Written by Jim Eisenhart, MIPI
In my previous article for IPI, I discussed why well-intentioned professionals from reputable organizations can still find themselves on a construction project where teamwork has broken down, even when using a collaborative project delivery method.
We also discussed the importance of leaving all project stakeholders with four choices going forward on a challenged job:
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Argue over who is right or wrong about why the job is failing
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Focus only on solving today’s problems
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Do nothing and let things play out
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Do a complete project reset: set aside history, opinions, and baggage, and move forward with measurable partnership goals that acknowledge the contract documents and specifications, but are not contractually binding
These goals are set by the whole team and backed up by personal commitments to action. Existing disputes and notices of potential claims can be taken off the table and dealt with in another venue, allowing the team to focus on the work ahead.
Prior to writing my book on this subject in 2016, I interviewed 111 owners, construction managers, architects and engineers, general contractors, and subcontractors at both the executive and project management levels. I asked them how important it is to have partnership goals if a team wanted to have a world-class project team or needed to turn around a challenged project.
I expected that maybe 75 to 80 percent of interviewees would say partnership goals were important. What surprised me was that every interviewee said partnership or team goals were necessary. Many stated that they were essential.
“How can you have a team without common goals?” was a typical response.
There are, however, several important caveats to creating meaningful partnership goals.
#1. Partnership goals do not replace the contract.
Contract requirements remain exactly what they are. Partnership goals, and the specific commitments you make to achieve them, are not contractually binding. Instead, they are created collaboratively by the full team based on current project realities and then realized through personal commitments to action and mutual trust.
For example, the stakeholders on the $800 million Benicia-Martinez Bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area were at an impasse. The general contractor, Kiewit Pacific, encountered site conditions far different from the geotechnical assessment.
Caltrans and Kiewit jointly walked the site and verbally negotiated a $300 million change order along with an 18-month schedule extension. They then created revised partnership goals that reflected this change while still stretching the project team.
Some might say this job was a failure because it finished late and over budget. Yet Roads & Bridges magazine named it their “Project of the Year” for 2008.
The point is simple: teams should not be held accountable against circumstances they had no ability to influence.
“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go. They merely determine where you start.”
— Nido Qubein, author
#2. Align partnership goals with the end user’s intent.
“Contract documents rarely reflect the real intentions of the commander, or end user,” Captain Mike Williamson, former head of NAVFAC Southwest, once told me.
Reasonable people on a construction project can spend enormous amounts of time arguing over what constitutes substantial completion, as well as beneficial occupancy. Partnership goals should instead focus on outcomes that genuinely delight the end user.
For example, the Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital modernization project was late and over budget due to unknown conditions. This created distrust between the design-build team and the hospital’s construction manager. We brought the medical director into a partnering workshop and asked him, “What is really important to you about this project?”
He quickly responded, “Getting the five operating rooms up and running.”
The general contractor’s project manager said, “We can complete those in the next six months.”
This became a partnership goal, which the team hit. They also created a process to meet on site immediately when a future unknown condition was discovered, agree verbally if it was a change and, if so, create a verbal rough order of magnitude for cost and schedule impact. Only then would they confirm with a document.
Despite being late and over budget, the project won both national DBIA and AGC awards for project excellence.
Another example is the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center. The facility’s general manager was frustrated with the design-build team’s ability to understand her needs and those of the facility. So, she suggested something very unorthodox. She brought three detainees into the next partnering workshop.
They shuffled in with baseball caps backward and low-riding jeans. The workshop attendees were clearly skeptical. We asked, “What would make your facility more livable?”
A teenage boy said, “Well, we like to draw. If we had somewhere to do that, it would be cool.”
An architect then said, “What if we made walls with whiteboards?”
“Yeah, that would be neat,” the youth responded.
With that, the architects, engineers, contractors, and detainees engaged intensely for over an hour until the general manager said they needed to get back to their classes.
#3. Set measurable partnership goals that speak to the end game.
Teams often confuse goals with processes. Expediting submittals, RFIs, or change orders may be important, but they are processes that support the overall project completion goal.
Meaningful partnership goals should challenge the team to achieve outcomes slightly beyond what they currently believe is possible. I call these “moonshot” goals. It is important to remind the team that there are no penalties for not achieving their partnership goals.
“When a project team sets measurable goals well beyond what is expected or their contract obligation, it draws the team together in a way that enables true teamwork and innovation,” says Mike Ghilotti, Chairman of Ghilotti Brothers Construction Company.
For example, on the Los Angeles County MLK Medical Center in Los Angeles, the county’s senior project manager was concerned about quality. The team went on to define partnership quality goals that stated:
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Zero rework, meaning work done right the first time
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No written non-conformance reports
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Punch list complete no later than 10 days after substantial completion, with no more than 300 items
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Fit and finish as good as, or better than, the recently completed Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center, which was acknowledged as a regional benchmark for quality
#4. Set measurable goals for all key elements of project success.
Safety provides a good example. Back in the 1990s, “no more than a half dozen OSHA recordables” was common. Over time, expectations evolved to:
The standard kept rising because teams became willing to redefine what safety success looked like.
The same principle can apply to quality, schedule, cost, stakeholder relationships, community impact, operational readiness, and end-user satisfaction. If it matters to the success of the project, the team can define what success looks like and commit to pursuing it together.
#5. Establish milestone goals on long-duration projects.
Large infrastructure projects, such as transit lines, can last four or five years. On these jobs, there should be milestone goals that support the overall completion objective.
For major transit projects, these might include:
These interim victories help sustain momentum and accountability over long project durations.
#6. Set goals regardless of how uncertain current circumstances are or seem to be.
On many jobs, people might say, “Well, we can’t set any goals because we just don’t know.”
Fine. Then establish clear, near-term goals that enable the team to change tactics and direction quickly while staying committed to the overall direction.
For example:
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Develop a clear project completion schedule that has the commitment of all team members no later than July 1
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Develop a contingency plan and schedule if federal funding is not secured no later than July 30
Uncertainty is not a reason to avoid goals. It is an opportunity to create clearer short-term commitments and team wins.
#7. Use the project goal-setting process to generate real trust.
The project goal-setting process is your best vehicle for generating real trust.
Dan Gilbert, Regional Director, Kaiser Permanente, NFS, said:
“There will always be some individuals on a project team who overestimate what can be done. Some are more cynical. You need to hear from both. It can be challenging but extremely valuable to get everyone open and honest. The interplay is the real value in building trust.”
I have seen goal-setting processes on some projects take half a day. Participants often say that this was the most valuable part of the partnering workshop.
#8. Confirm that you have a comprehensive set of goals.
When you think you have a list, ideally no more than six or seven goals, ask the team:
“When we realize all of these goals, can we say that the balance of this project will be an outstanding success and all stakeholders will win?”
If not, ask:
“What’s missing?”
Conclusion
Project goal setting can be your most effective means of getting your team in action toward a compelling project future. Goal setting, as opposed to problem solving, is a positive, forward-thinking activity that can engage all team members.
It creates shared purpose, encourages innovation, and gives stakeholders a reason to work together rather than retreat into blame and defensiveness.
