In his hardhatSTORY, Construction Professional Zuko Peter recounts a challenging and unpleasant experience encountered on a construction site. The account served as a reflective medium that allowed him to identify valuable lessons learned from the incident.
The most unpleasant experience I had on a construction site was when I had a disagreement with the team because of unprofessionalism.
The main cause of the conflict was a Construction Manager who micromanaged his team. He was involved in every aspect of the project, from monitoring to ordering materials and attending all meetings with stakeholders.
I was brought in as a Contracts Manager onto the project because a lot of mistakes had been made, which led to the demolition of many already built structures. I discovered that corruption was rampant on the project. Fabrications of quotations and test results were commonplace. I decided to address this head-on, as I knew it would reflect poorly on my reputation if things went wrong in the future.
In confronting these issues, I became the "bad guy" with the Construction Manager and his team. However, the most important lesson I learned from this project is to never let the need to be liked by your colleagues get in the way of your integrity and ethical standards.
As a result of my principled stance, my fellow team members conspired against me and bad-mouthed me to the CEO. Despite these challenges, I am proud to say that I oversaw the project until practical completion and the client was very satisfied.
Corruption and embezzlement are major problems in the construction industry, but they can be overcome if we, as hardhatPROFESSIONALS , hold ourselves to high standards of professionalism and ethical conduct. We can also make the industry more attractive to the next generation of professionals by valuing their opinions instead of micromanaging them.
Zuko Peter - is a Construction Professional with a National Diploma in Building Engineering with over 12 yrs experience in various positions working on Civil and Building sector.
If you would like to share your STORY about a project or situation that has had an impact in your career you can send us the details here
You can also follow our WhatsAPP channel for informative content on the hardhatINDUSTRY and updates on hardhatVACANCIES. Click here to view and follow.
Comments
Post a Comment