If you do most of your work outside, it makes sense to try to stick to the sun when planning out your regular work schedule. During the summer, this is fairly easy to do. Once winter hits, it’s harder to make enough time in the day with the hours of daylight. Throw in employees who need to battle rush hour and other scheduling concerns, and you might need to completely rethink it. Here’s a few ways you can approach scheduling your workday in your business, so that everyone can get their work done with the least hassle.

Understand Flexible Scheduling
If the concept of “flex time” feels like something more suited to a tech startup, it might need a little clarification. Many people believe that keeping a flexible schedule means that you never know when someone is going to show up or leave. In reality, offering a flexible schedule to your employees usually requires a clearly-defined schedule. That way, everyone knows when they’re supposed to be at work. Giving people the flexibility to determine if they need to show up early so they can leave early can make it easier for them to maintain a work-life balance.

Determine Your Priorities
Before you start changing the schedule, you want to set a few priorities. After all, you may be flexible enough to allow some of your employees to burn the midnight oil. Your customers, on the other hand, might expect communication during normal business hours. Start with the things you need to keep your business going, like sending invoices, following up on sales leads or submitting bids. Make sure you have someone on the clock at the right time who can be responsible for the most crucial daily tasks, even if it comes at the start or end of their shift.

Rethink Your Existing Schedule
If you’re thinking, “My schedule is already flexible because I am literally always here,” it might be time to rethink how you approach your own workday. Burnout is a big deal in construction, in part because people tend to work such long hours. But 15-hour days for weeks on end aren’t a very good long-term strategy, especially for people who have obligations outside of work. Taking this as an opportunity to improve efficiency might be an ideal path to getting the same amount of work done without running yourself into the ground.

Consider Different Scheduling Options
If you’ve ever done shift work, you know that this is a standard in a variety of industries. There’s the day shift, the swing shift that starts in the afternoon and the graveyard shift running overnight. When you’ve got a big push to get a project done and you’re working some long hours, building in two separate shifts for your employees can allow you to stay on schedule. Otherwise, you might consider operating a 12-hour workday where people are expected to show up at a specific time during that interval. Just make sure that your workflow permits having one skilled worker showing up later or earlier than another.

Evaluate How You Attract New Employees
With a labor shortage, you’ve always got to think about how you bring people on and keep them for the long-term. Offering a flexible schedule might be an effective way to entice students or others with limited time to get on board early. Give yourself some time to work out the details, so you don’t have to change the schedule on a whim if it’s not working. In the long run, giving your employees flexibility could open up different demographics of workers who might never have considered your business beforehand.

Keeping a business running is a lot of work, but sometimes tweaking the schedule makes a big difference. These tips can help, as well as a solid grounding in the construction field. To start your career, visit CSLS today!