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May 21, 2011 Calgary Herald - Construction Sector Gains Soft Skills With Mentoring |
Construction Sector Gains Soft Skills
With Mentoring
Program helps workers with communication
By Derek Sankey, For The Calgary Herald May 21, 2011
Chris Bardell is a project manager with Stuart Olson Dominion Construction in Calgary. After more than a decade in the construction business, Bardell knows how things get done -through good relationships.
Chris Bardell started working in the construction industry in high school over summers and now, at age 30, he's learned how things really get done: relationships. Every building that gets built comes down to far more than the technical skills involved; it's the "soft skills" -communicating, negotiating -that truly gets results.
"Construction is a hard-nosed industry for sure, but at the same time there are a lot of people you deal with in the industry to get your projects completed," says Bardell, a project manager for Stuart Olson Dominion Construction. "There's a huge gap between the senior guys and the junior guys coming out of school."
It's that large gap between demographics that can sometimes lead to tenuous moments -knocking heads on the best way to get things done -but it's also an opportunity.
Doug Harrison, vice-president of Stuart Olson Dominion, realized that about eight years ago and had the foresight to explore innovative ways to arm his staff with the soft skills that ultimately get projects completed on time, on budget and with repeat customers.
"We're asking a lot of young people now to step up and perform at a very high level, which means your communications skills -the way you deal with people (and) build professional relationships -you're going to have to learn that very quickly," says Harrison.
He hired Diane Bonneau, a professional coach and president of Coaching Designs International Inc., to launch a coaching and mentoring program that aims to give people those skills.
The construction industry isn't likely the first sector you'd associate with coaching and some people were skeptical at first. "There is definitely some resistance at first when we start working with them because they don't see the need for it -they've been focused so much on the (technical) skills," she says. "They are linear thinkers, very factual, and they think they have their emotions in check really well, but we're human beings."
Nothing gets done without relationships. "We want repeat work and strong relationships with the designers, the owners and the trades because they will make us successful," says Harrison. "You can wave a contract all you want in someone's face, but if you have a strong relationship with that trade or designer, you sit down and work through the problem and resolve the conflict."
Nothing gets done without relationships. "We want repeat work and strong relationships with the designers, the owners and the trades because they will make us successful," says Harrison. "You can wave a contract all you want in someone's face, but if you have a strong relationship with that trade or designer, you sit down and work through the problem and resolve the conflict."
Bardell sees the wide gap between how the older generation gets things done and how the young generation expects to get things done and he knows it doesn't always match up very well.
"All these new people are coming into construction and how the new generation deals with people is different than the old generation," he says. There's also a faster expectation for the new people to learn not only the technical skills, but also how to handle the relationships. "You'll find you need to accelerate these people quicker," says Bardell.
"You don't do it yourself -you do it with all the people around you," he says.
Bonneau has coached people in lots of industries, but saw an opportunity when she started working with Harrison and the team at Stuart Olson Dominion to break into new territory.
"They learn to relate to people in a way that helps them get to the results they're looking for," she says. Her program includes an initial four-day facilitation session every two months, plus two coaching session a month and a mentoring component.
"There are difficult times, people who don't deliver, people you don't trust, people who you feel aren't pulling their weight and you need to be able to have conversations about this," says Bonneau. "There are a lot of frustrating situations that happen in construction."
Project managers and supervisors can do their part to teach some of these soft skills, but they're also busy people with deadlines. "Your supervisor tries to give you some of those skills . . . but they may not have all the skills to properly coach you with things like communication and difficult conversations you have," says Harrison.
"In the past, it's been very confrontational and that's not our style," he says. "How many people really want to bump a few heads together versus sitting down, identifying the problem and solving it in the best interest of all parties. That takes people skills."
DEREK.SANKEY@TELUS.NET
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