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In the professional world, we can see an organization doing well and be tempted to think they have an unfair advantage. In the arena of sports, we hear about performance enhancing drugs and teams trying to steal other secret signs. In business, we hear about corporate espionage and insider trading. These all appear to be unfair business advantages. Good news for business owners, managers, and supervisors. There are ethical and legal ways to create "unfair" advantages in the workplace. Where your peers and competitors are struggling and complaining about working with young professionals, there is a NEW BOOK from The DYOJO that will create win wins for employers and employees. Check out P2T: Preparing 2 Thrive in the Modern Workplace by Jonathan L. Isaacson. This is the first book in the Resources For Young Professionals series. Join the early release mailing list to get your "unfair" advantage TODAY. 
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Jon Isaacson was a guest on The OG Spotlight from Learning and Mishaps for the skilled trades and construction industry. Contractors are frustrated with the insurance claims process. Many have found their villain in the various estimating software programs. Of particular note, Xactimate draws the ire of property restoration contractors. One doesn't have to search far to find a social media rant about the inefficiencies of estimating tools. BUT, has the listener ever silenced the impulse for blame long enough to consider that Xactimate, and similar estimating resources, are primarily communication platforms? Join us for a discussion that will help listeners update their mindset and habits regarding estimating tools and approaches. Listen to The DYOJO Podcast as we share insights for better insurance claims and construction outcomes. Clips from The DYOJO Podcast, Episode 111, A Simple Formula for Better Construction Estimates. Xactimate can be a Common Estimating LanguageIn the insurance world, Xactimate estimates are written room by room, and line by line. It's not a format that many contractors outside of the restoration space are familiar with. Nor are customers. They're not used to seeing a 28 page bid for a two room project. But there is one party that is familiar with this format. The insurance companies. In an insurance claim project, the insurance carrier has the money. So, if they have the money, it is in the best interest of the contractor and the policyholder to consider presenting their estimates in a manner that the insurance company can understand. COMMUNICATION. Learn more from our How to Suck Less Estimating Course.  The Xactimate Sessions PodcastXactimate estimates are built with a diagram or a sketch. There's actually a lot of really helpful calculations, scope notes, and different project elements that can be derived from this tool. If you are new to Xactimate or trying to teach your team you will find value in a series we produced called The Xactimate Sessions. You can search for Episodes 65 through 79 of The DYOJO Podcast. The Xactimate Sessions
One of the our prior videos on sketching will help owners and managers who are training new restoration team members to sketch in Xactimate. From Estimation to Project ManagementDoes your team regularly create an estimate that the insurance company, the entity with the money, the customer, the entity with the pen to sign the contract, and the production team, the ones who have to complete the work, all understand? COMMUNICATION. If one or all of those parties don't understand the scope you need to fix your estimating process. The estimate itself is a byproduct of a series of processes that start with client intake. A simple topic and process that we discussed on Episode 86 of The DYOJO Podcast. Site observations and the notes that go to the estimator are critical pieces of communication. Whether that's A) the same person, IE a write and run estimator, or B) there's a central estimator within the company. Or, as many companies are finding success with, perhaps your team utilizes C) remote estimating services like our sponsor Epic Estimates as an external resource. The details include all the data from the site. As we share in our estimating course, these details have to be communicated thoroughly thorough data capture. Data captured and communicated thoroughly to whoever's going to create the estimate. It must be thorough because it creates a series of following steps which include, the customer being able to understand what you're contracting for. Clarifying what is and is not in your scope. If insurance is involved, this thorough data helps them understand what they are responsible for.  Construction Estimating AccuracyAccurate scope leads to accurate construction cost estimates. Thorough Data Capture (site observation and transfer of details) leads to Accurate Data Input (estimation). When the scope and cost gets down to the production team, it's very important that whoever is writing an estimate always does so with the production team in mind. Clarity, consistency, and accountability, which is something that we go over in detail in our last book, How to Suck Less at Estimating by Jon Isaacson. This book is also a course available online through our friends at Restoration Technical Institute. This course has six modules, which reflect the six chapters in this book. If you sign up for the course you get a free PDF copy that is designed to correspond with the course on how to suck less at estimating this book is available on Amazon. If any of these topics hit home, or seem to be helpful to yourself for your team, you should tune into the full discussion from episode 111 of The DYOJO Podcast If you don't have a leader that is invested in your growth, then you have to invest in yourself." - Nicole Humber, CEO We shared a clip of a conversation with Nicole Humber from The DYOJO Podcast Episode 110. we're going to talk to She is the CEO of Bravo Restoration based in Windsor, California. She shares her thoughts on skilled trades professionals reaching out to local schools, talking to students to encourage them as they pursue a career in the modern workplace. Contractors in SchoolsWe discussed the importance of meeting with students to discuss the opportunities in the skilled trades with Kate Cinnamo of Explore The Trades. For Episode 110 she shared some excellent reasons for why busines owners and managers should make this investment. Kate also shared some great insights on how to be of value to local schools and educators. I just get involved in those, you know, reaching out asking if I can be a mentor, or like, Hey, do you need anything like, what can I give you to help?" - Nicole Humber Nicole Humber also shared her experiences as a contractor speaking to elementary, middle, and high school students. "So, I've been really involved in those schools coming back and either being a presenter and talking about our specific trade, or being a mentor for women, like women students that are interested, but not like, they only see male, so they think that's allowed. We have a couple of programs outside of schools that focus in on, you know, ages 16 to 24, or right after high school. And so I just get involved in those, you know, reaching out asking if I can be a mentor, or like, Hey, do you need anything like, what can I give you to help?" Breaking Through the Glass CeilingInvest in yourself. Invest in reading leadership books. Even if you have to pay for your own classes, do that. Do your research. Become an expert in the industry where it makes it impossible for anyone to put the lid over you." - Nicole Humber We asked Nicole for her words of encouragement for people that maybe are feeling frustrated with their career development. Because whether it's a young person or various genders, or races, you know, there's all kinds of barriers to you know, especially a very traditional old school thinking industry, Nicole shared, "My biggest encouragement or advice would be just, you can only control what you can control; what you do. You can't control what other people say or do or, or, and so it's like, what you can control is what you experience. And so when people are in these establishments, that they're like, I can't quite break through this barrier. I feel like there's a a glass ceiling. I see it, but I can't get there. Invest in yourself. So invest in reading leadership books, invest in, you know, if you have to pay for your own IICRC classes do that. Do your research, become an expert in the industry where it makes it impossible for anyone to put the lid over you." The DYOJO echoes what Nicole saying. For anyone who hasn't experienced it, and we've had some badass ladies on our crews. It really is, there's no rhyme or reason it's not you're from this generation means that you're a hard worker, I've had people from older generations who have been lazier than young people. I've had young people kick butt and, you know, take in complex concepts quicker than others who've been doing it for a long period of time. Thriving in the skilled trades is really about finding the right people that are a culture fit for your organization. And if you look around, and the culture is pretty monolithic, it's a leadership issue. It's time to you yourself, need to get outside of your box, expand the parameters for finding new talent, and finding ways to make it open and inviting to not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it will exponentially grow and improve your company having more diverse influences.  Our deep thoughts for construction estimators are brought to us this week by Norman Foster in his book, first published in 1961, Construction Estimates from Take-off to Bid. In this helpful book, Mr. Foster reminds contractors that, “A good estimate is built around a good set of quantities and a proper feeling for cost, rather than being a by-product of statistics.” This is the nexus between the art and the science of construction estimating. If you want better outcomes from your construction estimates, focus on “a good set of quantities” This aligns with what we have termed “Thorough Data Capture” or TDC and “a proper feeling for cost” which mirrors what we have termed “Accurate Data Input” or ADI. Stick around as we discuss a simple formula for better construction estimates.  Contractor Career Growth TipsBefore we dive into this week’s delicious topic, let’s recap our conversation from the last episode. In addition to sharing the record-breaking results from contractors throughout the United States and Canada for the fourth annual SOCKTember charitable event. We had some excellent input from contractors who are investing in the future of the skilled trades. I want to make sure no one missed the truth bombs Nicole Humber, CEO of Bravo Restoration in Windsor, California shared. Learning from Restoration HistoryThe topic for today's episode is a simple formula for better construction estimates. As I am preparing for a course that I will be teaching at the beginning of 2024, I’ve been researching various authors, approaches, and case studies related to estimating. I’m a sucker for old books. I love to find older books on current topics so that I can compare and contrast the best practices from our history. March 2007 Founding Fathers Article in C&R Magazine from Pete Consigli History often demonstrates that there is nothing new under the sun. The problems are similar and the solutions are often much simpler than we want to believe them to be. Gaining ground is less a battle for new knowledge than it is the discipline to execute on what you know. This should not dismiss the importance of adaptation. Rather, our job is to understand the principles, and break them into processes that our teams can execute, and for most people in a position of leadership this means making the concepts as clear and simple as possible. Our good friend and industry legend, Cliff Zlotnik, quoting Albert Einstein says, “If you can’t explain it to a four-year-old, you don’t understand it.” You may notice that phrase, clarity, consistency, and accountability, or the Three C’s, as we use it often in The DYOJO. Another way of saying this is, what Bebo Crain shared in Episode 108, “The simpler the better,” and then he qualified, “Or, the more understood, the better.” Because, as he shared, “As contractors we are held accountable for what we can document, not just what we did.” There may be technologies that help us to be more efficient and effective, but if we do not have a base knowledge of how to compose an estimate without software, we are going to have issues. This translates to all parts of the business. When we become over reliant on a process or a resource, we lose sight of the foundational elements of the industry and struggle to dissect reasonable fixes for basic issues. Basic issues that continue to plague many organizations. Estimating is just one of these areas that demonstrates this dissonance between what an organization says it wants to accomplish and its day-to-day habits. Estimates are Communication PlatformsA project always consists of at least three elements:
The duration and the cost are directly related to the scope. Most people want to focus on the cost, but scope is the most important to clarify among all parties first. By contrast, what happens in a typical change order transaction between a TV-based remodeling personality and their chosen contractor? POINT #1 - All estimating platforms are communication platforms. In the insurance world, an Xacimate estimate is room-by-room, line-by-line. It’s not a format many contractors or customers are familiar with. But who is familiar with the format? Insurance companies. Who has the money? Insurance companies. So, if they have the money and you want to work with them, perhaps it is helpful to think of Xactimate as a communication platform more than it is an estimating platform. Xactimate estimates are built with a diagram/sketch, there are many helpful means of creating and communicating scope using the sketching tool. Xactimate estimates allow you to forward photos that are labeled in correlation to the rooms and scopes that they refer to. A labeled photo helps to prevent many unnecessary headaches. For example, a photo labeled “Kitchen cabinet base section one face damage, replace box” is much more helpful than “IMG 1008” or “cabinet was broken”. If you are an owner or manager listening to this episode, these are things you have to train. What does it mean to label a photo? It doesn’t happen without intention and training. Before you resort, as many do, to simply blaming the estimating tool. Stop and think about your processes. Does your team regularly create an estimate that the insurance company, the entity with the money, the customer, the entity with the contract signing pen, and the production team, the ones who have to complete the work, all understand? An estimate communicates to the money, the signier, and the worker, what is and what is not part of the project. If one, or all of those parties don’t understand the scope, you need to fix your communication platform. If one, or all of those parties don't understand the scope, you need to fix your estimating process. All Estimates are Data DrivenPOINT # 2 - All estimates are DATA driven If you don’t understand the scope, you won’t be able to price the estimate correctly. Potential solutions for getting better scope details to the estimator:
What is the common thread? DATA. Having the right people capture the data and the right people enter the data for your approach. When we consult with or write remote estimates for a client, we always ask them to complete a minimum level of documentation. This HAS to be a dimensional scope, as accurate as possible, and scope details. For those who are new or have limited knowledge, a video is one of the best ways to ensure the estimator is writing what the person scoping the project wants to achieve. In insurance work, photos are a must. This is Commandment Number 2 from my first book. But if the estimator, the adjuster, or the client has no idea where the photo came from - ie room and what the photo is telling them, it’s useless. Labeled photos are key. IMPROVING ESTIMATING OUTCOMES:
In Episode 111 of The DYOJO Podcast:
Credits The DYOJO Podcast is produced by The DYOJO (D-Y-O-J-O). Host Jon Isaacson, the Intentional Restorer, is an author and contractor based in Puyallup Washington. You can find out more about this podcast, including blog posts with content references, as well as Jon’s books for contractors and other services at thedyojo.com. If you have enjoyed this content, please like, subscribe, and share. |
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