ll probably save A LOT MORE time by stopping, having regular communication, and ensuring everyone understands what you want them to do.
Amelia : One of the best ways to create a regular routine of communication with your client is a weekly site meeting. This can be a great hot spot of all project communication, and means that you have a dedicated time each week where they’re on site, and you’re able to talk through their questions, and show them around the site. When this is set at the same time each week, it means you can plan for it, and clients can relax more, knowing they have a regular time to come see you and their project. This can mean you can also set expectations about them not turning up to site unexpectedly, or going on site after hours when you’re not there. As that can cause issues for your workflow, your team, and your workplace health and safety obligations as well.
Duayne : One of the early things we get builders to do when we work with them is tell them to set business hours. Any other professional will have specific times they’re available to speak to, however builders can end up letting their work eat into their evenings and weekends, and make themselves available to others at all hours of the day.
When you communicate your business hours with those you’re working with, you set the expectations that you’re a professional, and that this is how you run your business. And, you stop your weekends and evening time - your personal time - being constantly disrupted by things that can wait until business hours to be dealt with.
Amelia : Clients wouldn’t expect to be able to call their lawyer or accountant late in the evening or on a weekend - so there’s no reason why you, as a professional business owner, can’t set similar expectations.
Duayne : As well as setting these boundaries about your business hours, make regular contact and communication with your team, subbies and suppliers.
With your team, this can help you check in on how they’re doing, ensure they understand how you want work done, and what your quality standards are.
With your subbies and suppliers, communicating regularly can help you know about upcoming workflow challenges. This can be incredibly helpful especially when there’s delays or issues that will cause problems to your workflow, your pricing, and in delivering your projects overall. And, it means you are regularly informed about what’s going on, so you can also keep your clients regularly updated - so they’re not getting nasty and shocking surprises at the last minute about their home.
Amelia : So many problems in a building business can be solved with better and more regular communication. Poor communication is at the heart of most construction litigation. And it’s often because someone has assumed another party would know something already, and instead, they’ve felt blindsided.
I had an architectural colleague tell me early in my career that “Assumptions are the mother of all eff-ups”. It’s worth remembering that, and ensuring you work on your communication overall to help reduce assumptions, so you can be clearly understood, and understand your clients, team, subbies and suppliers better as well.
Duayne : So your challenge for today is to focus on one area of communication in your business. We’ve got some suggestions in the Easy Win and Next Level for this Day of the Winning Week Challenge, so check those out.
Or perhaps you’ve got another area of communication you’re struggling with that you want to work on in your business.
Perhaps it’s as simple as scheduling a Toolbox Talk with your team this week, so you can catch up, and share with them what you’ve been learning this week!
Amelia : Check the notes below where we share an easy win for you for your Thursday Talk-To-Me, and ways you can next level this day of the Winning Week Challenge. We’ve also got a link to your Winning Week worksheet. And, there’s some more information and resources if you want to dive deeper.
Duayne : We’ll see you tomorrow for Day 5 of our Winning Week Challenge.