THIS column has repeatedly espoused the merits of dealing with professional builders and renovators. Issues such as warranty, liability insurance, permits, standards and ethics, full disclosure of taxes and numerous other assurances that come with dealing with a professional are critical to getting the job done right. Add professional development and training to that list.
Last week, members of the Manitoba Home Builders' Association went back to school at their annual Housing Forum to learn from other professionals in their fields about areas important to the welfare of a business and an industry.
Although there are a variety of seminars and training sessions to choose from throughout the year, the Housing Forum presents an opportunity to interact with peers while pursuing relevant knowledge. MHBA professionals are always striving to be the best in the business.
The opening plenary session kicked off with Dianne Himbault, senior market analyst of the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, presenting the current state of the industry and giving insights into the coming year.
The technical sessions kicked off with Ryan Dalgleish, Gary Proskiw and John Hochman dispelling myths and offering truths relating to product performance and design concepts relating to building science. John also presented on air quality and movement. The day ended with Cam Dupuis from CMHC talking about Canada's net zero energy healthy housing initiative.
Within the leadership stream, Roberta Bishop talked about conflict resolution and informed the crowd about generational diversity. Lew Bayer told everyone how they could build a better workplace through civility and Keith Sinclair ran an important session on succession planning in businesses.
In marketing, Lori Mitchell of Tom Boy Tools shared her secrets of success. Dr. Malcolm Smith gave an excellent presentation on understanding consumer behaviour and there was a presentation by Sandra Sager about the art of selling.
Finally, Workplace Wellness featured Laurel Kidder speaking on the maximization of performance potential. Kerri Chase helped those in office climates with some simple ergonomics. Sylvia Yeager returned again this year to talk about stress indicators and Cec Hanec closed the session with a great presentation about developing, maintaining and expanding a customer base.
Professionals learning from professionals -- yet another reason when building or renovating to deal with a MHBA member.
Mike Moore is president of the Manitoba Home Builders' Association.
