Project management is an essential function of any organization offering services in the skilled trades industry. Many project managers feel they are overutilized and underappreciated by owners, managers, subcontractors, and customers. Many owners wonder why their teams cannot consistently produce profitable projects with happy customers. Contact The DYOJO about more information to improve this processes and project outcomes. The Three P's of Project Management are:
The DYOJO will be releasing more information on the critical tools for each of the Three P's. In the meantime you can purchase a copy of So, You Want To Be A Project Manager? by Jon Isaacson.
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This is a brief clip of Attorney Steven Bush interviewing whistleblowers from insurance companies after Hurricane Ian in southwest Florida. Tune in this Thursday for The DYOJO Podcast as we discuss THREE ITEMS: 1. What We're Working On - the Lessons Learned from Storm Response and Hurricane Recovery workshop with G. Pete Consigli, CR, WLS 2. In The News - At least 21 independent adjusters are acting as whistleblowers calling out insurance companies for doctoring estimates. 3. One More Tidbit - A preview of some content we are developing for the issue of matching materials for insurance claims. This includes snippets from our conversation with Bill Wilson, David Princeton, and an unnamed independent adjuster. The DYOJO Podcast - Helping contractors shorten their DANG learning curve. In our latest video from The DYOJO Podcast we discuss three things:
Overcoming the fear of creating contentIf you have something on your heart that you want to share with your industry peers, we want to encourage you to HIT SEND. I was talking to some industry professionals earlier this week about creating content. There are several of you that I've talked to that have the content either ready to upload articles, books, videos, or podcasts. You're ready to hit send, but for whatever reason, you have not. Too often what we hear about as professionals is the finished product. Whether we are scared to share or have been stymied into silence by success, we should encourage and seek out stories that help us see the process that led to the outcome." What I'd like to relay to you is a little piece of the story that I shared in an article called Creating Impactful Content, which has been published through Property Casualty 360. I shared a personal story about some excellent advice that Rachel Stewart, author of Unqualified Success, gave me. If you have not read her book yet, it's one of the best in the self-help category that I have read. I am happy to report that it's from the property restoration industry. One day, after reading her book, we had a call. If we had not made contact, I my first book may not have happened or would have taken a lot longer to be published. During our conversation, I was sharing that I wanted to write a book but didn't know if I had unique content to share. I am paraphrasing her response, but she said that there is no unique or new content, there's only your unique experiences, approach, and applications of those principles. This simple truth was very freeing to me and it's good advice for anyone who has something they want to share. What is impactful about your story or my story is exactly that, it's our story. When you can share, "These are the issues I faced, these are the creative solutions that our team came up with, and this is how we've seen those ideas either just flame or make a positive impact in our company. I believe this is the key to good, impactful content. Most of the positive feedback that we get from our podcast is that people are encouraged to hear the real-life stories of their peers. It's encouraging to hear someone say that they've been there, they've done that, and lived to tell about it. You can help others shorten their dang learning curve by sharing the lessons that have shortened yours. Working with the right mentorsAll these half assed contractors out there, who are not doing things properly. Who are not following your own SOPs. Who are not creating systems and things in place to protect yourselves. You're only hurting the industry and yourself. Stop it, get smart." - Whitney Wiseman We want to shorten our dang learning curve, but there's no replacing it. We want to thank Whitney Wiseman for joining us for a recent conversation. We are going to share some of his thoughts on working with the right mentors and coaches for your business. Whitney advises, "Reach outside of social media, find individuals who excel in their space, and make sure that you learn as much as you possibly can from these individuals." The way he sees it, too many in the coaching space are looking to make money rather than being a resource and helping the industry. He says, "I see more mentors in our industry right now that want to make money off of everybody who's green, then I do any individuals who are just willing to help. And to me, that's sad, because I came up in this industry where there were people who would answer their phone, give me the advice that I need, and it was free. But right now, it's a weird world." If you are new to the industry, you may have felt the same way. Mr. Wiseman is not saying that there are no good coaches or mentors, rather be wise in how you determine who you are going to work with. "There's a lot of people, though, that can really help you to be the best in the industry. Reach inside the industry for those people." He believes that a lot of good also comes out of looking outside of "the box" or the mindset of a given industry. For example, "When it comes to contracts, when it comes to business, when it comes to all these other things get as far outside of this industries mindset as you can and started attacking it as a professional. For instance, we are a specialized trade in the construction industry. We all should act like contractors and we should be professional in our state, as our state regulates us too. We should utilize everything that is in our power in order to protect ourselves from a customer screwing us over. At no point in time should we use these shortcuts in order to gain success, because I can guarantee every single person that the long road is worth it every single time versus the shortcuts. Learn from my mistakes." Learning from each others mistakes is an excellent way to shorten our dang learning curves. As we said in the segment above on creating content, if you have experiences to share of ideas that worked, and even those that failed, these can be impactful to your peers who are also learning to succeed. Preparing for courtFor episode 94 of The DYOJO Podcast, we asked Bob Blochinger, "If someone were to call themselves an industry expert, what would your expectation be of their like credentials and experience be?"
Bob may have the quote of 2022 when he shares, "An expert is somebody who knows what he's talking about through experience, training, and education. I call it a pyramid of training, education and experience. You cannot become an expert without all three." He calls this a pyramid of expertise. As a flooring expert, Mr. Blochinger is no stranger to the courtroom, he has been called upon as an expert witness multiple times. He states that an expert is expected to answer, "Whatever questions or explore bugs or problems or whatever exists that needs explanation or evaluation." We have heard it said that if you can't explain it to an elementary aged child, you don't really know what you are talking about. In the courtroom, Bob says an expert, "Needs to know what he's saying and how to explain it so a regular person understands. For instance, when you sit in a court in 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, but you have to ask answer all the questions." If you have developed mastery through experience, training, and education you will come across as intelligent. The Federal Rules of Evidence 702 outlines the Daubert Standard whereby a witness who is qualified as an expert via their knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education. An expert may testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if a their scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge help "the trier of fact" to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue. The Daubert Standard is also a great metric for determining information that you are receiving as a profession is relevant and reliable. When you receive information from industry leaders, influencers, or experts, you can more effectively ask, "Is this relevant to my situation and does the advice rest on a reliable foundation?" In court the testimony must demonstrate that it is based on sufficient facts or data. The opinion of the expert should have been demonstrated to be the product of reliable principles and methods. This affirms that as professionals we want to apply a scientific method or methodology to the processing of information for determining what advice is reliable. A scientific methodology helps us determine whether the theory or technique employed by an "expert: is:
That last point is interesting as we want to eliminate confirmation bias. Just because we hypothesize something, we then need to guard against our inclination to only present the information that supports our hypothesis. We have to be open to our hypothesis being wrong, or we are not being scientific. As an expert witness the professional must demonstrate that they have reliably applied the principles and methods to the facts of the case. How important is this in our professional journeys? When I am reading industry publications like C&R magazine or Cleanfax, I find myself listening for those people who have been there, done that. Those who have a problem, discussed it with their team and said, "This is a creative solution that has worked for us." Mr. Blochinger closes our discussion with these insights, "You need to know what you're talking about to be labeled as an expert. Commonly people say, 'Well, I'm 50 miles away, so I must be an expert.' It doesn't work that way. You don't become an expert without years of training, experience, and education." 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. When a contractor sends an invoice, is there an obligation for the receiver to pay it? The real answer is, it depends. In this article, we will review two scenarios, one personal and another from a case that is currently in litigation. After reviewing both incidents, contractors should have a better understanding of some of the self-inflicted ways that their claims for proper payment of services rendered can be harmed. This content will also serve as a simple training resource to help your team members shorten their learning curve for understanding three critical questions for getting paid as a contractor. Three questions that will help contractors get paidOften our ability to get paid suffers from self-inflicted harm. Unfortunately, I had to learn this the hard way following a surprise freeze event that hit our local market in Eugene, Oregon. We were hired by a property manager (some contractors already know where this is going), they even signed our work authorization (potential nail in the coffin number two), we performed the work, they signed our certificate of completion, and were happy with our work. Case closed, right? What painful lesson did I have to learn? The property manager was not the owner of the property, nor were they authorized to sign contractual obligations on behalf of the owner, nor would they pay our invoice unless the owner agreed to release the funds to them or us directly. While it takes two to tango, the contractor has the most to lose so the contractor is responsible to protect themselves and their money. In this scenario, we failed to answer parts two (fully) and three (at all) of a critical sequence of questions for getting paid.
In my role as an estimator, there were some office politics and internal dynamics that made this situation more tenuous than it should have been. During the literal flood of freeze claims, I was covering the account of another project manager on our team. I was dispatching our team members based on third-hand verbal commitments. Several senior members in our office, including the general manager, my peer, and myself believed that since this was a large account in town, we could overlook certain processes. While it would have been good for our office to gain traction with their book of business our failure to complete the critical sequence of questions for getting paid made the process difficult. Stop ignoring red flags as a contractorIf this scenario sounds familiar, perhaps you have been listening to a story we have been sharing on The DYOJO Podcast about an Arlington Texas contractor. Robert Jordan Construction (RJC) claims they have not been paid for services rendered at Sam Houston High School following water damage from Winter Storm Uri in 2021. RJC believed they had answered question one but the customer, Arlington Independent School District (AISD), disagrees. The court documents ask critical questions that many contractors, including myself, must answer, such as, “Do a series of emails constitute a contract or agreement?” As we cover in the podcast, RJC performed a walk-through, stated a verbal scope of work, and proceeded with what they thought was authorization from the appropriate parties. RJC followed up with a (briefly) written proposal, the school district responded with requests for further information. Listen to these rebuttals from AISD and ask your team whether these should serve as warnings to review your processes and tighten up your contracts.
With regards to Question One, RJC proposed a scope of work and stated a price based upon a pricing structure, square footage pricing for water damage response and/or dehumidification. AISD states that the quantities, documentation, and pricing are inconsistent with the cost of work that they believe is appropriate. As for Question Two, it is documented that AISD appealed for more information as soon as they received the proposal from RJC as well as after they received the final invoice. Question Three should have been cause for teh contractor to take their foot off the gas as early into the process RJC was notified that no amount over $50,000 can be authorized without approval by the AISD board. RJC was notified of the date on which this issue would be brought before the board. The board did vote, “To authorize Superintendent or his designee to negotiate a contract - in contract with RJ Construction for emergency services and equipment necessary to perform moisture mitigation of district facilities not to exceed $1,245,600.00.” By this point of further payment ambiguity, the work had been completed. Learning from your mistakes as a contractorAs with my personal scenario, one could see RJC believing they are acting in good faith and trusting people on the other end to “do the right thing.” Yet, the red flags popped up early and appear to have been overlooked by the contractor. A few additional lessons many have had to learn, especially when working with governmental agencies, is to always assume that a third party will be called in to review the work. One of the many pieces we are still trying to put together in the podcast research is just how much documentation RJC did or did not provide the district. AISD appears to have asked for additional documentation early and in a much more directed manner after they consulted with their insurance carrier.
I shared some of my story on Episode 93 of The DYOJO Podcast as we continue to dig into the available information from the RJC vs. AISD case. If any of this resonates with you or your team, we would love to hear from you. Tune in on Thursdays and contact The DYOJO. It should not be a surprise that responding to a catastrophic loss is not the same as getting paid for rendering services. While many look at our industry and think there is ‘easy money’ to be made, there is no such thing as easy money in general, especially when working with insurance companies and handling catastrophic events. Contractors who want to ensure they get paid for the good work that they do will want to tune in for the story we are about to tell on The DYOJO Podcast. READ MORE in the Cleanfax Article Watch the introduction video for The DYOJO Podcast series reviewing the RJC vs. AISD case from Winter Storm Uri (2021) |
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