Spring 2010 Volume 74 Issue 1 - ME Rinker, Sr., School of Building ...

Lessons Learned
written by Dave Senko, Director of
Operations, Fluor Enterprises
Delight Your Client
Communication is the most important
element in any relationship.
Whether a spouse, co-worker, neighbor,
professor, superior, subordinate,
client or subcontractor, communication
is the avenue that drives the
mutual success for whatever may be
Dave Senko, BCN 1981
involved. As for satisfying your client,
that is “old school” and no longer sufficient.
Clients expect to be fully satisfied
as part of their contract or project; a ‘given,’ in other words. It is
now necessary to delight, excite, teach, mentor, protect, and whatever
else is needed to demonstrate you’re providing greater value.
This does not necessarily require additional monies. In the business
world (I do not recommend issuing a weekly memo to your spouse,
albeit, in some cases it may actually help), I have found an easy way
to build rapport with a client; client being a customer, owner, manager,
or supervisor. Over the years, this has been very well received,
without exception.
Projects have reporting requirements outlined in the terms and
conditions, scope of work, or otherwise designated by the client.
Those, of course, need to be developed, updated, and transmitted
as required. They typically include daily, weekly or monthly
progress reports; safety statistics, schedules, cost reports, change
orders, notices, submittals, and general correspondence typical of
most projects. This information is often voluminous and cumbersome,
sometimes to the point of being unusable or at least difficult
to summarize for any practical use. It can be hard to find errors and
the worst part is they are usually sent with the slight touch of a print,
enter, or send key. I do not want to undermine the importance of
detailed reporting (as they say, the devil is in the details!). However,
the more difficult part, often overlooked, is the timely interpretation
and summarization of that information into a state whereas needed
action items, recovery plans, or adjustments to execution, etc. can
be implemented quickly for maximum benefit.
In addition to all required communication, a simple communication
technique has been very effective for me. It is common for managers
to attend and report on their responsibilities in a weekly meeting,
often times early on a Monday morning. On large construction
projects, the pace is hectic, often involves weekend work, and as
BCN Grand Guard - Class of 1959
Congratulations to the following 1959 BCN alumni who were inducted
into the University of Florida Grand Guard Friday, November
20, 2009. The events of the Grand Guard Weekend included tours
of Oak Hammock and the University, lunch at the Rinker School and
the Gators vs. Florida International University football game. These
BCN alums were inducted at a ceremony held at the J. Wayne Reitz
Union that concluded with dinner and dancing.
such is difficult for a manager to report on his activities in an early
Monday morning status meeting with their superiors and peers.
By providing a simple bulleted memo, in electronic form easily
received on a laptop or blackberry, your senior client representative
can walk into his meeting with pertinent topics to report. He
will ‘look good’ and be able to report timely with brevity and confidence.
Some key benefits include:
• Information is concise, very current, and drafted so he can be
“well-informed.” There can be items that make him look good – to
show ‘he is on top of things’!
• Being issued directly from senior manager to senior manager, it
is reliable.
• Over time, you and your client will become more of a team, supporting
each other to success.
• The ‘informal’ memo can serve as support for an offensive or
defensive claim if needed; after all, you reported to him, and he
reported to his superiors on a regular and timely basis. Of course,
when pertinent, official correspondence should also be provided.
• The perception of your performance will improve as well your
reputation.
• Helps you to maintain focus on important milestones, issues and
objectives.
• If you blind copy this memo to your direct reports, it provides additional
reminder of committment.
Some requirements include:
• Must be at the end of the week or very near thereto, can be Friday
afternoon or Sunday evening, and must be done consistently.
• Need to include both positive and negative items; properly worded
to direct accountability.
• Must be concise bullets focusing on safety, milestones, major
starts, major completions, problems or other topics important to the
project, or the ‘concern of the day.’
• Must be one page, from you, to him, list activities for that week
ending and list activities planned for the following week. No more
than 4-6 bullets for each week.
If you would like to submit an article for
the “Lessons Learned” section of the newsletter,
please contact Kim Stanley at
kimms@ufl.edu.
(L-R) Bob Claudy, Bill Ayers, Joe Brown, Dr. Chini, Bob Bird,
George Austin, Curtis Culver, Wink Jackson
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