Construction Curiosities #85
Thoughts from The New Generation | Crazy Concrete Designs
Hey! Happy Saturday! Matt here.
Welcome to the Construction Curiosities newsletter!
A special warm welcome to the 49 new subscribers this week!
This weekly Newsletter explores the Curiosities of the Construction Industry. It's meant to help Drag the Construction Industry into the 21st Century by making you think, smile, and become motivated to drive innovation in your realm of the industry.
The Newsletter will focus on 4 primary areas of Innovation:
Technology & Tools
Digital Marketing & Social Media
Upskilling/ Mentorship
Being People First in all of the Above
We won’t hit on each of these topics every week but that’s what is in rotation!
Which are you most interested in exploring?
I’d love to hear it!
Summary
This week we will look at:
Thoughts from The New Generation
One Video: Voided Concrete Slabs
One Other Newsletter: LinkedIn Construction
One Meme: Without Columns? 🙀
Thoughts from The New Generation
by Tyler Janik, Assistant Project Manager
All too often we hear about the changing demographics of the construction management workforce. Now more than ever, the one-to-two year graduates are the ones reviewing your submittals, writing your RFI’s, and putting out the fires on the front lines of your projects. Yes, people without much experience. Men and women who, to this point, have learned most of what they know from the inside of a classroom.
I fall into this demographic myself. I have been out of college for a bit over two years now, and through my internships and full time endeavors, I have been fortunate enough to get to work on a decent range of projects and teams. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way as a young member of this industry:
1. There’s Sayers, and There’s Doers.
Now, this may sound like a cliché, but I think it is an ever-present dynamic in our industry. I find that there are two subsets of people: those who care about what they are doing, and those who are earning a paycheck. Which brings me to the importance of a personal stake.
To me, a personal stake is that sort of “X Factor” that can take someone to new heights in their career, or in absence of, serve as a ceiling along one’s advancement. Passion will breed success.
2. People Need to Be Exposed to Difficult Situations
So how do we create a culture that promotes people to have a personal stake? In my opinion, we have to give our newer employees the chance to fall in love with their work.
What did you assign your last intern to? Reviewing tile submittals? Taking OAC meeting minutes? If it was something similar to this, chances are this person came to you after each task with the daunting question of “what’s next?”
But what if they were given a general area or scope to manage? (with help of course) I challenge you to give your younger workers some real responsibility. Instead of reviewing tile drawings, let them manage the tile scope as a whole, or at least a portion of it. Let them fail and let them recover. In my eyes, that is the only way to truly learn how to navigate this industry.
3. We Don’t Know It All, But We Want To
Contrary to popular belief, your Project Engineer, Intern, or Assistant Project Manager does not think they know everything there is to know. In fact, they likely feel quite the opposite. I think this is something that is commonly misunderstood in the world of construction.
If your graduates are anything like I was when I first started, they want to soak up every piece of information the project has to offer. What gets mistaken as “entitlement”, is usually a desire to expose themselves to difficult situations and complex issues.
Who would you rather have on your team? The quiet, task oriented kid who doesn’t dare speak up? Or the one who’s inquisitive, curious, and asks the hard questions?
With more and more young people entering the industry every day, let’s continue to pass our knowledge on to anyone that will listen, and listen to all of those who have knowledge to offer. And while I don’t know it all, I sure plan to.
Thanks Tyler! I look forward to more of your insights in future editions (hopefully!)
Follow him on: LinkedIn
Do you want to be featured in an Upcoming Newsletter via a Guest Article or a Regular(ish) Contributor in 2024?
Hit me up at matt@constructionyeti.com. And let’s talk about it!
One Video
By mvvvc_ on Instagram:
The vaulted rippmann floor system could have huge impacts for sustainable high rise design in the future. The technology is pioneered by @blockresearchgroup and is currently being used in CreaTower by @gigonguyer. Image credits to the respective design teams and @boveda_tabicada
One Other Newsletter
If you are on LinkedIn and don’t know who to follow or don’t have time to scroll through the fluff to find the gems…
Do yourself a favor and subscribe to my buddy Lance Furuyama’s LinkedIn Construction Daily Newsletter.
He does a fantastic job of rounding up all the best parts of LinkedIn Construction Content and Events.
Get it here: LinkedIn Construction
One Meme
Speaking of Iconic and Wild Concrete Designs…
See y’all next week! ✌
