International Women’s Day

This day was originally established to commemorate women’s suffrage, and has historically been used to highlight the ground we still needed to cover to reach equality. Of course there’s still work to do, but the day is now shifting focus at least in part to a celebration of how far we’ve come.

We thought we’d do something to mark the day, so we asked the McLachlan Lister staff to share stories of female mentors as part of that celebration. We got responses about moms, aunts, daughters, wives, teachers, work colleagues and friends, which I guess just goes to show that inspiring women are pretty much everywhere.

So here they are – have yourself a dollop of inspiration on us.

Jo Veitch: My very first manager after graduation was a woman for whom I worked for over two years.  She held a very senior position in a very old-school, male dominated London organisation and was a great inspiration to me. She didn’t hand out praise very easily and I had to work hard to earn her respect which I valued greatly.  In return she taught me how to be completely professional at all times and to be an equal to my peers – both male and female. She mentored and managed me but never controlled me and gave me room to grow and develop which I believe I did significantly in those two years. She also had children, a little later in life like me and demonstrated that it was possible for a woman to pursue a successful career balanced with a healthy family life – she was, and still is a devoted mother and highly respected and well-liked professional. Twenty years later we are still in touch, we exchange Christmas cards and news. She is always happy to hear how my career has progressed and how my family is growing and I am keen to hear how her business is going – she went on to set up her own business. I should probably tell her one of these days what an inspiration she has been to me.

Leslie Butterfield: One of my biggest mentors was my Mom. No, she was not a professional, but was the one who packed up our family of four kids and repeatedly moved us to the far flung parts of the globe; setting up homes and taking care of all the arrangements (in the days without the internet and very sparse telephone options!). She had no assistance, no friends or family in these locations, and very little help from my Dad who was busy working, frequently remotely. She often didn’t even speak the language. Facing ambiguity? When you don’t know what something is going to be like, and don’t know anyone who can tell you, just be flexible and take it in stride! Fearing change? No problem – change is good. Embracing new places, cultures, challenges? You bet – make the most of it and learn what you can. Needing to be self-sufficient? What choice do you have.  Fitting in? Take people for what they are, don’t pre-judge, and know that everyone has something to offer. Facing an inhospitable environment? Look for the good parts and know that others have it way worse off than you. In essence, Mom taught me to (in today’s lingo) ‘suck it up’; to be brave and take on challenges and risks; to not rely on others to make things work; and most of all – to enjoy the journey. Thanks, Mom.

Junitha Giles: In my previous company I worked in a competitive all-male (apart from me) environment. More recently I have been working in teams which include more females and I have to say they have shown me the value of developing solutions in a collaborative manner, both in terms of making it more enjoyable, and also achieving the best outcome.

Alex Birchall: During my time at University, I used to pick my subjects on a whim, sometimes only looking at the course name and not much at the detail. Studying History & Politics, you generally got what you asked for: ‘Australia Politics,’ ‘20th Century Japan’…the list went on. However, one particular subject caught me by surprise. I can’t remember the exact name of the subject, but what I initially thought would be an average history subject turned out to be a study of how and why buildings are heritage listed. After attending my first lecture and tute and finding out the course outline, I was ready to run. I’m glad I didn’t. The two women that ran the course had an infectious enthusiasm for the subject and encouraged me to explore the history that I was interested in. My professor was well read and only used notes so the students could keep up. My tutor was different, she was patient and practical. We went on my first ‘excursion’ since I was 12 and we experienced history as opposed to just reading about it. I learnt a lot of valuable lessons during the course which helped me with the rest of my studies and in my working life. I did quite well in the subject and put together my favourite university assignment - but I don’t think I would have stayed a week if it wasn’t for the two women running the subject.

Kimberley Lamb: Anamaria has been a mother figure to me since I first started back in November, 2011. She is my mentor here in Brisbane and is always encouraging me to improve and step a little outside my comfort zone each and every day. Recently we started working out at the gym together in preparation for my wedding in October. She pushes me to reach beyond my limits and listens to my whinging about how much it hurts! She is an inspiration to me every day. She is such a strong person, yet she’ll openly share her vulnerabilities, a personality trait which only emphasises how caring she can be. She is always there to talk to, and she will always make time to help anyone. She is continually pushing me to grow, and is always looking out for my interests and puts her own second. Her generosity is limitless, in the kindness she shows to others, and her selflessness in all aspects of her life. She will be sorely missed when she goes back to America and I hope that one day I will be half as amazing as she is.

Kate Benchoam: My inspiration is my daughter Emily. It is hard to believe a 12 year old, can teach, counsel and inspire another person who is more than 30 years her senior. Emily was born wise. She already came with knowing eyes that had travelled this world before. Her calm demeanour, resilience, extraordinary enthusiasm for anything that is thrown at her, and mature outlook, never ceases to amaze me. Her ability to bounce back from any situation, whether it is a disappointment, people problem, or health issues is far beyond her years. She will always see the best in others, and has the strength to walk away when she should. She approaches any set- back with great determination and optimism of how she can make things better.  I often find myself discussing my problems with her, and she will intently listen, and provide very sound advice.  She will always finish off with a special look, and an ‘it’s ok mum, everything will be fine’. Our life is always chaotic, and we are generally over-committed with activities that seemed like a good idea at the time.  When I am the one having a tantrum, she is the one calming me down, and making sure that everything will eventually happen, even if not quite as we planned. I draw such inspiration from my daughter; she will become an amazing woman.

Steeve Poligadu: Life is neither a midsummer night’s dream, nor a tempest - but a comedy of errors that we play as we like it! When I met Tasnim 15 years ago, I was having to choose between a career in politics or pursuing my engineering career. Not only was she always huge moral support to complete my undergraduate degree, but she followed me in Australia and put up with me through 10 more years of studying. During this time we lived as poor students in Melbourne and Sydney and she followed me through some of the smallest towns in WA, 2 beautiful children and a lot of debt. Had it not been for my wonderful wife, who knows what might have happened? The thing is that we always have to make choices in life and in business. The decisions we make are inherently dependent on the influences of the people who are closest to us. A mentor is someone who helps us believe in ourselves and become who we are. I am grateful to my wife for being still my most influential mentor whose wisdom helps me make the most positive errors in my life!

Mary Casey: The first female mentor that comes to mind (besides my Mom) was my Aunt Nina. She was an art dealer from New York City – and impossibly windswept and glamorous to me, a little Texas girl of 14. I wanted to be an artist back then, and when my Grandmother took me to NYC to see my Uncle’s studio a couple of years later, Aunt Nina took me under her wing: playing tour guide for whatever museums I wanted to visit; bringing me to gallery openings and shows; and talking me through the processes of the art business. We were pen pals for a couple of years after that. It was an important connection for me – a great example of how you can guide without pushing in any particular direction (especially since I ended up going for architecture); just helping to create the circumstances for self-discovery, and supporting action once the insight had happened. I hope that I can be half as good a guide to my niece, Penny.

Thanks to all the women in our lives; Happy International Women’s Day.

McBloggin Lister 2012 in review

WordPress.com prepared a 2012 annual report for our blog – we did pretty well for our first year, with over 5,000 hits!!! Very excited.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 5,300 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 9 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

BIM – It’s All About People

by Mat Stoddart

Its 2013, and BIM has survived the turn of the year, with awareness and adoption throughout the construction industry continuing to rise.  Much of the rhetoric around BIM is often the well documented advantages such as  coordination and clash detection, reduced re-work, 3D visualisations, integrated programme and cost data and some of the perceived barriers to implementation such as contract and legal issues, software interoperability and high investment and training costs and many more.  As such, this blog isn’t going to dwell on the advantages of BIM, and it will hopefully allay some fears about some of the perceived barriers to implementation.  The simple fact is that BIM is coming, BIM has the potential to improve the efficiency of the industry beyond recognition, and BIM is something we should all be excited about!  Perhaps what we don’t know yet is that the change to utilising BIM on projects is all about people.

To successfully implement BIM, we need to establish the changes in dynamics and behaviours across the construction supply chain that are necessary to enable the industry to realise the full benefits of BIM, and embrace fully collaborative project delivery.  Only when this is done will we truly deliver the benefits that BIM can achieve, and start to realise dramatic cost savings (upwards of 20%) on project costs.

To learn to model is (in simple terms) just learning a new IT package, whether it be for designers, planners, clients or cost consultants.  Defining the protocols of how, what and why things are included at various stages of a project is something we have always done in construction.  It is true these may need some refining to suit BIM, and will take some further tweaking over the years, but this is nothing new to construction, and should not be seen as a barrier to progress.

Legal issues around contracts and copyright also appear to be regularly overstated, and distract from the bigger challenges.  Designers will generally contribute what they always did (only in a different format). What they are required to contribute will be in their schedule of services like it always has been.  The detail required at different stages may alter slightly, but as noted above, this is nothing new to the industry.  Most software tracks who contributes what to a model, so it is fully auditable.  CDP items will again be easy to track and the requirements of what contractors are to design will be defined as they are today. There may be an increase in early contractor involvement through procurement routes such as two-stage tendering, but again this is not a barrier to implementation.

So with this in mind, nearly all standard contracts need very little amendment to accommodate BIM.  A recent article by Peter Hibberd in the February 2013 JCT Newsletter (Joint Contracts Tribunal – one of the most commonly used forms of contract in the UK) supports this view, noting in regards to new contractual relationships that they ‘need not be significantly different from those currently used’.  With the potential for all construction information to be contained within one model, it’s possible that a contract can just refer to the model, and not hundreds of drawings and specifications.  And if the forecast reduction in post contract change is regularly achieved, perhaps construction contracts will in fact become simpler as a result of BIM.

If we can accept that the IT side of BIM shouldn’t cause a problem, and that contractual issues are fairly simple to overcome, then we are left with people – the biggest challenge to BIM implementation.  As noted earlier, we need to change the dynamics and behaviours of the whole construction supply chain.  People become very used to the processes by which they work, and to change them can be difficult.  Perhaps the most obvious example related to BIM is 2D drawings. Many ‘BIM Requirements Documents’ (the document that sets out how BIM will be used on a project) refer to the provision of 2D drawings at various stages, usually for review and sign off.  Why spend time and effort to produce a coordinated, up to date 3D model, and then cut it into hundreds of drawings that are out of date the minute they are produced?  I can only presume it’s because ‘that’s what we’ve always done’. We need to encourage people to use the model as intended. Reviewing in a model environment offers countless benefits, not least the obvious 3D visualisation, but also having all other related items such as specification and cost data available at the click of a button.  2D drawings are just one example of a behaviour that we need to change.  We need to learn to work fully in 3D, which includes commenting, approving, tendering and contract administration etc.

Another example of significant behaviour and process change is for quantity surveyors in the industry.  Early rhetoric around BIM and QS’s mooted whether the role would die out with the uptake of BIM.  Far from this, if QS’s embrace BIM, there is an opportunity to contribute more to a project than was previously practical due to time and resource constraints.  David Mitchell, QS for Mitchell Brandtman, has recently published an article about the role of 5D QS, and the need to act now to develop the behavioural and processes changes required to ensure cost is fully integrated as part of BIM.  Mitchell notes that by correctly implementing BIM, ‘instead of spending 90% of available QS time calculating quantities, an experienced 5D QS spends the majority of time applying wisdom and intelligence to generate savings and efficiencies’.

There will be many behaviours and processes we need to amend to maximise the benefits from BIM, affecting much of the construction supply chain, requiring collaboration from all sectors of the industry.  Moving to BIM is a change that needs to be managed, not simply imposed on various parties.  Understanding the industry from project inception through to handover and FM will help to manage this change, which is why I see it as vital that Project Managers are involved in driving this change.  As PM’s are often involved from project inception to post-handover, with direct interfaces with the client, consultants, contractors and many more,  it makes sense they are involved every step of the way in helping to identify changes required and assisting in this change management process.

Now that BIM is firmly of the radar for most in the industry in Australia, there is a real opportunity to focus on the key behavioural barriers to implementation, and not get distracted by issues of contract and IT, which, whilst valid, are not as earth-shattering as many suggest. These are areas the industry has successfully resolved before, and will do so again.  Change is never easy, but the potential of BIM for this industry is almost unlimited, with the integration of cost data, programming, environmental assessment, O & M’s, PPM, construction logistics and much more. There are of course issues with implementation that cannot be ignored, such as computer processing power, internet speeds, software interoperability, supply chain maturity and many others, but these, like the contract issues, will get sorted.

Those are the easy bits. If we neglect the people, we risk making the most exciting change to the construction industry in recent decades a painful experience for all….stay tuned for Part 2, in which I’ll talk about how we might make the people part of the solution, instead of treating them like the problem…

From Inertia to Innovation

by Leslie Butterfield

It appears likely that most major economies will remain in a period of low, zero or negative growth for some time. Historically, however, the operating model for these economies (and indeed for most private companies around the world) is often reliant on continual growth for success. This dichotomy creates obvious challenges.

Additionally, there is little doubt that the world is facing a new era where we must finally confront the over-utilisation of our natural and financial resources and our uncontrolled population growth. There are growing concerns that we do not have enough food, enough clean water, enough energy, enough capital, and enough even dispersal of advantage. Unless these issues are addressed, global unrest is likely.

The concurrence of these pressures indicates that it might be time to re-evaluate this need for continual growth, and adjust our models so that across the board we in fact do more with less.

Rather than the thoughtless consumption of resources and disposable consumer goods, is there merit in seeking ways to use less, and in smarter and more sustainable ways? Can we value high quality, sustainably produced products that last? Rather than just relying on an ever growing in-flow of natural, human and financial resources to feed our broken “machine”, can we not turn our energies to improving the productivity of the utilisation of these resources? And if so, who will lead this charge? Our innovators will. These are the people who can turn their minds to solving these problems.

Innovation is not just invention – it is also the derivation of better ways of doing things; the making of new connections between existing products, services, or processes, and novel changes in business models to adapt to a changing environment. Innovators don’t necessarily create something new; they can also improve, adapt or transform something that already exists. The need and potential for innovation touches every sector and every business.

Nor should innovation be relegated to certain people or isolated special departments: it should be cascaded throughout organisations – in companies large and small, in governments, in institutions. Everyone can and should participate in the innovation process.

And as a society, we should strive to make innovation mainstream, and value it highly. In Australia, we need to better raise the awareness of the absolute necessity of innovation for our future prosperity. We need to more generally realise and accept the risks that are inherent in trying new ideas. Failure should not be seen as a bad thing, but inertia should be. We need to better drive cross-sectoral collaboration and knowledge sharing. We need to make more visible the support that is already available from the government and other sources, and make the channels to access these programs more generally evident. More companies should endeavour to constructively utilise this assistance and most importantly, support innovation.

Rather than only exalting the heroes of today, as a society let us support and recognise those who can improve processes, develop new products that contribute to society’s improvement, or find the ways to do more with less.

This is the time to get excited about the future – to recalibrate and make real advances. We should celebrate the amazing ideas that are generated across all our industries and parts of our society, and encourage them. I am fortunate enough to sit on the Board of UniQuest – the commercialisation powerhouse that represents a broad spread of the novel ideas coming from select universities – and it is inspiring to see the developments that Australia can produce. Business needs to connect with such bodies and look outward as well as inward to identify the people who can help improve their products or operations. The media must ensure – and the public should demand – that innovation is one of the big stories that is continually highlighted.

Management Lessons I Learned from Waiting Tables

by Mary Casey

When I was at uni, my summer job was waiting tables in a diner-type restaurant that served burgers and salads and a variety of fried animal parts with chips. It had a great reputation, based on good food and good service. I was studying to be an architect, and didn’t consider that this job would in any way inform my ‘real’ career. I think back on those summers a lot, and shake my head with admiration that guys running a burger joint could be so good at managing teams, and how much I learned from their example.

Here are just a few of the lessons I learned that I try to practice. Thanks, guys. You taught me well.

You and Your Team

Don’t come to work if you aren’t in the right frame of mind to work – At the start of every shift, the manager would say something like, ‘If you don’t want to be here today, go home – we’ll cover for you. If you’re not in the mood to be cheerful and welcoming to our customers, you’ll do more harm than good. If I see you not smiling, I’ll send you home, so if you can’t get happy in the next 15 minutes, just hang up your apron and I’ll put you on another shift another day.’

Good service was our key responsibility, so we were reminded of it at the start of every shift. It was okay to have a be having a bad day, just not on the clock.

Everyone’s job is important – Each role on the team contributes to the outcome. No one gets a license to be rude or put on airs. You’re not more important than the guy in the kitchen because you’re out on the floor and he’s in the back (or vice versa). It is all one team to the customer. Make sure everyone knows their value, and treat them like you know it, too. As the waitress, you can smile as sweet as pie, but if the burger is undercooked, they’re not coming back. It could be a great chicken fried steak, but if you have an attitude, they’re not coming back.

Practice respect, have fun, keep it positive, and everyone has a good day.

Everyone has part of their role that is necessary, but not glamorous – Each shift had a list of tasks that needed to be done during, and at the end of the shift – fill the chip warmer, replenish the ramekins next to the salsa bucket, keep the coffee machine brewing, replenish the glasses next to the soda machine, etc. At the end of the shift, someone had to marry ketchups (I don’t even remember the other end-of-shift tasks, I hated this one so much it’s erased the memory of all the others). Each person got a different task every shift. Everyone shared the burden, and as a result you only had to marry ketchups about once a week. Hoo-wah.

Make sure no one in your team is taking on too much of the ‘not glamorous’ stuff – and that no one is seen to be exempt, or ‘above’ it. Yeah, you have a master’s degree. That’s awesome. We still need to take out the trash, and guess what? It’s your turn, buddy.

The boss is there to help you - The manager was required to know how to do every job in the restaurant (including the preparation of every item on the menu). He told you this in your training – not as a boast, but as a reassurance. The point of this skill requirement was so that the manager could step in and help anywhere the system was stressed. He would run food, make salads – whatever we needed – he was an extra pair of skilled hands, waiting to be deployed, not a taskmaster simply supervising, and definitely not sitting back in the office counting the money.

A manager leads the team, but is still part of the team, so be ready to dive in and assist whenever and wherever your team says they need you.

Everyone helps when you’re in the weeds – ‘Being in the weeds’ was the distress call when you were overloaded. You might get ‘slammed’ by the hostess, seating your station with three 4-top tables at once. It was okay when taking orders and serving drinks, but when it was time to run the food, you could find yourself short of hands, even with a tray. Everyone on the shift was trained that when someone said they were ‘in the weeds’, if you could help, you helped.

Who was getting the tip was irrelevant. It was about making sure you looked out for your colleagues, and that what the customer saw was a smoothly running team.

Everyone gets a turn to be the boss – Cleaning up your station at the end of a shift was a quality control issue, enforced by the shift captain. You couldn’t go home until you’d cleaned the tables, refilled the sugars, salt and pepper, and swept up. When you thought your station was shipshape, you checked with the shift captain. They would inspect your station, and give you permission to clock out and go home. Sometimes people in this role would abuse it. They could find real or imagined issues with your station to make you stay longer. This temptation was mitigated by rotating the role throughout the staff. Since you could be shift captain the next day, people didn’t play power games – well, not more than once, anyway (karma’s a kicker).

Passing the lead role around fosters mutual respect within the team. Team members are less likely to think it’s safe to ‘kick downwards’ if they know tomorrow they will be ‘downwards’. In addition, letting people have a responsibility that gives them some power over their senior colleagues is good practice for one day leading a whole team. Make sure there is a good feedback loop – whether it’s 360 reviews, or self-reflection with a mentor.

Everyone needs a shake break – We made terrific chocolate shakes. They came out of a machine in the kitchen, and next to it was a little stack of paper cones that would hold about three mouthfuls of the heavenly stuff. We were told in our induction that we were entitled to ‘shake breaks’ during our shift. It was a great little pick-me-up in the middle of an intense shift – it took about a minute, but it gave you a moment to take a deep breath, get happy again, and go back out into the fray with a grin on your face.

If you have a job that calls for focused concentration, make sure your team members know they have permission check out for a couple of minutes and recharge – they’ll be more productive, and happier.

Managing Yourself

Just a few more observations – these have less to do with team management and more to do with self-management, but they’re still well worth mentioning:

When you’re in the weeds, announce it, don’t hide it (part 1) – Everyone on the staff can see it anyway. The point is to make sure the customer doesn’t see it. Call for help, and you’ll (probably – see ‘part 2′) get it. If you don’t call for help, your team doesn’t know if they should dive in or not.

Don’t be a lone hero when you know you’re part of the Justice League. Throw up the Bat Signal and get reinforcements.

When help is not at hand and you’re in the weeds, announce it, don’t hide it (part 2) – That first five minutes when people were sat at my station were critical to success. I had a couple of minutes’ grace while they settled in and glanced over the menu, but if they actually noticed I hadn’t greeted them yet, I was dead. Sometimes the whole restaurant was so busy that there was no backup available, but if I walked by with armfuls of food for another table and said: ‘Hi! Welcome! I’ll be right with you’, I got 5 more minutes’ grace, and happy faces greeted me when I came back to the table. If I walked past their table and didn’t make eye contact, when I eventually turned up, they gave me the evil eye and no tip, regardless of how attentive my service was.

Even if you don’t have the result your client is waiting for, if you’re going to miss a deadline, don’t avoid the conversation. Tell them BEFORE the deadline is passed. Reassuring them that you haven’t forgotten them is appreciated. (Then deliver ASAP – with free chips and salsa!)

Humans, man. What can you do? – People would sometimes be cranky with me for no apparent reason. They’d bark their order at me – no please, no thank you, no eye contact. When I first started, I was very sensitive to any potential error I might have inadvertently made, so I would walk back to the kitchen, reviewing the exchange in my head, wondering what I’d done to set them off. I’d come back with their drinks – amd they were still cranky. I’d come back with their food, put it in front of them – and all of a sudden, it was, ‘Oh, honey, when you get a second, could bring me back some ketchup, please? No rush. That would be great, thanks so much.’ What the…? Hunger. A-ha.

Yeah, sometimes it’s not you. Hang in there, keep doing a good job – eventually your client will remember their manners (and if they never remember their manners, just do your best and don’t take it personally).

From Control to Cooperation

by Mary Casey

I’ve been reading Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire, which talks about the mutually-beneficial relationship we have developed with plants. He says: ‘Design in nature is but a concatenation of accidents, culled by natural selection until the result is so beautiful or effective as to seem a miracle of purpose.’

The book traces the history of our relationship with four plants: apples, tulips, marijuana, and the potato, and how we have worked together over the centuries to (we think) enhance the characteristics of the plants that we like, so that they please us better. Pollan suggests that the reason this manipulation is possible is that the plants are complicit in the process: they are changing themselves in accordance with our desires to encourage us to help them propagate. Their goal is abundance; our goal is the satisfaction of various needs – sweetness, beauty, pleasure, and sustenance. It’s a series of win-win stories – but only because we are working together. (And by the way, the resilience of these relationships comes from working with the plant’s natural processes, not re-designing them in a laboratory).

I grew up the daughter of a sailor, and although power boats might have gotten us across the lake faster, I always felt that sailing was infinitely more elegant — even magical. The way the sails snapped into trim, and the boat was suddenly pulled forward — silently, like the boat had a mind of its own. Why can’t more of the things we make take advantage of nature’s power in this way? Simply, cleanly, without a lot of moving parts and complicated technology? Conventional buildings, for example, try to control it all — and as a result they do far more work than they have to. Green buildings are like sailboats with outboard motors: you use the wind when you have it, and make up the difference with machines when you don’t. But why do we stop here? Why isn’t the outboard motor solar-powered?

Requiring this level of responsibility of ourselves moves us out of the realm of parasitic behavior, but the definition of ‘symbiosis’ is a relationship that is ‘mutually beneficial’, not just ‘not abusive’. So the real question is: how can we move from low- to no-negative-impact, to positive impact?

A textile manufacturing facility in Switzerland uses water in its processes. They re-engineered their product to eliminate dozens of chemicals and filtered the water leaving the facility to protect the water quality from any adverse impact from their work. They did the job so well that the water going out was cleaner than the water going in.

A resort in Oregon provides excellent facilities for human recreation, but is also committed to restoring native species. Through their efforts, there’s been a marked increase in species diversity on their property, helping the ecosystem while making the place that much more special for the visitors, who now enjoy a wildlife-populated nature trail.

These are but two examples of ‘concatenations of accidents’ orchestrated by humans that I think have achieved the name of ‘beautiful’. Why don’t we do this all the time? What are we afraid of?

Paraphrasing Janine Benyus, we must shed the ‘lonely myth’ that what we do exists outside the living systems of the earth. We must get ourselves back into trim with the winds of our context, and ensure that everything we do creates conditions conducive to life. How much simpler, richer and more elegant might life be?

Humans love the struggle, but surely we’re picking the wrong fight.

Implementing Social Media: More Than a Tweak and a Tweet

by Alex Birchall

Earlier this year McLachlan Lister entered the world of social media. We set up a Facebook page, Twitter account, an e-newsletter and McBloggin Lister. After a few months, we decided to survey our staff and find what they thought of our social media campaign. The results were not encouraging; staff had not embraced social media in the ways we were hoping for. During our review, it was determined that we had not understood that implementing a social media strategy was a change management exercise. By not understanding this, we broke three of the key rules of Change Management:

• Alignment of Objectives – Change Management is used to implement a new set of objectives, or re-align previous objectives within an organisation. However, these objectives must align with those of your staff. It is important to take your staff along for the ride, explain the strategy, the benefits and what you need from them. Social media is a difficult concept to sell; the name itself implies it is not work related. People will have their own preconceptions, but you must work to overcome these and show the benefits for staff and the organisation if implemented successfully.
• Plan the Journey – It easy to see where you currently are and where you want to get to, but you must plan the journey from start to finish. Each step in the process is important and often the tasks which seem the easiest give us the greatest trouble. As we reviewed our social media strategy, we realised that capturing information did not simply occur by asking for it. We have since refined our process to make it easier for staff to prepare information, as well as aligning content production to our overall Quality Management system.
• Change Takes Time ­– Most people want to see the results of their hard work instantly, but the reality is change takes time. Often quite a lot of time. You have to be realistic when you are setting your objectives, it is better to under promise and over deliver. At the start, when things are new and exciting, results can come quickly. However, as time goes on and the ‘new toy’ excitement wears off, results can plateau. Initially, our social media sites attracted followers and as requested staff provided ample content for the sites. But our strategy did not include what to do once this initial wave of results had passed. Our new strategy aims to ensure a constant backlog of content and different ways to attract new followers.

Social media sites are easy to set up and the content required to populate them is usually kept short and sweet. However, this does not mean implementing a social media strategy will be straightforward. We have learned from our mistake, and now have a robust system in the process of being relaunched.

Social media is there to be embraced, but don’t forget your Project Management fundamentals just because the work sounds like fun.

Infrastructure NSW Strategy vs Transport for NSW Plan – Where to now ?

by David Taylor

Two significant strategic infrastructure plans have recently been announced by two separate Government agencies. Transport for NSW, the NSW Government agency responsible for all transport related services in NSW, issued the Draft NSW Long Term Transport Master Plan for comment in early September.

Infrastructure NSW, a separate Government agency, has now released the State Infrastructure Strategy, identifying the State’s strategic infrastructure priorities for the next 20 years.

The question is, are the two strategies aligned? The answer is mostly yes, but there are some clear differences in the two plans which create a level of uncertainty about the future of the state’s transport infrastructure.

At a strategic level, apart from some major proposals such as the WestConnex motorway and the CBD Rapid Bus Tunnel, Infrastructure NSW has a greater focus on enhancing the utilization and effectiveness of existing infrastructure to improve the transport system and deliver productivity gains.  This approach recognizes the fact that capital for infrastructure projects is scarce in both the public and private sectors, and there is value and benefits to be gained from seeking improvements to existing infrastructure as opposed to building new infrastructure.

The other major difference between the two plans is the different approaches to dealing with congestion caused by buses in the CBD.

Transport for NSW calls for a redesign of the bus network, new bus interchanges, as well as building light rail in the CBD. Infrastructure NSW makes a case that light rail in the CBD is an inefficient solution and does not represent value for money, and has suggested a new rapid bus tunnel connecting Wynyard and Town Hall as well as reusing existing tram tunnels to access the Harbour Bridge.

The question is how are the two separate agencies going to resolve their different approaches and solutions? The discussion and debate around this will be interesting to follow.

A possible outcome is that Transport for NSW will take into account the State Infrastructure Strategy as part of its stakeholder consultation on its Draft Long Term Master Plan and revise the final Long Term Transport Master Plan to incorporate Infrastructure NSW’s recommendations. We may then have one truly integrated State Infrastructure Strategy for transport.

BIM Limitations, Impediments to Implementation and its Future

by Lucy Guerin

Although BIM is being seen as the ‘saviour’ of the construction industry, especially by its greatest advocates, there are still a number of issues with the technology, methodology, management and legal structures which need to be addressed before BIM can become standard practise across the industry. The following factors have been identified as playing a role:

• program interoperability
• changes to legal and insurance agreements
• lack of model building protocols and standards for information exchange and management
• initial implementation and set up costs
• industry resistance to process change
• skills gaps; and
• lack of strategic research focus[1].

Programme interoperability

In an ideal world, all design, modelling and management programs would be completely interoperable.  While this is not yet the case, it is a widely recognised need and some action has been taken through the development of the International Foundation Classes (IFC). IFC is an international standard for data exchange in construction projects between different computer programs[2] and is the standard to which Revit, ArchiCAD and many other 3D modelling programs have been built.  If a program is IFC compliant, in theory it should be able to be fully interoperable with other IFC programs.  Unfortunately this is still not full possible but the industry is working towards rectifying this, for example so Autodesk and Graphisoft have recognised that their own programs need to be fully interoperable and are currently approximately 95% complete to achieve this goal[3].

Until this issue is resolved so work arounds are still required resulting in doubling up of work and risk of errors when transferring data.

Legal and Insurance impediments;

The introduction of BIM has introduced major changes to the traditional standard of practice within the industry.  These changes are having a direct impact on the traditional project model of design-bid-build promoting alternative project models such as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) Models.  IPD requires the close collaboration of the different project parties and will generally work of the same design document, i.e. the BIM. This development potentially has a large impact on each party’s responsibilities and risk profiles which is only now being discussed by the industry.  This is discussed in more detail in a future blog which discusses the new project models being theorised and their contractual implications.

Lack of Building Model Protocols and Standards for Information Exchange and Management

The industry is still trying to understand how BIM may be fully utilised and is only just beginning to develop industry wide accepted standards for how a BIM should be built, managed or used.  Some guidelines and protocols for BIM have been developed but they are still being tested. It will be sometime until an industry wide agreement is reached for a best practice methodology with users developing their own protocols and procedures for each different project as an interim.

The lack of modelling protocols is having a knock effect on the accuracy of the data that may be extrapolated from the model.  This is particularly in regards to using the model to calculate quantities of materials for Quantity Surveyors and as a result Quantity Surveyors are currently very reluctant to utilise BIM until this issue has been resolved.

Implementation and Set up Costs

One of the biggest deterrents for small businesses is the initial cost of implementing BIM within their company.  Although it can be quite substantial, it has been proven that these costs are returned very quickly. The McGraw Hill 2009 Smart Market Report reported that 70% BIM of users who measure return of investment (ROI) see positive returns[4]. Additionally, 93% of BIM users believe there is potential to gain more value from BIM in the future[5]. In addition to savings obtained on individual projects, BIM users are also reporting return of investment through:

• New business and clients being brought to the company
• Business with past clients is maintained much more regularly
• More efficient processes and procedures within the company
• More rounded teams through a better understanding of both the design and construction process.

With these internal company benefits and the other more substantial benefits discussed in detail above the initial cost of implementing BIM is mitigated with 43% of expert users reporting profits which can be directly attributed to BIM[6].

Project Team Skills Gaps

As with all new technologies it takes time for a strong base of experienced and skilled users to develop. With its requirements of users needing to be skilled in more than their expertise, as discussed previously educating users so that BIM can be fully utilised can be very complex.

This is issue is starting to be addressed by some universities providing BIM specific coursed but unfortunately many of the participants are students with little to no industry experience and haven’t acquired the ‘hands on knowledge’ methodology behind how a building is built.

Because it is impossible to expect that everyone across the industry will be experts in all the various disciplines and it would be a detriment to the industry if specific expertise was lost, the introduction of Integrated Project Delivery models is being seen as the main solution to this issue.

Lack of Strategic Research Focus

Currently BIM is still a large unknown to the Construction Industry as a whole. As a result the industry is still in the initial stages of what exactly BIM is and learning how it can be used.  Some independent and government organisations such as buildingSMART have been established but they are still largely unknown by the general industry and run by volunteers focusing on establishing modelling protocols and management guidelines.

The most progressive organisation in regards to research into BIM is VTT, the Technical Research Centre of Finland, a globally networked multitechnological applied research organization which has been researching BIM since the 1980’s. VTT is currently focusing on technical issues related to the downstream applications such as system analysis, simulation and process management.[7] In Australian this issues has been identified by Australian Government’s Department of Innovation Industry, Science and Research (DIISR) which The Built Environment Digital Modelling Working Group (BEDMWG) in 2010 and some research is being completed by some universities, in particular the University of NSW.

As the industry become more familiar with BIM and a general consensus is formed that BIM is the way of the future more funding will become available enabling more research.

As with any new technology, industry wide acceptance of BIM faces many challenges, both technological and cultural.  As more projects use BIM the benefits it provides are increasing being proven by industry leaders. Government and developers are recognising the significant benefits and are driving the use of BIM through policy and facilitating increased research. It will still be a number of years until BIM becomes standard practice but as with CAD in the late 80’s and early 90’s it is not until the issues discussed above are resolved and individual members of the industry become comfortable with using the technology that is will become fully accepted.

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[1] Allen Consulting Group 2010, Productivity in the buildings network: assessing the impacts of Building Information Models, report to the Built Environment Innovation and Industry Council, Sydney, October.

[2] http://www.drofus.no/en/product/ifc-bim.html

[3] Interview with Kevin Lee, Graphisoft

[4] The Business value of BIM; McGraw Hill Construction Smart Market Report (2009)

[5] The Business value of BIM; McGraw Hill Construction Smart Market Report (2009)

[6] The Business value of BIM; McGraw Hill Construction Smart Market Report (2009)

[7] Comparative Roles of Major Stakeholders for the Implementation of BIM in Various Countries; Dr Andy K.D. Wong, Prof. Francis K.W. Wong, Dr. Abid Nadeem (2009)

BIM Project Models and Contractual Forms

by Lucy Guerin

In the current market, standard practise is to define BIM as a design document, using the traditional Design and Construct model. However, it is becoming apparent that the traditional project models are not sufficient to support a fully integrated BIM project and are being superseded by new, alternative models. How BIM is changing the way projects are structured can be seen in figure 1[1] below.

The majority of the Australian market is still in stages 0 – 1B (2D documentation with some 3D modelling, depending on the discipline). Sections of the market are using BIM in stage 2 under the traditional project model of design – bid – build or design – build. Stage 3, full project integration, has yet to be put in practice in the Australian market.The following three models have been identified as the most suited for a BIM project:

• Project Alliancing (PA)
• Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), and
• Early Contractor Involvement (ECI).

Each project model has its positives and negatives. Before procuring project services, Owners should identify and define the following project elements as a minimum in order to select the best model to use:

• Final outcome to be achieved
• Stakeholders and their agendas
• Design, and construction complexity
• Potential risks
• Programme and constraints
• Final cost and budget restrictions
• Proposed site logistics.

Project Alliancing (PA)

Alliancing is an agreement between entities to work cooperatively in a spirit of good faith and trust, on the basis of a sharing of project risk and reward, to achieve agreed outcomes with an open-book approach towards costs.[2] Although the aim of Alliancing is to work openly and collaboratively, the agreement and identified end goal is legally enforceable.

It is this aim for parties to work openly and collaboratively to achieve an agreed goal which makes Alliancing a suitable project model for BIM projects. From the onset, all parties are required to work together and the BIM is a tool in which this may be achieved.

There are two types of Alliancing:

Strategic Alliancing – is an inter-organisational arrangement usually between two companies that extends beyond a specific project. Parties to a strategic alliance contract expect ongoing, mutually-beneficial business.

Project Alliancing – is where parties come together for a specific project or outcome. Project Alliances have a defined end: typically the practical completion date of a constructed facility[3].

In the building construction industry, Project Alliancing is the most common, unless a developer elects the Strategic Alliancing model for a major development or a programme of developments.

One of the first things that must be clearly defined and agreed by the alliance partners is the project optimal outcome, and the performance measurements to monitor progress towards achievement of that outcome. Performance measurements may include cost, time, scope, design integrity, function, safety and documentation and construction quality. Because of the collective nature of the risk and reward incentives, no member of the alliance can succeed unless all members succeed. Conversely the failure of one partner can directly threaten the profitability of all other alliance members. It is this joint, rather than just shared, risk and reward structure that distinguishes project alliances from other forms of contracting and partnering arrangements.[4]

Although alliance contracts have become increasingly standardised over the past few years, there are risks involved using a standard contract. Owners should ensure that any alliance contract is appropriately tailored to deal with the risk profile and the commercial objectives for their specific project.[5] The Australian Government Department of Transport and Infrastructure has developed two standard alliance agreements: the Project Alliance Agreement and the Alliance Development Agreement, designed for the Australian market.

Integrated Project Delivery Systems

A recent development in the US, Integrated Project Delivery is a response to the introduction of BIM as well as international market changes. It is still largely in the theoretical stage and has not been comprehensively used and tested like PA in the UK and Australia. In general IPD is based around the following concepts:

• Active involvement of all key project participants from inception to completion of the project under a singular contractual arrangement, inclusive of at least the owner, design professionals and prime contractor
• Shared risk and reward, based on project outcomes
• Mutual development of the project cost, completion dates, performance specifications and other target goals
• Collaborative control of the project management and decision making by key participants
• Reduced liability of the parties for failure of performance[6].

Unlike Alliancing, where all parties waive all claims except for wilful default and the non-owner parties only put their anticipated profit at risk, IPD allows for more risk sharing across all parties, and parties are responsible for their own errors and omissions.

As with PA, the IPD model aims to break down the traditional, more adversarial approach by creating an environment where risks and (some) responsibilities are shared across all parties. The implications of this on the designer, builder and owner are:

Designer  – Designers are required to perform certain activities earlier in the process such as detailed design. The Designer may not necessarily serve as the ‘gate-keeper’ for the flow of communications between the owner and builder, as it does in traditional project delivery.

Contractor  -The Contractor’s role increases significantly during early stages of design providing advice on buildability, coordination, programme etc. in the design phase. The result is a greater role in influencing design innovation.

Owner - The owner takes on a substantially greater and more active role in evaluating and influencing design options. The Owner is participates in establishing project metrics at an earlier stage than is typical[7].

As a result of the blending of traditional roles, scopes of work should include roles and responsibilities. The level of risk taken on by each individual party and the level of risk that will be shared between all parties involved should also be clearly defined in each party’s agreement.

Early Contractor Involvement (ECI)

With ECI, the Contractor is introduced to the project during the planning and design phase. This has the potential to bring significant project savings such as time, cost and material usage, and improvement to the overall quality of the final product. Although the current Design and Construct model addresses this to an extent, ECI takes this a step further without establishing a PA.

An ECI project is generally divided into two stages:

Stage 1  - the Contractor works under a service agreement and develops, in partnership with the Designer and the Principal, the design to a point where it can be accurately priced. This is an interactive stage between the three parties, with quick exploration of options and decision-making. Stage 1 concludes with the Contractor submitting a Stage 2 Offer.

Stage 2  – similar to a D&C Contract where the Contractor is responsible for design and construction. Depending on the agreed risk profile, payment can be through a combination of a lump sum, schedule of rates, day work components or a guaranteed maximum price. The Principal takes responsibility for the contract administration[8].

Unlike PA and IPD, the risks and responsibilities of each of the project parties do not significantly change. The Contractor takes on the role of an additional consultant in the first stage of the project and then resumes the traditional role of the Contractor in the second stage.

If the Contractor does not perform during Stage 1 or the Owner is not satisfied with the Contractor’s Stage 2 offer, the Owner may tender Stage 2 of the works and the ECI Contractor will not be invited. Additionally there may be financial incentives built into the Stage 1 contract for Contractor performance if significant savings are achieved against the project budget and programme.

One of the main benefits of ECI is the reduction of risk to the Contractor, who would build a risk element into their price when tendering for a standard Design and Construct or Construct Only contract. In ECI the Owner bears most of the project risk during Stage 1 as the Contractor’s obligations at this stage are limited to preparing a competent design[9]. The risk is then transferred to the Contractor for Stage 2, but because the Contractor has been involved in Stage 1 where risks may be fully analysed and even removed, he may be comfortable reducing this risk element substantially.

BIM and Contractual Agreements

Most projects are still using the traditional Design-Bid-Build or Design and Build project models and contracts, with the BIM being treated as a form of design documentation. As the industry becomes more aware of the impacts that BIM has on individual parties’ risks, liabilities and intellectual property rights, traditional agreements will be modified and alternative contracts developed to address these changes.

Traditional Contract Agreements in the Australian Market

Because the current level of understanding of BIM is Australia is very basic, using an alternative contract agreement more suited its use is not even considered. BIM, when it is used, is generally only being used as a design tool for visualisation and clash detection. As a result the full benefits of ECI are being lost.

Unless the project is set up as a PA or 2 Stage ECI, modified traditional agreements incorporating elements of the project models outlined above may need to be used. Australian Agreements currently available which would be most suited are the ‘Design and Construct’ contracts such as the GC 21, AS4300-1995 or AS 4902-2000.

If a Design and Construct form of contract is to be used, the following need to be addressed:

• Roles and scope of service of each of the parties is clearly defined, including responsibilities, risks, liabilities and intellectual property rights.
• Inclusion of non-traditional parties earlier in the project with their roles and responsibilities clearly stated.
• Requirements for design consultants to collaborate, transfer model data and incorporate input from related trade contractors and vendors included.[10]

If a Design-Bid-Build project model is used, a clear line needs to be defined regarding input into the model, similar to what occurs currently with 2D drawings. The design team’s responsibility is completed at the Tender phase, and the Contractor takes responsibility for design changes implemented once the works are awarded.

BIM Contract Forms developed in the US

As in Australia, the US market is currently reluctant to move away from traditional project models. To address the concerns raised with the introduction of BIM into a project, in particular with regard to risk allocation and intellectual property, two contractual forms have been developed by the American industry. These two forms are intended to be inserted in to the agreement as an appendix once they have been modified to reflect the level to which the BIM is to be developed. Each form has taken a different approach, as outlined below:

AIA E202-2008  – provides a comprehensive framework for development of the model, level of development, and responsibility/liability for aspects of the model.

ConsensusDOCs301 – sets a checklist of considerations in constructing a BIM contracting framework that are intended to clarify party relationships and risk allocations[11].

As BIM is still very new to the US market, the best way to address BIM contractually is still under discussion. Once these forms are rigorously tested on projects, we will have a clearer idea of what is the best way forward and what is best practice methodology. Watch this space…

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[1] CRC for Construction Innovation National Building Information Modelling (BIM) Guidelines and Case Studies Brochure. April 2009

[2] Abrahams, A and Cullen, C (1998). Project Alliances in the Construction Industry. Australian Construction Law Newsletter. Oct/Nov: 31-36.

[3] Project alliancing at the National Museum of Australia: the collaborative process; Hauck, Allan J., Walker, Derek H.T., Hampson, Keith D., & Peters, Renaye (2004)

[4] Project alliancing at the National Museum of Australia: the collaborative process; Hauck, Allan J., Walker, Derek H.T., Hampson, Keith D., & Peters, Renaye (2004)

[5] The Practitioners’ Guide to Alliance Contracting, Department of Treasury and Finance, Victoria, (2010)

[6] Rethinking Conflict in Construction Project Delivery and Dispute Resolution; John W Hinchey

[7] The American Institute of Architects, Integrated Project Delivery: A Guide (2007)

[8] Standard Contract Provisions, Roads, Volume 6 Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) Contract, Introduction. Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (2009)

[9] Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) Contracts in the South Australian Transport Infrastructure Construction Industry, Richard Edwards

[10] The American Institute of Architects, Integrated Project Delivery: A Guide (2007)

[11] Integrated project delivery and building information modelling: A new breed of contract: Brad C Parrott and Michael B. Bomba (2010)