Are We Really Collaborating?

By David H. Wilde AIA, Aspen Group Director of Design, Sr. Architect

After reading the CKN article by Rex Miller, titled “Collaboration Without Context”, I couldn’t agree more with his thoughts on the issue of teams needing to form trust which then leads to collaboration. Collaboration isn’t co-laboring unless trust is present and is the foundation of our actions. In the design/construction market, trust with team partners (Owners, consultants, sub-contractors) is developed over time through a series of successes. 

When things go well, people want to work with you again. But one success doesn’t lead to instant trust.  In order for constant success,  project expectations, internal processes, and the scope of the projects (drawings and BIM models) need to be clear, organized, and well managed. Rex compared a construction project to “starting a mini company”, with a myriad of team members and players. So how do we even begin to keep large groups of people on the same page to create these successes?  The answer is two-fold: the people and the project. 

Managing both well go hand-in-hand and are critical for success and trust over time. We may have a well defined project, but without good people management it won’t get accomplished. Conversely, we may have all the right people, but with a disorganized and poorly defined project, we are bound to experience some level of failure on the project. Watch for future blogs on how we manage people issues and project issues.

Bottom-line, collaboration is simply a buzz word without the trust and experience that comes from tenured partnerships.

What partnerships have you developed in your ministry that have resulted in true collaboration? Share your story in the comments.