Board Reflections: Communication Magic

Have you ever been on one of those projects that just feels magical? The owner is easy to please; the team members work together without drama; and the solutions that come from design and construction seem to flow seamlessly from the project team’s minds.

Then there are the projects we all dread. Everywhere you turn, a fire is burning. Team members are short-tempered; the owner is impossible to please; and it’s just problem after problem to get the project completed.

What really makes the difference? A truly empowered and communicative team. The key to success for all project participants in the design-build arena centers on communication, just as it plays such a key role in all our interactions at work. In design-build, communication is never more crucial to project success and can allow a project team to elevate its performance to levels undiscovered or unexpected.

Many times, however, the team knows powerful communication is needed but doesn’t know how to get there. After a project Barton Malow completed recently for William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., we reflected on what made that project go so well for all participants — the owner, designer, and contractor. The project was the Marcia and Eugene Applebaum Surgical Learning Center — a simulated surgery suite used for training doctors and staff. Several themes emerged from our review:

• Clear direction from the owner regarding the vision and timeline. Everyone on the project team understood the mission: Open by February 2006 and stay within the $4.5 million budget. Every move made on the project supported those ultimate goals.
• Invisible boundaries among project participants. The contractor played designer, and the architect played contractor. The team was flexible, which allowed each member to individually capitalize on their strengths, regardless of what firm they worked for.
• Planning and budgeting. The contractor attended group meetings to understand the planning thoroughly so that budgeting could better support the overall owner strategy. The architect was in the field to see how details came together to ensure design intent. Respect and trust permeated through the project and its participants, with any trouble spots addressed as they occurred. The result: truly creative solutions that elevated the finished product to unexpected levels.
• A focus on the usage process. The project was designed with careful attention to the facility’s ultimate usage. It was more difficult - and easier - to design because nothing like it really existed elsewhere.

For example, the hospital had operating rooms, but no one envisioned the levels of usage that they wanted to offer in the new space. In a series of meetings, tables in a skills lab were discussed. The owner originally conceived users standing at movable tables. But after several operational issue conversations and role plays, it was clear that many other options weren’t addressed. Should users be able to sit at the tables too? Should the tables have water connections? If so, how could they move? How could a sink be available when needed but hide away when unnecessary? As the team worked through different “what-if” scenarios, everyone participated in decision-making, providing a common sense of purpose to guide the design, construction, and ultimate usage of the space.

This level of communication resulted in unparalleled enthusiasm on behalf of all project participants and solutions the owner couldn’t have envisioned on his or her own.

So, on your next design-build project, spend the time up front to focus on the individuals, the team as a whole, and what their mission is. Working together we really can empower a project team to reach heights beyond imagination.