Managing Difficult Employees: A Contractor's Guide to Building a Better Team

We know you’ve been there before as a contractor: stuck dealing with difficult employees who make you feel like you’re parenting children rather than managing adults. They ask the same questions over and over again about their tasks and responsibilities, many of which you’ve already explained multiple times; they are always missing important deadlines for tasks you’ve assigned to them; and you don’t know how to make them do their job.

The worst part is that as a contractor or sub, you are held accountable for what your team does and doesn’t do. That means you're ultimately responsible for their poor performance, delays, and communication breakdowns.

What if there was a way you could clearly communicate with your employees from project start to finish about responsibilities, upcoming and past due tasks, and more so that you can manage teams more effectively? With smart management strategies and the right construction management software, you can streamline team communication and enhance project execution.

Keep reading to learn our recommended strategies for managing construction teams and strengthening your crews.

1. Define Project Roles & Expectations Upfront

Effective project management starts with setting clear expectations from the start - especially when managing construction teams. Establishing team roles, responsibilities, and accountability measures at the outset minimizes confusion and ensures alignment from day one.

You can make sure project expectations are clear upfront by creating a detailed project scope. A project scope describes everything a project will and will not include. It provides construction teams with an overview of a project's goals, objectives, and necessary resources, as well as how those goals will be accomplished. When every team member knows what's expected of them from the start, collaboration is more efficient and projects are more likely to stay on track.

Your project scope should include all information necessary to clearly define project expectations for everyone involved, including the client, other stakeholders, and your team. Here are some important objectives to include in your project scope specifically for employees:

Project goals and objectives to define what will be accomplished upon project completion
Project milestones and a general timeline so your team members know how the project should progress and when it should be completed
Project phases and subphases so that your team knows more specifically what to expect as far as project timeline and requirements

If you need a simple way to create a detailed, complete Scope of Work, click the button below to download our free Scope of Work Template so you can start setting clear expectations on your next project - no guesswork required!

2. Communicate Clearly throughout the Project

Managing construction teams successfully requires consistent and clear communication throughout the entire project - that's a non-negotiable. This includes keeping employees informed about unexpected changes, due dates, upcoming and past-due items, and anything else relevant to their responsibilities.

There are many communication tools on the market – some of which are better than others. Many construction management software platforms - specifically designed for contractors and subs - include integrated communication tools, like ConstructionOnline's smart communication solutions:

GamePlan Task Lists for notifying your team about important items relevant to them. This includes calendar events, schedule tasks, punch lists, Submittals, RFIs, change orders, to-do items, and more.
TeamLink™ Logins so that subs can view schedules, selections, calendars, punch lists, GamePlans, project files, and more
Project Announcements for sharing important project information with your entire team
Email and text notifications about specific items and their due dates, including change orders, schedule tasks, punch list items, to-do list items, client selections, Submittals, RFIs, and more

3. Have Disciplinary Measures In Place

As a contractor, it’s important to have disciplinary measures in place for when your employees are not doing their jobs correctly or up to standard.

Contractors everywhere face the same challenges when managing construction teams: They can’t get their employees to do their job without constantly being on their tail; or maybe their employees are consistently underperforming, whether they don’t complete tasks on time, or they are not being done to a standard of excellence.

The truth is that as long as there are no consequences for your employees' actions or lack thereof, they will continue to fail to meet expectations because they know they can. That’s why it’s important for you to hold employees accountable for every scenario and most importantly for you to enforce disciplinary measures when needed.

Part of an effective disciplinary procedure is ensuring your employees know how to do their jobs safely and having measures in place if they fail to do so. If you’re looking for a complete safety manual template that includes disciplinary procedures and more, download our Free Construction Safety Manual Template today!

4. Evaluate Employees’ Performance Over Time

If you’ve got employees who have consistently proven to be difficult and unproductive, having a written record of their performance over time is helpful when you are deciding whether or not to keep them on staff.

Keeping up with individual employees’ performance may be easier said than done if you don’t have the right tools, but with construction management software tools like ConstructionOnline’s TrueVision Employee Scorecard, you can get a comprehensive assessment of your employees' activity and productivity across multiple projects.

The scorecard automatically evaluates assigned tasks, factoring in completion status and timeliness—whether completed on time or overdue—to generate a performance score for each employee. This allows you to monitor individual performance effortlessly, without the need for manual tracking.

5. Know When It’s Time to Let Employees Go

Sometimes, there are only so many second chances and warnings you can give employees who continually fail to meet expectations. Persistent poor performance can disrupt team dynamics, hinder project progress, and ultimately impact the overall success of your business. That’s why it’s important when managing construction teams to know when it’s time to make the tough decision to let difficult employees go.

At the end of the day, you run a business that is accountable for what your employees do and don’t do. Your reputation, execution, and client satisfaction are all on the line. When an employee consistently demonstrates that they are unable, or unwilling, to perform up to the required standards, it may be time to cut ties. This decision, while challenging, is sometimes essential to maintain the integrity and efficiency of your operations, ensuring that your team is built around individuals who are committed to contributing to the company's overall goals and objectives.

Final Thoughts

Managing difficult employees isn't just about discipline - it's about leadership. By setting expectations, maintaining open lines of communication, enforcing consistent policies, and using the right tools to track performance, you'll foster a stronger, more reliable team.

ConstructionOnline's construction management software provides contractors with everything they need to lead with confidence and keep projects on schedule, on budget, and under control.

Ready to see for yourself how ConstructionOnline can help you manage your team and employees more efficiently? Click the button below to schedule your FREE demo with one of our product specialists: