Communication
We foster good communication by respecting project stakeholders, focusing on opportunities to agree, and working hard to resolve differences of opinion with a win-win mindset.
Capturing and tracking project information is a key to successful communication. Our proven tools successfully gather and track owner/building requirements throughout the design and construction process, making critical information easily accessible and transparent to all project team members. Examples include:
Needs Assessment Database:
This Microsoft® Access-based tool captures, tracks, and links improvements, spatial attributes, and costs into a central database for new or existing spaces. Recorded comments can be linked per design option, discipline, or building. Information can be filtered to provide any type of report, from an executive summary to a full item-by-item cost breakdown by discipline.
Open Design Items Matrix:
During each meeting, we capture a progressive list of open design items and assign an owner and a date for resolution. After an item is resolved, it remains part of the matrix, and becomes a checklist item for subsequent review packages to ensure its inclusion into the design documents.
Multidisciplinary Team Spaces:
Our architects and engineers sit in team spaces organized by project. These design studio environments encourage informal, frequent dialogue among all project team members, and support seamless coordination between disciplines.
Wall Meetings:
Design teams hold weekly "wall meetings" in dedicated project pin-up spaces where all disciplines and client representatives share their week's work for information and review. Coordination issues are discussed within the group, resulting in highly coordinated design documents that minimize changes during construction and maximize project quality.