EisenhartAs a partnering facilitator on challenging building projects, I can share that effective communication among team members is the best offense in managing risk on any type of project. On a design-build hospital renovation project that I recently facilitated, project challenges related to unknown conditions and owner additions triggered each stakeholder's conventional risk management strategies—such as case building and communicating entirely through emails and letters—all of which led to distrust and further decelerated the project.Fortunately for all involved, the builder’s senior project manager was committed to finding a better way. His approach was to consult with the medical director and
The excuses. I have heard them all by now: “You’ve got to have good people to have a good team” or “You can’t have a high performance team on a public, low-bid project” or “There has to be sufficient resources and funding.” Consider that great or world-class project teamwork has little to do with your project’s circumstances. Rather, it is about how your team deals with those circumstances—as a team.On Caltrans and Kiewit-Pacific’s $700-million Benicia-Martinez Bridge, the geotechnical conditions found were at variance with the geo-tech report. This led to an enormous change order that delayed the project for well