Project Management – Page 3

2Pac vs John Lennon

Two great artists. Two tragic deaths. Two very different styles. Is your style like 2Pac or John Lennon? 2Pac was “Me Against the World” and “All Eyes on Me”. Where John Lennon was “Imagine” and “Instant Karma”. Where do you fall in this spectrum? You would think the obvious answer should be John Lennon, but note, this industry is not all unicorns and sunshine. Having a positive attitude is a great, but if you don’t have a little precipitation there will be no rainbows. When you begin working with a client everything is “so great, we can do it, we can meet the budget, we can give you everything you want.” While this feels like spreading peace, we all know that no project ever goes perfectly; you might want to pour a glass of Hennessy and get real. John Lennon was an inspiration and uplifting, garner his great qualities,

Love Letters

I ran into a client at an industry-related Valentine’s party and when speaking about a staff member of ours, he stated “I love working with your Project Manager and the Board loves him too.” At Wember, we work hard to have our clients reach this level of satisfaction. How does a business get to the point of love? Why would we target this specific word, and, why should you? First, the “why.” All I can say is, who doesn’t want to be loved? It’s human nature and it’s not restricted to a significant other or family member. Being loved is the highest form of flattery and, when stated honestly, it makes you feel special. More importantly, being loved is good for business. So, how do you get to this point in a relationship? Think about it as you would if you were on Match.com. Profile Page – This

What I am Not Thankful for This Year

To have good, you must have bad; up must have down, and to be thankful, you need to have the unthankful. As we come into the season of giving thanks, there is so much I am thankful for, a sustainable business, a healthy family, my soft bed. That said, there are a few things this I am not thankful for, I suggest you state the following, as Jimmy Fallon does in his bit, thank you…. Thank you AEC Marketing professionals for all the emails telling us how thankful you are for having clients that make you great. Are you great or thankful? It gets a bit blurry. I’d be thankful for having you remove me from your email list. Thank you to the company that our client didn’t select to serve on the team. I understand that it’s frustrating to lose a project that you thought you were

Your Building Smells Like Crap

We often focus on the aesthetic of our buildings, but unless the rendering comes with a scratch and sniff component, sometimes we are only seeing the pretty picture. Odors can ruin the quality of occupant experience, no matter how beautiful the building. Water, gas, and other elements can be sources of foul smells, haunting a building as they are very hard to trace. We have had two instances where this has been a project challenge. In the first situation, the building would randomly smell like gas. There was no consistency to the situation, making it hard to resolve. We applied cognitive thinking and deductive reasoning: Determine if there was a gas leak. There was no pressure loss, so that was ruled out. Determined where the smell was coming from. The odor was coming through the vents. Analyze the mechanical intakes. It turned out that there was a gas

The Great Toothpaste Challenge

Recently my wife and I entered into a battle of wits, strength and cunning. The challenge began while brushing our teeth, neither of us wanted to get the new tube of toothpaste out of the basement pantry, we couldn’t possibly walk that far. For days we battled back and forth with using a lot of toothpaste to nearly none, in the hopes that the other would be left holding this hot potato. When the toothpaste tube appeared to run out I would seemingly come up with endless creative solutions to extract everything I could. I would roll the tube, scrape the tube, stick the brushes down in the tube, and then, one time, I couldn’t get another spec out. I waited for her to use it first knowing that it wasn’t possible to extract another drop baring cutting it open, would she? Maybe I should first. As she

Let’s Collaborate, or Not

So much has been made of collaboration and implementing integrated project delivery systems; the benefits can be exciting, but the process can also be disappointing and a point of contention. Wember continuously advocates for project management technologies, in particular the use of our online Owner’s Representative software. We are also using Bluebeam, Skype, Doodle and many other tools to collaborate and fortunately, other members of the project team do as well, including architects and contractors; unfortunately, they are often different from one another. They work in a variety of industry software including Vela System, Timberline, Submittal Exchange, Plangrid and many more. This makes for many different platforms, which can defeat any time-saving promises made by using an integrated process. We have found when working with larger firms that have an established IT department and standards policy, they mandate to work be done on their systems, no exceptions. When

Do you have project stress?

Design and construction projects are filled with constant negotiations, decisions, and deadlines. The combination puts a lot of pressure on the core teams involved, and although usually evenly distributed across the life of the project, there are times when stress is particularly elevated: 1. An estimate is over budget 2. A design goal is not achieved 3. Changes are requested or required late in the project Over the years we have found that project stress brings our predictable behaviors for those with certain personality traits: 1. Someone who is overbearing will dominate the conversation 2. Someone who consistently makes ethical decisions will do so with stronger conviction 3. Someone who avoids confrontation will do whatever they can to make the issue disappear We recommend that during a project, starting at a selection process, you pay attention to people’s personalities. As you develop theses relationships focus on individual’s conflict

Zombies

Working on public projects often entails a phase that private projects don’t…the public process. This process is always unique simply because the people attending public meetings have their own opinions and personalities. When presenting you never know if you will have a happy or hostile crowd; supportive or outwardly against anything you propose, no matter what you do. We have been a part of many public meetings, some more successful than others but none that actually let people vote, until now. This particular client’s communication team came up with the concept that the public should but be able to be part of the project at a higher level, by voting on the design. The design team worked with them and determined we had to narrow down what they would actually vote on that wouldn’t impact the design timeline in a negative way. After some discussion we agreed that

ConsensusDOCS vs. AIA Construction Forms

It has long been a contention in the construction industry that the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Construction forms have been biased towards design professionals and they place too heavy a burden of liability on the shoulders of contractors and owners. To that end, in 2007, a new set of construction and design forms were developed called ConsensusDOCS. While AIA Construction Forms and ConsensusDOCS share many more similarities than differences, there are some key differentiating factors that your firm should be aware of before you choose one over the other. It’s a common perception in the engineering, design and construction realms that AIA Construction forms favor architects, and to some degree, this is true. It lacks a specific definition of the relationship between the design professional and the owner and it places less responsibility on the architect/engineer with regards to the interpretation of the architectural plans during construction.

Apps – Using Technology to Make Your Job Easier

The first time I saw an app was from the IT Director on a project during construction. He proudly showed me his level on his new Iphone. I advised him that he might not want to bring that out during the next OAC meeting. This initial experience and many following left me underwhelmed by the possibilities of this new revolutionary technology but times have changed and so has my opinion. We have been using our phones for communication be it texting, email, and live video (showing consultants field conditions in live format) for some time but the field of applications has changed immensely and is continuing to evolve. Recently I was on a site walk with a client and we were trying to determine where the property line might be, comparing a concept drawing to a google map on my phone was ok but didn’t give me the