The Value of Repeating Yourself

When I started my first project out of college, I was thrown into a world that felt equal parts fascinating and intimidating. I was in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, helping dismantle a Cold War-era Uranium Enrichment Facility (Building K-25). Pretty wild for a new field engineer.

One of my weekly responsibilities was reading key sections of work packages to the field crews every Wednesday morning. We called it "Work Control Wednesday." At the time, it just felt like a routine—something we did because we were supposed to. But looking back, it taught me one of the most valuable lessons of my career: the power of a consistent message.

Every week, same time, same place, I stood in front of our crews and read off the critical points: what tasks were planned, what safety measures applied, what procedures had to be followed. Lock Out Tag Out. No working on energized systems. Job Hazard Analysis before starting anything. Report every injury. Every week. Without fail.

You might think, doesn't that get repetitive? Absolutely. And that was the point.

Repetition isn’t a bug—it's a feature. It tells your team, "This matters." When something is said once, it might get lost in the noise. Say it again and again, and people start to remember. They start to believe it's important because, well, you keep bringing it up.

And it's not just safety stuff, either. In construction, we need to be just as consistent about our expectations in other areas: "We don't use materials until the submittals are approved." "We don't work off unapproved drawings." "We notify the owner before we perform any change order work."

Reinforcing these things regularly helps in two big ways:

1. It ensures everyone knows the rules. Whether it's your most experienced foreman or a new apprentice, nobody gets left in the dark.

2. It signals what matters. If you bring up something consistently, people assume it's a priority. And that perception can shape behavior more than any written procedure.

I once read a stat that stuck with me: 75% of employees say their leaders under-communicate, even though those same leaders often worry about sounding like a broken record. That blew my mind. It turns out your team probably wants more clarity and reinforcement, not less.

So don’t be afraid to repeat yourself. Your team isn’t rolling their eyes because you said, for the tenth time, not to use unapproved drawings. They’re quietly appreciating that you care enough to remind them.

Leadership, especially in construction, isn’t about clever speeches or big gestures. It's about showing up, saying the important stuff often, and making sure your people know you mean it.

So yeah, Work Control Wednesday was a little repetitive. But it was one of the most effective things we did. And it taught me this: in a world full of noise, a consistent message is what cuts through. Repeat it until it sticks. Then repeat it some more.