Bob's Thought for the Week

Some of the old timers here will remember a retired superintendent Gerry Shoaf. Gerry was here for 35 years and his father Gordon was also a former superintendent and general superintendent here at Williams Company for over 30 years. I always enjoyed walking Gerry's jobsites. Most of you know that when I'm on a jobsite, I'm asking a lot of questions. How is this sub doing, when is permanent power, how are the building inspectors, or who is the roof manufacture? Gerry was always quick with a good answer and when he didn't know, he would always send me a follow up email either that day or the next. 

I can't tell you how much I appreciated the follow up. In a typical day I'm asking a lot of questions to a lot of people. Almost always there is a follow up component that I am expecting back. I have a good memory but it is impossible for me to remember everything that I have asked folks to follow up on or complete. My expectations are that the person I am talking with will take action and follow up. 

Many of you know that I started here at Williams Company as a project manager and have worked my way up to CEO. One of the things that I attribute my rise to is the ability to follow up. Any task that my boss ever asked me to complete, I wrote down and then followed up with them to let them know it was done. I always had plenty to do, but if Bruce or Alan Williams asked me to do something, it went to the top of the list. The same went for our clients. If they called, I was on it. And if I couldn't get the task done in the allotted time, I would tell them of the delay and why. This just made sense to me. If my boss or a valued client needed something, I was going to get it done! 

One of our core values here at Williams Company is We Will Be Incredibly Responsive - We will anticipate and respond to our team and to our clients. How are you doing on that front? Do you have a system? Are you organized? Can our clients and your supervisor count on you to get the little things done? 

Believe it or not, this is what separates us from our competitors. Your ability to follow up, follow up, follow up in a timely manner will make a huge difference in your performance and getting things done. When you master follow up, everyone wins!