19/08/2026
๐ฎ๐ฒ - ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐ป'๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ - ๐ช๐ต๐ ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐
๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ
๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐ปโ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ: ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ๐, ๐๐
๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ & ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐
Have you ever found yourself saying, โ๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐โ๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ!โ when a team member hasnโt done something the way you expected?
The problem is, your version of common sense comes from your own experience โ and your team canโt read your mind.
In this episode of the ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐, Amanda talks about why clear expectations, proper onboarding and documented systems are so important as your trade business grows.
From timesheets and vehicle checks to customer communication and job completion checklists, if you want something done a certain way, you need to show your team what โ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑโ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ.
But this isnโt about removing accountability from your team either.
Once youโve explained the process, trained them, documented it and made it easy to access, your team has a responsibility to follow it โ and when they donโt, you need to address it.
๐๐ป ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ
โข Why a 15-minute induction isnโt enough for a new team member
โข The problem with saying, โItโs just common senseโ
โข Why every employee brings different life and work experience
โข What should be included in your onboarding and SOPs
โข Why your processes donโt need to be 100-page documents
โข Using videos, photos, screenshots and checklists for different learning styles
โข Why your systems need to be easy to access from site
โข The importance of explaining ๐๐ต๐ a process needs to be followed
โข How better timesheet descriptions help both the field and office teams
โข Why the person actually doing the job can be the best person to document the process
โข How to use AI tools to help get processes out of your head and documented
โข The difference between a broken system and a performance problem
โข How to give a simple ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ป๐๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ when someone doesnโt follow the agreed process
โข Why documented systems make it easier for you to take holidays, cover key staff and eventually sell your business
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ
When you're creating or improving a process, keep it simple:
๐๐
๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ถ๐ โ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ โ ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ โ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ โ ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐
Your first version doesn't need to be perfect. Start by documenting what happens now, then improve it as your business and team grow.
๐๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ
Clear systems donโt mean accepting poor performance.
If someone has been trained, understands the process and has access to it but doesnโt follow it, address it early.
A simple performance conversation might be:
โ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ซ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ. ๐ ๐ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ซ. ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐น๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐
๐ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป?โ
Explain the impact too. A missed step could mean a callback, another trip to the customer, lost billable hours, disruption to the schedule and a poorer customer experience.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ช๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธโ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ
Choose ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ.
It could be timesheets, finishing jobs, vehicle checks, invoicing or communicating when a job runs over.
Document version one โ even if itโs just a page in Word.
Then give it to someone on your team and ask:
โ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐๐ธ ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป?โ
If not, keep improving it.
๐ช๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ช๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐ฒ
If half your business is still living inside your head, we can help you start getting it out.
Through ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐, ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐น๐ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐, we help trade businesses create better systems, remove bottlenecks and build processes their team can actually follow.
Because your team canโt read your mind โ and they shouldnโt have to.
If you enjoyed this episode, share it with another tradie. And donโt forget to follow and rate the ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ on your favourite podcast app.
https://pod.co/hey-tradies-podcast/26-your-team-can-t-read-your-mind-why-clear-systems-and-expectations-matter
