10 Rules for a Successful Project

In recent years the construction industry has seen a number of significant changes;  LEAN construction, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), Building Information Management (BIM), all of which have significantly shortened the duration, if not the cost, of construction.  What has often been ignored in the discussion of how to improve overall outcomes in construction delivery is the design process that leads to construction in the first place.  This is in fact where the biggest risk occurs to an Owner or Project Champion.  With significant knowledge asymmetry between the building committee or user group and the professional consultants, constantly changing criteria, uncertainty about how to measure qualitative issues, and lack of information about the full implication, cost or scope of certain design decisions, the project scope and budget often go astray early on in the design phase.  Coupled with the need to start construction often before the design process is complete, the risks in this phase escalate and compound in later phases of the project.

This list is  a simple set of guidelines designed to keep your project participants; your staff, your board, your banker, your colleagues, your corporate and institutional partners, as well as a myriad of consultants, all moving in the same direction from the very beginning, and following an orderly process in which you retain control.

1) Assess your Need

Competing interests and suspicions among your staff often make it difficult to assess the real needs of your project. Consider hiring an independent programming expert to evaluate your true needs.

2) Benchmark your Project

No one wants a project to suffer premature obsolescence. On the other hand, visiting other completed projects can help distinguish "state of the art" aspirations from "what's working" realities.

3) Consider your Options

How much of your need can be satisfied by new construction and how much is merely programmatic? Is this a change in operations or scheduling or is a completely new configuration or specialized program requiring new construction to achieve your mission?

4) Create a Master Project Plan

There is a tendency for your consultants to keep separate schedules for their own part of the work; the architect, the contractor, and the owner. The reality is these tasks are interrelated and overlapping. Separate schedules invariably conflict. Insist on a comprehensive project schedule that shows all aspects of a project from beginning to end.

5) Select and Assign the Team  

Once you have completed the above steps you are in a better position to select and assign the right consultants to each task. Having all team members understand their roles as well as the roles of others avoids duplication of effort.

5) Participate in the Design Process

This is in many ways the hardest part of the process because it is so little understood. Make sure you are an active participant in the design process. Have the team clearly spell out the process and what is expected of you. Lean Management practices have a lot to offer here, but more on that in another blog post. In the meantime a viewing of Cary Grant in Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House will provide adequate insight.

6) Manage your Stakeholders

Machievelli said "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" and this particularly applies the development of a capital project. Everyone from the neighbors to the mayor to the building inspector can affect your project. Have a pro-active management strategy that keeps their interests aligned with yours.

7) Insist on Timely and Accurate Reporting

The administrative and financial controls for a project are ineffective without accurate and timely reporting regarding schedule, budget and quality control. Establish the ground rules for reporting at the outset of the project and you will remain in control of your project.

9) Understand the Contingencies

Contingency funding is something everyone wants to take away from you too early. They have nothing to lose, but you certainly do. One of the best ways to manage contingency is to subdivide it into its own budget according to design, estimating, unforeseen conditions, and owner changes. You can then decide how much must be preserved at any stage of the process. A special blog note will be devoted to this subject in the near future.

10) Keep Some Money under the Mattress

Finally, this is most important contingency...don't tell anyone....and one day you'll look like a hero!