Latest / The Refrigeration Mentor Podcast / Episode 226. How Busy Technicians Can Better Manage Work and Family Life

Transcript

Episode 226. How Busy Technicians Can Better Manage Work and Family Life · The Refrigeration Mentor Podcast

• 0:00
  What I want to do today is kind of a little different. I'm going to take some of the questions that people have been writing in, but I had one person say like they don't have the experience on the racks and refrigeration yet. They're in a company that works with HVAC and refrigeration and they just put put the Them together.
• 0:01
  So now everyone's working on really everything. It's really that the HVAC technicians are now taking on call on on supermarket I'm assuming and they struggle with the the work and the travel and on call uh, the long hours of traveling and They they say they struggle, you know, uh with the family right because of the long hours And trying to fix the work life balance and we talked about work life balance, uh last week the big thing is Is it is a lot of work, but you got to talk with your family about this and your kids, they need to understand where you're at.
• 0:02
  Cause what I see in a lot of times it even be, and I, I did it before the kids is that yes, we are in a damn man in a job. And I didn't have the conversation, those tough conversations with my partner at the time. Uh, they understood at the time, but I didn't have kids at the time either, so it's a little more di So this is why you gotta talk to them and let them know why you're doing this.
• 0:03
  You're doing these things so you can have a health Over your guys heads, so you can get them the proper stuff for schools, to get them into the right schools, to get them to the things that they want, to get them to play those extracurricular activities. And there is going to be times where you're going to work those long hours.
• 0:04
  Putting in the work, being up front with them, I think that's the most important, and expectations. And when you say you're going to be somewhere, you gotta be there. And I know in refrigeration, this is difficult. But if you plan, the big thing is the planning part. So if your kids do some sporting events, and just say all summer we're going to play baseball on this day, whatever it is, it's practice on this day, baseball on this day.
• 0:05
  You gotta set up before the summertime. And you're going to talk to your service manager, you're going to talk to your boss, uh, if you have a company of, if it's a smaller company, it's definitely difficult, more difficult to do versus a larger company with more people. But you're going to say, these times here, I am, I, I'm going to be at my kid's event.
• 0:06
  I promised them that I'm taking them there. And I'm going to be at their, I'm going to coach them, just say I'm going to coach them. So you've got to plan your stuff, you've got to plan this before the summer comes, before you even roll them into that sport. You've got to plan and say, okay, I know on Wednesdays, it's, I'm coaching, literally.
• 0:07
  Wednesdays, I'm not doing any four hour drives out of there. You know, I'm not going to go to the next city to do a job on that specific day. So you talk with dispatch about this, you talk to your service manager about this, you know, and you plan this ahead of time on those dates and you've got to, you've got to be upfront about them and you've got to talk about it.
• 0:08
  Is there sometimes where they're, they're like, we need you. You've got to be, you've got to say no sometimes. And that's it. You already planned this six months ago that these days that you're working on there and people are like, well, no, nobody's going to take that. If you plan it properly and you work and you show them like, I got a no, no work out of town policy on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
• 0:09
  That's it. And then if you're on call in that specific week, you're gonna before the on call like the on call schedule should come out I don't know when depending there or some somewhere random, but most of the time they come out earlier in the year So it gives everybody idea to plan their schedules and stuff And once again, if you're a small company your own your own business Well, it's all on you like it doesn't matter if you're really HVAC or refrigeration You're You're taking calls all the time, but if you work at a company you get that schedule first So, you know man i'm on two saturdays in the summertime where i'm on call I need to make sure that I have someone to fill those those saturdays So you talk to your service manager and you talk with everyone you trade days Okay, so I will do that.
• 0:10
  I will take a day Because it's a week on call just so you guys do a week on call I will take your saturday if you can take these saturday or I will do your sundays if you can take these saturdays Or you you trade with them. So you got to come up with these creative ideas So you don't miss any of those games And you make sure that you you set yourself up and then if dispatcher your service manager said no you got to go into town No, we have it written here in the contract that I cannot work out of town.
• 0:11
  I got to work close And then I have to check out at three. So I know I got to do maintenance on, on those Wednesdays, every Wednesday, you're going to do maintenance during the summer or leak check, or do, uh, something that you know, that you can draw that you get the, whatever time that you got to leave, that you can stop and go people's like, well, that's not the way refrigeration works.
• 0:12
  If you plan it, that's how you can make it big differently than the way people did think. And the way refrigeration has been done, do it differently. Okay? And maybe it'll be a struggle at first. But be honest with your family, be honest with your company, and things will start to change. You will start to see change.
• 0:13
  And if that company doesn't, doesn't help you out with that because you're out there crushing it and you're making them money and you're helping them grow and you're help, they're helping you build your life and career. But of all of a sudden, if you don't have a family anymore, if you, you know, you're not being where you want, you're not happy, it's gonna make that, not gonna make their company, uh, any money either.
• 0:14
  They want you to be the happy to all. I talked to these business owners. I talked to her. They want their teams to be happy. They want them to succeed. They want you to be that rock star all the time. So there's always give or take. So if you put a little extra work in here, bring them more value. I know for sure.
• 0:15
  That they're going to be able to work with you on those. And that's just one example. But you got to think about this stuff. You got to think and plan it. You can't just come up a day before every Saturday or every Wednesday. I can't work past four o'clock on Wednesday. This is planned ahead of time.
• 0:16
  Because what a lot of technicians do, they're very proactive. Just like, I'm sorry, very reactive. And it's like, oh, I'm on call next week. I need to go on vacation. You know, I planned a vacation six months ago, but I forgot to mention it to you that i'm on call that week And i'm not going to be here. So it's all about that planning and preparation I know this is hard like the the work life balance For some people it's hard, but what is your work life balance?
• 0:17
  How much time do you you want to spend more time with your family 100? i've heard this from a Ceo a few months ago. He sat with me and like a lot of people and this is why you say oh, it's quality over quantity You And he's like, I don't know about that. That's what I've been told. But I see my wife and my kids and they, they're, they're solid because she's with them all the time.
• 0:18
  And even though I'm quality, we go on great vacations, we hang out and we have good conversations. He doesn't think it's quality over quantity. He thinks it's just the quantity because the kids see you more. You're there with them. You're FaceTiming. So if you do run into issues like that, what I do when I'm trapped, cause I do a lot of traveling now.
• 0:19
  And if you don't do this, grab your phone, get your wife or your kids or your husband, whatever it is, on Messenger. Get them on WhatsApp, whatever it is, and call them up. Give them a call. Every night. You should be doing it if you're working late. You should be calling your kids on FaceTime and talk to them.
• 0:20
  Hey, I'm sorry I can't be there. Dad's out there working real hard. I got this problem that I'm fixing with the customer. Explain it! So the compressor's not working. The system is down. And my job is to help the customer get up and running because they have 25, 000 of product that's going to serve people out there in our neighborhood so we can feed them.
• 0:21
  And my job tonight, I have to, I can't be home. I gotta help them get this up and running. You know, you know, I want to uh, you know, I would love to be there with you I will be there and then you say the day that you know that for sure you're gonna be there Because maybe you're taking friday. I'm gonna be there saturday night.
• 0:22
  I'm gonna be reading your stories or You take 15 minutes because you know, you're working late and you read them a story Over the phone i've done this before why not now you feel there's more of a connection there with your kids You know take 15 minutes. I don't care who you are You can take 15 minutes if you're on call and you're cleaning cases, you gotta go clean cases out.
• 0:23
  You can go a step outside and have a coffee or have a smoke if you smoke or whatever. You can go and take 15 minutes, call your kids and talk to them and have a conversation with them. Talk to them. Tell them what you're doing. Explain why you're doing this. We're helping people around the world. We're saving people's lives.
• 0:24
  Explain that to them, and then that's where you'll get a bigger connection. And I feel my work life balance, even though I'm away, and I know my kids don't, they don't, they, ah, dad, you're going again. But I talk to them, I explain to them why I'm doing this, how I'm trying to help others, how I'm trying to help grow people, so they can have the lives that they want.
• 0:25
  And it's not easy. It's definitely not easy, but I know for sure you get that planning. You get some of that reflection in there. It's going to help you and it will help with that work life balance, but it's all about the planning. If you're being reactive, it's going to feel like a bigger struggle and be honest with your family.
• 0:26
  Talk to them about this stuff. Talk to them out, get them to understand it. Instead of that, oh, Dan's always worked with refrigeration is terrible. Oh, these all worked all the time, but if you build a connection, then they're not going to see that that is such a, a hindrance. So love hanging out with you guys.
• 0:27
  Look forward to chatting with y'all and let's get a conversation going.