Zig Ziglar once said,

“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four-hour days.”

It is surreal to think that just two months ago, life was completely different. Our concept of time was already planned out for us. Every morning, we would wake up with the same routine that we have been repeating for the past decade or so, and it was dependable. For many of us, it was a routine we fell into because of life choices that happened long ago. At some rapid and uncontrollable pace that life had progressed, we never found time to push our routine to fit our dreams. We tolerated where we were. Today, we find ourselves in a bit of chaos – breaking away from focus to take care of kids at home, clean groceries in a safe space before they make it into our kitchen, and the days of the week seem to somehow pass without any normal cadence.

Luckily, change is here because everyone in the world is experiencing the same uncertainty and irregularity. We have the chance to reshape who we are and fill our days with a new normal that we design – like when we transitioned from an awkward middle schooler to rebrand as the cool freshman in high school.

So what do you want people to know your company for in the future? Reliable? Cost-conscious? On budget? Someone who cares about safety? Maybe you want your people to be the best estimators in the industry; Maybe you’d like to have foremen who can make decisions in the field that can save the entire company money, or maybe you’d just like to know how your equipment is being used, and exactly when to replace it.

There are so many opportunities for learning, and now is your time to pursue it. I spoke with one of our users at this past March’s ConExpo that came to our booth ready to be shown HCSS Trucking. As we dove into his needs, I quickly learned that he had done his homework. He was not a trucking user, but he had logged into our HCSS Academy, enrolled, and completed all the courses on HCSS Trucking that we had available. He knew more about the product than most, and he was hungry to find out more.

In this case, by feeding his hunger to learn, and having free training available to him, this user became an expert in a product that would expand his company’s capabilities. He created an opportunity that had the potential to save his company time, and position his truckers to operate at safe distances (without realizing this would be a future need). He took initiative and direction that made himself more valuable to the company, and to his coworkers. Today, we are not pigeon-holed into the life that we had fallen into. Time has given us this opportunity to rebuild and seek out learning opportunities for growth. Seize it.

We created the HCSS Academy, for this purpose. It is available for HCSS users to learn how to use existing products better, explore new products, and interact with other experts in the construction industry. Here are two Academy Courses to get you started:

• Expediting Solicitation and Quoting with HeavyBid’s Quote System
• Auto-Calculating Overtime to Revise Time Cards and Save Time

We have also made the HeavyBid 101 classes available ONLINE and LIVE. We will hold 2 of these sessions from April 22-23, and May 28-29, and the cost is half of what it would be for an in-person classroom training. Register your employees here, and set them up with the right training. If you have any questions about the HeavyBid courses, you can e-mail events@hcss.com.

I hope that you use this time to add value to your company as an individual and create opportunities to train and rely on your people better than yesterday. Preparing our companies now for the way we will look when this crisis is over is how we will be on top when others will still be adjusting to change. We can help direct you through this. Our support is here for you 24/7, and our customer success team is here to help you manage your goals.

Best wishes to you and your families from all of us at HCSS.