Hi Reader,
My neighbour recently had their roof replaced, but it didn’t go quite as planned. Mostly because…well…there wasn’t really a plan. Or any communication.
It all began with collecting quotes. Contractors came and went, each offering a different price. Some estimates were low because they only covered the basics, while others included every possible item they thought might come up.
During this process, the next door neighbour started complaining because every time a new contractor arrived, they stepped into their backyard unannounced to get a better view of the roof.
Things weren’t off to a great start.
Eventually, my neighbour chose a contractor and scheduled the work for a specific week, weather dependent. Naturally, it rained the entire first half of that week.
When the skies finally started to clear, they called the roofing company to ask if they were coming the next day.
There was no answer. Later, they learned that the person who usually handles scheduling was in the hospital being treated for kidney stones.
So they assumed the roofers were not coming the next day.
Roofers arrive
Bright and early the next day, sometime around 7 am, the roofers arrived. My neighbour, who had taken the week off to oversee the project, was still asleep. The roofers marched into the backyard and started to get to work, also waking up the complaining next door neighbour, who had just got home a few hours earlier from working a night shift at the hospital. They were not pleased.
After a while, the roofers told my neighbour the roof needed far more work than expected. They reminded them that this possibility was noted in the fine print of the quote, you know, the kind of extra tiny print everyone tends to skip?
To the tune of thousands of dollars more.
To make matters worse, the noise was unbearable. Along with the hammering and nail guns, the cheerful crew blasted punk rock from the rooftop.
What a mess.
It gets worse
A new problem popped up and this time with the delivery truck. It couldn’t fit into the driveway to unload the roofing supplies, so it blocked the street instead, which annoyed even more neighbours.
Amid the chaos, a parcel arrived that needed a signature and somehow the dog escaped. My neighbour ended up sprinting down the street, chasing a barking dog while we all shook our heads in amazement.
It wasn’t pretty but admittedly, it was a little comical.
All of this happened before 9 a.m., and my neighbour didn’t even have time for a coffee. They were too busy chasing contractors, dogs, parcels, and keeping the neighbours happy.
Of course, don’t forget about the kidney-stone-related scheduling mishap the day prior.
How could this have been prevented?
Two words.
Planning. Communication.
Need I say more?
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Barbara Kephart, PMP
Founder and Chief Project Officer
Projects Pivot
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