Numerous metaphors emphasise the necessity of teamwork or the absence thereof. This concept applies equally well to business and construction as to politics and family relationships to Collaborative. “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” as Abraham Lincoln once observed. “If you want to elevate yourself up, lift someone else,” Booker T. Washington said.
Unfortunately, while collaboration is a popular buzzword in the construction industry–and everywhere–its actual meaning has been corrupted. Look no further than the slew of motivational posters strewn across offices across the country. Despite its widespread misuse, this term has a lot of meaning for those ready to dig for it.
So, how does a simple, high-quality collaborative building project look? What initiatives can you take at your company to improve it? Let’s have a look below.
What Is Collaborative Construction of High Quality?
“Collaboration in construction” can quickly become a buzzword for anything involving two or more people. While an email exchange, a phone chat, or even a forty-person board meeting necessitates communication, they aren’t always indicative of high-quality collaboration.
Communication and collaboration aren’t the same things in reality. “Collaboration is the action of collaborating with someone to generate or construct something,” according to FSD. The act of conveying or exchanging information or news is known as communication.” The two activities, as you can see, serve different purposes. While both imply interaction, only collaboration entails intentionally collaborating to achieve a common goal. Collaboration necessitates communication, but it also has characteristics for contractors in London.
What Does Successful Construction Collaboration?
So, how does successful building collaboration look? Overall, good teamwork is defined by simplified workflows in which everyone understands their function, knows where to go for information (i.e., how to communicate effectively), and feels confident finishing their responsibilities while others finish theirs.
Collaborative construction, in more detail, accomplishes the following:
It promotes trust.
Collaboration is built on the foundation of trust. Individuals and departments tend to prioritise their objectives and ambitions in the lack of it, frequently to the detriment of others. As we previously stated, a trust gap is one of the most typical causes of cost overrun.
Bottom line: Collaboration will not thrive if team members do not trust one another.
As a result, all procedures and communications should be established on a shared trust basis. The only way to achieve actual collaborative construction is to do so. We’ll go further on how to install a trust-based culture at your company.
It’s simple.
Collaboration should not be a barrier or something separate from usual job responsibilities; if it’s difficult, it won’t happen. Collaboration, on the other hand, is simple. It intuitively allows team members to collaborate at the same time. A wise application of tools and processes, as outlined below, is frequently the consequence of seamless collaborative building.
It’s All-Inclusive
To be collaborative, it must be inclusive. Much research and thought leadership today suggests that inclusivity is far and away from a superior growth strategy than exclusivity, which frequently leads to stagnation. It usually refers to background, race, age, and experience differences. When it comes to information access, though, inclusion is equally critical. No one benefits when information is carefully restricted.
As a result, everyone must participate in construction collaboration. Everyone on the project team can collaborate on all topics related to their job functions in collaborative workspaces. Even if specialised contractors or other stakeholders must be brought in, good collaboration tools will make this possible without erecting new hurdles.
It is contingent on well-defined roles and responsibilities.
In addition to bringing all team members together, clear roles and duties are required for collaboration to be successful. Everyone should understand which piece of the pie they are in charge of, and workflows should be set up so that each additional person knows the subsequent chain of command.
Delegation does carry some risk, which is why, rather than living in a fear-based, exclusive, and politicised environment, firms that truly promote collaborative construction will recognise this up front and solve it.
It places a premium on high-quality communication.
While discussing the contrasts between communication and cooperation, it’s crucial to remember that collaboration requires communication. “Almost half of all rework is attributable to inadequate communication among project stakeholders and insufficient project information,” according to an Autodesk and FMI analysis.
Projects are running late and over budget, because the managers, workers, and stakeholders in charge can’t figure out how to properly convey information, ask and answer questions, or keep documentation. That’s a massive partnership blunder.
Intelligent, successful construction firms avoid this by implementing cloud-based, easily accessible systems that allow users to upload and download documents, view them in real-time, mark them up, ask and answer questions, request information, and interact with the system outside of WiFi and in remote locations, and more. Communication must be prioritised at every phase of the process.
If you’re unsure if your organisation is following these standards, you can do a few things to increase construction collaboration.
How to Make Collaborative Construction Work Better
Construction collaboration is still a work in progress. Even after following these procedures, you won’t have ideal collaboration immediately. Similarly, even the most well-run businesses must pivot in reaction to market shifts, stakeholder demands, or employee expectations. However, by pursuing the following objectives, your organisation will become more adaptable and capable of meeting the expectations of the field:
Make culture the cornerstone of successful collaboration.
Begin by establishing a culture that will serve as a foundation for collaboration. This culture ought to:
- Make straightforward communication and trust a priority.
- Autonomy and flexibility are valued, yet checks and balances are in place.
- Share a single vision, a common goal everyone in the firm strives for.
The contract and project delivery modes are frequently used in this situation. Companies that employ obsolete delivery methods, such as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) combined with Lean Construction, will often encounter delays and lag behind those who use cutting-edge approaches, such as IPD combined with Lean Construction.
Make the Right Tools a Priority
Real-time collaboration is required for collaborative construction. It’s possible that if anything isn’t transmitted at the proper time, the partnership will fail. That’s why the right technologies will host all interactions as they happen, usually over the cloud.
As a result, you’ll require solutions that make collaboration simple. They must be simple to use and centralised so that anyone may utilise them without having to travel from the field to an office, print documents, and risk them being obsolete by the end of the day.
Strive for Consistent Improvement
Collaboration is a process that never ends. Continuous improvement, not perfection, should be the objective. Consider it a series of course corrections aimed at moving you closer to a culture and environment that promotes:
- Mutually beneficial information exchange
- Problems and questions can be resolved peacefully.
- Respect and trust between previously separated departments
- Innovation
- Unified progress toward a single goal: on-time and on-budget project completion
Collaborative construction is the wave of the future.
It’s time to start actively prioritising collaboration through the judicious use of tools, the appropriate project delivery techniques, and a culture that begins when new employees are hired, and new projects are launched. Remember that a divided house cannot stand; thus, working with collaborative contractors in London is essential.
