What is the most difficult aspect of your business for you?

I would wager that it is likely people-related. Is it dealing with employees? Dealing with customers? Dealing with suppliers? Subcontractors? Someone else? All of the above?

In this technologically advanced age it is easy to forget just how important the “people factor” is. We have cars and trucks that have computers in them that are more sophisticated than the consumer computers of not too long ago. We are wired in, linked in, electronically connected and consumed to a degree that most of us probably could not have dreamt of just a few years back.

We text message, email, voicemail, interface, etc. etc. Our physical world is more complex than ever. The construction industry is constantly changing in terms of products and equipment. There are now endless computer programs to help manage the business. And the usual pace of everything seems to keep cranking up.

When you get down to it, though, it still all runs on people. The fanciest computer program in the world can’t do a darned thing for human relations. The best tools and craftsmen in the world can’t repair broken relationships.

With the pressures and complexity of running a construction business or related business today, it is easy to lose track of the importance of the people factor. And yet, the effects of not addressing the people issues can be bothersome at the least and perhaps totally destructive.

When people are noticed, listened to and valued there are powerful responses. When there is an atmosphere of honesty, respect and camaraderie, work life flows much better.

People are happier, they work better together, they are more effective, and the fact is, the bottom line is positively influcenced.