In 1963, Ferruccio Lamborghini began a quest to create the ultimate luxury sports car that would surpass its greatest rival—the Ferrari. Almost fifty years later, Lamborghini continues to create handcrafted machines of raw power as iconic as the raging bull emblem adorning the hoods of his vehicles. One of the latest vehicles released by Lamborghini is the Aventador. This model features a V-12, 700-hp engine, enabling the car to go from zero to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds. Though the Aventador has few rivals, the greatest enemy to any sports car is the surface on which it runs. In optimal conditions, the top speed of Aventador is 217 mph. On an old, unpaved country road with potholes and ruts, however, the Aventador is comparable to a mid-sized sedan, a mini-van or a utility vehicle.
The construction industry today has the tool capability of the Lamborghini, but many firms lack the appropriate infrastructure to optimize performance. Project management exists as the main framework, supporting the delivery of today’s construction projects. Collaboration, on the other hand, is the engine that powers smoother communication and coordination across multiple platforms, leveraging the latest technology. Unfortunately, the lines of project management and project collaboration have become convoluted. As technology evolves at an exponential rate, firm management infrastructure fails to fall in lockstep. Worse yet, leaders believe that collaboration alone without modification of a firm’s management practices will enable higher performance.
Where Management Meets Collaboration
Best-of-class construction organizations have created world-class project management tools, processes and firm-wide behaviors. Whether the size of the firm is $1 million or $1 billion in revenue, a set of tools exists that enables higher performance. However, creating a high-performing organization is limited by the frailty of human behavior. Organizations often seek the “one true way” of management but struggle to overcome individualistic behavior.
Consider a firm with 10 project managers with 10 ways of managing. Then consider the number of permutations introduced when these 10 managers interact with their field manager counterparts. While one set of superior project management tools may exist, the firm drowns in inefficiency.
Best practices are not defined by the tools of one individual but by the combination of tools and processes created by the organization to meet one goal—to enable superior project performance. Many firms will deem a best practice anything that achieves high profitability; however, a true set of project management best practices is characterized by consistency, organization adoption and profitability. The main tenets of high-performing organizations and their applicable project management processes are as follows:
Critical management processes must be continuously improved. Management processes must be examined to ensure they are germane to today’s business. As clients, markets and delivery methods change, so should the processes.
Measurement is necessary to change behavior and validate results. Once the processes are established, management must measure compliance to ensure the body of knowledge is adhered to.
Management tools must be examined and sharpened as the business strategy dictates. Tools must be evaluated for relevance. Checklists, logs and planning tools must be honed and recalibrated accordingly.
Leadership behavior must be directed toward identifying and implementing process improvements over time. Leadership’s role is to encourage the utilization of the firm’s practices and consistent refinements.
Training is required to give associates the necessary skills to use the management processes. The core curriculum for employee training must emphasize best practices as the right way of operating within the firm.
Once the infrastructure of effective project management is firmly in place, the Lamborghini can make its grand entrance.
Collaboration tools have evolved at lightning speed. With communication barriers limited merely by bandwidth, firms have the ability to communicate at all levels within an organization and with all stakeholders of a project. Additionally, firms with both internal and external stakeholders have the ability to transmit critical data and apply appropriate ownership rights. Put another way, a contractor can share appropriate information with its management team but still provide data to its trade contractor team without compromising itself or sharing confidential business information.
While they are different concepts, a well-orchestrated project management delivery system and a boundless project collaboration vehicle driving proactive communication forms a synergy that creates the perfect marriage—innovative building.
The conundrum lies in differentiating the concepts of project management and project collaboration and understanding that they rely upon each other, much like the Aventador relies on the smooth test track. No one expects perfect project conditions, but poor performance is often difficult to analyze. For instance, a smooth test track does not always mean perfect weather conditions, and inclement weather only further exacerbates the conditions of a rough country road.
One question remains: Which is more important, project management or project collaboration? Both are important, and the real question lies in the timing and approach to improving a firm’s management and collaborative approach. Arguably, a management infrastructure is the most important component relative to timing. The challenge lies in how firms approach improvement. Knowing the road is flawed is not nearly as attractive as buying the new sports car. Project management infrastructure is essential to truly harness the capability of collaboration, but organizational leadership must make a strategic decision to implement best practices and avoid the distraction of the bright, shiny object.
Form Meets Function
With a set of consistent best practices, the collaboration engine is optimized. Collaboration is more than software that manages drawings or schedules, and it is not just about access to job cost information. Collaboration, by definition, means working in cooperation to achieve a desired result. This is a simple definition for such an all-encompassing process. Collaborative tools abound and, in concert with project management best practices, have the ability to revolutionize the construction industry.
Whether a database, the cloud or a software suite, true project collaboration tools should push the envelope of conventional thinking. Consider the concept of augmented reality. Augmented reality (AR) is simply a “live feed” of the physical world which has been altered with some element of computer graphic interface (such as sound, video, graphics, etc.). What sounds like science fiction is actually as commonplace as Monday Night Football. Every football fan witnesses AR as they watch their team straddle the line of scrimmage (the red line), clawing for the imaginary first down marker (the yellow) that is drawn across the field. Similar technology is currently in use on most smartphone/tablet applications. Interactivity between the real and virtual worlds has become a viable business outlet.
Can the construction industry leverage technology enough to enable higher collaboration among designers, end users and contractors? Consider this example of how a concept such as AR would be applied to the various stakeholders.
On a simple building project, rooftop air-handler units receive a QR code. By using a tablet or smartphone, an end user or contractor can either scan the QR code or use the AR through the device’s lens and quickly receive any important information. Life-cycle data, replacement parts, service history, “lessons learned” and productivity data are mere samples of the information that can be stored and accessed in this collaborative setting. Additionally, the virtual project is constructed concurrently with the “brick-and-mortar” version. Each stakeholder has real-time access to critical information about the project and can provide input at the appropriate level and clearance.
The one setback to a fully collaborative environment is cost of collaborative tools. Assuming the controls and infrastructure are in place, human interaction is still needed to track these systems. If one was to simply examine the benefit of calculating historical production costs or the value of a real-time teaching tool for future generations of managers, collaboration’s ability to support a best-of-class firm becomes apparent. Additionally, as the data is collected and used in the management of day-to-day operations, it will provide savings through higher productivity and efficiencies in the enhancements to the firm’s project management model.
As with any investment, the level of project collaboration should be closely coordinated with the firm’s overarching strategy. Though the Lamborghini thrives on the open road, it is hardly a utilitarian vehicle that benefits everyone.
Implementation
The single greatest hurdle to overcome the inertia most organizations experience is the human element. Challenging the status quo requires determination and diligence in the face of aberrant organizational behavior. Understandably, many organizations favor implementing collaborative tools over altering individual behaviors.
Furthermore, project management implementation requires an investment of time and energy that few firms feel they can dedicate, especially as businesses wrestle with project challenges and volatile futures. In the spirit of the Aventador analogy, this would be similar to the driver failing to maintain the car because pulling over to change the oil will take time away from the enjoyment of driving. To keep a machine of this magnitude operating efficiently and effectively, maintenance is imperative. Construction organizations should be examined in the same light.
With a stable foundation of project management processes, an organization can undertake the installation of collaborative tools. Both steps require a holistic and “all-hands” approach to successful implementation, a strong connection to the firm’s overarching strategy and a pervasive element of education and training to reinforce the main tenets. Many organizations utilize training to drive internal change. However, without a codified body of knowledge in the firm, training alone has the ability to undermine and frustrate managers and field leaders. Training is important, but the timing of training should come at the end to bolster the management practices and collaborative tools more effectively.
More than 50 years ago, Lamborghini sought to create a driving experience unlike any other. Today’s best-of-class firms recognize that high performance relies on both the vehicle and the environment in which it operates. In another 50 years, will firms operate like the Aventador of their day or like the Pinto of yesteryear?
