Well documented facts are indisputable.
Few people like conflict. (If you disagree, you know who you are!) But disputes are quickly resolved when reasonable, indisputable facts are presented in a well defined manner.
Let’s take the red light camera. We hate getting tickets! But it is really hard to argue when there, in glorious color, is a photo of your car directly below a glowing red light. “Oh yeah, I guess I did cut that too close.”
Subcontractors hold your success in their hands.
You are ultimately responsibility for the success of your project. You must answer to your superiors, clients, regulators, and in some cases, your own wallet. But let’s be honest, a project’s fate, and yours with it, is largely held in your subcontractors’ hands.
How do you keep your subcontractors working hard without wasting your time and energy on conflicts and disagreements?
Systematic record keeping is the key.
Well documented, even photographic, records are great for everybody. Contractors know they cannot perform substandard work and employers are confident they are getting what they paid for.
For example, Upwork.com allows businesses to hire contractors from around the world. The contractors perform various tasks like word processing and web development. A photo is taken of the contractor’s screen every few minutes while they are working and put in a “work diary”. Everybody is on the same page.
You may say, “I don’t want it to look like I don’t trust my subs.” But systematic documentation protects contractors as well. If they are proud of their work, they will be thrilled to have it documented. If they are not, then frankly you do not want to hire them in the first place.
A photograph can be worth a lot more than 1,000 words.
The same principal can be applied to many industries. This was part of the inspiration for our Fovea Aero Vision system.
Subcontractor disputes on construction projects can be quickly settled by presenting our systematic, 360-degree photographic documentation of a work site. Subs know they will be held accountable and everybody from site supervisors to stakeholders stay on the same page.
Leave behind opinion and emotion when faced with conflict. Just present the facts.