For the past two and a half years, the pandemic has caused chaos throughout just about every industry. While the trade industry was one of the lucky few who could still do some work, many trades had to shut down temporarily due to changing restrictions. Now that the world is beginning to open again and we are living with a new normal, it’s time for you to start getting your business back on track.

Here are some ways you can evaluate your business's position and work towards recovering from the stress of the pandemic.

Reschedule appointments you’ve missed

If you were in an area that was affected by lockdowns (which was most of them!), no doubt you’ll have had to have cancelled appointments or jobs during this period. Managing a backlog of work with current booked in jobs may feel overwhelming, so you must have a good strategy to control how you reduce this build-up of work.

Manage expectations

The trade industry is well and truly open again, so it’s time to be proactive with your clients. Don’t just assume that your clients will reach out to your business. Instead, notify them to them to let them know that you’d still love to work with them on their project.

Every client you have will likely think that their request is the most important one. However, with jobs banked up from any shutdowns and an increasing amount of new jobs coming in, it’s essential that you manage expectations so that you don’t burn out. Working overtime every day may help you catch up initially but it leaves room for more mistakes

Communication is critical when it comes to managing expectations. Letting your clients know where you stand as a business will ensure that they don’t cancel their job and take their business elsewhere. Being upfront and honest about project details and timelines helps you be transparent with your clients about where their job is at. Dedicated client portals are great tools to keep this transparency alive, as it engages customers throughout the entire project.

Prioritise jobs

Despite popular opinion, you don’t always need to prioritise in a first-come, first-served way. This doesn’t consider the timelines of each task, as well as how urgent they are. The best way to manage your task list is to identify and address your most urgent tasks first.

Working out a priority structure that works best for your business will allow you to ensure that all staff are on the same page. Having a structure in place should help to simplify the process in which you sort through your jobs. Where you have multiple jobs of the same importance, figure out which jobs will take the shortest time and the lowest cost to get done. Doing so will get more tasks off your plate sooner and prevents longer wait times for clients.

Improve job schedules

While it might feel tempting to work continuous overtime until a job has finished, however packing your crews schedule full of back-to-back jobs can actually be less effective.

Over-scheduling can have a detrimental effect to your team overall and lead to increased stress, which can also increase the risk of injury. Developing a strategic schedule means you can maximise your team’s productivity, limit long hours, and reduce sloppiness. If you have multiple staff on your crew, it can be useful to match jobs based on your worker’s skills, qualifications, availability, and location.

Hire more staff where possible

If your budget allows, look into hiring temporary employees who could be seasonal workers or subcontractors employed as project-based hires. These hires can help to manage backlog without you being tied down by a large permanent workforce. Targeted job ads will ensure you find the right person for the exact role you’re trying to fill.

Setting up apprenticeship programs or asking your current employees for referrals can increase the number of external hires you’re looking for.

Evaluate your business’s situation

Evaluating your business’s situation is important. The pressure of the pandemic has collapsed so many companies already, and skilled labour and materials are in short supply. Most tradies are completely bogged down with business – some even having waitlists that extend over a year. The price rise on supplies has also thrown a (metaphorical!) spanner in the works, as many tradies use the appeal of fixed price quoting to secure customers. This causes all sorts of problems for businesses that now have to purchase materials at a higher cost than they were once first quoted and the nature of the fixed price quote means they’re unable to change it, resulting in lower profit margins.

John Wallace, Fairview’s state sales manager, says, “The construction industry has always been fast-paced, but the supply chain crisis and price volatility has made it even more difficult to manage, has increased stress and pressure on project teams and is really testing each business’ resilience.”

Look after your crew’s mental health, including you!

As one of the industries that never stopped working throughout the pandemic, there’s a high chance of burnout and stress amongst your employees. With a significant staffing shortage, many tradies may often feel like they need to ‘push through’, rather than take some time to look after themselves.

Encourage your team to communicate openly with your clients about their anticipations and costs. Explaining to customers about the significant pricing increase and supply shortage will help to reduce your stress, while simultaneously managing their expectations for the project and whether they’re still happy to go ahead.

And, as always, although it might feel unnatural to start with, encourage open and honest conversations with your workers, whether that is at work or with other support systems. Having resources readily available to staff will also give them an anonymous source of assistance if they need it.

Getting your business back on track after the pandemic is a new situation for all of us. Managing your cash flow, employee health, and workload will help you to come out the other side as we adapt to the impacts of Coronavirus. When you’re ready to head back onsite, head into your closest stockist to grab all your workwear needs.