{"id":221,"date":"2016-05-27T14:52:37","date_gmt":"2016-05-27T14:52:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/construction.pm\/expert\/?p=221"},"modified":"2025-12-29T18:47:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T18:47:09","slug":"communication-is-the-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/construction.pm\/expert\/communication-is-the-key\/","title":{"rendered":"Communication is the Key"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"coffee-mtg\"<\/a>Communication is first ingredient in a successful construction project.\u00a0 It is incredibly easy to communicate today, sometimes too easy.\u00a0 Smart phones have made it easy to “reach out and touch” someone.\u00a0 Emailing from tablets and smart phones is almost as easy. Calling is very easy with contact information at your fingertips 24\/7.\u00a0 Don’t over do it, but stay in contact with your fellow construction team members.<\/p>\n

I have had the privilege of serving as an Expert Witness on several construction claims. \u00a0 It has given me a unique perspective on the breakdown of projects I\u00a0 have served as an expert witness on.\u00a0 Step one – the parties stop communicating.\u00a0 OK, step one is that they get upset at each other, followed immediately by step 2, they stop communicating. \u00a0 This is a recipe\u00a0 for disaster. \u00a0 Problems can<\/strong> be worked-out. \u00a0 The key is to have everyone involved working on a solution, not trying to prove their case or\u00a0 trump the other parties. \u00a0 Often having a conversation face to face with the opposing party works.\u00a0 Meeting away from the jobsite and at a neutral location such as a coffee shop may provided a well needed distraction-free environment.<\/p>\n

Don’t dive into the sensitive subject in your opening remarks.\u00a0 Chat for a minute or two.\u00a0 You might learn that the guy or\u00a0 gal on the other side of\u00a0 that cup of\u00a0 coffee has some similar interests to yours, and doesn’t have three heads that breathe fire.\u00a0 They might learn the same thing about you.\u00a0 Be civil. Be respectful.\u00a0 Keep in mind that the courtroom is the\u00a0 most\u00a0 expensive place to work out differences. \u00a0 Go to great lengths to avoid court if\u00a0 you can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Communication is first ingredient in a successful construction project.\u00a0 It is incredibly easy to communicate today, sometimes too easy.\u00a0 Smart phones have made it easy to “reach out and touch” someone.\u00a0 Emailing from tablets and smart phones is almost as easy. Calling is very easy with contact information at your fingertips 24\/7.\u00a0 Don’t over do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":222,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-how-to-avoid-construction-lawsuits","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/construction.pm\/expert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/construction.pm\/expert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/construction.pm\/expert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/construction.pm\/expert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/construction.pm\/expert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/construction.pm\/expert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":223,"href":"https:\/\/construction.pm\/expert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions\/223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/construction.pm\/expert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/construction.pm\/expert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/construction.pm\/expert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/construction.pm\/expert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}