Working During the Coronavirus Crisis

A 6-minute talk from our owner, Greg Redington, for our staff,
subcontractors, clients and prospects.

A 4-minute talk from our owner, Greg Redington, for our staff
and subcontractors.

A 3-minute talk from our owner, Greg Redington, for our
clients and prospects.

To download a PDF version of this talk, please click HERE.

A full transcription of the talk has been provided below:

Hello, I\’m Greg Redington. I’m the owner of REDCOM Design and Construction. It’s Tuesday, April 7, 2020, and I\’m here to talk to you about what our company is doing during the Coronavirus crisis.

First and foremost, your health and the health of your family is the most important thing to me and my entire staff, so please take care of yourselves.

Our office staff have been working remotely for about 3 weeks, as you may be able to tell by my new beard. We are all doing just as much work as we were before, if not more. All of our current jobs, as well as the work we are doing for our future jobs are all still on target and we plan on hitting all of our deadlines.

To my office staff, working in these unusual situations, thank you for your commitment to REDCOM. I know your working environment is less than ideal, and the distractions are many, but I appreciate your ability to stick to it and stay on task to get your work done. Quite honestly, I’m impressed with how well things have gone.

Last year was a good year at REDCOM because we all worked very hard together. This year will be a good year as well, but for a different reason: because independently, we will all work very hard. How do we work as a team when we’re so separated? By each doing our share, and by not letting the team down.

You must practice self-discipline. Stay committed to urgency, and getting things done quickly, be diligence about doing things correctly. Hit your deadlines. You are now in charge of your own quality control. Be your own boss. You’ve been doing a great job so far. We need to maintain this focus and together, we\’ll continue to be successful and the company will continue to thrive. Let’s produce quality in everything we do. If you have any questions, or if anything is slowing you down or affecting your own quality, please reach out. Thank you.

To our superintendents who are leaving their homes every day to go to our job sites–you are the reason that REDCOM is continuing to stay healthy right now. Thank you for your commitment to our company and all the sacrifices you are making. It is no easy task to maintain a safe job site, motivate subcontractors, and maintain quality results for our clients, but you are doing all three, and I sincerely appreciate it. Stay safe, stay on task, and stay motivated. My hat’s off to you gentleman. Thank you.

To our subcontractors, we appreciate your help building quality facilities for all our clients. We are depending on you to keep construction moving forward. We know you’re being pulled in many different directions, and have labor issues, as we all try to respect the 14-day quarantine for individuals and loved ones who are affected by the Coronavirus. We understand these things, and we appreciate the time and the commitment you are showing to REDCOM and all of REDCOM\’s clients. Thank you so much. We have many projects on the boards and lots of work coming up. Please reach out to our project managers and our estimators about bidding that work. We want to keep you busy.

To our clients, we are working hard to keep your job sites safe. And making sure that we do not sacrifice long term quality on your projects. Those are the two most important things right now. We may have some slowdowns because of labor shortages that are unavoidable. But luckily, we haven’t seen any supply-chain problems, which is a relief.

So, what can you do to help us? Answer our questions promptly, make decisions quickly. If you have any questions about our invoices, please ask them and get the checks out immediately. Nothing says thank you to hard-working subcontractors or motivates better than a timely payment. So please, do the best you can.

To our prospects, who are wondering if the Coronavirus should affect their long-term plans for their business. The answer is no. Your plans to expand are based on 5, 10, and 20-year projections. The Coronavirus may be around for another 3, 6, or even 12 months, but it will end. In comparison it’s a short-term problem that shouldn\’t affect your long-term decision.

Use this pause in the economy to get everything prepared so you can take immediate action when things come back to life. Get your facility designed and priced out. All state, county, and local government offices are open, and they have time to review and approve your plans. Construction financing has never been cheaper and banks are anxious to get new projects onto their books. Get started now, and get your approvals out of the way. Or start construction as soon as you can, and have your new facility finished and ready to meet the demands of your customers when the economy comes roaring back.

The last thing I want to express is the importance of maintaining a positive attitude. We are all trendsetters. As business owners, professionals, and hard-working individuals, we are all Americans that others look up to. By your actions and words, each of you influence dozens of other people. It is up to all of us to show confidence and bring this economy back to life as the Coronavirus crisis comes to a close. If we believe the economy will come roaring back, it will.

So, let’s all stay healthy and safe. Let’s all work together and continue to produce quality with urgency in safe environments and let\’s come out of this together, stronger than we went into it. Take care, and thank you.