How Belfor’s team recovers disasters and achieves goals

We at Weekdone have not limited the usability of weekly progress reports to specific companies or specific industries. In fact, we encourage various companies to try it out and adjust the report according to their needs. It does not matter if you work in the private or public sector, in a company of 5 or 500 employees,  the need to supervise your employees, give feedback and enhance communications is still vital.

The same goes for planning. It is important in any situation, but what could you do if your whole business is built upon unexpected situations? You could still use weekly planning and reporting. Therefore, we are so glad that Belfor, the worldwide leader in disaster recovery and property restoration, has been using our weekly progress reports to stay on track. We talked with Tamera Kleine from Belfor to understand what they do and how they use Weekdone.

1. What does your company do?

Belfor is a property restoration company, which handles losses after storm, water or fire damage, restoring property back to the condition it was in.  We are mitigation and reconstruction experts, and offer services beyond what most restoration companies do.

2. Can you describe the structure of your team and it’s core function(s)?

BELFOR is an international company, and in the Texas region, we are using Weekdone in all of our five offices.  Each office has a GM, Project Manager, Estimator, Sales, technical people to do our work, and administrators to hold things together.  It is helpful to know what is going on around the state, especially since upper management cannot be in each location.  We set up each office as a team, and then all our GMs form another team.

3. Why did you decide to choose Weekdone?

We were looking for ways to communicate best among our offices.  Weekdone helped us to plan, and then also prioritize those plans effectively.

4. What has improved by using Weekdone? Are there any unexpected benefits you have seen?

It is a process to help people learn to plan out their week, instead of just do the next thing in front of them. Especially since our industry is one where we respond during emergencies, our staff is used to responding quickly in those instances. It is when there is not an emergency that we needed help so people can know the next most important things they should do.

We have seen some people rise up to meet this challenge of planning and prioritizing. We develop Team Objectives out of our monthly reviews, and then can keep those in front of our teams, and we realize that people are aiming for those objectives and working towards those goals, instead of it being something that is talked about and forgotten.

To-do lists are incredibly useful, especially when existing in computer rather than in head.  It so easy to forget something that was discussed over lunch or mentioned in a meeting.  The moment you write down your plans and objectives, they become more alive and achievable. To maximize the full benefits you could get from weekly planning, prioritizing is important. People don’t just need to know what is the next thing they should do, but what is the next important task that should be accomplished. The valuable progress report is achieved through thoughtful planning and prioritizing, which is what we at Weekdone aim for.