restoration business management | iRestore Restoration Software

A Fresh Look at Online Training

Posted on May 5, 2020July 27, 2020 by iRestore

restoration business development, restoration business management, continuing education Online training, e-learning, virtual classrooms, and other terms are becoming a new norm. In the landscape of education, there are limitless resources that are accessible to us and applicable to a variety of disciplines from technical to soft skills. Although there is a new light, none of this is new. As we operate and adjust to a world stricken by the challenges and changes brought on by the pandemic, in last month’s restoring success, A Cultural Shift, we considered some adjustments and speculate on what a new post pandemic world may look like. As an industry, we can embrace, adjust, and utilize training opportunities in new ways.

Children, college students, and adult learners have been nimble; educators have rose to the challenge to help others learn in new and innovative ways. For the first time, the IICRC has approved certain courses and certifications to be offered online via live streaming. The transfer of knowledge and experience to those that serve our industry’s training needs must rise and challenge the status quo in delivering education. Companies and the individuals can benefit from the value that training and education can bring to careers and company results. As with most things, there is not a crystal ball about the training landscape that may exist at any point in the future. However, we can easily speculate by understanding of ripple effect of the pandemic both culturally and economically. We can also look at trends, other industries, the rapidly evolving learning technology and the understanding of distance learning. As individuals and organizations, we can anticipate, seek opportunities, and shift so that we may best embrace the potential benefits of expanded online and virtual training opportunities.

All good and valuable things require effort and nurturing. Training is a tool and an investment that can be utilized to grow, develop and create opportunity. It does not necessarily define success but can help lead us to it. It has been a long-time hurdle to on-board those new to our industry and organizations in a way that is engaging, efficient and productive. Benefiting from on-line training opportunities starts with choosing engaging and valuable courses that meet your learning and possibly credentialing objectives. As well, our organizations’ cultures and individual’s desires for growth and self-development must be fostered to support training initiatives.

The following is a list of a few considerations in embracing on-line training for your Restoring Success:

Online training benefits: The are many benefits that when deliberately embraced can be fully enjoyed.
- Accessibility: We can access subject matter, skill training and development, educators and expertise, anywhere in the world at any time.
- Flexibility: In the 24/7 world of organized chaos, programs that offer flexibility can be very helpful. In addition, self-paced learning allows individuals to move through curriculum at a comfortable pace on an individual basis.
- Cost Savings: Some programs may present the opportunity to save.
Choosing Training Programs: Use the proper due diligence and thoughtfulness in selecting courses and programs. Consider specifically what you are looking for from your educational choices:
- Gain insight and understanding to a discipline
- Gain or develop a certain skill or competency (technical, soft, other)
- Consider the level: Fundamental, Intermediate, Advanced, etc.
- Practical Application
- Certification/Credential/Documentation of Competency
Company Tips: As an organization, training and career development can be proactively managed, celebrated and be a part of the culture.
- Be Deliberate: In the New Tech Under Your Wing, there are a variety of tips to help incorporate training and learning in your day to day operations. One of the most important that applies to in-person or on-line is to encourage field training and mentoring when applicable.
- Engage: Reward and celebrate learning and growth.
- Invest: Time, resources, and attention to the utilization of on-line training as a tool.
Individual Tips: There are a variety of resources available on-line to help individuals with being on-line and/or adult learners.
- Be an active and engaged learner
- Limit distractions
- Scheduled your courses and be as committed to your commitment as you would be with a live, in-person course.

The time is now to develop your company and individual training and education programs while enjoying all the benefits in the worldwide land of learning opportunities.

Best wishes for happy, safe, restoring success.

Restoring Success: It’s All a Matter of Culture

Posted on February 19, 2020February 20, 2020 by iRestore

Culture! I searched R&R’s website for the word “culture”, and it yielded over 200 results. There are lots of golden nuggets from industry experts that lie within. My first Restoring Success in January 2014, Core and Shared Values, spoke to understanding them, putting on paper, and living them. Six years later, I’m now realizing nearly every column I write circles back to one core topic: culture.

We have all read about it, talked about it, and understand how it impacts our organizations. It is a fairly abstract concept and there is not necessarily a right or wrong culture. Can such a gray area like culture be the ultimate key to success as defined by your organization?

Have you ever gone somewhere or to someone’s home and you felt uncomfortable? Have you ever brought someone in your organization and then questioned if they will fit in? Do people in the organization who become ingrained in the culture seem to thrive?

From a business standpoint, culture can impact an organization’s ability to adopt new technology, overcome challenges, provide world-class service, provide opportunities for growth, learning, development, and more. Descriptors of these attributes may sound like innovative, customer-centric, and adaptable. If I was asked to describe the culture in our organization, I would also use the word happy. It’s part of our culture to be happy. I like to work in a happy place, happy people serve others with joy, we attract and hire happy people, and if someone joins the team and exudes “grumpy”, they either get happy or … you get the idea.

Culture: the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization.

I love the restoration industry as a profession and my passion is in operations. There is nothing I enjoy more than process and order, developing it and the excitement of doing it in a world with intricacies and challenges. I love even more when processes, systems, and orders are followed consistently. In classes, we focus on standards of care that often become integral to companies’ SOPs, safety practices, workflows, and more. The reality is that drafting an SOP and distributing it does not make it so; culture and engagement are the keys.

A good restoration friend of mine, Chris Zahlis, the owner of Restoration 1 of Columbia-College Park-Annapolis, referred to the movements that naturally happen within an organization or in any given moment as “muscle memory.” Muscle Memory is a great way to describe the moment when the processes, procedures, and order become the culture of the company.

Culture is not just the “practices”, but also the attitudes and values and other characteristics that ultimately impact every facet of the organization and its outcomes.

One of our shared values is priding ourselves on our presentation and professionalism as a company. This value applies to our dress, communications, building, vehicles, equipment, and more. Although most of us in our organization think it is never good enough, our warehouse is typically organized and clean. I get on-going positive feedback about our warehouse and there is certainly methodology, process, and order but it is really just part of our culture. Nobody is “in-charge” of the warehouse; everyone naturally pitches in, tidies, and keeps it looking good.

Messy Vehicles and Culture Change

In spite of our values, clearly written expectations, making random announcements, holding individuals accountable, we have been challenged to keep the fleet, specifically the interiors, of our vehicles up to company standards. Why? It is part of our culture to keep our warehouse neat, orderly, and everything in its place and it is not part of our culture to keep the interior of the vehicles in pristine condition? Why is it not part of the company culture? How do you change the culture?

What are the options in tackling this cultural shift? Let’s try consistently leading with some standby clichés that have a track record of being effective:

Inspect what you expect
Keep it front and center (consistently)
Lead by example
Publicly praise

It is time for a change. The leadership talked about it and showed passion. We committed to weekly inspections, publicly praised, tweaked forms and processes, and after a couple of months, the culture started to change. People would walk up to me with pride and joy, “I cleaned my vehicle!”

Then, for the leadership, everything else became more important and the momentum of the cultural shift stopped. As soon as the elements that contribute to the culture shift stop or are inconsistently (Inconsistency, The Silent Enemy) exemplified it will unravel.

Culture is complex and the backbone of your intricate organization. Next time you are challenged by something in your organization, in addition to the process, people, and systems, consider it as a matter of culture. Be inspired by others, be observant, be thoughtful, and check out some of the great ideas found within the R&R archives.

Burnout in the Restoration Industry: Effective Workload Management | Part 3

Posted on January 14, 2020February 20, 2020 by iRestore

Editor’s Note:

This is the third and final article of a multi-part series on employee burnout in the restoration industry. Part one introduced the nature of burnout and summarized findings from a study on burnout in the restoration industry. Part two was a discussion on things restoration companies can do to manage one of the most complicating factors for burnout among restoration professionals – workload. Part three advances the conversation and discusses what restoration professionals can do at the individual level to manage workloads more effectively.

As we considered the findings of the burnout study and addressed hours worked, we first examined possible solutions focused on volume and capacity at the organizational level. When we consider the same dials of volume and capacity at the individual level, it is in the context of both the design of the operation and its culture. Individual volumes that allow for an optimal work-life balance will be contingent on a variety of factors that include but are not limited to capacity, competence, proficiency, efficiency, stress tolerance, focus, and organizational skills of the individuals. Although we consider adjusting the dials of volume and capacity at an individual level, this ability will be influenced by the culture and capabilities of the organization. There must be a level of personal responsibility for one’s own desire to find the proper work-life balance, commitment to the organization, and their individual roles. The company must share by supporting and creating a culture and operation that supports the adjusting of dials at the individual level.

Individual Volume

Due to the nature of the industry, one could say that a certain amount of flexibility and stress tolerance is a trait shared by many – restoration professionals appear to be highly resilient. At times, restorers may seem to be at their personal “best” when the chaos hits, and this may be supported by the finding that participants reported elevated feelings of professional efficacy while experiencing elevated feelings of exhaustion and cynicism – which is unique when compared to patterns in other industries.

1. Open Work Environment: Individuals and supervisors should have open communications regarding the volume of assignments.

Supervisor: “I have another job to go over with you”

Team Member: “I am feeling overloaded. I can take a new job next week but could really use a couple more days to get caught up”

Supervisor: “I will give it the job to Joe. Is there anything that I can do to help you?”

This comes with the caveat that managers need to be able to discern what volume a particular role should be able to manage and individual capacity. If someone has demonstrated they are not able to thrive under reasonable circumstances and with proper training, other options may need to be explored.

2. Assignments: The operation should be designed to manage assignment volume appropriately.

It sounds simple but without accessible information and/or understanding of workflows within the company, it will be difficult to manage individual workflows. A simplistic example is to consider a CAT event. The workload first peaks in the field operations. Several weeks later, the peak in company volume may flow into the administrative functions and affect administrative workloads (bills, invoices, and collections).
With the objective of assigning volume appropriately, we must understand the individual team member’s capacity and be mindful as we make assignments. We cannot arbitrarily make assignments based on job titles/descriptions. At any given point, we must consider the complexity of assignments and the individual’s capacity. For example, one team member may be able to manage 10 jobs effectively and another in the same position may be able to manage 20. A side benefit of this is that the company will likely be able to deliver services more consistently to the organization’s standards and objectives.

3. Workflows Adjustments: In consideration of the labor shortage and the fact that much of the workload within the restoration industry is technical and specialized, there may be an opportunity to control workload by challenging the current workflows and reassigning tasks. There are functions and flows within many parts of our organizations that require a combination of training and experience some of which are highly specialized. There are functions that may be easier to train and may have more accessible resources available. Workflow adjustments may be made within the organization as a response to workloads increasing for the individuals. As presented in Part 1, organizational level cross-training may give the ability to adjust workflows within, when deemed appropriate in controlling the workloads. An adjustment may also be approached by adding team members or outsourcing. Consider the following examples:

Crew leaders and technicians are working a high number of hours. One of their responsibilities is to clean and restock the equipment after a loss. This function can be easily trained and facilitated by team members other than the crew leaders and technicians.
Estimators are overloaded and one of their job responsibilities is to prepare the invoice. This is a part of their workflow that may be reassigned allowing them to contribute their specialized skill and relieving workload.

employee burnout, restoration business management

Individual Capacity

The organization must recognize the concept of capacity within the individual team members. A combination of encouraging, valuing, and investing in the development of individual capacity is a key ingredient to the ability to improve it. Individuals must take ownership of their capacity and understand the economics of it. It is in the best interest of individuals and the organization to increase individuals’ capacities. As one’s capacity grows, the individual can handle more work in less time, essentially reducing hours worked at a given volume of work. Individuals could also increase their value to the company. This basic principle can be observed in the practice of piece-rate work, where people are compensated based on output. Although the restoration industry does not lend itself to this method, the economic relationship between output and value is illustrated by it.

Resourcefulness: By definition, resourcefulness is “having the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties.” Be resourceful, challenge the status quo, and contribute to all aspects of adjusting workloads for you, for others, and for the organization. Applying resourcefulness includes but is not limited to evaluating and employing technology, evaluating workflows, finding new resources, and improving efficiencies.
Management Principles and Work Habits: The organization should support, and the individuals can be driven to increase their capacity, by developing skills like time management, email management, and being organized. Consider the time wasted looking for supply, piece of equipment, finding an email, touching the same document 10 times before we act. There is an opportunity to increase our capacity and possibly reduce the inherently related stress by developing ourselves in these disciplines.
Proficiency: The more proficient we are the more we can complete in a given amount of time. There are a variety of skills needed within a restoration company from monitoring a water loss to computer keyboarding. Companies should celebrate, develop, and encourage individuals to increase their proficiency in their skills and trades. In addition to executing our responsibilities with quality and consistency, we can grow and improve our proficiency in our skills and trades and be driven to do so. As an example, an estimator who is a novice will have to practice and be diligent, as a $5,000 estimate may take two hours to sketch and write. As proficiency is developed, the same $5,000 estimate may be completed in 30 minutes. At a given volume, the improvement in proficiency provided a net gain of 1.5 hours.

Organizations and their members can proactively manage volume and capacity to have a positive effect on the hours worked as a contributing factor to burnout within the industry.

As an industry, we can bring to the forefront the necessary skills, competencies, and practices that help its members enjoy the reward and opportunity offered. In consideration of the burnout study, by adopting these notions not only can we help professionals within our industry better enjoy the benefits and rewards of being a restoration professional there are additional benefits. In a time when finding new people to enter the industry is a challenge, we can better manage with the resources we have, we can help make our organizations stronger financially, and we can better serve those who call upon the industry in times of need. Beyond technical and soft skills, strategic operations, execution, workflow training, theory, and development can be actively pursued.

References:

Avila, J., & Rapp, R. (2019, January 2). Restoration industry burnout study. https://doi.org/10.5281/zendo.3404108

Bakker, A., & Demerouti, E. (2014). Job demands-resources theory. In C. Cooper, & P. Chen (Eds.), Wellbeing: A complete reference guide (pp. 37-64). Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Deloitte. (2018). Workplace burnout survey: Burnout without borders. New York, NY: Deloitte. Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/burnout-survey.html

Huberty, C. (1984). Issues in the use and interpretation of the discriminant analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 95(1), 156.

Lee, R., & Ashforth, B. (1996). A meta-analytic examination of the correlates of the three dimensions of job burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81(2), 123.

Leiter, M., & Harvie, P. (1998). Conditions for staff acceptance of organizational change: Burnout as a mediating construct. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 11(1), 1-25.

Leiter, M., & Maslach, C. (2011). Areas of worklife survey: Manual (5th ed.). Menlo Park, CA: Mind Garden, Inc.

Maslach, C., & Jackson, S. (1981). The measurement of experienced burnout. Journal of Occupational Behavior, 2(2), 99-115.

Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. (1997). The truth about burnout. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Maslach, C., Jackson, S., Leiter, M., & Schaufeli, W. (2016). The maslach burnout inventory: Manual (4th ed.). Menlo Park, CA: Mind Garden, Inc.

Maslach, C., Leiter, M., & Schaufeli, W. (2008). Measureing burnout. In Cooper, & S. Cartwright (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of organizational well-being (pp. 86-108). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Pines, A., Aronson, E., & Kafry, D. (1981). Burnout: From tedium to personal growth. New York, NY: Free Press.

Schaufeli, W., & Bakker, A. (2004). Utrecht Work Engagement Scale: Preliminary manual (1.1 ed.). Utrecht, NL: Occupational Health Psychology Unit, Utrecht University.

Schaufeli, W., Salanova, M., Gonzalez-Roma, V., & Bakker, A. (2002). The measurement of engagement and burnout: a confirmative analytic approach. Journal of Happiness Studies, 3(1), 71-92.

Seashore, S., Lawler III, E., Mirvis, P., & Cammann, C. (1983). Assessing organizational change: A guide to methods, measures, and practices. Hoboken, NJ, US: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Tonidandel, S., & LeBreton, J. (2013). Beyond step-down analysis: A new test for decomposing the importance of dependent variables in MANOVA. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(3), 469.

Wigert, B., & Agrawal, S. (2018). Employee burnout, Part 1: The 5 main causes. Washington, D.C.: Gallup. Retrieved from https://www.gallup.com/workplace/237059/employee-burnout-part-main-causes.aspx

Restoring Success: Lisa’s New Year’s Resolution

Posted on January 3, 2020February 20, 2020 by iRestore

By: Lisa Lavender

No more tacit approval.

I know that I do it; I do it too much. I know it is counterproductive to many objectives and I know that it sets a poor example for others in leadership positions. I am resolved to stop giving tacit approval.

What is tacit approval? It is giving “approval” by a lack of addressing something; the unintended consequence of silence is the implication of approval.

Let’s take a very simple example. Appropriate footwear in the restoration industry is a must. Someone reports to work and is walking around the warehouse in flip-flops. You see it, walk by it, say nothing and do nothing. As a leader, your silence is implying approval of wearing flip-flops to work. The next day someone else is wearing flip-flops; everyone in leadership sees it and says nothing. Next thing you know, you walk into work one day and you have a full-on flip-flop disaster with half the company in flip flops with toes exposed to danger everywhere.

Our culture and operating results are often a result of what everyone is consistently rallying around both in the “most important” operational movements to the values and behaviors. The things that stay front and center, get attention, and get talked about often become part of the organization’s everyday norm. Likewise, the details and performance issues that go unaddressed also can quickly become the norm, not through formal policy or declaration but via tacit approval. Tacit approval is related to the concept of accountability; however, the result is that it is literally perceived as approved and acceptable behavior.

I personally have had this experience with the policy of personal cell phone use during work hours. This is prohibited but often goes unaddressed. Every so often, we see an excess of personal cell phone use, do a crack-down, a couple of months later, the leadership (including myself) starts walking by as phone abuse happens and then once again, it is a problem. If it was consistently addressed in a positive and constructive manner by leadership, it would likely be less of a problem.

Tacit approval can be a problem with details like positioning cords that create tripping hazards or larger performance issues like failure to update job documentation according to company standards. Why is tacit approval committed?

Not wanting to seem difficult to please or picky.
Lack of time.
Our attention is drawn to other things.
Avoidance of confrontation.

My resolution stems from my Dad. A retired insurance executive, he has been coaching and developing the leadership in our organization for many years and has bestowed much valuable wisdom upon us. Thoughts from Dad, Paul Pinchak, affectionately referred to as our Senior Consultant:

Too often, managers use the following thought process:

“I’ll talk to him next week…”
“I’ll wait until her review to bring this up.”
“It’s really not that bad, maybe he’ll do better next time.”

Managers and supervisors at all levels need to be aware that by not addressing a work-related performance issue, an individual is likely to assume what they are doing is acceptable. The longer it goes on; the longer the reinforcement that all is well. The manager who puts off (sometimes indefinitely) talking to their subordinate on an issue that needs to be addressed is doing their organization and the employee a disservice. Is it always easy? No. Is it part of a manager’s responsibilities? Yes.

After nearly 20 years of lecturers about giving tacit approval and my own awareness of what I am doing, I have made this my new year’s resolution. No more tacit approval or excuses for giving it.

I wish you the best-restoring success in 2020 in both your goals and resolutions.

Read More Restoring Success by Clicking Here

Burnout in the Restoration Industry: Managing Workload | Part 2

Posted on December 13, 2019February 20, 2020 by iRestore

Editor’s Note:

This is the second article of a multi-part series on employee burnout in the restoration industry. Part one introduced the nature of burnout, and summarized findings from a study on burnout in the restoration industry. Part two begins a discussion on things restoration companies can do to manage one of the most complicating factors for burnout among restoration professionals – workload. Part three advances the conversation and discusses what restoration professionals can do at the individual level to manage workloads more effectively.

Nature of Workload for Restoration Companies

The nature of our industry has inherent demands and fluctuations that seem challenging to control. At any given point, a variety of circumstances from a catastrophic weather event to the loss of a staff member can have a dramatic effect on the workload of the company and the team members. It is safe to say that a career in restoration is not a 9 to 5, 40-hour per week job; however, in consideration of the findings of the burnout study, there is much to be gained by proactively managing the workloads of our team, our most valuable assets.

When we consider workload, we can look at it from two related perspectives: organizational and individual. Can solutions be found by balancing volume and capacity at both levels? In part one of this series, we will delve into some potential solutions that allow us to control volume and capacity at the company level followed by the second part, which will examine the balance at the individual level. It should be noted that these concepts are not exclusive to each other, but rather are inter-related strategies that can be considered in our efforts to reduce workload.

As we consider taking control of volume and capacity in our companies, there are added benefits of a few sound principles that apply to the effective management of our day to day operations. While avoiding the epidemic of burnout from affecting your team, we may be able to improve in our service to others and find sound economics and financial benefits.

employee burnout, restoration business management

Volume of Work

It may seem counterintuitive to control or decrease the volume of work coming into your company. You have strategized, invested, and have put great energy into having the phone ring and then we want to decrease it? At any given point, when your volume is exceeding your capacity, not only are we exposing the team to the threat of burnout, there is a risk of detrimental side effects to your reputation, customers, and quality of your services.

When do you know that it is time to dial it down in an industry where you could be inundated one week and waiting for the phone to ring the next week? There is not necessarily an exact science to this but rather an understanding of your capacity combined with intuition and being in tune with your team and organization.

In Eastern Pennsylvania, what started out as a steady summer, turned into an unrelenting series of individual localized flood events that continually moved around targeting and retargeting a localized area. The first of the flood events to wreak havoc presented itself in early July. The team worked diligently around the clock until everyone was taken care of in some way. Then another flood, and another flood, and another flood, with nothing but weather forecasts, there was no way to tell that the weather would cause extremely high volumes for over two months straight. After several weeks, it was time to dial it down for the good of the team and the quality of the services being delivered. There is no crystal ball in our business; therefore, we must be able and willing to pivot at any given point.

When volume is exceeding capacity, the following are a few strategies that may help control and reduce workload:

Managing Expectations:
- Evaluate and prepare to communicate realistic timelines that allow you a more manageable volume as a company.
- Be honest and upfront to those you serve and make commitments based on reasonable workloads. Example: “Normally we are able to respond to emergencies within an hour. However, due to the high volumes of disasters in our region, we are scheduling emergency responses two days out.” If you are managing repair/reconstruction volume, give accurate and upfront timelines for repairs to begin.
- Be prepared to help those who reach out to you. Refer other restoration companies who may be able to help sooner and/or give tips on how they can mitigate until you can respond.
Pausing / Controlling Streams:
- Many in our industry have a variety of relationships and strategies that bring revenues to the organization. As an effort to control workload, the following is a sample of potential sources that can be temporarily paused or reduced:
- Insurance programs: direct and TPA (third-party administrators)
- Lead generation and referral programs
- On-line initiatives and advertising
- Other preferred vendor lists
Territory/Coverage Area:
- The territory or area of coverage that your company covers may be something to evaluate when attempting to dial down the volume. Depending on circumstances and geography, reducing coverage area (even slightly) can have a reduction in volume that has an exponential effect on workload. As an example, if there are areas that you serve that require a 90 to 120-minute drive per day, you can potentially buy back three to four hours in drive time with a minimal effect on total revenues. At times, there may be good economics to this approach as drive distance can also have an effect on job profitability.

Company Capacity

When we consider capacity, we are literally looking at the amount we can produce with our resources. Our resources can include but are not limited to human, equipment, vehicles, and facility. Depending on the timing, both internal and external forces can influence capacity. As we look at the environment today, unemployment is at a historic low, and this could be directly affecting your company’s capacity by making it challenging to hire and add to the team. During the polar vortex of 2014, due to the widespread effects of severely cold temperatures, equipment and supply inventories were affected.

In general, to be able to adjust and control capacity we need solid systems and operations in place that allow us to know what resources are available at any given moment. Consider that you have depleted your equipment inventory, perhaps you rented additional equipment and that is also depleted, one may plan and schedule based on the timing of equipment being pulled and available by using systems and tracking.

Our team also influences capacity as it applies to the human resources within our organization. By employing a similar approach in scheduling and managing our equipment, we must also add the leaderships’ empathy and intuitiveness for the team. The individuals who make up your team may have a vast array of skills, proficiencies, individual training, and circumstances that may also contribute to your overall company capacity.

As we consider some possible solutions to increasing your capacity as a company with a focus on our human resources, it can decrease the workloads on the individual team members. In addition, there is sound economics to some of the considerations that apply when operating at any given volume level.

Expanding Capacity

The following strategies may be helpful when trying to expand capacity to reduce the workload on the individuals within the company:

Improve Efficiency:
- Examine and find ways to decrease the workload by improving efficiencies.
  - Duplication of efforts
  - Employing technology when possible
  - Routing and movements in our field operations
- “The way we always did it.” Be mindful of activity within workflows that may have little or no value to the organization and eliminate it.
- Within the workflows there may be opportunities to reassign tasks to better utilize the individual’s special skills and improve their workload while increasing the capacity of the organization.
Expand your Resources:
- Other Restoration Companies: Either referring other restoration companies or developing relationships to work together.
- Subcontractors: Utilize your existing subcontractors and aggressively build new relationships.
- Other Sources of Labor:
- Employment agencies may be able to supply a variety of labor and support for your team. They may also be a resource to manage the HR and processing of seasonal and other type of employment opportunities that could help the team.
- Be creative. For example, if there are local colleges in your area, you may be able to recruit college students to help monitoring water losses and other tasks which may prove to give some relief to your team on weekends and after hours. The college students could be run through the employment agency for your ease of management.
- Specialty Resources: From accounting to estimating, there are a variety of specialty services, some that are even industry specific, that may be utilized at any given point in managing capacity.
Develop and Train:
- Proficiency: Encourage and develop individual’s proficiency in their skills.
- Organization Skills: Including but not limited to email management, time management, etc.
- Leadership and Soft Skills: Imagine a great technician who was trained and developed in their leadership and management abilities. This technician can run a loss with two less experienced individuals allowing the opportunity to increase capacity.
- Cross Train: Cross training individuals within the organization not only gives team members the opportunity to increase their value to the company; it also allows the company to be nimbler when managing fluctuations in volumes.

Process and Structure

An overarching imperative to being able to proactively manage volume and capacity is having strong day to day processes and structure. Strategic scheduling, workflows, procedures, and best practices provide the ability to have information and structure to pivot and adjust these as needed.

At any given time, we can adjust volume and capacity to help us manage workload. Managing the company workload will help the individual team members enjoy the reward of being a part of the restoration industry and avoid burnout.

Lisa, Contributor and Co-Author

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Tag: restoration business management

A Fresh Look at Online Training