I recently heard a smart rule for making the decision of how to communicate: Use email primarily for notifications where emotions will be low. Save the discussions for two-way communication like a call, or better yet, a face-to-face meeting. While it may take a little more planning on the front end, this allows for instant responses back and …
A few months ago, I shared what we were seeing with electrical switchgear and the electrical slowdown that we had been facing. In summary, electrical panels were trickling in late, often missing components. Most of the time, there was only a simple note from the shipper that said something like, “This product is missing components.” …
Impatience has long been a characteristic that people try to improve upon, control or reduce. “Good things come to those who wait,” as the saying goes, but what if impatience is actually good, when taken in small doses? According to this article, in certain circumstances, being impatient can also make one a bit more efficient …
Turkey has been on our mind this week. Yesterday, I was talking with Kamal Ahmed, a project manager with us who is originally from Lahore, Pakistan, about the recent earthquakes in that part of the world. Our conversation went to prevention, and the seismic base isolation system that is becoming more common. In this case, …
Years ago, one of my mentors shared something that stuck: “You only have one chance to get it right the first time.” It’s interesting how often I have repeated this comment over the years, to people on our team and beyond. To me, this advice was even more poignant when we were first getting started …
Sometime ago, shortly after I read a book by Peter Drucker, I wrote a post about company culture. One of the most powerful quotes I took from that read was, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” In today’s environment where we are hearing about employee shortages, high turnover and “quiet quitting,” that sentiment seems more relevant than …
No one does research quite like Google. I recently read an article about the company’s thorough approach to discovering the traits that make managers great. They started on a mission to find the algorithm for a better boss back in 2009, implementing their findings into the hiring process three years later. They now have more …
Since the pandemic, much has been said about the office market being in flux. Some have shifted back to a physical space, others have opted for a hybrid model and some choose to remain 100% virtual. For us, it works best for us all to be together in a physical space. In a large part, …
One of the best things about a long-term customer relationship is the opportunity to grow, change and adapt with them. We’ve been building with the Target team for more 3 decades now and during this time, our retail division has built many of their store formats. There have been Super Targets, one-of-kind stores, remodels and …
As most know, the Federal Reserve has several goals, with two being keeping inflation at 2% and maximum employment. The two main tools in the tool box are the discount rate and buying or selling of Fed-held securities. When it comes to the current state of inflation, many have wondered why the Feds did not …
Residential construction is continuing to morph in ways I never would’ve expected a few years ago, but as I think about things, it makes sense with the present state of existing commercial developments. Where department stores, office buildings and retail sit empty, we are seeing the space converted to multifamily, often adding restaurants, food stores …
While we believe the supply chain is getting better, and we are turning a corner with shortages of construction materials, several on our team have been faced a new challenge this week regarding electrical panels. It seems that electrical gear, breakers and panel boards are running a 6-8 month lead time. GFCI breakers are averaging …