Much of managing people is navigating intangibles. Aspects of business like sales and marketing can be somewhat quantified into a spreadsheet — customer locations, promotions that generate purchases, and more. But leading people presents unique challenges since the quality of employee’s work is dependent on so many intertwining factors, some of which even the employees themselves might be unaware of. I became especially aware of this as I attended the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association’s Connect 2020 conference and listened in on Alex Donofrio, account executive for XOi Technologies, discuss how contractors can make sure their technicians embrace technology.

I’m in my 20s, so I only vaguely remember the world before cell phones and plasma screen TVs. That said, I’m something of a Luddite myself, so I can easily understand how the arrival of smartphones and new software can seem more restricting than helpful for HVAC technicians, especially if a technician has practices in place that have been working for years, if not decades.