The U.S. Secretary of Transportation was in Birmingham recently for several reasons, but one that caught my attention was an initiative for changing one-way streets to two-ways. I’ve done some research since that visit, and it seems this makes a lot of sense. One-way streets were created to assist traffic flow, which has obvious benefits, …
Construction, by its very nature, can be and is a stressful business. While we are planners by trade, and we’ve all learned how to mitigate risk, we’re constantly battling unforeseen circumstances. The list can range from material shortages to something as simple (and powerful) as the weather. Many of us thrive under pressure, but how …
Over the years, we’ve done a lot to try to streamline our processes so we’re not wasting time on the information gathering trail. I’ve never put a name to the frustrating searching, or jumping from one platform to another to consolidate research, until I read this article from Construction Business Owner. They call it “Gray …
In construction, there is an old adage that it’s possible to be good, fast, or cheap. Pick two. This makes it particularly important to choose the right contractor, or for that matter, the right consultant, who can accommodate what’s important for success. Check these boxes: Years in business Types of work completed Quality of team …
Marketing can feel like an easy line item to skip, or in times when the project list isn’t full, cut. My gut has always told me that marketing needs to have a core spot in our business, and a recent article I came across in Harvard Business Review gave me the research to back it …
Which of these traits is more important as a leader? An article I read this week argues that while these use to be called “soft skills,” they are now a necessary part of successful leadership. While I think they are all part of the recipe for great leadership, the case for humility particularly stood out. …
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege to meet many artists, a handful of whom I’ve come to know as friends. George Jones, Jr., is a 4th generation broom maker from Florence, Ala. Jerry Brown was a pottery folk artist from Hamilton, Ala., and Bettye Kimbrell was a quilt maker who specialized in Cherokee leaf …
Over the last decade, maybe even longer, retail has been an interesting case study. We’ve written a lot about bricks and mortar vs online sales and how that will affect our industry in the future. The pandemic heightened predictions that physical stores were set to become a thing of the past. It’s true that distribution …
We’ve recently started using a 360 camera and corresponding HoloBuilder software on some of our projects, and it’s been a gamechanger for several reasons. The premise is simple. A member of our team uses the camera to capture images throughout the project–inside and outside–at established points on an architectural sheet floorplan. These are taken from …
At its roots, most of construction is a task-oriented business. To be successful, one has to always be moving from strategic to tactical thinking and back again. While tactical processes are probably more the core of our business, this also requires balancing the minute details with the “10,000 foot view.” One of the main things …
You never get a second chance to start the right conversation with strangers. Most of us will tend to lead in with a typical, “How are you doing?” or “ How was your trip in?” These predictable questions, along with comments about the weather, may be in our comfort zone, but they are not the …
All things considered, 2023 has been a volatile year. The war in Ukraine, one that we hoped would be resolved, rages on, and now there is war in Israel. We’ve gone back and forth on the state of the economy and what to expect in the future. AI has become a major topic of conversation, …