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The chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of uncertainty in the construction industry, but having goals for your business makes it much easier to move forward, even during difficult times. Though your company’s goals will vary from one project to the next, these five goals will make it easier for your company to see consistent growth.

1. Always Set Project Safety Standards

It's easy to set company safety standards, but that doesn't mean those standards are happening in the field at every job site. What can you do to ensure that your company's safety programs will be followed at every job site?

Prior to starting any project, take the time to create a plan to identify all possible risks and create plans to prevent issues from arising from those risks. Then make sure to communicate that plan not only to your management team but to the rest of your team members to establish safety on the job site.

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By setting up safety plans and ensuring employees can communicate with management over safety concerns without repercussions will provide your company a strong base to work effectively and build a solid basis for growth.

2. Evaluate Communication and Teamwork from Within

It takes more than leadership to meet goals, it requires everyone to be on board with the plan. All of your team needs to be able to work together and communicate effectively, so constant evaluation in these areas can make a big difference in your company's performance. Your teams should not only meet in normal pre-construction meetings and project handoff discussions but should also do a debrief meeting shortly after project completion while areas of improvement or project successes are fresh.

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This allows everyone the ability to talk about what needs improvement as well as what was learned from that project. Project managers and foremen need to understand how vital, accurate, and timely communication is with other departments. When everyone knows how the company’s financial statements are impacted by accurate data from the field, it makes it easier to make the company to grow and operate at peak efficiency.

3. Develop a Strategy to Follow

It's easy to get stuck dealing with the day-to-day issues of your business rather than thinking about long-term goals. If you and your team are unable to follow an underlying strategy, managers can create competing goals or priorities which leads to wasted time, effort, and assets in the process.

It's easy to get caught not knowing where you should start and get stuck wondering which direction you should go in.

To start, you'll need to create a strategic plan by determining your company's vision and long-term goals. After you've documented your vision and long-term goals, it's much simpler to develop a strategy to get your business to that point. It's easy to get caught not knowing where you should start and get stuck wondering which direction you should go in.

If you find yourself unable to move forward, start by looking at your KPI’s or other operating metrics and make sure you can develop smart goals and provide growth opportunities for your company. By knowing what your overhead costs are, whether your company was profitable and other metrics, it becomes easier to work with your advisor to set your business goals and stay accountable to them throughout the year.

4. Prioritize Creating and Communicating a Succession Plan

Outside of economic crashes, lack of planning for continuity of business is one of the biggest causes of business failure. Those that don't have backups before a disaster, companies that suddenly lose their owner, or other unexpected crises within the company could potentially cause a company to fail.

To prevent this, you should prepare a written succession plan. Beyond ownership transition, you should also create a contingency plan. Many companies fail to undertake this planning until a tragedy happens or someone leaves the company unexpectedly. These contingency plans should be written and communicated to the right people, and employees should be cross-trained to help improve your company’s response to an emergency.

5. Upgrade Your Cybersecurity

To keep your company operating effectively now and into the future, you'll need to make sure that it's keeping up with changes happening in the industry, this also includes digital transformation and the risks that is associated with those risks.

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Updating your cybersecurity and staying on top of changes in digital security is vital to your company's growth. Protecting your data from cyberattacks is something that needs to happen no matter how small your company. By staying proactive in your cybersecurity with issues such as risk assessments, vulnerability scans, and internal controls, you can provide solid growth for your company.

Making These Goals Happen for Your Business

If you look at this list and don't know what you need to do to get started, working with an advisor who can help your business set and achieve goals can make a big difference. An advisor who understands the construction sector not only can help you set smart goals but also can provide an experienced viewpoint on your company. They can provide accountability for your goals.

If you're ready to see what your company can do with solid goals in place, please contact LGT’s construction group.