If you’re reading this, it must be October. Finally! 2020, which has been a terrible year, is almost over. It’s been a year of wildfires and hurricanes, social injustice and a pandemic. I admit that having football come back to my television last month was welcome because it made things feel normal again, but it is so very strange to see empty stadiums. Life these days is far from the normal we used to enjoy.
In 2021 we will hopefully see progress on a vaccine to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, which continues to upset work schedules and patterns. Until it stops grabbing the major headlines, we unfortunately can’t give up on reporting on the effects that COVID-19 has had (and continues to have) on businesses. Some of your office staff may be working from home while others are out in the field. But it’s not just your employees. You’re also probably trying to track down your supplier, or the general contractor or even the architect. How do you get information to (and from) the right group at the right time? Now more than ever, communications are playing a key role in the success of a project and the success of a business.
That’s the subject of our lead feature article, which you will find on page 28. We asked AWCI member contractors to tell us how communications are faring in a world where social distancing is now the norm. They talked about internal and external communications along with the technology being used to relay information. Training, coaching and education are also covered. The article has a lot of good advice for keeping your distance and still maintaining the human aspect of communicating and doing business.
COVID-19 is again the subject of the another article in this magazine, but this one is not what you might expect. It appears that our writer, S.S. Saucerman, has been spending his stay-at-home time and retirement reading books—many of them classics, from what I see on Facebook. I think this inspired him to write the article that starts on page 40. In it, Mr. Saucerman compares COVID-19 to the Spanish flu—and then he explains why we shouldn’t do that. It’s a thoughtful piece, and I hope you enjoy reading it.
There is not enough room to mention everything in this issue of AWCI’s Construction Dimensions, but I want to draw your attention to “AWCI on the Job” on page 8. This section highlights AWCI’s Virtual Industry Leaders Conference, which was held in mid-September, and AWCI’s new partnerships that will bring even more savings to members of the association. Thank-you to all who attended and sponsored the conference. Going virtual rather than being live and in-person was a first for us, and we are grateful to all attendees who provided feedback. The feedback, by the way, was excellent, so I’m thinking you can expect AWCI to provide even more virtual events that will help keep you, your company and the industry moving forward.
Also take note of the “New Products” department on page 21. This is our special “Fall New Products Guide,” and there are a lot of new gadgets and gizmos on the market that you will want to consider using.
Enjoy!
