Organisation and Change Management: The Keys to a Successful Renovation

Hi guys, it’s Naomi Findlay here!

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How are you going to make sure that your renovation project stays on time and on budget? Is there a way to ensure that everyone on your worksite is on the same page at any given time? What are you going to do if something doesn’t go the way you planned?

The answer to all of these questions lies in two things: organisation and change management.

Today, I wanted to delve into these two core topics to help you maximise your renovation and the rewards that will come from it.

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Staying organised.

The word “renovation” implies that your daily routine and your plans will be disrupted. You don’t generally call it a “transformation” until all of the work is done. Renovation implies that things will get messy and problems might come up. That’s just the nature of the beast. I’m not saying that every renovation will have a myriad of problems jump out of nowhere, but as they say, hope for the best and expect the worst.

The best way to prepare and deal with any of these renovation hiccups that may come along is to be organised. Super organised.

Organisation is probably one of THE MOST important factors of the whole renovation journey. And a lot of the stuff that I have been saying comes down to organisation. Doing your research on your patch and strategy is also a type of organisation, because you are preparing yourself for the actual renovation.

The other danger of not being organised is this: you have spent a lot of time and effort to find the right tradies for the job. These are the kinds of relationships that you want to keep in the future so that you can continue to house flip successfully. Your renovation success relies on having these good connections; if you start chipping away at them and letting the tradies down, they are probably not going to want to work with you in the future.

So, how do you stay on target and keep yourself and your team organised?

Use an app.

Now, I know it can be daunting to learn to use a piece of software you have never used before. It can also be frustrating because you have so many other things on your plate.

But have you heard about the FREE Rapid Reno Mate app? It’s the new, smarter way to renovate! Rapid Reno Mate has been designed to be user-friendly and super easy to use. It’s a fantastic way to not only keep yourself organised, but also share any documents and plans with your tradies.

And it also has the added benefit of storing all of your plans online – so you can access them from home, the office, or even a café.

You might end up finding that using an app actually makes staying organised a lot easier than keeping a huge folder always lying around.

Physical folders.

While online systems like the app are great at ensuring you don’t misplace a plan or two, a good-old physical copy can still be great for visualising your next steps.

Most tradies only have their phones onsite, and it will be pretty inconvenient for them to have to keep flicking out their phone to look at the kitchen plans from a tiny screen. A large printed copy will ensure that you save time and avoid any potential mistakes that may occur if the tradie can’t actually read the scale of a plan.

If you’re worried about the environment and don’t like to waste paper – limit the printing to essentials, and have the rest stored online.

So, now you’re prepared for the planned works. What about the unplanned ones?

Change management.

Like I mentioned early, nothing is ever set in stone. Just because you planned everything down to a T, that doesn’t mean that everything will pan out that way. Having said that, the better prepared you are, the less likely things will surprise you down the track.

Regardless of whether your renovation is big – such as knocking down walls and extending the living area – or small – such as painting a few walls and replacing a few taps – ultimately what you will be doing is managing change.

Weather is something that nobody can control – and sometimes a week of pouring rain can mean your schedule for the landscaping gets pushed back. How will you use that time instead? Is there another task you can complete during this period? These are the sorts of questions you should be asking to effectively manage any changes that come along during renovating.

There are many things that come under the change management banner. From being prepared and effectively managing any kinks in the works, to being that moral support when motivation for the project starts to drop – you are there to make sure the whole thing sticks like glue. Just don’t forget to communicate any changes with your team, both verbally AND on any plans that you may have.

So there you have it; staying organised and managing change effectively are your two gateways to ensuring your property renovation turns out successfully – and makes you a great profit!

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