Protective clothing including eyes, ears and gloves!

Another rule that saved me lots of time and money is, “I don’t pay to have my builder drive to the lumber yard”. A professional that is prepared doesn’t forget that he’s running low on nails or pegs or tools or clothes or etc. I wasn’t happy that we ran out of pegs on a Friday evening just after all the local timber framers closed up shop. Because I could lose my borrowed backhoe to a real construction job at a moment’s notice, I had to drive to New Hampshire at night in the middle of one of New England’s worst snowstorms. I couldn’t afford to hold up the project and then have to wait for the backhoe to return to the job. The whole situation could have been avoided if the correct number of pegs were calculated and ordered before assembling.
I had agreed to pay Greg half to start fixing the plans and the other half when he was finished, “….including counting up all of the pegs…” My words were almost prophetic. It all worked out in the end but that was one rough spot that could have been avoided. Maybe I expect lot from people I hire, but where I work, people expect a lot out of me.
Golden Rule "Do unto others as I would have them do unto me." That’s how I strive to live and hope people that work with share that belief. Most important is, “Do what you say you are going to do, even if its not what I want you to do”. Communication is the key to teamwork and the most important part of communication is feedback. I tell my friends that I don’t need positive information, I need accurate information, even if its bad news. I can make better plans that way. I had a “friend” that Just call me so that I know to call someone else. It sure beats waiting for you and not getting anything done. If you broke the tape measure then just tell me so I can buy a new one. Don’t wait to mention it until we really need it and we don’t have one.
All these principles may be taken for granted but it’s important to establish and reinforce them. There are enough obstacles to building a big barn without having the headaches of miscommunication.