Michael Bernard | Nuts & Bolts
Begin with Intention
Effective project execution is associated with successful achievement of design intent, high-quality construction, profitability and efficiency. Effective management indeed rests in part with a project manager’s ability to deliver a quality project on time and within the approved fee. But profitability and efficiency of design and production are not the only markers of successful project completion.
Successful project delivery relies on the manager’s understanding of the constraints and goals of the project, both those of the firm and those of the client. At project kick-off, identify and confirm priorities. These might include design goals, fee and / or schedule constraints. As the project progresses, reconfirm whether these are being met or if their importance has changed, at the end of a phase or beginning of the next one.
We must understand the importance of clarity of intent with respect to project goals. The team benefits when this information is clearly communicated to the project team: upward, downward and laterally.
Look Outside
Architecture is largely an introspective endeavor. As designers and architects, we often place our focus on the details, looking inward at the fine grain of a project. We benefit if we develop the practice of looking outward, with the intention of gaining a better understanding both of the context of the project in the office – and of our clients and their needs. We can stretch beyond our zone of comfort, expressing our project objectives in jargon-free language. To address the need for clarity and brevity in a high-speed design and construction environment, I propose that “Every Project Has Four Corners”.
Let’s start by identifying the four corners of every project:
- The Scope of Work
- The Project Schedule
- Design Budget (expressed in either fee or hours)
- Estimated Cost of Construction
These are useful points of orientation.
1 The Scope of Work
Clarity of intent fosters trust and encourages a constructive client-architect relationship.
A concise and clear scope of work is a fundamental reference tool and is a useful way to communicate to your client your understanding of the goals and constraints of the project. Clarity of intent fosters trust and encourages a constructive client-architect relationship.
Clearly identify the steps by which you will address the client’s challenges through design, production and construction. For example:
- What are the shared design goals between architect and client?
- What are the project goals established by the firm and the team?
- Is the project constrained by a cumbersome approval process?
- Is the project subject to an aggressive schedule?
- Is the client’s schedule “in sync” with the approvals timeline / schedule?
Three Buckets
When developing the scope of work, break phases down into comprehensible elements and assign them to one of three “buckets”:
- Tasks (for example: design work, production, detailing, coordination, material selection)
- Meetings (develop a “unit cost” for meetings: consider the number of meetings needed in each phase, their likely duration, number of attendees, travel time, etc.)
- Project administration (plotting, distribution of meeting notes, unbilled project support)
At beginning of a new phase, review the goals of the previous phase as well as those for the one on which you are about to embark. Review these points with your client and your project team. Make sure all parties are on the same page. Did you accomplish the goals set for that phase? What has to be carried forward into the new phase?
Phase-end sign-off
Signoffs help to identify and capture “scope creep” and helps to manage changes to the work.
One way to confirm that architect and client are in alignment is to conclude each project phase by asking for the client’s signed acknowledgement that the work is compliant with project goals. Set the client’s expectation at the beginning of the project that a sign-off at the end of each phase is a condition of moving forward with subsequent phases. Signoffs help to identify and capture “scope creep” and helps to manage changes to the work.
At phase-end sign-off:
- Is the client up to date with payment for services in this phase?
- Can we bill 100% for the phase just completed?
- Are our documents consistent with client (and our) expectations?
- Have we identified issues to be deferred to the next phase?
- Has the scope of work changed (grown or shrunk), such that we should request fee for additional services to realign the project?
Never do extra work before requesting fee for additional services from the client. Doing work in advance of getting authorization diminishes your ability to effectively negotiate for extra fee.
2 The Project Schedule
Of all of the tools that define a project, perhaps the project schedule is the hardest to nail down. Strategic tracking and coordination of tasks and milestones results in a comprehensible work plan for all to share. However, given the number of parties on a project, the schedule is often an elusive design project in itself.
Often, clients are not aware of the detail or idiosyncrasies of the approvals process.Work with your clients to identify and confirm key schedule milestones in each phase of the project. Coordinate the client’s milestones and those of the design team. Guide clients through their own process. Work collaboratively with the client to tailor your eventual work product to their expectations.
A simple strategy is to work backwards from the assumed completion date for each phase. Determine how much can realistically be accomplished in the allotted time.
Share the draft schedule with your project team and solicit their input. Review it regularly and decide how frequently to share it. If your project schedule is shared too frequently, it may cause more confusion than clarity among your team members. Consider issuing the schedule to coincide with key project milestone activities, such as at the end of a phase end or when the most current cost estimate is released.
Where the focus is on obtaining approvals, carefully coordinate the schedule with required deliverables. Identify all potential conflicts and work with the client early on so that they clearly understand what will be delivered. Keep the consultant team in the loop, so that they are in sync with what deliverable is to be submitted by what date.
Where the focus is on documentation for pricing, coordinate the effort required in each phase so that it meshes with the magnitude of the design contingency (if there is one). In fact, “bake in” a design contingency if you can. If you have a cost estimator or general contractor on board, work with them to make this happen.
You might decide strategically to defer project tasks or elements to the next design phase. Make it clear to the client and the builder or cost estimator in advance of the end of a phase that some areas will be deferred and developed in subsequent phases. Doing so helps to preserve the design contingency so you can cover development of project elements later on.
3 Design Budget
“Am I drawing what must be drawn within the budget assigned to me? Or am I drawing what I want to draw, which can put the budget at risk?”
Manage the design budget (expressed in terms of hours and / or fee) with intention. Communicate your expectations on how the budget is to be allocated to the project team before work begins. For junior staff, communicate the budget as the number of hours they are assigned for tasks in the current phase. If senior staff is responsible for project profitability, they should be thinking of the budget both in terms of fee and hours. An important way to set priorities about what is to be drawn, is to ask, “Am I drawing what must be drawn within the budget assigned to me? Or am I drawing what I want to draw, which can put the budget at risk?”
4 Estimated Cost of Construction
This “corner” may not come into play at the very beginning of a project, but its importance increases as the project develops. If the construction value is unknown at project start, establish a conceptual figure as a placeholder and reference point. Base it on precedent projects of similar scale and complexity.
How to use the Four Corners
The goal is to keep all Four Corners of the “Project Square” at right angles. So, imagine if the scope of work increases. The four corners no longer form a square. To regain the square, how must the other three corners be modified? Does schedule have to increase or decrease? Do we have to increase our fee by asking for additional services? Has the construction cost changed? Identify what has to move in order to regain four right-angled corners.
Concluding Points
Of course, projects have more than four corners. The idea here is to reduce the moving parts to a few memorable, high-priority elements that can be easily tracked and refined. Further, these are easily communicated to other members of the project team, including the client, the design team and the builder. Consider viewing your projects in the context of the Four Corners – and make the task of tracking project changes easier and more comprehensible to the client, the contractor, and the larger project team.
