The performance of your roofing crews can have a major impact on your profitability, efficiency, and customer service. A great crew will help your business succeed and grow, while an underperforming crew can drag your business down.
With the right tactics for managing your roofing crews, you’ll be able to help them do their best work, stay on task, and deliver great customer service. Here are a few tips for how to run a roofing crew so you can get the most out of your crew members.
Read: How to Hire the Best Roofing Crew
4 Tips for Running a Roofing Crew
Tip #1: Give detailed, clear and actionable directions
Your crew members are experienced, hard workers. But even the best crews can go astray if they’re given unclear or inaccurate directions. Without a strong sense of what they need to do, how and when they need to do it, and what pitfalls to avoid, crews can make costly mistakes or work inefficiently.
Before you send your crew out on a job, make sure the directions you give them are detailed, clear and actionable. Give them all the information they need to do the job well, and deliver it in a way they understand. It can help to break the job down into smaller tasks so your crews can move forward efficiently without missing a step. Give your crews access to the directions when they’re on the job site, to minimize the chance of error. And don’t forget to pass along important details about customer preferences, so your crews don’t run afoul of a big dog or damage a garden with their ladders.
The Mobile Crew App from AccuLynx can help you provide better directions to your crews. In the Mobile Crew App, you can create checklists for each of your jobs with the tasks you need your crews to complete. Crews can check off these tasks in real time as they complete them, helping them stay on task and reduce errors. With the Mobile Crew App, your crews can access all your instructions while they’re in the field, so they’ll always be up to date and well-informed. And the Mobile Crew App includes an English-Spanish translation feature, so if you have crews that primarily speak Spanish, you’ll still be able to deliver clear instructions to them.
Read: Communicating with Cross-Cultural Crew
Tip #2: Help them feel invested in the work
People do their best work when they feel invested in the final outcome and take ownership of the project. Since most crews are hired as temporary workers, and they often have minimal interaction with the rest of your roofing business, it can sometimes be hard for them to be fully invested in their projects.
One way to encourage ownership of the project by your crews is to give them a broader vision of what they’re accomplishing. Installing or repairing a roof is about more than just putting on shingles—having a solid roof is essential to the wellbeing of your customers. Sharing stories about your customers and their needs with your crews can help them feel part of something bigger and motivate them to do great work.
Tip #3: Be a positive motivator
Affirmation, encouragement, and positive reinforcement go a long way. If the only time you give crews feedback is when they make a mistake, it will be hard for them to stay motivated. Be sure that you recognize great performance by crew members and speak up when you see someone doing well. When crew members know that their hard work is acknowledged, it will motivate them to perform their best. You can even incentivize excellent work with awards (like “Crew Member of the Month”), bonuses, or special gifts, to demonstrate how much you value strong performers.
Positive motivation is also crucial for underperforming crews. No one likes to receive harsh criticism, and spending too much time focusing on mistakes or difficulties can demoralize your crews. Make sure your feedback is constructive and gives a clear path to greater success, and recognize improvements when you see them. If your crews believe that they can do their best work by putting in more effort, they will work hard and be motivated to reach their goals.
Tip #4: Streamline and simplify communication
In the roofing industry, schedules and instructions can change on the fly. Whether you need to reschedule an installation, update customer information, or add an additional repair to the labor order, it’s important to make sure your crews are up to date on the latest information and receive communications in a timely manner. On the flip side, if crews have a question or need to make an update of their own, they need to be able to get in touch with office staff easily.
The AccuLynx Mobile Crew App streamlines and simplifies communication. It’s easy for crews to see their schedules and receive a notification when any changes are made. Using the app, crews can take photos of their work and upload them, helping to provide the most up-to-date information on the project. And crews and office staff alike can send messages back and forth in AccuLynx, enabling timely communication and ensuring everyone stays connected. Since these messages are stored in the AccuLynx platform, you’ll always have a record of what was said, and anyone can refer back to the messages as needed. The Mobile Crew App equips your roofing business with the right tools to keep the lines of communication open between crews and office staff.
The Best Tools and Strategies for Running a Roofing Crew
Taking your crews to the next level doesn’t have to be complicated. With a combination of roofing technology, strong leadership, and positive reinforcement, you can get the most out of your crews and put them on the path to success. And when your crews succeed, your business will succeed too.
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