How to Make Sure Your Tradesmen Stay on Task
Keeping tradesmen on track is no small feat, but it’s crucial to the successful completion of your projects. The complexities involved in managing people, timelines, and deliverables may sometimes be overwhelming. However, by adopting some practical strategies, you can ensure your contractors stay laser-focused on their tasks and meet their deadlines without issue.
Not only does this approach optimise productivity, but it can lead to smoother workflows, fewer misunderstandings, and improved relationships with your team. So, let’s delve into this guide and its important tips that will help streamline your contractor management efforts.
10 Tips You’ll Need to Ensure Your Tradesmen Stay on Task
When you manage a large team, it can be hard to keep your tradesmen on task. However, with the following tips, you’ll have an easier time meeting deadlines and maintaining productivity.
Compare Your Actual Work and Your Quote
As part of managing your tradesmen effectively, it’s important to take a moment and compare the actual work done with your initial quote or work proposal. This process offers an opportunity to gauge whether the costs and time estimated align with reality or require adjusting.
For instance, if you find that tasks consistently take longer than initially planned, it might be necessary to reassess your quote or explore ways to increase workflow efficiency.
Establish Key Performance Indicators
KPIs are measurable values that demonstrate how effectively a company, or in this case, a contractor, is achieving key business objectives or tasks. These could range from speed and efficiency of work completion to quality metrics or different phases of works.
Having clear KPIs enables you to address any areas of concern promptly and gives the tradesmen specific targets to strive for, ultimately helping everyone stay on the task at hand.
Use Field Service Management Software
To ensure that your tradesmen stay on task, implement field service software. Such platforms are designed to streamline the process of managing field services and teams. This is especially effective if you have multiple trades across different projects or properties.
By utilising this type of software, you’re able to schedule tasks, monitor progress in real-time, manage work orders effectively, and have access to crucial analytic data. In the end, this software enables communication with contractors and facilitates better tracking of resources.
Clearly and Openly Communicate
Make it a point to engage with your tradesmen in discussions about the project, their responsibilities, and any expectations, especially if you have multiple trades, in at once. Encourage them to ask questions or share concerns without hesitation.
Information is key. The more you communicate about project goals, deadlines, or changes in plans, the better equipped your contractors will be to deliver quality work on time. This proactive approach could effectively tackle disagreements before they escalate into major issues.
Hire a Project Manager to Stay on Schedule
If it’s a large project you might want to consider hiring a dedicated project manager could be the key to staying on schedule. This person would take responsibility for managing the day-to-day work from start to finish. They could coordinate with all contractors, monitor their tasks, and address any issues or delays promptly.
A project manager with a steady hand understands how every piece of the project fits together and can ensure everyone is moving along at the right pace toward completion.
Shuffle Resources in Real-Time
There may be instances when a tradesman falls behind, becomes unavailable or a task becomes more demanding than initially expected. In such situations, you need the ability to quickly reassign tasks, shift timelines and move resources appropriately to maintain project momentum.
Embracing this agility optimises the workflow and prevents bottlenecks. Therefore, keeping track of your resources can significantly aid in ensuring that the trades, and the project stay on task.
Create a Daily Report of Your Activities
Having contractors create a daily report of their activities is a great strategy to keep them focused. This doesn’t have to involve paperwork, either. A simple end-of-day chat or email outlining what they accomplished, any challenges faced, and plans for the next day can suffice.
This reflection process aids in checking progress, identifying issues early, and promoting accountability. Moreover, you get a snapshot of your project’s status in real time.
Track Work Hours Using a Clock App
With various reliable and user-friendly apps available today, you can log a tradesman’s start and end times seamlessly. Some apps even have features allowing you to track breaks and lunch.
This not only helps maintain transparency but also gives you a clear view of the actual time spent on tasks, aiding in improving productivity and project management if necessary. Tradesmen are likely to stay more focused, knowing their work time is being tracked effectively.
Analyse and Identify Potential Risks
You’ll want to analyse and identify potential risks that can derail progress. These could range from material supply delays and unexpected cost changes to tradesmen availability issues. By identifying risks, you can put contingency plans in place to mitigate their impact.
Regularly reassess these risk factors as your project advances, making necessary adjustments to keep your tradesmen focused and prepared for any unforeseen obstacles.
Improve Relations
Don’t overlook the importance of employee engagement. Treating your tradesmen with the same level of respect and fostering an engaging work environment can go a long way.
Recognise their progress, encourage them to share ideas, and create opportunities for them to learn and grow and never, never forget to offer them a drink. Not only will this result in increased productivity, but it will also foster a positive relationship where tradesmen feel valued and motivated to give their best work.
In Conclusion…
As you’ve seen, maintaining the focus and productivity of your tradesmen doesn’t have to be an uphill battle. With these strategies, you can guide your team toward successful project completion effectively while minimising hiccups along the way. Adopting these tips benefits not just the project at hand but also enhances your professional relationship with your contractors.
