Every Friday, we will select a few in-depth articles from the week that we think are worth your valuable time as a construction financial manager (CFM). We look for compelling articles not only about financial topics, but about business, technology, and life, that challenges you to think about your role as a CFM in different ways.
A Quick Guide To Reading A Construction Contract. Benjamin Franklin famously said that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” and that theme is at the center of blog posts published this week from two of my favorite construction law bloggers. Virginia construction lawyer Christopher Hill writes in “Early Action on your Construction Contract” that getting an attorney involved early in the construction process is key to avoiding expense disputes, delays, and surprises.
And Hill links to another Virginia construction law blogger for an example on how to do this, citing “Construction Contract Review – Thoughts on Early Risk Analysis,” written by Brett Marston on the Virginia Construction Law Update blog. I highly recommend this article by Marston because it provides a pithy list of key areas within a construction contract that deserve careful attention. Go to his article for a full discussion of the list, which is this:
- Insurance Requirements
- Mechanics Lien Rights
- Notice Requirements
- No Damage for Delay Clauses
- Pay if Paid/ Pay When Paid
- Dispute Resolution Procedures
- Indemnity
Are You Reading In A Way That is Good For Your Brian? According to a Wall Street Journal article this week, reading this article on our blog is bad for your brain, as is all of the reading you do online. Notifications, popups, links embedded within articles, advertisements, navigation areas, and short-read article formats have, according to the Journal report, destroyed how the brain works and feels when sitting down to read an uninterrupted story or book.
And this is not a good thing because reading slowly and thoughtfully has been linked to all sorts of good cognitive things, and even helps people become better and more caring people (i.e. by reading fiction).
This is a really interesting article that may inspire you to turn off your connections for at least 1 hour a week and dig into a book. Read the article here: Read slowly to benefit your brain and reduce stress.
Your Company Needs More Weird-os. When people hear diversity, they often think of affirmative action programs and minorities. However, a diverse workplace really has a lot of different meanings and needs.
Personally, I am a big fan of diversity. In the hiring process, I sometimes make a conscious effort to think twice about people who are like me and to actively seek employees who are polar opposites of me. While we may not be drinking buddies, I find that the different personality and perspective is enormously beneficial to the decision making process and the process of coming up with ideas for solving problems and meeting new opportunities.
Sometimes, these “different” people can even be “weirdos.” Although, let me give a shout out to my team at Levelset, none of you are “weird-o’s.” Or, at least you don’t know which ones I think are ;).
In the spirit of all of this, I really loved this article in Business Week: “Corporations Aren’t Recruiting Enough Weirdos.” Think different, literally, about who you hire for your team. If you don’t make hiring decisions, then think about who you work with on your next project, or who you go to to ask for advice and help. It may be a huge and surprising difference maker.