The fourth week of January 2023 is going to be a week of networking and education LIKE NO OTHER. As course presenter Robert Blochinger says, "Come here and have a lot of fun and gain some education." For those planning to be in Naples, Florida on January 23rd through the 26th of 2023, we've go three events for you!
Early Bird Discounts for Remote Hurricane Recovery WorkshopInterested participants who will not be in Florida, do not fear! The DYOJO has a remote option available for the one-day "Lessons Learned from Storm Response and Hurricane Recovery" workshop. Early bird discounts expire SOON. Register yourself or your team to participate in this one-of-a-kind one-day workshop TODAY. MORE INFORMATION: Visit thedyojo.com about this event and how to register. Also check out our media sponsors and supporters including
Online Storm Response WorkshopWHO: Property restoration contractors, insurance claims professionals, environmental assessors, and building science service providers. WHAT: One-day workshop, in-person and remote, "Lesson Learned from Storm Reponse and Hurricane Recovery" WHERE: In-person in Naples, Florida; Remote via Zoom WHEN: Thursday, January 26, 2023 730am - 530pm EST HOW: Register via Eventbrite through The DYOJO Workshop Agenda for Online Disaster Recovery WorkshopThis one-day workshop includes presentations from industry leaders such as:
* The Legal Eagles - David Popper and Justin Peterson * Remediation Panel - Michael Symula (Assessment) and IAQ Josh Winton (Remediation) * Restoration Panel - Robert Bloechinger (Third-party consultant) and Casey Clark (Contractor) * Science Panel - Dr. Ralph Moon (Expert witness and researcher) and Jeremy Beagle (Hygienist, IAQA 1st Vice President) * Shane Bailey (Mechanical contractor) * Edward Cross (The Restoration Lawyer) * Peter Crosa (Independent adjuster) * Special preview presentation of Encircle 's data regarding Industry Response from Hurricane Ian (What went Wrong, What went Right?) * Interactive Workshop Special Guest Moderator Cliff "Z-man" Zlotnik This event is approved for continuing education credits (CECs): * American Council for Accredited Certification (ACAC) * IICRC - Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification * Restoration Industry Association (RIA)
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An expert is somebody who knows what he's talking about through experience, training, and education. You cannot become an expert without all three.” - Bob Blochinger As a guest for Episode 94 of The DYOJO Podcast, Bob Blochinger shares his thoughts on the roadmap to expertise. For a professional to seek and achieve expertise, they need to be able to:
From his own experience Bob states, “Whatever questions, or problems, or whatever exists that needs explanation or evaluation, the expert needs to know what he's saying and how to explain it so that a regular person can understand.” Determining whether information is reliableIn our discussion, Bob notes that expert witnesses have to pass the Daubert Standard. We share a video from Forensics Group talking about this rule, “According to the Federal Rules of Evidence 702, a witness who was qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education.” The Daubert Rule addresses the knowledge, skill, training, and education of a relevant witness. I like how Bob puts it, "Education, training, and experience." Experiences are often one of those key factors that tie all of the information and knowledge together. I find this concept to be interesting. I'm thankful that Mr. Blochinger brought the Daubert Standard up. This is a great metric for determining whether information shared with a restoration contractor is relevant and reliable. A good question to ask, is whether the information that you're receiving from industry leaders, influencers, and experts, (a) is it relevant to the task at hand and (b) does it rest on a reliable foundation. A scientific approach to expertisePerhaps the highest takes arena in which expertise is on display is in the courtroom. Testimony should be based on sufficient facts or data. Experts should be sharing information that is the product of reliable principles and methods. This affirms we want to apply a scientific method or methodology to the processing of information to determine whether it's reliable. The scientific methodology applied to Rule 702 helps us determine:
Does the process, of confirming whether the information is relevant, eliminate confirmation bias? Just because we believe that something is true, did we only seek out information that supported our preconceived notions rather than actually being open to our hypothesis being wrong? Experts demonstrate a mastery of knowledgeCalling upon his experience as an expert witness, Mr. Blochinger shares, “When you sit in a courtroom on the witness stand and you get grilled by the opposing attorney, you do not have notes in front of you. You do not have a book. You do not have photographs. You have to answer questions in a manner that you come across as intelligent. That you understand. We call these competent witnesses subject matter experts.” When the Restoration Industry Association (RIA) created the Body of Knowledge, the stated that the third level of knowledge, mastery, was defined as, “Without reference material, promptly and correctly apply subject knowledge and skills to solve typical problems or address detailed issues in the subject.” Professionals are nearing mastery when they are able to apply the principles of property restoration in their everyday lives without having to check their reference materials. They know the concepts and are able to apply them to real-world situations. Wherever you are at in your professional journey, keep yourself hungry for expertise. The best-selling book, How To Suck Less At Estimating: Habits for Better Project Outcomes, by Jon Isaacson is NOW AVAILABLE as a six module training course from Restoration Technical Institute. Project outcomes in the skilled trades are tied to the estimating process. Good estimating is marked by the thoroughness of data capture (site observation) and the accuracy of data input (bidding). Author Jon Isaacson, The Intentional Restorer, shares his two decades of professional experience to help anyone involved with, or interested in, the art of estimating to shorten their DANG learning curve for improvement. Habits For Better Project Outcomes:
Included in your purchase:
Unlike any course you have ever taken before. If you like to be overstimulated, learn and estimating, this is the course for you! Jon Isaacson delivers practical knowledge and demonstrations in his signature "INFOtainment" style. How To Suck Less At Estimating, was written for:
Early Reviews for This Book:
I had a lot of fun discussing my journey in the skilled trades with the fine gentlemen who constitute the tripart of the Sweat and Grime Podcast. These boys like to have fun but they also share a wealth of knowledge and experiences from the trenches. They too aim to inform whilst they also entertain (INFOtainment), "Sweat & Grime is a podcast that focuses on the skilled trades while keeping a fun atmosphere."
Bryan, Rick, and Matt sit and discuss a variety of topics loosely based around the skilled trades. As guys that currently work in the skilled trades, we do our best to ask semi-intelligent questions to our guests to satisfy our curiosities about what they do. From business advice to glimpses into different industries, we try to cover a broad variety of topics to keep you entertained during your workday. Every company has some form of leadership, and whether it is good or bad will be judged by the results it produces. A company with good leadership will thrive not only as a business but as a group of people. The amount of positive outcomes that are provoked by good leadership are exponential. For the restoration contractor, good leadership is critical due to the spontaneity as well as both physical and mental challenges that come from restoration work. The discussion from Episode 84 of The DYOJO Podcast - Developing Your Leadership Skills, draws out helpful principles for the formation of functional leadership, such as the importance of having the right idea about what leadership entails. Leadership is not just rigid rules or pointless processes. The guests on this episode will help the leader build their own way to lead, unique to themselves and their company. Ownership Creates LeadershipDenis Beaulieu an environmental branch manager in Thousand Oaks, CA and former guest (Episode 15) advises that a good leader will give their people opportunities to take ownership of things and make decisions. People that can think for themselves and problem solve will be able to execute things quickly because they won’t have to wait for authority and will be confident in how they conduct themselves on the job. A client witnessing lack of confidence from a worker will feel that same lack of confidence in the company. He also says that a good leader will hire people smarter than they are. This helps the leader to grow themselves from constantly learning from those they are around. And of course the company benefits from their knowledge, too. Self Discipline Creates LeadershipMike Kenny and David Smith joined the DYOJO Podcast for Episode 12 to discuss leadership formation perspectives. Mike, a skilled trades service manager, shared that a quote from former Navy Seal Jocko Wilnick that has helped him create his leadership mindset is, “Discipline equals freedom.” Details build the way to goals. Being disciplined will establish a foundation of habits. These habits over time are how goals are achieved. David, a former estimator skilled in the nuances of program work, adds that structure leads to discipline. If the structure is lost, so is the discipline. A good leader makes sure to hit upon the basics everyday. Even when things come up that may call for changes, they will fall back to their regular routine. Structure Creates LeadershipLex Sisney (Episode 22) is the author of two books about business growth,
He has this to say about structure, “Structure is a very misunderstood concept.” Structure is different from processes. He gives the example of your skeleton being the structure and the processes as the neural pathways, blood vessels, muscles, etc. If there is something off on the skeleton then the body will maladapt to it. Adaptation Creates LeadershipPodcast host and author, Jon Isaacson, tells of what he learned about being a good leader as well. He warns managers not to hire people with the thought that because they have prior experience they can be just “plugged in” and ready to play. Experience doesn’t mean they know how to do things correctly for your company. As Jon talks about in So, You Want To Be A Project Manager? someone with technical experience won’t have experience with your company culture, you will have to be intentional as a lead to develop that within every employee. Leadership is an active role. Leaders will always be adapting to the specific processes of how they lead their people. There are basic principles that won’t change, but the way those principles are practiced will take on different nuances according to the present circumstances. The company is a living organism and will work to develop ownership, self-discipline, structure and adaptation as they nourish their people to keep growing for the health of the company.
What do we all want as contractors? We want to provide a good service and be paid for our work. Where does this process start? As we discuss on Episode 86 of The DYOJO Podcast, positive project outcomes start with a clear and consistent client intake process. Overhead and Profit for the ContractorThe client intake process also initiates the data collection process. The gathering, interpretation, and application of solid data is critical to helping an entrepreneur make good business decisions. If you want to be profitable as an organization you must manage the project lifecycle sequences. We begin this discussion on The DYOJO Podcast Episode 89 as well as a series of articles on overhead and profit that myself, Ben Justesen, Anthony Nelson, and Ed Cross will be releasing for the in-print version of C&R Magazine. Using A Letter of Intent (LOI)Contractor's often discuss whether they should be charging for estimates. Some of the options include:
We talk rather frequently with contractors about this concept of the Letter of Intent or LOI. We will introduce this resource during Episode 89 and will go into further detail in the following episode. The Four Modes of ProfitabilityWhat does the average contractor want? Our competition as contractors isn't even necessarily with the market, but with ourselves. We want to grow our company by laying a foundation. If you want to be a profitable company, it's important to understand some of these concepts that lead towards profitability. So that's why we're tying a lot of this together, from:
I'm working on the first in a series of articles with C&R magazine that's going to touch on some of those elements of overhead and profit. My contribution, the working title is The Four Modes of Profitability for Contractors. There's an infographic coming out from Restoration Industry Association (RIA) that will also be a helpful tool for contractors as they work through the process of developing and growing their team. Within that tool there are definitions and visual aides such as these two:
These resources are designed to help shorten your DANG learning curve and to build your company through those stages of profitability. The Contractor's Fight for SurvivalWe have observed or participated in many companies that don't make it unfortunately, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 20% of small businesses fail within the first year and 30% after the second. You feel it right? You're in an all out battle for survival. You want to move from survival mode to scraping-by. At the end of your first year you get hit with this tax debt and renewals for indirect (aka overhead) costs such as your licensing, bonding, and insurance. You realize that to even scrape by as a business, you must charge more than you were charging. You're gonna have to think differently about how you're charging for labor, materials, equipment, overhead, and profit. Every year is a fight to compete as a contractor, the average failure rate for businesses: The DYOJO Podcast is designed to help you shorten your DANG learning curve. Going back to those statistics we talked about, which will be in the series of articles with C&R magazine. The mindset used to be that if you can make it past year three, you're probably going to be fine. But the statistics show that if you make it to the fifth year you're in the 50/50 club. 50% of the companies that started at a similar time are likely no longer going to be in business. And then if you push through to year 10, you're in the exclusive 70/30 club. Sadly, only 30% of entrepreneurs make it to the decade mark. Every year is a fight.
That's why we say you're moving from survival to scraping by, to having a fighting chance, and to competing. My latest book, How To Suck Less At Estimating, was written to pick away at some of those faulty foundations that regularly lead to profit sucking estimating habits. In doing this I'll try to break out those mindsets that are particularly helpful for the categories of professionals listed above which are (1) the aspiring professional, (2) the estimator, (3) the new manager, and (4) the business owner. By the end of this book and the course that soon will be coming with Restoration Technical Institute (RTI) you will have at least six elements that every estimator needs in their tool bag for success. |
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