11
O P I N I O N
An integrated project team
Lack of information leads to assumptions and guessing. Good and complete information at the appropriate time leads to informed decision-making.
O ver my 30-year career, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects with diverse project teams and complex programs – a number of which would be considered “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities. I’ve also been fortunate that many of these projects have been performed in a collaborative team-based approach that was an essential component of the successful delivery of these projects.
John Walker GUEST SPEAKER
So what exactly is an integrated project team process? From my experience, it is comprised of four essential components: 1)A highly engaged client. The only reason that any design and construction project is performed is that the owner has a personal, business, or organization- al need that requires a real estate solution to achieve. No one builds, upfits, or renovates a building just for the fun of it. They have real purpose and objec- tives they are trying to achieve, and understanding the owner’s requirements, goals, and expectations is critical to delivering a project solution that truly aligns with those needs. Therefore, it should not come as any surprise that one of the first and most important components of project success is to have the owner as deeply im- mersed in the project design and implementation
process as possible. This allows them to provide and continuously refine the project goals, understand how the project is being developed, and offer deci- sions and directions to keep the project aligned with goals. Likewise, the owner is also the key to maintaining project team buy-in to the integrated project team process, and their actions in leading by example are critical to the success of this approach. If the owner values, trusts, and respects the project team members and works in a collaborative manner, then the rest of the team will follow that lead. If not, it is highly likely the process will suffer and fail. 2)A complete project team. Engage the core and supplemental project team members as early as pos- sible in the project process. The architect, engineers,
See JOHN WALKER, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER August 13, 2018, ISSUE 1260
Made with FlippingBook Annual report