For many golfers, the week of the Masters Tournament is the highlight of the calendar year. The Masters is like the Tour de France—the same route every year. The weather may change, or the health of the individual players, but the challenge remains the same—to play the very best 72 holes of golf in the 4-day tournament and to earn the prestigious green jacket - the symbol of brotherhood.

With The Masters on the forefront, here are three ways to build success in business, from lessons learned on the golf course.  

1. Play, Play, Play: Repetition brings results, but it isn’t enough just to play. You must play using the best practices.  As in golf and in the construction industry, standing still equates to moving backwards. A serious player has to be actively engaged in progress or is automatically backsliding. In today’s fast-paced business environment, the competition is fierce, and the stakes are high. To be competitive and face the unprecedented challenges in the industry, you must take every opportunity to work. As simple as this may sound, it is more challenging than ever. Construction companies operate on tight project margins, but now there is an even greater pressure due to labor shortages, varying job site productivity levels, high inflation, rising interest rates, unpredictable supply chain, and increasing raw material costs. By meeting challenges head on and staying fiercely committed to finding solutions and embracing every opportunity, long term results are initiated.

The construction industry is growing, and there are great opportunities to thrive, but contractors can only be successful if they build their business on the best practices, taking steps to drive productivity improvements and optimize resources to deliver their projects on time and on budget.

2. Play with the right equipment. Quality, and properly fitted equipment will take your play to the next level.  At the urging of several very talented golfers, it was time to be fitted with custom clubs.  After years of playing with poor quality and ill-fitting equipment, finally investing in the proper gear allowed and produced improvements in play and practice.

In the construction industry, as in golf, the right equipment and material resources are an absolute game-changer. From cranes and excavators to compressors and scaffolding, the correct and reliable equipment is needed on every job site. Management of equipment-- from deciding whether to buy, lease or rent, and how to best maintain is a fundamental to overall business success. Equipment acquisition and management should be made based on forecasting, project needs and projections. Enterprise Software and data metrics are as important as the equipment chosen, per project.

3. Play with the right people. Golfing alone is good, but to improve your game, surround yourself with better golfers and learn from them!  Bag your ego and snag golf-mates with experience.  Any industry or person flourishes when surrounded by talented professionals - in comparison, strong golfing partners make for a strong golfer. Skilled and dedicated laborers are crucial for executing tasks effectively and efficiently—but are also hard to come by and retain in a competitive market. Choosing the best labor available and then utilizing and managing their know-how and intuition is critical when designing and delivering best outcomes.  Years after the induction into the world of sports, Golf continues to represent tradition, commitment, practice and evolution as an individual and part of a whole.  Much like the history of IFS™, the integrity and charter, is to allow space for continuous business and process improvement through efficacy and best practices.
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In both business and on the golf course, the keys to “mastering” the construction trade are: Repetition and mindful practice, Making the right equipment choices, and Working with talented and inspirational people.  Being involved or aspiring to the brotherhood of “Masters” is equitable to finding the Team and businesses with whom Forseti Solutions can join and elevate, through providing experience (on and off the green).  We remain committed to high standards and investing in our clients' success.  We are in it for the long game.