Hey – Walker and Davis here!
Happy Saturday morning to the Laying Foundations community!
Today’s issue takes about 5 minutes to read and was written for you by Davis Hambrick
Enjoy!
Quote Of The Week
Have you ever worked at something and felt like you weren’t getting much done?
Then all of a sudden one week you feel like the entire job site is working in the same direction and is completing the tasks for the week.
While you can certainly have a mix of both in the construction industry, I believe it is because we do not celebrate small wins. We get so fixated on production and how quantities are put in place that we forget small tasks that freed up other work to begin.
Let’s talk about how to celebrate small victories:
1. Learn To Be Thankful
This first step is going to be extremely hard for a lot of people, roughly 70% of the people in the construction industry are task-based people. We are so focused on the task that we often forget that we work our tails off and accomplish a tremendous amount each week. We also forget to have an attitude of gratitude and thank other people for what they have accomplished or helped us with.
There is a great article written by Joshua Brown & Joel Wong about how gratitude can change your brain. Such a simple activity of writing in a gratitude journal consistently showed that their clients were choosing gratitude 4 – 12 weeks after their writing exercise was complete.
Now let’s take this a step further and apply this to the job site, the next time someone does a favor for you or helps you out, be the first person to go up to the man or woman and look them in the eye, shake their hand, and tell them a sincere thank you.
That not only lets the other person know they are appreciated but it helps you as well. Gratitude can be kept inside but it is best when chosen to model it to others.
2. Schedule Designated Team Outings
I wrote about it two weeks ago, but one of my favorite things we do on my current project team is going out to eat together at least once a week. A team that eats lunch together typically stays together. Implement this on your job site internally with your team but also remember to do it externally with the trade partners.
As a leader on your job site, it is your responsibility to be intentional.
In these strategic breaks, make sure you have a list in your head where you are going around and thanking the men and women you are leading for what they have been working on. This takes a lot of intentionality but it also takes a lot of being willing to step out of your comfort zone. People aren’t used to someone coming up to them and thanking them.
It is your job to make sure they feel uncomfortable in this area every week. Shower people with praise and continue to encourage them with every step you take. A quick Google search can show you what celebrating small victories and being thanked & appreciated for your contribution can do for your team’s morale.
You should have these outings internally at least once a week and with your trade partners once every two weeks.
3. Boost Job Morale
Our last step is why you should celebrate the small wins.
My first few sentences at the beginning of this newsletter talked about how you can be at work and feel like you haven’t done anything in weeks. A symptom of this is the job site isn’t celebrating the small wins.
If you learn to be thankful for what gets done while also being intentional and scheduling team outings the jobsite morale will be soaring through the roof.
This isn’t talked about a lot but the job site morale plays a huge part in getting things done. In the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, the author talks about how we become a product of our environment.
If our environment is a place where we scream and yell every time someone messes up then we are producing people who don’t want to come to us and be solutionist. We are creating people who are going to try and get out of our way as fast as possible.
But if we choose to be thankful for what others have done and coach them through the build process.
If we take time to be intentional and make sure each person on the job site knows they are valued and appreciated for what they accomplish.
If we strive to build the people, building the project will come.
Choose to be different.
Choose to thank others.
Choose to think about job site morale.
Choose to be a leader that people want to come to.
Choose to influence others at all levels of the job site.
Quality of the Week: Gratitude – the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation
20-Year-Old Self Advice: There is a difference in thanking others to get something in return and truly being thankful for that person. Do whatever you have to in life to get to a place where you are thankful for everyone around you.
Next-Gen Vision
This is inspired by SiteNews – the modern voice of Canadian Construction. Laying Foundations believes in painting a picture for the younger generation. By doing so, we want you to submit your best job site photos for the month of May. We will release the best photos at the end of the month of June to share with our subscriber base. The best photos will get a shoutout on the newsletter, and laying foundations merch!
Help us paint a picture for the younger generation to see how awesome the construction industry is by submitting your photo here!
Check out episode 123 on The Laying Foundations Podcast!
Join us for a conversation with owner of Black Iron Dirt & Demolition, Luke Payne. Luke has a tremendous story, starting his career in landscaping, he learned the very beginning of moving dirt around the job site. He then pursued a full-time sales role selling boats during the day while running his first heavy equipment business every waking moment he wasn’t working. His story is full of grit and figuring it out on the fly. If you want to learn more click on the links below and make sure to tune into next week’s podcast
Are you looking to invest in the next generation of builders? Whether you are an individual or company that is looking to make a last impact within the next generation there is an opportunity to sponsor Laying Foundations to continue to educate and create resources for the next generation of builders.
If you want to learn more check out the link here
