June 2019 Te Contractor’s Advantage
www.HarrisonLawGroup.com (410) 832-0000 jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com
The Greatest Things About Being a Working Parent
One of the greatest things about being a father is watching my kids learn and grow. All parents want to see their kids succeed and lead a happy life — and most do everything they can to put their children on that path. Education is a big part of that, but so is spending time together. I do what I can to spend time with my kids every single day. Before I head off to the office, we spend the morning together. When I get home from the office, we spend part of the evening together. Whether we’re having meals together, reading, or playing, I always make room for quality time. When you’re a professional working during the week (and even the weekend), it can be difficult to make that time. But that is what makes the moments we do spend together so special. Watching your kids grow and learn about the world around them is so satisfying. My kids are 4 and 7 and well into the age of discovery. Everything about the world is so fascinating to them. There is something new to discover around every corner. are not afraid to get their hands absolutely filthy. We recently took a long weekend out to Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland. The kids had the time of their lives running through the trees, finding bugs, and immersing themselves in nature. They love getting out into nature and digging around in the dirt. They
I’m excited to take them to North Carolina. This summer, our family will be heading to the beach! We’ll get together with my parents and my sister and her family. It should be a good time and will certainly be an adventure for the kids. Being a working parent is bittersweet. Even when you try to be involved, it can still feel like you’re watching your kids grow up from a distance. This is something I see with a lot of busy professionals who are trying to balance career and family. They worry that they’ll miss something important, and chances are they will. It’s one of the realities of modern life.
working at the office, engaging with clients, and so forth, but I still get to watch my children grow up with my extra time. Even when I’m at work, they continue to grow and learn. I know that they will be just fine.
-Jeremy Wyatt
But they won’t miss everything. For me, I may spend much of my week
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'INFLUENCE' A Road Map to Closing Deals
The average businessperson reads and composes more than 120 emails every day, but there’s an overwhelming amount of business emails that seem to be written with no apparent regard for the reader. A massive chunk of people’s workdays is wasted wading through irrelevant, unclear, or incomprehensible messages. To remedy this issue, it’s vital to understand the keys to effective online communication, both to stem the tide of annoying and unnecessary emails and to protect your reputation as a professional. Here are three rules for effective email communication. Don’t Be ‘That Guy’ THE 3 CARDINAL RULES OF EFFECTIVE EMAIL COMMUNICATION When your message is sitting in an inbox packed with dozens of others, it’s essential to respect your reader’s time. Make the contents of the message clear from a glance at the subject line. Your subject line is what will draw the attention of the recipient — or lead them to skip over it altogether — so be specific and relevant. In the body of the email, your reason for emailing, as well as all the important points, should be immediately clear. Keep it as concise and as transparent as possible. 1. TIGHTEN IT UP. Many professionals assume that the need for brevity means they can get away with short, robotic missives. Managers are especially guilty of this, sending out single-sentence messages in all lowercase letters with nary an emotion. We get it; you’re busy. But it’s worth taking an extra moment of your time to craft an email that carries the human element as well. It’s important to take a professional tone and to keep communication brief, but you can still write, to some degree, like you talk. This will show recipients that you take communicating with them seriously. Again, you’re busy, and you’ve got to prioritize your work, but consistently ignoring emails is a clear sign of negligence and will make you unpopular among your coworkers. If you don’t have time to think of a clear answer, a simple confirmation that you received the message goes a long way. While you can safely ignore all those companywide filler emails you receive each week, you need to show your coworkers and contacts that you’re willing to put in a little effort and that you’re on top of your responsibilities. 3. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, REPLY TO THE EMAILS YOU RECEIVE. 2. WRITE LIKE A HUMAN BEING.
Business majors and longtime entrepreneurs will be very familiar with this work. And in an age when many shiny new theories on leadership and personal development come out every year, it’s refreshing to revisit a classic that has stood the test of time. Thirty-five years after its original publication, “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” should still be required reading for marketers, small- business owners, and anyone else looking to improve their negotiation skills. Written by Dr. Robert Cialdini, “Influence” explores why people say yes. A professor of business and psychology, Dr. Cialdini is uniquely qualified to tackle this question, combining scientific data with practical applications. “Influence” is still a subject of praise, with marketing research groups and journals of psychology lauding the book as a “proverbial gold mine.” You don’t have to get too far into “Influence” to see why. Dr. Cialdini lays out six “universal principles” of the human psyche. These include “Reciprocity,” our tendency to want to return perceived kindness or concessions; “Commitment and Consistency,” our tendency to cling to past decisions; and “Scarcity,” our tendency to assign value to things based on their rarity. While these may sound like surface level business concepts, the way Dr. Cialdini uses these principles as a launching point gives “Influence” value. With each principle, the author dives into examples of how these psychological elements can be used by you or against you in any negotiation. Take “Commitment and Consistency” for example. If you are able to get a person to agree with you on several small points, you lay the groundwork for them to agree with you in the future. Conversely, you can be more alert when people try to use this tactic on you. One of the most powerful results of reading “Influence” is that it helps you recognize behaviors you yourself were unaware of. Indeed, that’s the whole underlying thesis of Dr. Cialdini’s work: As social creatures, we all have habitual behaviors geared towards finding common ground with others. Once you are aware of these behaviors, you’ll begin to see conversations and negotiations in a whole new light.
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Defeating the Summer Slump
3 Ways to Keep Up Productivity During the Summer
DRESS DOWN
HAVE A Laugh Sitting at a desk for eight continuous hours can stagnate productivity at any point during the year, but during the summer, there’s an easy way to remedy it: getting a little exercise. Since the sun is shining, why not take advantage of it while you work? Try scheduling a “walking meeting” outside, or implement exercise breaks every couple of hours. Moving around boosts productivity, and doing it outside can be a great change of scenery. June 21 marks the official beginning of summer and the productivity slump most businesses experience. The sun’s tantalizing rays draw your eyes from computer screens or conference room meetings to the outside world. A weekend of fresh air, sunshine, and cool evenings on the back porch infiltrate your mind. Your productivity is sapped, but you’ve still got work to do. So, what can you do? Here are a few ways to combat the summer slump. If you’re in a management position, consider tweaking the standard 9-to-5, Monday through Friday schedule a little bit. Some businesses will implement a 9/80 schedule, meaning employees work 80 hours in nine days instead of 10, so they can get every other Friday off. Some businesses will let employees work half days on Fridays during the summer, and others will let employees work remotely on certain days. RELAX THE WORK HOURS GET MOVING
If shirts and ties are the norm at your business, you might want to consider embracing the laid-back vibe of summer by relaxing the dress code a bit. It’s a small way to ensure employees don’t feel like they’re missing out on all the perks of summertime without losing productivity. Plus, who wants to wear a suit in July? It’s tough to compete with the allure of a warm summer day, but sometimes those days can work to your advantage if you make a few simple swaps in your everyday work routine.
PUZZLE
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o
Jeremy Wyatt jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com www.HarrisonLawGroup.com (410) 832-0000
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
Inside This Edition 40 West Chesapeake Avenue, Ste. 600 Towson, MD 21204
1.
Being a Father
2.
The 3 Cardinal Rules of Effective Email Communication
'Influence' and the Psychology of Yes
3.
3 Ways to Keep Up Productivity During the Summer
Have a Laugh
4.
Become a Pillar in Your Community
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Level With Me: 'Informal' Change Order Work Make a Positive Impact 3 Strategies for Genuine Community Involvement Even if most of your clients are located in other parts of the globe, the place your business calls home is a huge part of your identity. When a company makes a point to get involved locally, it’s doing more than making new connections and getting its brand out there — it’s also making a positive impact on the place it calls home. Most companies experience a slowdown in the summer. Here are some strategies to take advantage of that lull and create a plan for your business to get involved in the community and be a good neighbor. Every town boasts its share of charities and nonprofits looking to make a difference. Find a cause you believe in, then help out. This could mean donating a portion of your revenue to a local women’s shelter, volunteering as a company at the soup kitchen, or sponsoring a gala that raises money for a children’s hospital. Supporting charities demonstrates your values and attracts the kinds of customers who share them. SUPPORT A LOCAL CHARITY
JOIN A PARADE
This sounds unconventional, but sometimes it pays to think outside the box. Most towns put on a Fourth of July parade in the summer, so why not join in? Building a float could be a great team-building exercise, and a lot of people will turn up and see your mobile advertisement in the parade. Being in the parade shows that you’re part of the community, and when you top it all off by tossing candy to the kids, you’ll really make an impact. Your company could donate school supplies or even sponsor a program. Art and music programs are often the first to suffer from budget cuts, so support from a local business could make a huge difference. Donate art supplies to the classroom, sponsor high school theater productions, or offer scholarships to help young musicians pay for new instruments. Keep the arts alive by helping the kids in your community do what they love. These suggestions require time and resources to pull off, but making the effort can transform your company from just another business in a sea of many to a pillar in your community. WORK WITH LOCAL SCHOOLS
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June 2019
Level With Me By JeremyWyatt
Maryland Law Can Help Subcontractors Collect on ‘Informal’ Change Order Work
When I review subcontracts for clients, it is not uncommon to see change order clauses including language such as, “no change order is effective unless it is in writing and signed by the contractor’s project manager.” Likewise, it is not uncommon for upstream contractors or owners to dispute the validity of change order work charges based on the defense that the upstream entity did not provide a written, signed change order authorizing the work or costs. Unfortunately, I regularly see the “no signed change order” defense asserted even when the upstream entity directed via email that additional work be performed, such as in the following example:
increasing the chance that informally ordered additional work will be compensated.
For example, Maryland’s Statute of Frauds, in a fashion similar to the change order clause described above, requires that certain kinds of agreements be both in writing and signed before a party can bring suit on them. Two common agreements falling within the Statute of Frauds are contracts relating to real estate and contracts for the sale of goods over $500. Historically, parties were required to sign a paper copy of an agreement with a pen to satisfy the Statute of Frauds, much as contractors have historically been required to obtain a formal, written and signed change order to have a clear path to compensation for additional work. Under Maryland’s Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (MUETA), however, neither a paper agreement nor a signature in ink is necessary to form a contract that satisfies the Statute of Frauds. Instead, if a party intends to do so, it can form a contract that satisfies the Statute of Frauds merely by sending an email with a signature line. The MUETA provides that, “[i]f a law requires a record to be in writing, an electronic record satisfies the law.” See Md. Code Ann., Comm. Law § 21-106(c). Likewise, “[i]f a law requires a signature, an electronic signature satisfies the law.” See Id. at (d). The Court of Special Appeals of Maryland has acknowledged that emails satisfy the Statute of Frauds in MEMC Elec. Materials, Inc. v. BP Solar Int’l, Inc., 196 Md. App. 318, 9 A.3d 508 (2010). In reviewing a series of emails that contained the terms of an agreement for
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To:
Subcontractor Bob Contractor
From:
Dear Sub:
Proceed with the additional work we discussed.
Bob Contractor Best Construction, Inc.
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Modern Maryland law may provide an avenue for subcontractors to fight back against the “no signed change order” defense,
Continued on Back ...
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(410) 832-0000
... continued from Front
the sale of goods, the Court of Special Appeals held that “emails constitute a sufficient writing under the Statute [of Frauds]. . . . In that regard, if so intended, a typed name is a sufficient signature as an agent of the party against whom enforcement is sought.” See Id. at 339, 9 A.3d at 521. Essentially, the Court of Special Appeals held that a party can bind itself to a contract under the Statute of Frauds merely by sending an email with a signature block. That case and others like it could have important ramifications for subcontractors working under a formal “writing-required” change order clause. The MUETA does not stop with the Statute of Frauds. Instead, emails can satisfy any contract that requires written confirmations or approvals, so long as the surrounding circumstances and contract language suggest that the parties agreed to conduct their business via email. See Md. Code Ann., Comm. Law §§ 21-104(b) and 21-108(b). In the context of the email described above, the MUETA could therefore empower a downstream contractor to assert that, since the parties were conducting business (including orders for additional work) via email, the email directing additional work constitutes a
“signed, written change order” for the purposes of entitling the subcontractor to additional compensation for that work.
And making space for emails to function as contract documents is both fair and fitting in the modern construction world. A lot (most?) of today’s construction business is conducted via email, and it is simply fair to empower parties to make binding decisions and directives via email. This column is intended to provide educational material only and is not intended to provide legal advice. Before proceeding with or defending any claim, you should carefully evaluate your contract and related legal rights and seek the direct counsel of a construction attorney.
If you want to learn more skills and tips about avoiding construction claim pitfalls, you can receive a free copy of my book, “The Subcontractor’s Roadmap to Getting Paid for Extra Work” by emailing me at jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com.
-Jeremy Wyatt
jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com
www.HarrisonLawGroup.com
(410) 832-0000
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