I had a chat with a friend who owns a HVAC company and we were discussing the business side and what it takes to be “successful”. One big topic he asked me to try to instill in my students was the goal of being efficient while working. The art of thinking one step ahead and anticipating instead of being right in the moment.
It’s certainly not a new concept nor difficult for people to grasp; that the more a person sells/services, the more money comes in to pay the bills. Even my first year students understand it when we discuss it in class BUT, it’s another thing when they go out to the shop to work.
Recent social media has shown memes/clips of workers making fun of the boss’s comment of “It doesn’t take two people to do that job”. The reel shows two workers aggressively disproving that comment as they perform a number of tasks together including sweeping, filling the truck up with gas, driving, and a host of others. It’s pretty funny and is a great example of being inefficient.
Efficiency for me looks like this:
Understand the process.
Quick decisions.
Know what tools you need for the process.
If it doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t, so stop and fix it.
The learning phase is the worst for efficiency. It’s slow moving as the student learns the techniques and the associated tools. Students are hesitant and cautious. They take a considerable amount of time to make decisions. They don’t alway do a good job and sometimes, things need to be retaught and redone. Some students work through this phase quicker while others take more time. If students have prior knowledge or experience they can connect it to the new techniques and tools and hopefully work through it quicker.
When I’m building chairs, I’ve noticed that I’m the most efficient if I have 90-95% of the decisions already locked down. Not that they can’t be tweaked slightly (that’s the key word) but that I’m not standing around for a long time trying to decide how to shape or angle the: seat, legs, stretchers, short sticks, long sticks, arms, crest,... Time is money. I know the process. I know what tools to use. But sometimes I got in the habit of taking too much time to make decisions. The less time I stand around trying to decide, the more money in my pocket.
It takes time and awareness to become efficient and not everyone “gets it”. But those that do, they’ll be the ones that have the potential for higher wages.
It’s important that while you teach skills and techniques, you’re also helping them understand what efficiency looks like.
Let me know what efficiency looks like for you in your line of work.