10 Tips to Relieve Spring Pressure

With the beauty of spring comes the stress that accompanies the start of the season for landscaping companies. It’s been nicknamed the “100 days of hell” because of the chaos that so often ensues. This year, much like last, we have the added stress of COVID-19 and the stress of the unknown when it comes to zones and restrictions. 

As Bruce Wilson put it, “In less disciplined organizations, spring makes everyone a firefighter”. You’re constantly putting out fires, it gets out of control quickly and by the time you see the financial impact, it is too late to do anything about it. Some companies never escape the spiral.

If this is sounding a little too familiar (and uncomfortable), here are a few tips Bruce Wilson suggests to help you move out of the firefighting space permanently:

1. Understand the difference between routine and non-routine work. Routine is weekly maintenance, while non-routine includes things like post-winter cleanups, mulching, colour plantings, etc. Non-routine things, if allowed to pile up, lead to overtime problems. Therefore they should be scheduled so they don’t overlap. Try to avoid pulling non-routine work from teams assigned to routine maintenance. It may cause them to get behind.
2. With routine maintenance, be careful not to let the routine get broken.
3. Supervisors should observe work crews and make sure they are sequencing jobs properly, not performing work that does not need to be done and/or wasting hours. Work crews are habit based and often do tasks out of custom, such as edging when it’s not needed.
4. String trimmers are time wasters. Workers tend to over-detail jobs. Crews shouldn’t trim an area until they mow it. That way they only have to trim what the mowers do not reach. If they trim first, they over compensate to make sure they’ve trimmed enough.
5. If your crews are scheduled to work in inclement weather make sure scheduled tasks can be done effectively in the rain.
6. Delegate. Look at your to-do list and look for tasks that can be done by others.
7. Slower can be faster. Sometimes you go so fast trying to keep up that you lose sight of the big picture. Prioritize so you don’t miss what’s important.
8. Important, not urgent, things usually have the most impact on your company. Look at a problem to understand why it occurred and what you can do to prevent it from happening again. If you discover a disproportionate amount of urgent tasks, it could require a process change or training to regain equilibrium.
9. Rely on your team. When you start falling behind, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Senior managers are there to help you be successful.
10. Monitor your progress and benchmark it. This will help you look for signs of trouble and avoid a downward spiral.