Running a small construction services company can be a real balancing act. You've got to manage scheduling jobs for 12-20 customers a day, handle the inevitable last-minute emergencies that pop up, and deal with field staff calling out sick or tired because they stayed up too late binge-watching Netflix.
Let's talk about the impact of that sleep-deprived field staff on the schedule. When someone calls out tired, it can throw off the entire day's plans. Suddenly, you're scrambling to find someone to fill in, rescheduling other jobs, and generally feeling like you're herding cats.
To deal with this scheduling madness, we've developed a system where multiple people in different positions have a hand in the process. But let's be honest, that can sometimes lead to confusion and miscommunications. So, we're working on streamlining things and getting the scheduling duty down to one person, with the help of the office staff.
One of the biggest challenges of managing a construction services company is having a plan in place for the next 2 weeks while simultaneously being able to fit anything emergent into the schedule. This requires a great deal of flexibility and adaptability, as jobs can come up at a moment's notice and disrupt the entire schedule.
To handle this challenge, it is essential to prioritize the best customers even when faced with a full schedule. This means that customers who have been with the company for a long time or who provide a significant amount of business should receive priority over newer or less frequent customers. This can be a difficult balancing act, but it is necessary to maintain long-term relationships and keep the business thriving.
In addition to prioritizing customers, it is also essential to have a robust scheduling system in place. This system should be able to handle the complexity of scheduling multiple jobs a day, taking into account the availability of the crew, the materials needed for each job, and any potential roadblocks that could arise. Our white board system looks like something out of a serial killer documentary. But it works for us.
The takeaway is this: We're all human, and sometimes things happen that are out of our control. But by focusing on improving our scheduling process and having a bit of a sense of humor about the occasional tired or sick staff member, we're able to keep things moving forward and provide our customers with the communication and schedule they need us to have. The last thing you want is a long-term customer, thinking about finding someone else just because you have made them feel like you can’t keep up.