Entering the Danger Zone of Joint Use

Joint use is kind of like the customer support of pole attachments. It’s incredibly important, vital for success, and often overlooked. 

It’s stuck at this awkward intersection of extremely valuable and extremely difficult.

Departments sit directly between attachers and pole owners. Their number one priority is safety. They’re also responsible for managing every pole attachment application, and every new attachment presents a safety risk. 

With scrutiny from attachers and the FCC, joint use managers are constantly racing against the clock to meet timelines while also mitigating potential harm or even death. 

(And the pole attachments process is just one item on a long list of responsibilities.)

Sometimes the difficulty of joint use management overshadows the actual potential and value that it brings. Sometimes we neglect what is an immensely important job because the headaches of doing it right don’t feel worth it. 

Here’s the thing: 

A healthy and robust joint use system has the potential to completely change the pole attachments process for the better. 

When pole owners and attachers have a clear and visible line of communication with the right workflows and processes, it builds trust, creates better relationships, and ensures safer, faster attachments. 

Our industry is in desperate need of teams that are willing to do the dirty work of fixing and healing joint use.

There’s Gotta Be a Better Option

That being said, building a better joint use management process isn’t easy. Overhauling an entire process is a gargantuan task. Attacher-facing portals can do a lot of the heavy lifting, but teams also need a concrete plan if they’re going to attempt something new. In developing joint use solutions, we’ve found 4  steps that help pave the way for success: 

1. Find flexible software that works for you. 

Building systems from scratch devours time and resources. Pre-built, generic solutions don’t address individual needs. The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle. 

The right solution is structured enough to avoid configuration headaches and implementation delays, but flexible enough that you can adjust it to fit into your workflow. 

We’ve found success combining out-of-the-box functions, attributes, and statuses with opportunities to tweak and edit the system. 

2. Support staff by factoring in time for training and adjustments. 

Staff buy-in is a must. Supporting teams in the midst of change can be the difference between success and failure. It’s natural for people who are bordering burn-out to be cynical about change, especially if onboarding is rushed. 

 No matter how seamless new software is, there’s always a learning curve. Integrating a new process requires time for training. Portal admins will need time to get acclimated to the new system so they can create workflows and own the solution themselves. 

Process changes affect engineering vendors, too. Training partners saves time and avoids frustration down the road.

3. Conduct a trial run before the final rollout. 

A soft launch raises potential flags and minimizes risks. Trusted vendors can provide feedback and point out any blindspots.

Even with all the preparation in the world, going live with a new system will inevitably have some hiccups. Be prepared to field questions, offer support, and have training resources ready for vendors. 

4. Be willing to make changes.

More reps point out areas of improvement. Healthy systems notice problems and find real solutions quickly. Your staff get to be experts in how to keep optimizing. Empowering teams to make suggestions and find new solutions lets them take ownership. 

Planting Trees

This is just the beginning effects of funding, and joint use teams are already feeling the burn. If we try to wait out the flood applications, we miss the opportunity to radically improve the pole attachments industry. 

I think the bigger the task, the easier it is to get discouraged when things go sideways. Joint use definitely falls into that category. 

But there’s also a Greek proverb:, “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” 

And I believe joint use also falls into that category, too. 

We may never see the full benefit of improving a broken process. But if joint use is as important to pole attachments as it seems (it is), and if safe, reliable utilities really do improve lives and communities (they do), then we have to invest in doing this right. 

It’s not easy. But it is worth it. 

If you can’t tell, we feel pretty strongly about joint use. If you’re trying to find ways to solve core issues, create better relationships, and improve our industry, we’d love to talk. Shoot us an email at hello@katapultengineering.com.