P.R.A.I.S.E.

Hey, guys. Naomi Findlay here; Australia’s Rapid Renovation Expert.

Today, I want to share with you one of the key things I do with my team to keep them pumped, keep them happy, keep them on time, on budget and aligned on each and every project.

You all know I’m a huge believer that to be successful in renovation it’s essential that you have a mastermind team around you.

These come from varying places. We have our consultants, our trades, our professional base. But, the most important thing is that we’re aware that this isn’t an ad hoc collection of people.

In fact, I have an extensive system that I use to not only find these people, but to assess them, to align them and to keep them on track. I know that they are one of the most important parts to staying on time and on budget in each and every renovation.

What do I do to keep them this way? Once I get my team aligned, what do I do to keep them chugging along in the right direction? You know what it is?

It’s all down to praise. Yes, in the normal sense of the word that we remember it by, praise – good old-fashioned praise. But also in a very unique, rapid renovation formula way.

P stands for party. There aren’t many people I know in business who don’t like to celebrate their successes. As a result, after each and every project that we complete, we celebrate. We party.

It can be as simple as prawns and beer on the front lawn, but I always make sure that we party or celebrate with our team.

The second one is R: regular meetings. Really essential that you are leading this project. Really essential that people understand what’s happening, when it’s happening and when they’re going to get a chance to communicate with you if they need to.

The next one is Attitude. Really have an attitude of gratitude towards your trades, they and your team. They have an amazing wealth of knowledge – a huge wealth of knowledge – that we get the amazing opportunity of tapping into.

Have the attitude of gratitude. Leave them to it. Let them do what they know best and they do best and be part of their team, not always their boss.

The next one is Interest. No one loves anything more than someone showing interest in what you’re doing. It’s such a great, great feeling to interact with our trades, interact with our team, show interest in what they’re doing, show interest in their craft and even learn some lingo along the way. It will make communication all the better.

The next one starts with S. It’s not a three letter word – it’s actually Stomach. Really, really important that we always nurture our team. I love nurturing them through their stomach. This includes things like coffee on site of a morning or even just a kabob Friday for lunches.

The last one is Expectations. Most people when they’re working in a team, one of the things that can bring people undone more than ever is unclear expectations. Make sure that you tap of your praise word with an E and expectations.

What will that do?

It will make sure that everyone knows where they stand, when something needs to be done and how it needs to be done.

When you have clear expectations, clear boundaries, great communication and a pile of P-R-A-I-S-E, you can’t go wrong.

That is my top tips to keeping your team aligned, nurtured and completely along with you on this amazing journey.

With that, let’s renovate.