Masonry Magazine December 2006 Page. 43
We've learned that we have to look out for our own best interests, and that we can't always count on the diligence and fairness of our clients to do that for us.
something unexpected is discovered. We explain to our subs what it is they are signing, and we explain to them again how this works once they start on the job. We remind them that if they do not get a notice from us to proceed, in writing, they will probably not be paid. And we also tell them that, even if the owner of the project personally tells them to do the work and assures them that they will be paid for their work, they are still not to proceed without written word from us, their client.
"Hey, Coach," you say, "seems like a big hassle." The sad fact of contracting life is that getting paid is often a hassle, isn't it, even when things are straightforward? Imagine how much worse it is when the lines of responsibility are blurred. An additional benefit is that you gain an ally in the approval process. You are now free to tell your client that, not only do you consider the work to be out of scope, but so does your sub, and your sub has already made it clear to you that he will not move forward without written word from you. At which point in time you can remind your client that, even if you wanted to move forward this instant, you still couldn't, because the contract documents prohibit you from moving forward until your client authorizes the work in writing. Your client did so because he or she didn't want to be surprised with extras without first authorizing them. You could say that they were looking out for their own best interests. And you're just a contractor, trying to live up to your agreement, just as he or she insisted.
Good for the goose; good for the gander!
Gary Micheloni is a working project manager, author of the new book, "Get Paid for a Change!", speaker and consultant. For further information and insight on the Full Contact Project Management approach, simply send an e-mail to: info@fullcontactPM.com.
Copyright © 2006, Gary Micheloni and Full Contact Project Management
COACH GARY'S PLAYBOOK: Get your free copy of the Winning RFI, and learn how to use it. Go to www.fullcontactPM.com and look for the link.
Are You Having Trouble Getting People to Work for You?
MASONRY NEWS CONTRACTOR TIP
Many contractors complain that they can't find good help to work for them these days. Maybe it's because, in reality, people don't work for you people work for themselves.
Think about when you first started your career. Did you go to work for a company to make the owner of the company a rich person? (1 know that wasn't my goal when I got hired on.) People work for personal reasons. They go to work to make money for themselves and to provide for their families. So, from the start, owners and employees have different expectations and motivations. The challenge is blending the two into a profitable outcome.
In the Rewarding and Challenging Employees (R.A.C.E.) seminars that I offer for mason contractors, I tell the story about the early days. when Lang Masonry Company (LMC) was laying basements and doing small commercial jobs. One day, we were building a little strip shopping center for my cousin, which was a stretch for our organization in those days. My laborer walked right past a wheelbarrow full of mortar down the front of the strip center and asked me, "Do you need any mortar?" I said, "Yes." As he walked back down the path he had just taken, I saw the wheelbarrow where he had just left it, 120 feet on the other end of the work site. He had dropped it off there and walked all the way down just to ask me that question. The kicker was, we never needed mortar where the wheelbarrow was sitting. The only place that wheelbarrow needed to be was where the block was being laid. That puzzled me.
I began wondering: What are these guys thinking? What do they think about during the day? Probably things that only concern them selves, like who won the football game on Sunday or who's the best racecar driver?
I wanted to find a way to get them thinking about results so we could get the job done. So, I started studying what makes people tick.
As a result, I found that we could motivate people to think about results. We do this by setting up proper pay systems and incentive plans to encourage them to work diligently without constant supervision. Guess what? It works for us. So, now I conduct seminars for mason contractors that show how Lang Masonry uses incentive plans to increase production on the job sites and in the office. These plans have led to higher income for both the company and our employees.
If you are having trouble getting people to work for you, look at your compensation system. The old days of people coming to work, being paid by the hour, and working their hearts out just because they love the work are over. As managers, we have to give them achievable goals that mean something to them personally. Today, people must see a connection or they won't produce good results.
I'd love to share with you what I've learned through years of experience, so if you are interested in coming to our seminar, contact Kerri Huck, LMC-EZ Grout headquarters, at (800) 417-9272 for information.
Provided by Damian Lang, President of Lang Massery Contractors, Inc. and EZ Grout Corp.
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The Voice of the Mason Contractor
December 2006
Masonry 41