Hey – Walker and Davis here.
Happy Saturday morning to the Laying Foundations community!
When you first arrive at a new job, one of the many questions your fellow employees are thinking about you is “Are they reliable? So, how do you show those around you that you are?
Today’s issue takes about 5 minutes to read and was written for you by Walker Lott.
Enjoy!
Meme Of The Week
The first day on the job is filled with a lot of emotions and many questions like “Where am I supposed to go?”, “What is my team like?”, “What will I be working on?”, etc.
These are all natural questions and everyone who has ever started a new job as probably asked something similar. However, on the flip side. Your new team is also asking questions such as “How well are they going to work with our group?” “Will they be a go-getter or have to be told what to do?”, and “Are they reliable?”. These aren’t the only questions they will ask but most will think them at some point.
So, you as the “new guy” (or gal) will have to prove to your new team that you are indeed reliable but how are you supposed to do that?
1. Do What You Say You Will Do
This one is very obvious but not everyone follows it.
Your team needs to be able to trust you and your work and when you say you will go do something you better follow through.
This is necessary to begin building trust and showing your team how well you work.
I get it, sometimes you say something then life happens, something comes up, and you forget that you even said you’d do something. One way to keep this from happening is to keep a note tab on your phone or a physical notebook on you and write down everything.
This has helped me tremendously to keep track of my work.
2. Show Up
Again, easy to do, not everyone does it.
One way to show you are reliable is just to show up. Whether showing up is actually physically coming to work every day, showing up mentally, or bringing your A-game every day, you have to show up daily and prove you want to be there.
Your team wants to finish the project successfully and do a great job and if they know that’s what you want too then you will be welcomed in with open arms.
3. Admit When You Messed Up, Don’t Cover It Up
I know, it’s super easy to want to hide behind your mistakes and try to make it as if nothing ever happened but, depending on the mistake, it will be revealed eventually.
But, by coming out and saying what happened and asking for help or showing your solution, this reveals that you care about your work, you don’t try to hide things, and you want to make it right.
It’s better to make a mistake and open up about it right away so it can easily be fixed then hide it and weeks or months down the road it’s revealed and is costly or timely to fix.
The moral of the story is if you want to be reliable, come clean early about your mistakes.
Quality of the Week: Reliability: Allowing others to trust your work by your daily actions.
20-Year-Old Self Advice: If you make a mistake and need help, find 3 possible solutions first and then go ask for help. That way it shows you actually thought through it first and didn’t immediately give up.
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 June. We will release the best photos at the end of the month of July 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 130 on The Laying Foundations Podcast!
Join us for a conversation with Tyler Stankunas, Vice President of Commercial Concrete at Silverback Concrete. Tyler started his career in construction at the age of 15, he remembers a lot of Saturdays when his dad would drop him and his brothers off on the job site to strip forms. As Tyler started from the bottom he learned about rebar, how to set forms, and how the concrete scope comes together. Make sure to tune into next week’s conversation where we dive deeper in part 2!
