From hands-on to hands-free
| July 2010
1. How badly do you want it?
There are a lot of things you will miss about being on site. Do you need to get off the tools so much that you are willing to put up with the problems that naturally follow from making such a radical change in your company?
2. What will I do once I am off the tools?
The tools are what you are running from, but you also need to know what you are running to. Sales and marketing? Estimating? Administration? You need to know what you are good at and head in that direction.
3. How long do you think it will take to get off the tools?
If you think it could take six months to get off the tools, give yourself a year. If you are ready for it to take a year, give yourself a year and a half. Why? Because there are problems that will crop up that you simply cannot anticipate. It will take more time than you think.
4. Who will replace you?
You plan to be someone else in your company, but who will be the former you? This may be one of the most important considerations, because the person who eventually picks up the tools that you are laying down has very big shoes to fill.
5. What will your clients think?
Your clients probably like the fact that the guy they negotiated the price for the job with is the same guy who shows up to do the work. What will they think when someone else suddenly shows up? Sometimes, the only way to make a transition like this is to close up the old company and start fresh with a new name and logo, and a new set of customers.
6. Have I got the energy/resources to make the change?
In the initial stages, the transition will mean more work and more stress as you get used to delegating site work to others. You may find your estimates don’t quite match up to your expectations for a while because your now unsupervised on-site workers are not as fast, or as committed, or as quick to solve problems as you were when you were there.
7. How will you monitor the work of others?
Monitoring the work that you no longer directly supervise is not easy. You have to come up with some ways of assessing the quality and speed of the work being done in your absence. Writing out a project plan at the beginning of the week will help. Putting more of the site work under fixed-price contract may work for you. Establishing written job descriptions for everyone on site will help.
8. Who will help you in the transition?
Your best hope of making the transition from the tools to the office happens if you do it with a coach or a mentor who can answer questions, provide support and let you know when you are on or off track.
9. Do you really know how to delegate?
The key to the transition is delegation. If you don’t think you can handle delegating work to others, and giving them room to fail, you better not consider this at all.
10. Why are you really doing this?
This question is worth asking just to make sure you are making the change for the right reasons. Here are some examples of wrong reasons: To make more money. Because my contractor buddies are doing it. Because I want to work less. Some good reasons? I want to build the business. I want to compete more effectively against my contractor buddies. I want to work just as hard, but use my strengths differently. CC