Specialised knowledge
Specialist knowledge is required, that much is obvious. But everyone – whether engineer, construction worker, draughtsman or architect – apart from knowing perfectly what they are dedicated to, also has to be open to information seemingly beyond their competence. A construction worker must know how to read drawings and plans of projects. It should be clear to him, because, without this skill, the architect will waste time explaining and clarifying point-by-point what is connected with what and what the final effect should be. The engineer needs to know what conditions the builder will have on-site. This knowledge of the specifics of onsite work is extremely useful. When a builder, in conversation with an engineer, describes a problem he has encountered, the engineer, without asking unnecessary questions, must know immediately what the other party is talking about. The point is that theoretical knowledge is not enough. It is necessary, of course, and everyone working on a project should be supported by theory, but it is a practice that makes people real experts. No amount of theory can teach you how to spend time on the construction site, drawing up plans, designing objects. You have to feel it in the flesh, after spending many hours doing your job – be able to say with a clear conscience that you know something. And it has to go all the way, this knowledge has to be passed on smoothly from one employee to the next. To sum up: to be an expert in your field, you need to have an idea about other aspects of your work.
Good leader
Every project must be headed by a good leader. A person who is charismatic, who is respected by his or her employees. Such a person should have a great knowledge of the smooth functioning of the team: know their needs – both hard and soft – and respond to them. In addition, a good leader must be able to think ahead, to see from a distance the directions in which a project can develop. A leader who can be relied upon cannot have communication problems, because he or she will lose the trust of his or her team. This is a very responsible position, so everything must be clearly communicated and passed on. No one has time to guess and read between the lines, everything has to be made clear – the division of responsibilities and the deadlines in place – so that everything is done on time; and so that the whole process runs smoothly. A good leader is one who is respected by the contractors for his knowledge, experience and the kind of person he is. After all, he is the one who has to complete the construction, he is directly responsible to the investor, and in terms of soft skills, he is to some extent responsible for the good atmosphere and smooth communication.
A harmonious team
The whole team, apart from the charismatic leader, must be in harmony and function as an efficient organism. Each member of the team cooperates with the others and they get along well. The atmosphere is extremely important: it can’t be that the engineer feels superior to the construction worker by default, or that the architect finds absolutely no common ground with the draughtsman. It’s not that the whole team has to be a group of friends; it’s more about good interpersonal relations – simple human camaraderie. Imagine a situation like this: a building site is unexpectedly visited by an investor at precisely the moment when a dispute has arisen between individual workers. The reason for the disagreement is not important, what matters is that it happened at all. Someone got on their nerves, someone else slammed the door. Then the investor questions the competence of such a team, even if on the construction site itself everything runs smoothly. When there is a bad atmosphere between workers, it can significantly affect the final result. If the mood at work is not good, get the whole team together and discuss how to get out of the situation, as peacefully as possible, with possible damage minimised. Surely, a frank conversation will resolve conflicts and reduce the likelihood of them recurring in the future.
Communicating
Once the team has a charismatic leader, is aligned and has the right skills for the project, they need to remember not only the modernity and style of the investment but also the method of communicating it to the investor. The person they are working for must receive regular progress reports, clear enough not to worry that something has been forgotten, something has been omitted, and something else will happen late. A good solution, so that the developer can keep his finger on the pulse, is to create an online matrix where all the corrections are entered with an explanation; this file will be constantly updated so that no one misses anything. This saves time because the whole team can follow progress “live”. This method is very effective and proven: it works for all projects, both large and small.
Engineer and soft skills
It is a well-known fact that engineers often do not have well-developed soft skills and therefore close themselves off from their environment. They don’t do this intentionally, rather it is stronger than them, which is why it is sometimes so difficult to communicate with them. Keeping quiet about certain topics can lead to conflicts between them and the rest of the team, conflicts which can easily be avoided. The engineer needs to understand that what is obvious to him on an issue is not obvious to others; of course, the rest of the people should have some knowledge, but the engineer is the expert in his field and it is up to him to communicate it clearly. Therefore, it is extremely important to establish the rules of communication and reporting at the very beginning of the project work in order to avoid conflicts arising due to misunderstandings.
Spiral communication model
A very good – invented and developed by me – way to improve communication within the team is to put into practice the spiral communication model. This model of communication assumes that everything is discussed and decided before the start of a project. Everyone knows their place, role and responsibilities. Everyone has the final outcome of the work fixed in their mind and knows exactly what the whole team is aiming for. Thanks to this approach, the work proceeds much more efficiently, no time is wasted on deadlocks: when, for example, in the middle of the project it is necessary to stop in order to settle some further issues which were overlooked at the start. Such unforeseen situations not only waste time but also money, nerves and patience. The spiral model of communication will allow you to avoid such problems.
Remote communication
The coronavirus pandemic has forced many industries to change the way they communicate and report. On one hand an office worker – in theory – will have no problem switching to remote working, while a construction worker, on the other hand, cannot work from a home office. To reduce the risk of possible virus transmission on the construction site, some people who do not work strictly physically should be sent home, and the rest should be equipped with tablets for remote communication. Create a special network of reporting channels and get all employees used to this new, but in its own way innovative, form of contact. You may first have to attend a training course on remote communication and during the course instil this form of contact in your employees. One thing is certain: this solution is functional and works.
If you want to find out how to assemble a great team of subcontractors, call us.
Wojciech Domaszczyński, MBA. Expert in construction, solving problems at the design stage so that they don’t occur during construction.
