“We Meet About Everything—Except People”
Over the decades I’ve spent both working in and writing about the offsite construction industry, I’ve attended countless meetings. Sales meetings. Production meetings. Safety briefings. Boardroom updates. Scheduling sessions. You name it—we’ve met about it. If there’s a process or number to be discussed, the calendar gets filled.
But here’s a funny thing I’ve noticed across just about every factory I’ve walked through, whether I was clocking in as an employee or visiting with a reporter’s notebook in hand: no one’s meeting about people.
Where are the team-building meetings? The career development sessions? The discussions about helping someone move up a rung or cross-train into a new department?
Nowhere. Or very close to it.
It’s not that factory managers don’t care about their employees—they do. In fact, most are deeply invested in keeping their workforce safe and productive. But when it comes to proactive, consistent efforts to build camaraderie, increase morale, and nurture career growth, we’ve got a massive blind spot in this industry.
Let’s talk about why.
The “Factory Mentality” Still Rules
Even in high-tech, precision-built, automated modular factories, there’s a lingering mindset that seems pulled straight from 1965: workers are there to work. You clock in, you do your job, and you go home. Team spirit? Personal development? That’s HR fluff.
Except it’s not.
We’re long past the days when line workers were interchangeable parts in a process. Today’s offsite facilities depend on skilled workers, trained techs, supervisors who understand software and systems, and people who can pivot when delays or design changes happen on the fly.
Yet despite this new complexity, the old management culture persists. We still celebrate productivity above all else. We reward hitting the schedule, not growing the team. We don’t make time for team-building or professional development meetings because we think we can’t afford to take people away from their stations—not realizing how much we’re paying in turnover, burnout, and lost potential.
“We Don’t Have Time” Is Not a Valid Excuse
One of the most common reasons factory leaders give when asked why they don’t hold more development or morale-focused meetings is simple: We’re too busy.
And I get it. Deadlines are tight. Margins are thin. If a set crew is waiting, no one wants to be the bottleneck.
But think about this: if your team is only barely able to keep up with the day-to-day, what happens when you lose a key person? What if you promote a line lead who’s not ready because no one’s had time to train them? What happens when someone gets frustrated and quits because they haven’t heard a word about their performance or path in six months?
Suddenly the time you didn’t have becomes a crisis you have to make time for.
A well-timed 30-minute session every two weeks that builds trust or teaches a new skill is an investment. Not a distraction. And yet it’s viewed as optional—or worse, as unnecessary.
Fear of “Fluff”
Another reason team-building and employee development don’t happen in modular factories is a deep skepticism about anything that feels like corporate cheerleading. There’s a belief that workers don’t want to sit in a room playing games or listening to someone talk about soft skills. Maybe some managers have even tried it once and got blank stares.
But here’s the thing: not all development meetings are hokey icebreakers. Not all team-building involves passing around yarn or doing trust falls.
You can build a better team just by putting people in a room, giving them a topic that affects their job, and letting them share real ideas. Let your framing crew explain to the designers where common mistakes occur. Let finishers talk to transport coordinators about recurring delivery damage. Let your new hires ask the long-timers how they stay so consistent.
That is team-building. And that’s the kind of knowledge-sharing that actually improves your bottom line.
Lack of Leadership Training
I’ve lost count of how many factory supervisors I’ve seen promoted because they were the best at a particular task—not because they had leadership skills.
They don’t teach you how to coach someone through burnout when you’re being taught how to run a nail gun. No one explains how to handle conflict between departments when you’re promoted from trimmer to foreman.
So when these same leaders are told, “Maybe we should do a team-building meeting,” they freeze. Or roll their eyes. Or feel deep anxiety about looking like they don’t know what they’re doing.
It’s not their fault. They weren’t trained to lead people—they were trained to run production. And that’s why leadership development needs to start before the promotion happens, not after.
The High Cost of Doing Nothing
Let’s look at the cost of ignoring this.
High turnover. Low morale. Lack of upward mobility. Communication breakdowns. Skill shortages. Cross-department resentment.
When factories fail to prioritize employee development and relationship building, they don’t just lose people—they lose momentum. Every departure is a reset button. Every mistrustful team is a drag on efficiency. Every untapped worker potential is money walking out the door.
It’s no coincidence that the few factories I’ve visited that do make time for development have the lowest turnover, the best internal promotions, and some of the most innovative ideas coming from the shop floor.
So Why Not Start?
If you’re a factory owner, manager, or even just a curious observer in the offsite construction world, ask yourself: Why don’t we meet about people?
Start with one monthly session. Invite people from different departments. Ask for their input. Teach something. Learn something. Make it informal. Keep it real.
Your team doesn’t need pizza parties and pep rallies. They need to know that someone’s paying attention to their future—and that what they think and feel on the job actually matters.
Because in an industry built on precision, speed, and planning… it’s time we planned a little better when it comes to the people who keep our factories running.
People Meetings
We hold meetings for everything—sales projections, safety protocols, supply chain updates—but if we’re not investing that same time and structure into building trust and growing our teams, then we’re leaving the most valuable part of the business completely undeveloped.
And in an industry where innovation and quality depend on your people as much as your product, that’s a meeting we can’t afford to keep skipping.
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Gary Fleisher, The Modcoach, writes about the modular and offsite construction industry at Modular Home Source.
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