It’s no surprise that coordinating, managing, and keeping in contact with multiple crews creates a massive headache — heck, coordinating and keeping up with my family group text is a pain, and that’s just six people!
Driving to and from different job sites, getting stuck in traffic, sending out unanswered texts, pestering your guys to call you from the job – it’s just a crapshoot. Will anyone actually answer your call? Will the drive out to the site be a massive waste of your time?
Luckily for you, we’ve gathered our best tips that make communicating with your crews and staying on top of job progress a helluva lot easier.
1. Create daily photo checklists.
Designing a checklist of essential photos to capture as soon as your crew begins each job ensures every project has a reliable reference point.
We created this must-take photo checklist for roofers, so take a peek and see if you can adapt it to work for your business! For an easier way to manage and organize these photos, check out the CompanyCam app.
By setting a standard, you can better anticipate how far along your crew is based on the most recent photos they’ve captured.
2. Add Details to Project Notes
Be sure to include all necessary details in your project notes. This includes specific instructions, contact information, and any other pertinent details that might be important for your crew. Clear and comprehensive notes can prevent confusion and ensure everyone is on the same page.
This is the perfect place to list special instructions like door codes, pet names, or other important information. Everyone on the project can access these notes and know where to park, how to enter the job site, and whether Kujo is friendly.
3. Time-Stamp Clock-Ins and Clock-Outs
Once you have your checklist in place, your project notes created, and your first 25 photos taken, use CompanyCam to clock in and out of each job.
Have a designated crew member take a photo when folks arrive to get work started for the day and another when the team leaves at the end of the day.
Not only does this allow you to check in and see when your crew is getting started, but it also acts as bonus liability protection for your company.
Say something got messed with overnight, but the homeowner sees it in the morning and blames your crew — because your crew took photos upon arrival and departure from the job, you can confidently say that your crew didn’t cause the damage and save you some cash from having to settle that dispute.
Something similar happened to Bernie Lawson and his building maintenance business.
4. Mention Crew Members on Specific Photos or Videos
Okay, so your crews are taking photos, clocking in and out, documenting measurements, and progress is happening. But then, someone runs into an issue.
Rather than calling your office or trying to explain the problem over a text or email, your crew can take a photo or video of what they’re running into, mention the exact person they need in the comments, and hash out the solution directly within the context of the issue.
Think of all those family feuds you’ve seen under a Facebook status, but it’s work-related and actually productive.
5. Add Subtractors as Collaborators
Not the only folks working on the job? If you’re working with subcontractors, you can add them as collaborators to the project, and they’ll be able to see all the progress you’ve made, past issues you’ve run into, and things they should be aware of.
You can even work on the same checklists with subcontractors in CompanyCam (full circle to our first point 😉).
Working with outside contractors in CompanyCam as never been easier. It’s free for you (and them!), reduces the back-and-forth, and everything is in one place. It’s worth looking into!
Communicating with your crews doesn’t have to be a thorn in your side. Using visual-first, photo documentation methods like CompanyCam, keeping the context of the issues front and center, and developing standard procedures and processes are all massively helpful when dealing with one or many teams.
Now that we’ve covered the steps to improve communication with your crew, check out this article for additional tips on how to boost customer satisfaction with better communication.
