Do you continually deliver results on-site? Are the results you deliver on time? If you do deliver results on time, are they completed without sacrificing other factors like quality, safety, or alienating your peers/co-workers or contractors?

Without a doubt, it is essential to produce results, on time and on budget. Doing so gains you a great reputation and that next job placement, or that next contract. However, everyone's work links a bigger chain of events on a construction site. No person works in a vacuum, and no person achieves results alone.

Here is a quick checklist to see how you are doing as it relates to getting things done:-

1.      You meet the targets or goals set most of the time;

2.      You sometimes miss important deadlines;

3.      You are as timely in meeting targets or goals as everyone else in your work unit;

4.      More often than not, you or your team are on the bottom half of finishing agreed-upon assignments;

5.      Achieving all goals on time defines who you are;

6.      As target dates draw near, your intensity for results increases.

So, how many of these apply to you?

If you acknowledged any of the above issues, you are, sorry to be brutal, but you are NOT that effective in delivering results on time. Don't worry, as most people are less than effective on this very issue.

The good news, is that we have found two significant, simple and powerful techniques to help you get better results on time.

What are the Issues?

First, let's look at the 4 top issues that prevent delivering defect-free results on time:-

1.      Lack of organising skills: failure to plan, outline, delegate, lay out the process and organise communications when changes are made;

2.      Perfectionism: time on site is a powerful competitive advantage, and perfectionism can blow out timelines. Failure to understand the level of quality needed on a project and that progress over perfection is a biggie;

3.      Not Involving Others: forgetting to work in a team, competing unhealthily to boost your ego or gain an advantage, taking credit from others, and not being transparent in communications;

4.      Not Asking: Communication is a two-way street. If you are not the team leader setting the agenda on-site, you still need to understand the goals of what you are achieving. As part of a team that is being judged on its success, this will also help you motivate the entire team to deliver great results.

Two Powerful Techniques

Technique 1: Lay Out & Communicate The Process

You know the adage, "you need to slow down to speed up". It begs the question, "how can being slow make you fast?"

Many projects fail to reach their optimal outcome, because a team leader will not take the time to "slow down" and implement the required planning and communication to deliver this to the teams. In the construction industry, many team leaders utilise project management software to follow through an organised process. Brilliant.

But communicating this to the team, and then keeping them informed is crucial. You need to be able to enable your teams, or as a team member, to understand their objectives every day, including:-

1.      What are the specific outcomes/expectations;

2.      What is the target date for stages or delivery;

3.      What are the quality and service requirements;

4.      What are the external factors that are needed – materials, labour, contractors, equipment;

5.      What resources will be required and who controls them – people, support, materials;

6.      Who do I need to communicate this to?

Technique 2: Buy-In At the Front End

Effective leaders and managers know that consistently delivering results on time and on budget is a team sport, and they need the active engagement of their teams.

If you only influence others through your "positional authority" or through the use of data/numbers/logic, you will drive top talent and high performers away from wanting to assist you. Why? Because high performers don't want to be 'told'. They want to be involved in a partnership, whether as a high-level manager, or a worker on site. Remember, high performers are at every level of the organisation.

If you have their hearts and minds, it will need buy-in on a deeper level. Your ability to win people over without coercion requires relationship-based and emotionally intelligent persuasion and the ability to be empathetic. Knowing your own style of communication, behaviour and leadership beliefs and then knowing those of who you work with will lead to more effective communication.

This ability will allow you to 'calibrate' your teams with the goals and give them an opportunity for active dialogue and understanding of the project. A person then has buy-in on the project and a feeling of making an important contribution.

Related articles:

Resolving Conflict on a Construction Site: Managing Incompatibility, Disagreement or Dissonance on Site

I Want to be the Best [fill in the blank]: Below the Line -v- Above the Line

Construction Cowboys: How to Spot and Avoid Them

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