Starting in construction can be tough for a lot of people. Whether you’re a Labourer or a Project Manager, a permanent member of the construction crew or just a day-player, it doesn’t matter, everyone has an essential role to play in a construction crew.

There are a number of skills that you need if you’re going to work in construction:

Risk assessment skills:

Being able to assess the risk of a certain action or plan is essential. Whenever you’re working in construction, you will need to prepare a risk assessment of the situation in front of you and will almost always have to prepare a document that outlines the potential risks.

However, outside of this, you need to be able to see the potential risks elsewhere as well, this could be anything from making sure that all employees are wearing the correct equipment and hold the correct qualifications and passes to make their way onto the site all the way through to making sure that your team are comfortable in what they’re doing. This may not sound like risk assessment, but it is; having your workers understand the instructions and the plans etc is vital!

Trust:

Trust is important in just about all walks of life, but on a construction site, it is vital. You are putting your faith in people to carry out the plans and instructions that you have given and trusting people is an essential part of that.

You will also need to trust people with what you’re doing as well. There are plenty of occasions where you will need someone else to “spot you” or to supervise as you complete a potential dangerous task and you need to know that you have people around you who can help you and can keep you safe. 

Put your ego to one side:

Just because you have qualifications in a certain area or because you specialise in a certain area, does not mean that you have all the knowledge required to make it in construction. Many people who work in construction don’t hold any formal qualifications, but have worked on a construction site long enough to know what is required from them and have developed problem solving skills of their own through their own experience.

For instance, you may be a university graduate, starting afresh with your own construction degree from Northumbria University, but may have little to no experience with working onsite, in which case, allowing someone else to give you advice or even take charge momentarily is the best way to move forward. 

Effective communication skills:

Communication is key in almost all walks of life and in every job, but it is perhaps most essential when working on a construction site.

Communication means that people are able to effectively carry out your instructions and it also means that you are able to get a good indication of what is happening on the site. 

Good communication can save lives as well! A construction site can be a dangerous place and effective communication on how to handle certain tools or the correct equipment to wear etc is essential and that comes from good communication skills. You also need to make sure that those that work alongside you are capable of communicating in a smart, concise and clear manner as well. 

The art of delegation:

Delegation is essential in construction. You can’t do everything yourself and neither can everyone else either! Delegating work to other people gives you the time to manage your own time effectively and to focus one aht needs to be done elsewhere! 

Delegation also allows workers to take their own responsibilities as well, it allows people to take the initiative and to work on their problem-solving skills when you allow them to take up additional responsibilities.