Contractors Roundup—Owners: We Want to be Your Partner—Matthew Allen

Owners—We Want to be Your Partner

Matthew Allen

Traditional design-bid-build delivery methods employed by owners across the Sunshine State are increasingly being replaced by various integrated project delivery methods leveraging the inherent collaboration among team members. These delivery methods characteristically lend themselves to a more relationship-based approach, encouraging collaboration from day one, while taking into consideration each key stakeholder’s goals and their individual definition of project success, with a focus on the best value for all parties. This approach, however, doesn’t need to be limited solely to collaborative project delivery methods.

Ensuring Successful Projects

Unsuccessful design and construction projects traditionally are rooted in poor communication, not clearly understanding or appreciating all parties’ project objectives, and a general lack of trust among members of the project team. All of this has the potential to create an adversarial environment, resulting in strained relationships, delayed project delivery, and eroded margins.

Together, we have the ability and power to set the course for each project on how we are going to do business. We can develop tools to establish relationships that can help to resolve many of these common issues for our projects. Simply investing time at the beginning of a project to communicate our collective project goals, making a personal commitment to our team on how we’re going to resolve issues as they arise, and committing to an established process throughout the project duration to mitigate potential issues—these are, in essence, partnering.

The formal partnering process enhances collaboration and mitigates potential conflict through shared goal setting and accountability. It leverages the value-added services of each party to best achieve shared project objectives through the principles of teamwork, proactive communication, trust, and honesty, while developing a win-win mentality. Formal partnering has become more common on some projects, but it’s still not being implemented to the degree it could be.

Often, a project may begin with a formal partnering meeting with the greatest of intentions by all parties, but it’s soon abandoned at the first sign of conflict, indicating there was never a good partnering plan to begin with. Implementation and follow-through are frequently hindered by internal barriers, a reluctance to change the way it’s always been done, and a lack of understanding of how to best employ and manage a successful partnering relationship.

Partnering Process Model

The Construction Industry Institute (CII) established a partnering process model that consists of five phases, much of which relies upon the owner to initiate, but requires commitment from executive, management, and craft-level participants throughout each organization.

The following is a high-level overview of each phase of this process.

Owner’s Internal Assessment

This includes evaluation of longterm business drivers, the different types of partnering and associated benefits of each, and the cost and effort required to implement and manage the process through the project life cycle. Proactive planning will increase the likelihood of success with the lowest cost.

Owner Creates the Partner Selection Process

While cost is often driving the selection criteria, it doesn’t always produce the best partner or best project results. The owner should spend the time now to develop the project-specific selection criteria that result in the optimum partner, as well as forming a competent selection team.

Planning and Implementation

Following selection of a partner and award of a contract, this phase involves alignment of the partnering relationship and development of each partner’s objectives in the relationship and the incentives that may support these objectives.

Developing Project-Specific Objectives

Through workshops/partnering alignment sessions and team building events, each partner must first determine and understand their own criteria for success and then align this to mutually beneficial project objectives.

Management of the Partnering Relationship at All Organizational Levels

This final phase extends through the duration of the project and involves communicating the partnering message throughout each organization’s successive levels (from executive to craft) so it’s

ingrained in the work processes of all team members.

Maintaining a Partnering Relationship

There are several keys to successfully implementing and managing a true partnering relationship throughout the lifecycle of the project. 1. Establish trust between both organizations, from the top level of management down. 2. Offer full support and involvement in the implementation and management at all levels of the project. 3. Recognize and address internal barriers within each organization that may hinder the partnering process. These may include: a. Personality conflicts b. Lack of training on partnering process at all levels c. Reluctance to change d. Cultural barriers e. Lack of recognition 4. Identify a champion to direct the process and team members with a partnering mentality. This could be a third-party

facilitator who specializes in developing a partnering relationship, but there must also be a champion at every level. 5. Develop measures, linked to each shared objective, so there are clear roles and responsibilities and means to measure success. 6. Empower individuals to resolve disputes at the lowest level and establish a formal dispute resolution process. 7. Establish win-win objectives and provide recognition or rewards when objectives are achieved.

It’s been proven that, by successfully implementing and managing partnering on our projects, there have been improved results across all project metrics when compared to traditional relationships on design and construction projects. This includes: S Long-term relationships between firms S Improved moral and pride of projects S Cost reduction S Schedule duration reduction and increased compliance S Improved safety statistics S Improved quality statistics

Serving the Southeast since 1976

We Want to be Your Partner

To all our owners, from a “contractor’s perspective,” we want to be part of the team and contribute to your project’s success at every level. Partnering can work with any project delivery method and any project size, but the process starts with you; initiate this partnering approach and require this commitment in your solicitations. Be an advocate and reap the benefits of improved project performance and development with trusted long-term partner relationships.

References

• Construction Industry Institute, RR10211. The Partnering Process: Its Benefits,

Implementation, and Measurement (Paul

Thompson, Travis Crane, Steve Sander –

Clemson University). September 1996. • International Partnering Institute, 2020.

Matthew Allen is Miami area sponsor with Kiewit Water Facilities Florida Co. S