Four friends are sat at a table. Rob reminds everyone that their friend Caroline’s birthday
is coming up and suggests throwing her a surprise party as well as getting her a gift from her list
Jess, sitting opposite him agrees and suggests holding it in her flat. At the same time,
Tom starts talking over Jess reminding everyone that Caroline’s birthday is coming up and
suggesting a small dinner party at the flat. Then Tony starts talking to Rob about the
fact that Caroline hates a fuss being made, and really wouldn’t want a party.
We reach the point where everyone is talking at once, having slightly different conversations
about the same thing.
You wouldn’t have several concurrent conversations about something you were trying to organise
in real life, so why do it in construction?
People communicating through different mediums – like disjointed email threads, private
phone conversations or separate meetings – makes things difficult. It’s much easier when
everything is shared and recorded in one place. Tools like Slack, Trello or even WhatsApp
are great for this. So long as decisions are recorded clearly.
Later that day, Jess explains to Rob that she’s not going to be able to do any work
for him tomorrow because she has to fly to New York to plan Caroline’s birthday party
in more detail with some of their other friends. She also explains that she’ll be tired when
she gets there, so the meeting might not go so well.
You wouldn’t travel half-way round the world to attend a meeting, so why do we travel such
great distances wasting time, money and energy in construction?
Of course there’s no substitute for face-to-face. But using virtual meeting tools like Skype,
Google Hangouts or even telephone conferencing for the majority of meetings can save you
time and money whilst reducing the impact your travelling has on the environment.
Elsewhere Tony comes to see Tom in his office and asks for a copy of Caroline’s birthday
present list. Tom starts searching through his messy office filled with stacks of paper
with increasing urgency.
Then Rob walks in with a huge pile of photos under his arm, struggling to carry them. Some
fall on the floor but he doesn’t notice. Rob doesn’t believe in Instagram. Instead
he carries around every picture he’s ever taken in his life. He suggests to Tony and
Tom that they find one to use for Caroline’s birthday invitations. Somehow.
You wouldn’t file things like this in real life, making documents impossible to find
and running the risk of losing things that are important to you – so why do it in construction?
Is it that building projects just aren’t as important?
Having information well filed in a shared space that everyone can access saves time,
makes you more efficient, ensures everything is safely backed-up and means you’re all
singing from the same hymn sheet. This is known as a Common Data Environment.
The following week Jess, Tom, Rob and Tony are asked in turn to explain the objectives
for Caroline’s birthday party. We know that’s a bit weird but we’re trying to prove a point here
Jess explains that it’s going to be a full blown rave featuring characters from her favourite
movie; Star Wars. She knows it’s expensive, but you can’t cut corners on this kind of
stuff can you?
Tom explains that they’re aiming for a quiet, sophisticated gathering with just a few friends.
He’s arranging for a look alike of her favourite actor; Harrison Ford. He’s expensive but
he looks just like him.
Rob wants Caroline to have fun but as cheaply as possible. Steering clear of movie themes
or anything cheesy like that.
Tony says he is clear on the objectives without being drawn on what they actually are, and
secretly maintains that Caroline will hate a fuss being made in any case.
You wouldn’t plan things with differing objectives in real life, so why do it in construction?
Projects run much better when everyone has a shared common goal and is focused on the
outcomes for the end user, rather than what they are trying to get out of it.
This is more important than ever as construction goes digital. To get the best from technology
and from working together more closely, we all need to be aiming for the same goal at
the right end of the pitch.
One afternoon, Rob remembers that Caroline said she’d really like a new blue dress
for her birthday. He asks Jess what size she is.
Jess replies that in F&G she’s a T45, but in Fraser she’s a 3. Though that could be
the other way around. Last time she bought Caroline a dress she was an 8 but that was
another shop’s sizing.
If everything were labelled to different standards in the real world we’d never get anywhere
– so why do it in construction? Everyone having their own standards means there’s
no standard at all.
Working in a BIM environment demands much closer integration and collaboration. It means
everybody sharing information in a shared online space – so the information shared
needs to be consistently labelled.
Three days before the party, Tony and Rob are off shopping with Caroline’s definitive
birthday list printed out in their hands. As long as they get everything on there - they're sorted.
Elsewhere, Caroline is thinking of new things she would like and is adding them to the list
she keeps in her handbag.
People working to hard copy information that is uncontrolled just doesn’t work – so
why do we do it in construction?
When we work to hard copy drawings or specifications on site, we have no idea if it is actually
the latest information, or if somebody is changing aspects of it elsewhere in the team.
Having a shared online space that acts as a ‘single point of truth’ for information
is a much better way of managing data. If everybody has the same information we can
avoid mistakes and rework saving your time and saving your money.
If you have some examples of things we do in construction that we wouldn’t dream of
doing in real life, why not share them in the comments section below?
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