from the president 11.11.2020
Infinitely creating great spaces
B
ear Grylls said “The storms don’t last forever”. 2020 has certainly been quite the storm and one that will be recorded in the history books (is there still such a thing?). The extremes have made this a very challenging year from lockdowns preventing most in our industry from operating business’ and then to a surge of demand that has the supply chain and our manufacturing capacity at breaking point.
But Bear is right, even this storm won’t last forever so I think it’s important to pause and take the time to smell the roses. We live in the best part of the world to be at the moment, I have no doubt about that. So as this stormy year nears the end, we should think about and celebrate what we do. What do we do? Well, it’s much more than making cabinets and joinery. We actually improve lifestyles. Living, working, learning, and playing environments by creating great spaces. Families homes, work places, schools, and public spaces are all enhanced by what we do every day. That gives us just cause to think with an infinite mindset and beyond our own tenure We tend to get tangled up in getting the next job out the door, meeting the deadlines, and looking after the bottom line that often we lose sight of the big game. We should be proud of the creativity and manufacturing savvy we use every day to create great spaces. Take a moment. What’s more, we create these great spaces using sustainable products most which come from renewable resource and are friendly to our planet. There is more to do here and the focus on sustainability will
sharpen within our industry in the years to come. Covid has taught us a lesson about reliance on imported products and we’ve been reminded of the benefits of local production. Make sure you push the Buy NZ Made barrow. In my opinion though, the best thing we bring to the table when creating great spaces is that we do it by manufacturing legacy products. The work we do today will be enjoyed by not just the immediate client but most likely a future owner, maybe even generation or three, afterwards. Our work will remain well after the invoice is paid, after we have earned our livings and paid our team and our suppliers. We should be proud of that. That said, the reality is that right now everyone is time poor. Have you ever been so busy? It’s stressful and when the pressure is on, we are drawn into our business’ and work even harder. It’s easier said than done but it’s vital to look after yourself, take a breath, spend some time in the forest or at the beach and be with your family. Take a break The Master Joiners leadership and National Office team are mindful that many members are too busy to take up some of the opportunities that have been presented recently. The webinar series will continue in 2021 and popular topics will be something we can revisit when everyone comes up for air. Ian Featherstone’s recent series has included costing and scheduling and has provided some very useful tools. Nicola Bow is currently running a series on Customer Service and we are trialling a different format for this. These webinars are available for all of your team so consider “delegating” someone from within your firm to attend and gather the learning.
JOINERS Magazine December 2020 page 4
Current work pressures have also resulted in a slightly below par uptake on the Master Joiners Benchmarking opportunity. Thanks here to Ian Featherstone and the team at Smetrics for bringing this to Master Joiners. Congratulations to the member companies that have participated, I’m sure the insights will prove useful and identify some opportunities within those participating firms. Conference is on. Master Joiners are back in the game and our 2021 Inspired to Perform programme has been released. It is an outstanding line up and will be a great opportunity to catch up with Joiners from around the country. This year an invitation is extended to allied industries to attend as well. Get in touch via the Master Joiners website. The Master Joiners Excellence awards are back on track also and entries have remained open throughout this year. There will have been some inspiring work created since the Invercargill edition so I’m sure the calibre will be as high as we’ve ever seen. Get organised now and have a look through the information as the format is new with a transition to a digital entry. Recently the MJ executive were able to meet in person for the first time post lockdowns. E-meetings have been utilised to deal with much of the business as usual so this was a great opportunity to advance the strategy of the Federation. The regions are very well represented by your presidents and collectively it’s a strong team that advance the objectives of Master Joiners. Our strategy comprises three themes and we now have a lead for each of those and I acknowledge the guidance provided by Nathan
Busch on Membership, Myles Sellers on Education, and Reuben Bogue on Advocacy. We have also benefitted this year by the governance oversight of our independent, Ian Lothian. It’s been difficult to find time this year so I would like to acknowledge the special contribution made by the Master Joiners advisory group, the executive, our JMF directors, JTT team, members on our working groups, the regional secretaries and executives. Thank you, it hasn’t been easy to make these duties a priority and the combined effort is what moves us forward. We are very fortunate to have Allison Delaney fronting our organisation. She seems to have a boundless supply of energy and passion for our organisation and somehow keeps all the plates spinning. Veronica Hennig has been pushing forward our social media presence and helping pull the levers inside the MJ machine. Thank you team. Finally I’d like to give a shout out to all readers of Joiners Magazine but the loudest to our members and associate members. Thanks for being part of our nationwide network and upholding the standards and excellence of our industry. Enjoy your summer, take some time to look after you and yours. Keep flying the flag, be really proud of what you do – Infinitely creating great spaces Merry Christmas Paul Ingram National President Registered Master Joiners
