Keeping Up With What’s Going On
In the course of busy days it’s often difficult to keep up with your partners\subs and have your finger on the pulse of just what’s going on in their little corner of the constructing world.
Why would you want to know that? Just because each trade faces its own challenges and if you know those you can understand why some things aren’t working, but more importantly you might be able to get a glimpse of things that will affect their performance. Like having your own crystal ball in a way.
To get info about particular trades you can tune into publications and web sites that cater to them.
For example, if you had read the 2008 Profile of the Electrical Contractor published by Electrical Contractor magazine you would have found out that about 60 percent of electrical contractors are concerned about the effectiveness of counterfeit products and their ability to meet codes. Apparently there are knock-offs out there that aren’t really built to last and contractors can’t easily tell when they have purchased and subsequently installed them. This is leading to warranty issues they have to address.
You also would have discovered that 80 percent of electrical contractors say they receive incomplete plans and specs. This is nothing new. This affects everyone who builds, but in knowing that little piece of info at least you are reminded they face the same issues you do. Could you be a bit less prone to jump to judgement because of that knowledge? Maybe.
So, you ask, who has the time? Well, you could use RSS. Once you find a site that showcases information about a particular trade you can subscribe to its RSS feed. Whenever new articles or news items are posted they will show up in the feed and you can peruse them as you have time.
Not all sites are doing RSS feeds, but many do. The feed for the one above is this. You can use your favorite browser to view it, or, there are specialized feed readers like News Gator and Google Reader.
Information can change your perspective, and ultimately the outcome of your days.
