Services:

Partnering for Success

COMPONENTS OF THE PFS PROCESS

I. The Development of A Core Team

A core team is comprised of a group of 6-10 people who represent the key stakeholder groups involved in the day to day running of the project (i.e. Owner, contractor, design group, key sub-contractors, etc.).

The role of a core team is to:

• Insure decisions are made on the basis of what is best for the overall project.
• Demonstrate partnering in dealings with one another.
• Identify issues and opportunities that can impact a successful project.
• Keep the people informed about project progress.
• Insure people in leadership roles are living up to the spirit of partnering.

The initial team development can be done in two 3 hour sessions.

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II. The Initial Partnering Session

The purpose of a formal partnering session is to bring those with responsibilities for day to day operations together with those with oversight responsibilities to:

• Establish (or review) goals in key areas.
• Review project progress.
• Identify and develop plans to address current and prospective issues.
• Set expectations and ground rules for working together.

In order to have a successful partnering session the Partnering For Success process provides help and assistance to guide the core team through the following steps.

1. Pre-session Work

* Pre-session communication. Approximately 4-6 weeks before a schedule session take place an invitation email is sent out by the core team to let participants know:

• What the purpose of the session is
• Logistics (when/where)
• The use of confidential interviews

* Interviews. In order to determine what’s working well and what needs attention a series of 30 minute, confidential interviews are conducted with a representative sample of attendees. The results of the interviews will be used to help develop the session agenda.

2. Session Design Work
Results Oriented Consulting works with the core team to:

• Develop ‘outcome goals’ for the session. Outcome goals are used to determine the session agenda.
• Design the session with core team input.
• Develop handout materials
• Provide a ‘punch list’ of items needed for the session (i.e. flip charts, markers, name tags, etc.).

3. Session Facilitation.
During the partnering session Results Oriented Consulting will:

• Provide direction and assistance to keep participants engaged.
• Keep session focused & on schedule.
• Make adjustments to the session agenda activities as needed.
• Insure the session ends with action items and a clear path forward.

4. Post session follow-up interviews

About 3-4 weeks following the session a cross-section of participants are interviewed. The results of the interviews are shared with the project core team and the information used to develop action steps as needed.

It is recommended that the initial partnering session be done in one day. Subsequent sessions can be either a one day or ½ day session depending upon the needs of the group.

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III. Monthly Core Team Meetings.
The core team meets once a month for the first 6 to 9 months of the project. Each meeting is about 3 hours long with an agenda set in advance of the meeting. ROC provides a tools and structured process before, during and after a core team meeting. Specific tasks include:

• Developing the meeting agenda with input from the project manager and DOT.
• Communicating the agenda to team members 5 days prior to the meeting.
• Facilitating the meetings.
• Sending team members the meeting notes.
• Holding a follow-up call with the PM and DOT.

It is recommended that twice a year the core team hold an “extended team” meeting. This meeting includes people in day to day operations and oversight roles. The purposes for having extended team meetings are:

• Getting a more comprehensive picture of how things are going from a variety of perspectives ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ of the project.
• Extend the commitment to instilling “a partnering attitude” in the field beyond the core team.
• Assembling a group of key influencers who can take immediate action as needed.

Extended teams meet for 3.5 hours. Meetings are run like a ‘mini partnering session’ in that people come prepared with information about what is working / not working and the focus is upon recognizing accomplishments and developing plans for sustaining or improving performance.

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IV. A Project Progress Evaluation – Survey/Interviews

A project progress evaluation enables a core team to identify what’s working and not working from the point of view of people with very different roles on the project (i.e. Owner, Contractor, Sub-contractor, Designer, etc.).

Results Oriented Consulting’s role regarding the survey/interview process is to:

• Provide the survey instrument (input from the core team).
• Help core team determine who is to be surveyed / interviewed.
• Provide a draft of a pre-survey / interview communication email.
• Collect and analyze the survey data / conduct interviews.
• Provide summary of findings and recommendations to core team

Once the results are in Results Oriented Consulting assists the core team in:

• Understanding the results.
• Developing action steps for improvement.
• Developing a communication summary for distribution to appropriate individuals.
• Monitor progress on actions steps.

For further information, please contact me.

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