A Tough Day Onsite: 25 Strategies
Mama told me, there'd be days like this...
Construction often feels like controlled chaos...and sometimes, stuff happens that's just plain old chaotic. It's a tough industry, one that demands a lot out of anyone who's involved, whether they're on the ownership, construction, or design side.Â
In the building industry, we work with high stakes. Lots of money, in the real world, with big, immovable, physical objects. The work can be dangerous, it's litigious, it's complex. It involves *a lot* of people. It's public, it's on display,and there are many, many moving parts. Plenty of things can go wrong.
I've heard it said that people remember the crisis less than the way you reacted to it. I don't know if that's true exactly, but I do know that how you react, and how you recover, is noted by all involved. In short: you or someone else on the project team may have f**ked up, but from that moment onward, it's all about how you're going to make it right. It's an opportunity, really.
I've had many such...opportunities...over the years, as have friends and associates. It's the nature of the industry.
But it's those days where the real lessons are learned, the stuff you can't learn in books, and the stuff you can't learn just from hearing war stories from the old timers. Lessons that apply whether you're an owner, contractor, architect, engineer, or subcontractor.
These are some of the things I've learned over the years, things that help me in the acute moment of disaster when everyone is looking at me and expecting solutions, and things that help me keep focused through tough spells in projects so I can internalize lessons, continue to execute, and be a productive and valuable member of the project team.
[I'd love to hear some of your strategies in the comments, below!]
1. Contain your emotions
2. Keep your eyes on the prize [which means you understand what the prize is]
3. Stick to the facts
4. Don't point fingers, but acknowledge your own fault in the situation
5. Remember who you're working for
6. Also remember that there are higher obligations than the people you're working for
7. You never have to do *anything* that compromises your safety
8. Write down everything that's happening - for legal reasons and to record the lessons you're learning
9. Build in time to decompress later
10. Identify who has your back and who doesn't. Understand contractual and relationship loyalties.
11. Note how your client, your boss, and your direct reports react to what's happening
12. Understand the difference between urgent and important.
13. Don't let others' emotions knock you off balance, but note their emotional state and adjust your approach
14. Ask for a moment to digest. It is a *very* rare problem in construction that can't wait a couple of hours for an answer.
15. Say "let's check the drawings" or "let's check the contract." Never answer from your head.
16. Breathe, and use a calm voice [Christopher Voss of "Never Split the Difference" fame calls it the "late night radio DJ voice"]
17. Take photos. Take more photos. Take some more.
18. Remember that the vast majority of people don't want to mess up, don't want to intentionally ruin a project, and don't want to cause trouble.
19. Remember the power of reputation - both in terms of how you handle the situation, and in terms of the motivations of others on the team.
20. Trust but verify
21. Look people in the eye
22. Acknowledge that others are feeling stressed and/or pissed off, too
23. Say "I don't know" if you don't know
24. Similarly, don't misrepresent yourself or your skills
25. Say thank you
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