We've been experimenting with making photos mandatory on certain job types, and I'm trying to figure out if we're actually getting better documentation or just creating busywork.
Pro tip: Start with your highest-liability jobs first. For us, that's anything involving water lines or electrical panel work. We set up required photo checkpoints—before, during, after—and it's definitely caught a couple "oh crap" moments before they became customer complaints.
But here's the friction: some of my younger guys are great with it, document everything without being asked. The veterans? Not so much. One of my best techs, 20 years in the field, treats his phone like it's radioactive. He'll take the photos, but they're... not useful. Blurry shots of the general vicinity. Technically compliant, actually worthless.
So I'm curious—how are you actually using photo requirements? Are you seeing quality improvements, or just checkbox compliance? And has anyone found a way to make this feel less like micromanagement to experienced techs who already know what they're doing?
