Last updated on November 21st, 2023 at 01:42 pm
How would you describe having a sense of urgency?
“Sense of urgency” is the third core value in our BEST acronym. So we’d like to take the opportunity to explain what it truly means for our team at Approved Sheet Metal.
In order to identify what having a sense of urgency is, we first came up with a list of what it’s not.
Table of Contents
Having a sense of urgency is NOT:
- Hanging out on the shop floor waiting for something to do
- Putting off a task or a job just because the deadline is still a few days away
...or even...
- Running around with a folder, looking “busy”
Having a sense of urgency IS:
- Promptly taking action with the intention of making things happen efficiently and effectively
- Doing what needs to be done immediately—without being asked
- Accomplishing tasks in the most thorough way possible
- Proactively looking for ways to improve our team’s knowledge and skills
4 Golden Rules for Maintaining a Sense of Urgency
At Approved Sheet Metal, we practice a healthy sense of urgency by sticking to these golden rules:
Rule 1: Don’t wait until Monday to do something you can do on Friday.
As the popular saying goes, a procrastinator’s work is never done. We try to make the best use of every minute of our time, even if we’re just 15 minutes away from clocking out.
Having a sense of urgency means never waiting until a situation becomes an emergency. It means being proactive
enough to plan ahead of a deadline and getting started on tasks right away. It’s about respecting time—ours and our customers’.
Rule 2: Work together to help each other.
Sheet metal fabrication is a huge relay race: we may start at a press brake, move to the lasers, and end with the grinders. We work on multiple processes that occur in rapid succession.
Maintaining a sense of urgency helps us support each other so we’re never holding anyone up. It stems from caring about the people we work with and knowing that we’re all relying on each other.
Rule 3: Communicate and do what you can to push things forward.
Having a sense of urgency is about taking the initiative to push projects forward to completion.
If a material a customer needs is out of stock, for example, we won’t sit around waiting for our customer to resolve the issue on their own. We’ll suggest alternative materials that would work just as well or find other ways to source what our customer needs.
Rule 4: It’s not about rushing, it’s about creating quality work efficiently.
A healthy sense of urgency doesn’t mean we’re running all over our sheet metal shop. In fact, urgency isn’t about rushing at all.
Rather, a real sense of urgency means taking the time needed to produce quality work—so we minimize mistakes and get it right the first time. When we do make mistakes (because everyone does!), we take the opportunity to improve and be better.
Sense of Urgency: At Approved Sheet Metal, We Sell Time
Why work with a metal fabrication shop that includes having a sense of urgency as one of its core values? Because we deal with every project urgently. We understand that when you buy parts from us,
you’re also buying time.
Here’s what selling time means to us:
- Replying to all RFQs and customer questions within 4 hours of receiving them (and here’s an image of Steve’s inbox at ZERO to prove it!):
- Delivering flat sheet metal parts the same day
- Consistently coming in ahead of schedule to beat internal and customer deadlines
We even moved into our new space in Hudson, New Hampshire, earlier than planned!
We know that on-time delivery is extremely important to our customers. Our sense of urgency is our way of telling you that we respect you, your project, and your time.
From the moment we receive an order, we start the clock and make every minute count! Request a quote today.
