What makes companies better, more competitive and more successful than others? Organizational consultant Simon Sinek believes that it is because those businesses execute their why. A why is more than a profit, which is just a result. An organization’s why is bigger; it is a purpose, a cause and a belief. In other words, Sinek asks, “Why does your organization exist? And why should anyone care?”
People don’t buy what businesses do; they buy why businesses do it. Research indicates that the responsibility for making sure the why is driving the project lies on the shoulders of business leadership.
However, in the midst of tracking costs, executing contracts, answering RFI’s and approving submittals, it’s not a surprise that construction executives tend to put their why in the background—or even forget it altogether. When businesses forget their why, leaders are in danger of making wrong decisions. Most wrong decisions are made because of a lack of information, leading to bad assumptions. Having correct, up-to-date information that can be communicated to all stakeholders involved is the way to make sure a company’s why is not lost in the workflow.
Integrated project delivery
Integrated project delivery is a model that connects all project teams to take advantage of all information by putting everything in one place from the beginning. Therefore, owners, architects and general contractors begin and continue to be on the same page. The integrated project delivery approach is very different from more traditional delivery methods such as design-build or design-bid-build, which breaks up projects and silos information. Effective integrated project delivery leads to high team collaboration and successful outcomes. Increased efficiencies, on-time production and higher revenues are results of this model.
While integrated project delivery has proven to be the best way to implement projects, it is not simple. For instance, to successfully execute integrated project delivery, businesses must be willing to let go of traditional roles. Further, if even one stakeholder does not engage in the process, it will upset balance of the whole team. Strong executive and leadership involvement is required to make sure all aspects of the project are integrated. Alignment of goals, or the projects’ why, can only occur with a focus on communication and sharing. The challenge is how to keep track of everything, in real time, and make sure everyone is aware. This process-rich and detail-oriented approach may be optimal, but how can it best be executed?
What if there was an existing technology that a construction executive could trust to help make critical business decisions with their why in mind? The best way to execute integrated project delivery is through a single database platform that allows planning and managing all financials, resources and content. All of the data is one place. With the addition of a collaboration portal, businesses have a way to instantly make sure that everyone involved is consuming and using the same data set and formats. Gone are the days when a person must reconcile multiple data sets to guarantee data integrity. The technology takes over these reconciliation tasks, allowing resources to be freed for strategic engagements where their time will be recovered.
As an addition to a single database platform, the system of record, data exchanges allow for interpolation with other technologies. A data exchange cloud provides and consumes shared data to and from your system of record. A carefully constructed data exchange cloud provides data security through containerization of data on the cloud, guaranteeing surety and scalability.
This technology provides the path forward for construction executives to find a way to meet their purpose and increase revenue without increasing costs. It also allows executives and their teams to employ earned value management and the ability to measure project performance and progress. Executives are able to forecast possible problems and impediments within their larger objectives.
It is not always easy to make sure a company’s purpose, values and beliefs are carried out through their projects. While results may be met, the outcome of a purpose-driven project is one that is superlative in its returns of profit and revenue, while also achieving impact.
In the past, it’s been difficult to engage in integrative project delivery, but with technology, it is a simple matter of construction executives choosing to lead with the correct technology. With this blueprint of a single-database platform, data exchanges and security, the ability to scale a company’s why is infinite.
