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Just cast your mind back to your childhood days, going on a car journey any longer than 30 minutes was a big deal.  The adrenalin of going on such a long journey definitely warranted the need to fully prepare.  Stocking up with books, travel games, packets of sweets or anything else to occupy the mind, would all ease the pain of the gruelling journey.  What we probably don’t recall is the extremely infuriating question we would relentlessly pummel our parents with – “Are we nearly there yet?”

Only when the situation is reversed and we find ourselves firmly in the driving seat, with our own kids wearing us down with the same question some 10 minutes out of the driveway, do we really appreciate just how frustrating a question it really is…

This is the unanswered question that no doubt lingers in everyone’s mind every minute of every day.  We all want to put this crisis behind us – and fast.

But as much as we might want life to be different, we have to learn to be prepared for the long haul.  And in all honesty, none of us really know how long that will be.  Welcome to the world of uncertainty.

No one can see the road ahead, but we have to find our way through this.  Here’s how:

  • Count the small wins daily.  As a leadership team, we love to spend time strategizing on our 3 year plan, dreaming of the future, spending numerous hours in healthy debate in offsite venues – never had we felt so comfortable that we had nailed our 2020 strategy… until COVID-19 turned up.  The 3 year focus becomes a 3 month focus and everything scales back accordingly.  You start what feels like an endless journey of timelessness – every day is the same you can’t remember which day of the week it is and you feel like you are just watching the clock….Stop, get back in control.  Make every day count.  What are you going to achieve today?  As we often get told, How do you eat an elephant? – once piece at a time.
  • Perfection is the enemy of execution.   Having been used to a world where we had time, we could collect information in an orderly fashion and consult widely before making decisions, we are now in a parallel universe.  With things moving so fast, the decisions we make today maybe wrong tomorrow – that’s ok.  Its far better to make a decision than no decision and a strategy that’s 75% perfect but 100% executable is 100% better than a perfect strategy that’s too late to be effective.
  • Open and Honest communication removes the fear of the unknown.  When the pressure’s on and you just can’t see your way clearly ahead, the natural thing is to put on the brave face and tell everyone “it’s going to be ok, don’t worry” in an attempt to pacify any concerns and not be the bearer of bad news.  The biggest trust-building action you can do with your people is to tell them what you really think and maintain this on a regular basis.

I hope these words may help someone in these challenging times.  We have been really enthused with the take up we have had with our offers of help to the Construction Industry and remain resolute in our commitment to continue to help.  We would love to hear from you – simply email or call us – if there is anything we can do, we’d love to do all we can to help you.

Stay positive, keep opportunity-focused and stay connected.

All the best

Roscoe Price

Managing Director