Business Building: Play Business Like Golf With Targets

Words: George Hedley

One of my dreams is to play in the top 100 rated golf courses in the world. Often these courses are private country clubs which hold professional golf tournaments. To date, I have been fortunate to play over 350 of them. Every year, I look forward to "Golf Digest" magazine's new rankings to look for new courses I may be able to play.

No Targets?
Imagine getting invited to play golf at a brand-new top golf course. You plan your trip for months and finally arrive excited. On the first tee you hit your first shot right down the middle around 240 yards. Not able to see the green yet, you hit a 3-wood down the left side of the fairway 215 yards. The green should be closed now. As you approach your ball, you still can't see the green, so you ask your playing partner for directions. He informs you this course is unique as there are no greens, pins, or holes to aim at. Only a long fairway meandering through the beautiful countryside. The object of this four-hour round is to enjoy the scenery and try your best. No score will be kept. Just golf all day until it’s time to quit.

Can you imagine wanting to play golf without greens, targets, pins, holes, or a scorecard? Just hit the ball down the continuous fairway and keep playing. Seems absurd, doesn't it? Look at your business. Is it like this game of golf? Are there clear targets for everyone to shoot at and do you keep score of important milestones and results you want to achieve at every level?

Why Golf?
Think about the game of golf. It takes four plus hours to play in the hot sun fighting the elements. You hit a little white ball into the rough, lakes, traps, and out of bounds. You miss shots and look for lost balls. Every once in a while, you hit a good shot, but you can always do better. What makes the game of golf so attractive or appealing to millions of crazy people? Golf is a competitive and challenging game. There are lots of different shots, club selection is a personal choice, and the game is enjoyed with friends working towards a common goal. No matter what you shoot, you can always improve. The targets are clear, and the greens are easy to see. Everyone knows exactly what they're shooting for. Par is a good score, and everyone knows the rules and what's at stake.

Give everyone scorecards!
Do you play the game of business like golf? Do all of your managers, employees, project managers, supervisors, foreman, crews, departments, and divisions know the rules and have clear targets to aim at? Is their game competitive and fun? Do they know when they make a par, birdie or bogey? Is there a reward for hitting a good shot or being successful? Most employees don't have clear targets or a scorecard to track their score. Without a scorecard or targets, there’s no competition, no game or incentives to work harder, improve, or do more than the minimum. Work becomes the same old thing, month after month, year after year. No new terrain, targets, holes to play, or anything different. To make your business more like the game of golf, give everyone a scorecard with clear targets to hit and track. Try keeping score with some of these target ideas to measure the results you want:

Project Management Scorecard
  • Final job costs and profit versus the budget
  • Subcontracts awarded under budget
  • Materials purchased under budget
  • Submittals and shop drawings approved on-time
  • Change orders approved and paid
  • Progress payment applications submitted on-time
  • Number of field onsite job walk inspections
Estimating Scorecard
  • Accuracy - bid versus completed project costs
  • Labor production hours budget versus actual
  • Equipment hours budget versus actual
  • No missed items in bids
  • Number of bids per trade
  • Bid-Hit-Win ratio

Field & Crew Supervision Scorecard
  • Crew hours used versus the budget
  • Equipment hours used versus the budget
  • Mobilization or general conditions spent versus budget
  • Equipment repairs
  • Projects on or ahead of schedule
  • Number of punch-list or call-back items
  • Safety results or accidents
  • Accurate on-time daily reports, photos and timecards
  • Targets for work quantities installed per week

Sales & Proposal Scorecard
  • Sales Revenue
  • Customer sales calls meetings per week
  • New customer meetings per week
  • New sales leads per month
  • Customer referrals from existing customers
  • Leads from marketing or website
  • Bid or proposal volume per month
  • Number of new customers versus repeat

Add A Wager!
As a golfer, I always play better when there is a small wager on the game. The stakes don't have to be very high to keep my mind on the game. A $10.00 bet keeps me focused, improves my concentration, and lowers my score every time. Try adding small prizes to your business targets to get the team excited about winning the game. Simple and fun incentives work as well and often better than cash. Years ago, I asked my tilt-up concrete foreman when he was planning to erect and lift all the wall panels on his project. He said 8 weeks. I offered him $1,000 if he could get it done in 7 weeks. Guess what? With the wager he pushed hard and made it happen. The 1-week schedule improvement saved us over $20,000. Not a bad bet!

For example, try betting on lunch or dinner to complete a task within a certain date. Fun wagers can include dinner for two, two hours off early on Friday, a new winter jacket or sweatshirt, tools, tickets to games, or anything else that keeps the competition exciting. The list of ideas to bet on and target can be endless. To get your copy of ‘Field Scorecards’ email GH@HardhatBizcoach.com. The key to winning the game of business is to shoot for something! Any targets are better than no targets. Keep them simple and clearly aligned towards your top business priorities. Involve everyone and have fun. Playing business like golf is the perfect shot towards shooting par. Keep your head down, tee it high and watch them fly!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
George Hedley CPBC is a certified professional construction business BIZCOACH, consultant, and popular speaker. He helps contractors build better businesses, grow, profit, develop leaders, improve estimating, field production, and get their companies to work. He is the best-selling author of “Get Your Construction Business To Always Make A Profit!” available on Amazon.com. To schedule a free introductory coaching session, get his monthly Hardhat Hedlines BIZ-TIPS e-newsletter, download his templates and tools, or watch his webinars or online video courses at Hardhat BIZSCHOOL online university for contractors, Visit www.HardhatBizcoach.com or e-mail GH@HardhatBizcoach.com.


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