LEARNING FROM COVID CHAOS

It can feel like the worst thing in the world if key people in your business go down with Covid. But this doesn’t have to – and shouldn’t – be the case, according to The Successful Builder Graeme Owen

So, you have contracted Covid-19 or you’re a close contact and can’t get to site. 

Or maybe you have key team members off sick and you’re concerned about how your business will survive. 

Are such challenges the beginning of the end for your small business? 

No!

Interruptions and challenges, like Covid-19, can be great learning events. Here are three things I’ve noted that business owners have learned from Covid-19 interruptions.

1. Identifying weaknesses

As an engineering student, I made concrete blocks of different consistencies. All the blocks looked the same – even though they had differing constituencies – but under pressure, those differences showed up and the weakest blocks cracked first. I learned, first hand, the results of skimping on cement. 

Similarly, the weaknesses in your company may only emerge when it’s under pressure. For example, when Covid-19 skims the top off your team, or hits you and you can’t visit any sites, identifying the ’cracks’ that develop provides insight as to what you can do to strengthen your company. 

In the first instance, of course, you will have to intervene and act quickly to stay upright and avoid panic. But once you have taken immediate action, pause for a moment or two to consider what could have been in place to minimise disruption. 

For example, a builder I know, who was rushing from site to site, sorting details and running errands, identified that his site managers were not good at scheduling work, ordering materials, or booking subbies and needed to improve their planning overall.

To address the issue, he instituted a two-week ’look-ahead’ form, where the site manager lists and schedules the tasks to be completed, and those responsible for completing them, over the next two weeks. It also lists and schedules the materials to be ordered and the subbies to be contacted. 

Once in place, this 14-day ’look-ahead’  plan is reported against and updated each week for the next fortnight. So, should a site manager be absent suddenly, the team has – at a minimum – one week of work planned. This gives time for any changes to be made  without panic. 

Moreover, it greatly reduces the number of times the business owner had to visit sites. 

2. Leaders emerge

There is a big difference between authority that comes from having a position and the authority that comes from personality. I call it the difference between positional leadership and natural leadership. Positional leadership gains its authority from above, whereas natural leadership gains its authority from within. 

It’s in emergencies, when positional leaders are absent, that natural leaders emerge. These are the ones who step up to help, work longer hours, come up with possible solutions, or offer to go the extra mile. They are also the ones that others will readily follow. Often, they will remain calm, assess situations and decide what needs to be done. Of course, what they know needs to be done will be determined by their experience and sometimes they will make mistakes. 

But the astute business owner will recognise early signs of leadership and ensure that such people are given the training and opportunities to step up into positional leadership roles.

So, next time you have an emergency, look to see if any future leaders are showing up. 

3. You are dispensable

When was the last time you slept under a bridge because you had nowhere to stay? 

Never! So it’s true. Our worst fears are seldom realised. 

Yet many small business owners act as though their business will fall over unless everything passes through them. Initially, of course, that’s probably true, but after a few years and with several staff, it’s no longer true. Others can do what you do – more or less. It’s crazy to think you are the only one! You are not indispensable. 

Sure, your team may not be as motivated as you are and they may not do something quite as well as you do, but they can likely do a decent job that will make the client happy – either going forward (so you don’t have to be involved with everything!) or until you’re back on your feet post Covid.

A builder I know would take holidays for several weeks at a time. As his company grew, his time away would extend. Sometimes he would be uncontactable for much of the time away. He believed that a company needs to become a commercial enterprise that (essentially) runs itself. So, he let it do so!

It was always interesting when he returned to discover that almost every challenge that he would normally get involved in had been solved without his presence! 

On the other hand, it showed that some in leadership were not really capable of leading. 

So, give up the ’everyone needs me’ beliefs and facilitate others to do the work for you! 

Takeaway

While adversity may not be desirable, it doesn’t need to be destructive. In fact, it can be the springboard to becoming an even stronger company.  

 

Graeme Owen is a builders’ business coach at thesuccessfulbuilder.com. Since 2006, he has helped builders throughout New Zealand get off the tools, make decent money, and get more time in their lives. Grab a copy of his free book: The 15 Minute Sales Call Guaranteed To Increase Your Conversion Rate: thesuccessfulbuilder.com/book-15-min-sales-call or join Trademates and connect with builders who are scaling too: www.facebook.com/groups/TradeMates