Fire Fighter Construction Mis-Management

Morning Routine

Get out of bed early
Skip breakfast / eat something light / fast food drive through
Check voice mail and return some calls
Get a few calls while driving / try to take notes
Sort through the paperwork on the dash of your truck or van looking for something
Arrive at the jobsite / shop / office later than you intended
Deal with a few "emergencies" that should have been taken care of already

Employees arrive a few minutes late / in a bad mood / drinking coffee / grumbling / on company time
Phone rings and it is a customer wondering why their job is not finished
You get the crew loaded and discover there are some broken / lost / missing / tools and equipment
The crew arrives on the job site and sets up the tools and equipment and tries to remember what to do
You find THE NOTE your customer left asking for a tiny change that you could do real easy in no time
Which you discover is a big change and if you do it without paperwork you can expect to not be paid
Your cell phone rings; the bank says you are overdrawn and you need to fix it ASAP!
After morning coffee break an employee says "I just remembered I have an appointment" and leaves
You were short staffed this morning and now it is critical

Skip lunch or grab something at the fast food drive through
Check voice mail and return some calls and get some more calls and promise a bunch of stuff
Get a few calls while driving / try to take notes with employees talking in your other ear
Sort through the paperwork on the dash of your truck or van looking for something, again
Deal with a few new "emergencies" at the jobsite that should have been taken care of this morning
Stop by the office to find out what the bookkeeper is complaining about; this time

Employees who didn't take lunch begin to slow down and get in a worse mood / drink more coffee / grumble
Phone rings a customer is asking where their FREE QUOTE is so they can shop it to other bidders
You run to the supply house to get more material, tools or equipment
When you return you discover your customer visited the site and has concerns
Employee hands you ANOTHER NOTE regarding a new issue which causes more delays
Employee says "Some tool / equipment just broke! and I can't finish _____Today"
You were already running behind schedule and now you are stressing out big time

Get the employees out of the office / shop / jobsite sit down and breathe
Pour yourself a drink, coffee, water something to drink and relax a few minutes
Check voice mail and return some calls and get a few more calls while trying to relax a few minutes
The phone rings and it is a new prospect asking for a FREE QUOTE they can use to shop other bidders
Sort through the paperwork among the piles on the dash of your truck or van looking for something
Grab a quick snack and start working on new bids for new prospects
Finish the bids and start working on the latest Quarterly Tax Report