How do you keep technicians motivated during slow periods?

Hey everyone!

We want to make sure you're set up for success year-round, and I know many of you are navigating those quieter summer months or seasonal dips where the schedule just isn't as full. I'd love to hear what you're doing to keep your field teams engaged and motivated when the job board starts looking a little... sparse.

A few questions to get us started:

  • Are you cross-training technicians on different skills or equipment types?
  • How do you handle scheduling when there's more availability than work?
  • Any creative ways you've found to maintain that sense of purpose and team connection?

Whatever's working for your crew — or what you've tried that didn't land — we'd love to hear it. This is a space for real talk and sharing ideas!

Feel free to follow up here or reach out directly if you'd like to connect more on your specific situation. We're always here to help!

Parents
  • In my experience, the worst thing you can do is invent busywork. Techs smell that from a mile away.

    We pay for certifications during slow periods. Electrical code updates, manufacturer training, safety refreshers. It's real work, they know it matters, and they can put it on their resume. Costs money but cheaper than losing someone.

    Also give them honest communication. "It's slow, here's why, here's when we expect it to pick up." The silence kills morale more than the downtime.

  • yeah basically this lol

    we had a slow stretch last spring and my manager was like "deep clean the shop" and everyone's standing around like... we cleaned it last week tho?? so what I did was I just started asking if I could shadow the estimator on some bigger commercial bids, learn how pricing actually works, and turns out that was way more useful than wiping down shelves again

    turned into me getting trained on commercial work which is higher rate so win win tbh

Reply
  • yeah basically this lol

    we had a slow stretch last spring and my manager was like "deep clean the shop" and everyone's standing around like... we cleaned it last week tho?? so what I did was I just started asking if I could shadow the estimator on some bigger commercial bids, learn how pricing actually works, and turns out that was way more useful than wiping down shelves again

    turned into me getting trained on commercial work which is higher rate so win win tbh

Children
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