ILC ARTICLE

Industry Leader Interview – Alex Finch, Geobear.

27th April 2020

What’s the biggest challenge facing your sector of the industry?

Continuing to provide solutions safely and within government guidelines, but also managing finances with some projects delayed or put on hold.

How are you and your business dealing with this?

We’re doing whatever we can to ensure our projects are not postponed. As this was all starting, Geobear did some detailed planning and preparation to ensure we had sufficient materials. We also committed to early investment in PPE and completely revised our safety on site policies.

We’ve also been working on a more flexible approach to getting work done. For example, if we can usually complete a job entirely outside, and we don’t have to have any close interaction with our customers at all.

What is the most important piece of leadership advice you can offer?

Help your team to understand the vision, believe in the goals, and commit to the actions.

That’s not an easy task but if you can achieve that – you’re doing well.

During this time, I’ve also found far more regular contact with our people to be immensely valuable, for us and them. Video calls and meetings, we use Google Hangouts, have been really helpful.

What are your top tips for home-working productivity?

I’ve worked from home for a while now and what I’ve found to work has been to; plan your day, set goals, stick to a routine, and keep home and work life separate.

What would be your overriding message to the industry right now?

Safety is priority.
Do all you possibly can to maintain productivity.
Make detailed plans and prepare for the next stage.
Help each other even more. Go the extra mile – talk to partners, suppliers, customers and clients more than you usually would.