Building projects are becoming increasingly complex and fast paced and funding is becoming more and more limited. In this climate collaboration among project teams is being increasingly expected. Integrated Project Delivery is one example of attempting true collaboration among team members such as engineers, contractors and architects. While this term describes a specific project organization, it could also be viewed as a general description of an improved collaborative process. However, collaboration does not always come naturally. Builders, engineers, architects and owners are trained very differently and with diverging priorities. Our training occurs within a vacuum of our own discipline and insulates us from other disciplines.
How can we change this? In addition to targeted communication of expectations and values, it is even more important to establish a dialogue at the earliest stages of training, in schools, colleges and universities. This does not mean that education today is not valuable. On the contrary, time in school it allows for more exploration which becomes limited in the professional environment. Similarly, the ability to experiment with communication becomes more limited. Stakes are high: liability, schedule, and profit enter into the equation. We can’t afford to show weakness and veer from immediate project objectives. In an educational environment mistakes are less impactful. The liberty to fail without as much repercussions allows for less cautious and protective behavior and encourages more openness to other ideas.
In a recent project a design studio I teach at MIT I collaborated with a colleague, Paul Kassabian in the Civil Engineering Department. We asked our students, second year undergraduate architecture majors and graduate structural engineering students, to collaborate on a pedestrian bridge project. The two-week project was clearly a challenge for all participants, and required quite a bit of adjustment to students priorities. In the end, the projects were more successful and creative as a result of the collaboration. Communication hurdles early in the project created a basis for a frank dialogue and resulted in a wider exploration of possibilities. In light of this experience and the insights students have gained, it would be interesting to assess the impact of even this small two week project on students’ ability to improve collaborative skills in a professional environment. It is an opportunity we can’t miss, because professionally we can not afford to fail.
Angela Watson, AIA, LEED AP
Allan Says:
Better teams do not lead only to better outcomes, they also lead to better problem solving and greater innovation. When each team constituent is properly engaged, s/he is more willing and more able to come up with new ideas.
In the design profession, idea creation is currency.
Diversity in thought, therefore, is key.