What Slows Down Restoration Crews (And How to Fix It Fast)

Most restoration crews aren’t slow because of the work. They’re slow because of confusion.

In a conversation with Phillip Rosebrook from Business Mentors, we dug into the stuff that really trips up restoration teams on jobs—unclear direction, too many handoffs, messy sketches, and way too many tools. Here's what gets in the way and how to clean it up without adding more layers.

1. Crews Don’t Know What Happened Yesterday

If your techs show up and spend the first 20 minutes figuring out where things were left off, that’s time lost. And if someone forgot to mark where equipment was placed or how far moisture traveled, someone else is going to have to guess.

“The crew showing up today should know what happened yesterday.”

That kind of visibility should be automatic—not a daily scramble.

Fix: Set up a simple, visual system that shows:

• What’s been done
• Where equipment is
• Moisture readings
• What still needs to happen

That keeps jobs moving without starting from scratch every morning.

2. Too Many Tools, Too Many Handoffs

Restoration jobs fall apart when they’re passed around too much. Data goes from clipboard to whiteboard to app to email—and something always gets dropped along the way.

“Every handoff is a chance for a mistake.”

The more steps you add, the more confusion you get.

Fix: Build one workflow that the field tech can own from start to finish. They walk the job, capture the sketch, log the gear, and hand off clean data that the next person can actually use.

3. Techs Still Drawing on Printer Paper

There’s no way around it—hand-drawn sketches slow everything down. It’s easy to mess them up, lose them, or just not understand what was drawn.

“If you’ve ever seen a tech’s drawing on the back of scrap paper, you know what I mean.”

Meanwhile, your competitor walks in with a clean scan and drops in air movers in minutes.

Fix: Use mobile tools like magicplan. It’s fast, accurate, and doesn’t feel like an extra task—it’s just part of the job. Everyone’s got a phone. Make it part of how the job gets done.

4. Chasing 100% Accuracy Instead of Getting it Done

Yes, accuracy matters. But spending 4x longer trying to squeeze out another 2% of precision is usually a waste.

“We're not ordering materials off this. We’re trying to run a job.”

If your sketch is 97% accurate and done in minutes, that’s more useful than a perfect sketch that delays everything else.

Fix: Focus on speed, consistency, and ease of use—not perfection that slows you down.

5. Crews Can’t See the Big Picture

A job might be big. Or small. Or big and simple. Or small and complex. If no one knows that walking in, they don’t know how to prep.

“Square footage tells you what you’re really dealing with—how many people you need, how long it’ll take, what could go wrong.”

Fix: Start every job with a layout that gives you context—not just a dollar amount. That’s how you plan, not guess.

6. The Customer Doesn’t Know What You’re Doing

When a customer watches you pace the room with a tape measure and scribble notes, they start to doubt.

“Bring trust to the conversation by showing what you’re doing, not just telling.”

If your scan is clean, your process is visible, and your estimate is clear—they relax. They stop hovering. And they stop second-guessing everything.

Fix: Be transparent from the start. A good scan and a visual estimate sets the tone for the whole job.

Final Word: Simpler Workflows = Faster Crews = Fewer Mistakes

You don’t need more complexity. You need less. You need:

A way to capture the job clearly and quickly

A process that doesn’t break when someone’s out sick

Tools your crew actually uses without getting lost in it

“Make it easier to do right than it is to do wrong—and you’ll get better results every time.”

That’s how you keep the crew aligned, the customer happy, and the job flowing without getting buried in tech you don’t need.

READ MORE:

How to Improve Field Report Photo Documentation to Help Your Office-Based Estimators