This week’s reflection bridges the gap between the personal and the professional. It began with a quiet moment for one of the team whilst sitting on a bench in the swimming-pool changing room post swim, recovering from the effort.
The thought that came to mind was: when are we the best versions of ourselves?
In business, perhaps the best version of ourselves is the person who tries to meet the inevitable challenges of each day. That includes supporting our own team, whatever role they hold, by encouraging them to work through their own challenges, understand their limits and recognise when assistance from others is needed.
It also applies to how we support our clients’ teams. Our role is not always to be the problem-solver who arrives with all the answers. Often, it is more valuable to work alongside people and help them identify the right solution for themselves. That approach can build understanding, confidence and capability, rather than creating dependence on someone else to resolve every challenge.
This continues regardless of whatever challenges we may be facing. Life carries on, just as surely as day becomes night and night becomes day. The question is not whether challenges will arise, but how we choose to meet them.
That, in many ways, defines the best version of ourselves. It is reflected in how we respond under pressure, how we treat the people around us and how willing we are to empower others. The ethos is something our team tries to replicate each day: to support people without taking away their responsibility, and to provide guidance without removing the opportunity to learn.
We do not always achieve this. We are not programmable automatons or computer simulations that repeat the same task, in the same way and in the same order, at the press of a button or the stroke of a key.
We are human beings, working through human-to-human interactions. People have different experiences, pressures, strengths and limitations. Life is not automated, and effective support cannot be entirely automated either.
For us, being the best version of ourselves at work is therefore not about appearing to have every answer. It is about remaining willing to listen, learn and adapt, while helping others develop the confidence to find their own way forward.
Let’s dive in!
Monday — Mixed Bag!
The team were hard at it providing project pre-construction support, taking questions, client meetings and a tour of a joinery facility.
How the day unfolded. We were helping a client gather pre-construction information for a forthcoming project in Lincolnshire and preparing the PCI. We also had a client day that started with delivering a companywide briefing on the difference between a common lift and a non-common lift. This was followed by a short journey to site to chair a meeting with the site team and scaffold contractor regarding the removal of a large structure over the finished building shell. Then back to their joiners shop a few miles down the road for a compliance tour of the timber yard.
That was not all. We also found time to meet with another client to discuss their plans for continual improvement of their systems and practices and how we can support that.
Tuesday — Site Tour & Control Documents
The morning started with a local site tour for our client at their newly commenced local housing project. Neat work demonstrated by our client team using a Hampshire brick and another local resource, flint.
We also chaired a Teams catch-up meeting regarding ongoing ISO 9001 support and assisted clients in the development of various project-specific control documents. By working collaboratively in this way, the skill set and knowledge become synergised via the activity expertise of our clients and our legal knowledge and interpretation of what is reasonably practicable. Plan, Do, Check and Act in practice. Reports were also promptly prepared and issued following the previous day’s interactions.
Wednesday — Over the Solent
For one of the team, it was a trip over the Solent to the Isle of Wight for a compliance inspection on a new education facility in Newport. Work is reportedly progressing well. Back to the mainland and another site compliance tour for a Local Authority client.
At base, a site-wide management plan was prepared from the intelligence-gathering meeting on Monday. The planning is complete; the risks have been assessed and the team selected; the next phase is to strike the scaffold and review the method as the works progress, to establish if either the plan, or the method of striking, requires amending.
Thursday — Adaptation & Site Tours
A late cancellation forces an adaptation. Keep this quiet—that was welcome as it made space to tie up some loose ends and to prepare for a round of forthcoming engagements and for an early team catch-up. This was not a wasted day!
What else? We were back on site, again for a client, carrying out a site compliance tour on another local project. This one has access challenges that the team are managing on an hourly basis.
From here, it was back to base to continue with client meetings and to write up the report from the morning’s tour. It is important for us and our clients that we do not leave site without delivering a verbal summary of our findings, and the final report is issued on the same day as the tour. This is one of our team red lines!
We were also experimenting with our CRM software, Monday.com, and have created an agent to assist with the routine digital tasks; welcome Sean C to the team! The objective? To free the team from the repetitive tasks to be able to spend more time with our client teams.
Friday — Multi-Destination!
Poole, Henley-on-Thames, Woburn & base! It has been a busy day for the team.
The day started with a trip to a site in Woburn for a face-fit train-the-trainer session with the management team. This was followed by a training session of a different type to the same team; a Monday.com system refresher. Thanks Stuart.
We were also in Poole for a 07:30 client business development meeting and brunch, then off to Henley for a late-afternoon client catch-up reviewing the plan for Saturday working; yes, a Saturday. This included an overnight in pub accommodation so that an early start could be made with the briefing for the scaffold removal.
Closing thought — What habits have we developed for being the best version of ourselves?
We are not born knowing how to listen well, empower others or adapt under pressure. These are habits built through repetition, reflection and the willingness to learn from every interaction.
What daily habits have you developed that help you show up as the best version of yourself; especially when challenges arise?
