Coachcasts

E368: Project Communication Plans

January 13, 2016 TonyB Coachcasts, Project Management 0 Comments

Develop project communication plans to keep everyone informed properly.

 

 

  1. Communication is key to a successful project
    1. We all know how important good communication is yet often fail to communicate enough
    2. There are many levels to consider, Owner/Client/Team/Suppliers/Subs/Public
    3. People cannot perform if they don’t know what’s expected
  2. Good communication needs a plan
    1. Who is responsible for what?
      1. Who talks to the client about changes
      2. Who talks with subs/suppliers about the schedule
      3. Who talks with the public
    2. Develop a plan
      1. It can be a simple matrix with
        1. Intended recipient
        2. Who is responsible
        3. How often / how fast
        4. Medium of communication
    3. Share your plan with project stakeholders
  3. Consider technology solutions
    1. Email is dead – try Slack
      1. Be sure to still use email formal communications
    2. A project management / task management system
    3. File sharing solutions

E367: Focus On One Thing

January 12, 2016 TonyB Coachcasts, Marketing, Sales 0 Comments

To dominate you niche market, focus on it and be the best.

 

 

  1. Dominating your market
    1. The hedgehog theory – be great at one thing (then move on to others)
    2. Great companies focus on what they are good at
    3. Know who you are and who your product fits
  2. Find your product or products
    1. What is your one thing (or two things) that you are great at
    2. Be the best, stay the best, know your product
    3. Understand from the client’s perspective as well
  3. Aim your sales and marketing
    1. Be selective and qualify your targets – chase people that need you and know it
    2. Promote what you provide them that is unique to you
    3. Over-promise and over-deliver – it’s easy when you are the best

 

Apply this theory to all parts of your organization. Focus on one thing at a time, become the best then diversify.

 

E366: Setting Effective Goals

January 11, 2016 TonyB Ask The Coach, Coachcasts 0 Comments

Set effective goals to guide your actions.

 

  1. Importance of goals
    1. They give meaning to your actions – the why
    2. Guides your effectiveness
      1. You can ask is this moving me closer to my goal?
    3. Provides the measurement for tracking
  2. Types of goals
    1. Generic – I want to grow my company
    2. Smart – I want to increase revenue by 10% in 2016
    3. Reach – I want to double my revenue and profits in 2016
  3. Setting and writing effective goals
    1. They must be inspirational – to everyone
    2. You must be clear about the outcome
    3. Write them in statement form that includes the outcome and the actions to get there
      1. We (insert outcome statement) because we (actions statement).

 

Examples:

We maintain a steady revenue of $5 million annually with steady growth as a result of our effective marketing and exceptional customer retention.

We win 65% of all project proposals because we are the leader in our niche and focus on projects that want us.

E365: Celebrate Your Actions

January 8, 2016 TonyB Coachcasts, Improvement 0 Comments

Don’t wait to reach lofty goals to celebrate your successes.

 

 

  1. Goals and intentions can get us down
    1. Missed goals equal pain so we tend to not chase them
    2. We want instant gratification and when we don’t get it we quit
    3. We beat ourselves up for not reaching a goal
    4. So to avoid all this pain we just make excuses
  2. Focus on the actions and you can surpass any goal
    1. Do the tasks that will get you closer to your goal
    2. Take the necessary action consistently
    3. Reward the effort
  3. Cause for celebration
    1. We are on a journey and we must enjoy it so celebrate your actions
    2. Don’t wait until you reach a goal to recognize your success
    3. Success is doing the things you need to do every day
    4. Celebrate the actions/achievements of each week
      1. Every Friday / Saturday sit down and write out what your achievements were for the week
      2. Summarize all things you set out to do and completed and worked on
      3. Write down the effort you put in
      4. Then celebrate the effort

 

Take the time every week to perform this review and you will bust through all your goals in 2016.

E364: Recognize Your Team’s Efforts

January 7, 2016 TonyB Coachcasts, General Business, Human Resources 0 Comments

Proper recognition goes a long way in building a culture of success.

 

 

  1. Employees / team members create our successes
    1. It takes a full effort by everyone involved
    2. The smallest task still adds to the product
      1. Look at Steve Jobs’ attention to packaging at Apple
    3. Everyone is an important part of the whole
  2. Build your culture on recognition
    1. Show you care and give thanks
    2. Recognize everyone’s performance, not just the leader
    3. Thank the teams as a whole as well as the individuals
  3. Good recognition and thanks
    1. It doesn’t take much to have a profound effect
      1. Sometimes it’s just “Thanks for all the hard work and effort.”
    2. Awards, bonuses and recognition are nice but you don’t have to break the bank to be effective
    3. Recognize and thank people in front of their peers – it’s good that everyone sees the appreciation
    4. Be sure to recognize the effort versus the achievement
      1. Achievements are important but don’t let extraordinary effort go unnoticed
        1. Compare 2 project managers on 2 different projects
        2. Manager 1 has a difficult project that may end up losing money. She works extra hard, goes above and beyond and pulls it off without a loss but very little profit.
        3. Manager 2 has a homerun project. He’s got the best subs, easy client and a fat budget. When complete the project doubles profits.
        4. Typically, managers will recognize Manager 2 because there were such great margins. How do you think Manager 1 feels when she sees #2 getting accolades?
        5. I think, Manager 1 is the real winner here. She deserves to be employee of the year.

E363: Project Safety Commitment

January 6, 2016 TonyB Coachcasts, Project Management 0 Comments

Construction topped the list for worker fatalities in 2014. It’s time to change that!

  1. It’s time for a wake-up call
    1. Construction leads in poor worker safety – it shouldn’t
    2. It’s hard to find workers
    3. It will only get worse if we don’t do something
  2. I want to challenge my Elite Contractors
    1. Make 2016 a safe year
    2. Make a commitment to do better every day
    3. Put safety as a priority on all projects – make it part of your company DNA
  3. Build a safe culture
    1. Instill safety in everything you do
    2. Some easy things to help with safety
      1. Get people to start asking “Would you let you child do that?”
      2. Provide job specific orientation for all workers on every project
      3. Conduct pre-installation meetings with safety as one of the topics
      4. Develop job specific checklists for daily safety inspections
    3. Use technology to take it a step further
      1. Sign up  for a texting service and send texts to people reminding them about safety
      2. Get a company app where you can send push notifications
      3. Both options can cost less than $150 per month
      4. (if you are interested in either of these options, send me an email at TonyB@ContractingCoach.com

Join me in my challenge to make 2016 a safe year by putting safety at the top of your project priorities.

E362: Organizing Our Sales and Marketing

January 5, 2016 TonyB Coachcasts, Marketing, Sales 0 Comments

Set clear goals and intentions for you sales and marketing in 2016.

 

  1. Sales and marketing in construction
    1. A major aspect of our success
    2. Doesn’t get the attention it deserves
    3. Often lacks good planning
    4. For many it’s placing ads and waiting for calls
  2. We are all marketing companies
    1. Today – everything is about marketing and all companies are marketing companies
    2. We want to be the preferred contractor before that client even begins to search
      1. Marketing is how we do that
    3. Everything we do and everyone is part of our marketing efforts
  3. Let’s get organized
    1. Set your goals and intentions for your marketing efforts
    2. Target the proper clients
      1. 25 ideal client leads is better than 150 random leads
      2. Stop focusing just on job type to define your leads – look at the client too
    3. Review your marketing and make sure you are targeting the right clients with all your efforts

E361: Getting Back At It

January 4, 2016 TonyB Improvement, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Welcome back to the first workday of the New Year, let’s make it a great one.

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E360: A Resolution To Take Action

January 1, 2016 TonyB Coachcasts, Improvement 0 Comments

The New Year, make resolutions to take action not achieve goals.

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E359: New Year Theme

December 31, 2015 TonyB Coachcasts, Improvement 0 Comments

Kick 2016 into high gear by setting a theme for the year that will keep you fired up.

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