Communicate Like a Pro

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One of the biggest surprises early in my career was realizing how much communication affects the success of a project. I learned very quickly that people don’t get frustrated because I didn’t know things yet. Ultimately, they got frustrated because they didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t understand that at first. 

I remember being on a project where the structural steel delivery slipped by a week. I saw the email from the supplier come through, but at the time, I assumed it wasn’t a big deal and figured my PM already knew. He didn’t. And when the superintendent brought it up in the meeting later that week, everyone was caught off guard. 

It wasn’t catastrophic, but it caused unnecessary tension. And I remember thinking, “All of this could have been avoided if I had just spoken up.” There was no lecture, no blowup. It was simply a quiet moment where I realized that being new wasn’t the excuse I thought it was. People weren’t expecting me to solve the problem. They were expecting me to communicate. 

That’s when I started paying attention to something I had overlooked: in construction, communication isn’t just a formality or a “nice to have”. It’s essential to every role. 

The Difference Between Communicating and Updating 

Many young professionals think communication means giving a status update once something is finished. That’s not wrong, but it’s incomplete. Communication is about giving people the right information at the right time, not just at the end of the task. 

What I started noticing is that the best people on every job, whether they were PMs, supers, foremen, or whatever else, didn’t wait until things were wrapped up before saying something. They communicated while they were in the middle of things. They let others know what they were seeing, where things were hung up, or what might become an issue. And because of that, problems were solved proactively, and they were able to execute their scope. 

There’s a level of professionalism in simply not making your team have to chase you for information. You build trust without even realizing it. 

Why Good Communication Makes You Look Experienced (Even When You Aren’t) 

You don’t control how much experience you have. You don’t control how many projects you’ve been exposed to. But you do control how clearly you communicate, and that’s the part most young professionals underestimate. 

I’ve worked with interns who looked more polished than full-time employees because of the way they communicated. They asked clarifying questions. They circled back when they said they would. They followed up after meetings because they wanted to make sure they were aligned. None of these things required special training; they just required intention. 

When you communicate clearly, people naturally feel confident giving you more responsibility. They trust that you’re not going to disappear into a task for two weeks and resurface with a surprise. They trust that you’ll tell them what they need to know. In an industry where the smallest oversight can snowball into real problems, trust is everything. 

The Hard Part: Communicating When You Don’t Have Answers 

One of the most uncomfortable parts of being new is admitting you don’t know something. I used to try to figure things out quietly on my own because I didn’t want to bother anyone or look inexperienced. But I learned that silence causes more problems than questions ever will. 

There was a moment on a project when I was assigned to track a list of long-lead items. Some of the vendors were slow to respond, and instead of giving my PM an update, I kept digging for answers on my own. I thought, “I’ll come back when I have everything.” The problem was that my silence looked like inaction. What would’ve been a simple update turned into confusion. 

That’s when I realized that communicating uncertainty is still communicating. You don’t need all the answers to keep people informed. Saying “I’m still waiting on this vendor, but here’s what I’ve tried so far” is more professional than saying nothing at all. People can work with partial visibility. They can’t work with none. 

Communication Is a Skill, Not a Personality Trait 

Some of the best communicators I’ve met in this industry are quiet, introverted, and thoughtful. They aren’t loud. They don’t dominate conversations. But when they speak or write, they’re clear. They’re precise. They’re intentional. They make you feel like you’re on the same page. 

That’s what communicating like a pro looks like. You don’t have to be the most charismatic or extroverted. But you do need to be organized in your thoughts and respectful of other people’s time and responsibilities. 

With experience, you learn what information people actually need. And with repetition, you learn to deliver it in a way that makes their job easier, which is one of the fastest ways to grow in this industry. 

Final Thought 

You don’t need seniority to communicate like a professional. You just need to be clear, timely, and honest. You need to let people know what you’re seeing, what you’re working on, and where things stand, even when you don’t have everything figured out yet. 

Projects succeed when communication is consistent. Teams trust each other when nothing is hidden. And your career grows faster when people know they can rely on you to keep them in the loop. 

Keep pushing boundaries, keep learning, and keep building. 
- Fulton 

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