Managing Internal Change: Teaching Your Team to Review the WIP Report

Introduction

You may have recently learned how WIP reporting can transform your company by proactively managing job costs, assisting with cash flow forecasting, and empowering decision-making. But bringing this change to your team is whole other challenge. A demolition company deals with fast-changing jobs and shifting economic factors. You need to bring your team up to speed with what you learned about your WIP report to help transform your business while maintaining operational efficiency and staff morale.

Get Buy-In: Understand the Need

Effective change starts from the top down. Leadership needs to be fully committed to the transformation, not just in words but in action. Then, they need to bring the team up to speed. The field crew and project managers whose data feeds directly into the WIP reports, need to understand why the WIP report is being used and how it benefits them:

• Financial Accuracy: Traditional reporting methods might not accurately capture the true financial status of ongoing projects

• Regulatory Compliance: Evolving regulations require more sophisticated tracking and reporting of job activities

• Competitive Advantage: Enhanced WIP reporting enables more accurate bidding and improved project profitability

• Risk Management: Better tracking means faster responses to budget overruns and project risks

✅ Tip: Host a kickoff meeting with leadership, project managers, and job supervisors to explain what’s changing, why it matters, and how it will help track job profitability and avoid surprises.

Best Practices for Change Management

1. Conduct a Thorough Assessment

   1. Learn more about the existing WIP reporting process and systems in place

   2. Identify pain points and inefficiencies in the current process

   3. Gather feedback from field supervisors, project managers, and accounting staff
      

2. Create a Clear Vision and Communication Plan

   Your accounting team and field team speak different languages. One talks about revenue recognition and cost codes, and the other talks about tons hauled, crews on site, and unexpected rework. Your WIP transformation is the chance to get them on the same page.

   
   

   1. Define specific, measurable objectives for the WIP transformation

   2. Establish realistic timelines with key milestones

   3. Create a compelling narrative around why the change matters to the company's future
      

3. Assign a Change Champion

   Every successful transformation has someone who "owns" the change. This person understands the business, the people, and the workflow. Their job is to keep the project moving, troubleshoot issues, and help others adapt.

   
   

   1. Identify influential individuals at all levels of the organization

   2. Provide special training to these champions to help them support their team

   3. Create a network of change champions across departments and job sites

      
      

   ✅ Tip: Identify a respected team member (preferably someone familiar with both field and office operations) to act as your WIP report champion.

   
   

4. Invest in Your Systems and People

   Encourage tailored training programs and continuous learning. If you can, work with someone to develop role-specific training materials and sessions. Consider the different learning styles of your team, as well as their comfort with the technical aspects of their work. Even if you're using tools Vista or a custom Excel-based system, your reports are only as good as the data going into them. Gargage in = garbage out. Invest time in training your staff how to input labor hours, purchase orders, and job cost coding accurately.

   
   

5. Keep it Simple and Implement in Phases

   WIP reports can be very complex. The more straightforward and clear your system is, the faster your team will adopt it. Avoid overloading your report (and your team) with too many metrics right off the bat. Focus on the basics:
   

   1. Contract value

   2. Costs to date

   3. Estimated costs to complete

   4. Over/under billing
      

   Then, when everyone has a good understanding of the WIP report, begin rolling out procedural changes across your team:
   

   1. Implement changes gradually across projects or divisions

   2. Allow sufficient adjustment time between phases

   3. Celebrate early wins to build momentum
      

6. Communicate Frequently and Clearly

   Lack of communication is the #1 reason change efforts fail. Your team doesn't need more memos - they need clarity.
   

   1. Identify potential sources of resistance (fear of job changes, comfort with existing systems)

   2. Create forums for open discussions of concerns

   3. Address misconceptions quickly and directly
      

7. Focus on Progress, Not Perfection

   The first few times you try to implement this in your company, it's not going to be perfect. And that's okay. The most important part is sustaining the change - building the habit of reviewing job profitability and course-correcting in real time.
   

   1. Schedule regular reviews of the new WIP report

   2. Create a process for team members to suggest and implement improvements

   3. Recognize and reward adoption and improvement suggestions
      

Conclusion

You can elevate your company from reactive to proactive management, but only if you manage the internal changes going on with your team. Keep it simple, build trust through training and transparency, support your team by addressing both technical systems and human factors, and create regular habits around job reviews.

With the right team culture and communication, you can transform your company's WIP reporting processes to experience better financial control, improved project transparency, and ultimately a stronger, more competitive positioning in the demolition industry.