Frequently Asked Questions
What is partnering?
A process where everyone involved in the construction project agrees to treat everyone else as a partner. It’s based on the premise that working together creates success. Benchmarks for success in both of these cases an outside facilitator is brought in to facilitate a formal partnering workshop with the purpose of aligning the team around common project goals for the project and developing a process to work through disputes when they arise.
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What makes Ventura Consulting Group different than other facilitators?
First, we only work with clients where there is a commitment from senior leadership to produce world class project results with a world class project team. And we have the proprietary Good to World Class™ workshop process. Most of our clients have been through some form of teambuilding, and if they work hard and long they have the potential of producing a good project without a formal partnering workshop. We enable teams go beyond just good and to produce world class results without working harder, longer or more expensively. Second, we are project specific. We spend time before the workshop to understand the unique challenges and opportunities of each project, and then design the workshop to produce measurable results. Third, we focus on ‘winning the game,’ not just reacting to problems. Effectively working through challenges and issues is important, but alone is not enough to produce extraordinary project results. By developing a powerful offensive game plan along with a strong defensive game plan the team can exploit opportunities and proactively deal with issues that could affect the success of their projects. Fourth, we do not play games, do psychological testing or lecture. While there can be value to these activities, we have found that the touch-feely stuff doesn’t make a lot of difference when the team hits their first dispute. Fifth, we have they only guarantee in the industry. If at the end of a workshop the principals agree we did not produce a measurable breakthrough in predictable project results we will forego our entire professional fee.
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So are you a project manager or construction manager?
Neither. Our role is facilitative. We don’t tell you what do to or how to do it. Most teams are resentful of being ‘sold’ a bunch of ideas from an outside consultant. Instead we challenge the team to develop their own definition of success for their project and set clear, specific and measurable goals around it. We then facilitate specific action plans backed up with individual commitments to actions that will enable the team to produce world class results as a team.
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Can’t we facilitate our own partnering workshop ourselves?
Yes, you can. But most of our clients tell us they find it hard, if not impossible to effectively facilitate and participate at the same time. Another challenge arises when the facilitator from one party calls for accountability and specific actions from the rest of the team and the other stakeholders feel the facilitator is unfair or biased. A neutral, third party facilitator allows all the parties to fully participate and is able to elicit requests for action and push objectively for accountability. Consider the cost of ‘tennis’ on a large submittal package or RFI’s. What about the cost of unresolved change orders or actual claims? A good facilitator can help teams avoid these and most of our projects realize measurable value by expediting their schedules and producing a high quality product the first time. Would you go to your family doctor to do brain surgery (or do it yourself) or would you go to a specialist trained and experienced in brain surgery?
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Are you one of those touchy-feely team builder types?
No. We don’t play games, do psychological stuff or give lectures on the importance of teamwork. Instead, we drive the team into the details of the project, identify the issues and opportunities then challenge them to make individual commitments to each other for action that will enable them to produce a world class project. Measurable results matter!
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The last few times we did formal partnering with another facilitator it seemed like a waste of time. How is your process different?
Not all partnering facilitators are the same. Most do some form of teambuilding exercises and work to help the team know the principles of teamwork and communication. There is some value of this, but with today’s busy schedules most of our clients don’t have the time or the patience to play games and take personality tests when there are millions of dollars at stake on a project. They have specific concerns and challenges. Our partnering workshops are project specific and address those issues directly. If you don’t have a clear vision about what you as a team are going to build and an action plan backed up by personal commitments then you are not going achieve a breakthrough in predictable project results. And at the end of the day, results matter!
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This project is relatively simple and straightforward. Would partnering really add that much value?
Yes, but it does require a commitment for the team to produce something above and beyond just ‘business as usual.’ Rarely do teams identify what would make their project enormously successful and then agree on how to work together to achieve that level of success. If the team, especially senior leadership, just wants to do the project per plans and specs, then don’t bother with a formal partnering process; do something informally. A ‘Good to World Class™’ Partnering process acknowledges, but is not limited by contractual and legal obligations and enables the team to make a simple and straightforward project truly great.
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Last time we worked with this GC/Owner/CM/Architect/etc. things went well. Why should we consider formal partnering on this one?
Most of the teams we work with have worked together in the past and have a good shot at a good project without doing any formal partnering. The reason they bring us in to facilitate a formal partnering process on their project is because they want to produce world class project results, not just good results. The opportunity is take advantage of the history and relationships you have with the rest of the team and use that as a foundation to build on to achieve extraordinary project results. The partnering workshop will look at specific ways to expedite schedules, increase quality, control budget, improve safety, limit third party impacts, etc.
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I heard partnering only lasts until the first dispute?
Unfortunately this is often the case when there is not a mutual commitment from the team to achieve a clearly defined measure of success, (i.e., Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals). Teams that are not working together towards the same goals will often retreat to their respective corners at the first conflict and get ready for a fight. Our clients are successful in not only resolving disputes, but also producing better results because of the issue(s). One of the most important ingredients for this to happen is the commitment and involvement of senior leadership in the partnering process. Disputes happened. It is how the team handles them that determines their success.
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Last time we worked with this GC/Owner/CM/Architect/etc. things were terrible. Should we even bother with a formal partnering on this project?
It depends. There are some individuals and organizations that will not work on the basic principles of a partnering relationship: trust, open and honest communication and teamwork towards a common goal. If this is the case then doing formal partnering process will be a waste of time and money. We have found that given the opportunity to change the way things went last time 85%+ of individuals and organizations are open to doing things differently if there is a common commitment from the other team members. Partnering can align all the stakeholders around a common definition of success and then have them work together to develop the specific way they are going to work together to make this project successful. Trust is built over time by fulfilling individual commitments. This is one reason we push so hard for individual accountability for specific actions.
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Our new ‘partner’ has a bad reputation. Can formal partnering help?
Yes, as long as there is commitment from senior leadership of all the stakeholders to produce a successful project. When teams realize that they need each other to achieve a world class project then you have the basis for common goals, open communication and teamwork. Partnering does not relax anyone’s contractual obligations, nor does it mean that anyone should be taken advantage of in the name of partnering. It does mean that the expectations of the team are clearly understood and the team is working together specifically to produce better results.
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The last project we had was a bad project and we did formal partnering. Why should we consider doing formal partnering again?
Each project is different and each project team is unique. The team needs to determine if there is a mutual commitment to produce project results that would equate to a world class project. If so, then there is the opportunity to achieve different results on this project. Partnering does not work when there are individuals or an organization that is not committed to the principles of partnering, or when times get tough they teams head to their corners and get ready for a fight. Formal partnering enables teams to resolve issues together and work together to achieve a better project.
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What makes a project successful?
The key to success beyond common project goals is the commitment and involvement of senior leadership. Their ability to set the tone for the project and step in and make decisions in order to keep things moving is vital for project success. The team’s ability to be flexible and proactively plan for and adjust to the changing dynamics of a project together is also critical for great results. Project teams that own their results and drive the project forward through constant planning and quick decision-making will always out perform teams that are reactive and slow to adapt.
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How long are the partnering workshops?
It depends on the size, scope and complexity of the project. We can achieve great results within a one-day initial workshop.
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With our busy schedules taking a whole day seems like over kill. Can’t we go through the partnering workshop in less time?
Yes, you can. But the question you have to ask is what type of results do you want to achieve? If your goal is to produce a world class project, then that takes time. Every time we have shortened a workshop to accommodate a team’s schedule, the common response is “We needed more time. We should have taken the full day.”
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Who pays for a partnering workshop?
The majority of our clients split the cost 50/50 between the owner and GC. We have some owners, contractors, CM firms and architects that see such value in the partnering process that they will pay the whole cost to ensure the team will participate. We encourage cost sharing because it gives the players a stake in the process.
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Where should we hold the workshop?
We recommend the first workshop be held at the neutral location to avoid any ‘home court’ advantage to the stakeholders. By having the workshop offsite it also encourages more participation and keeps participants from slipping back to their offices or running out to the field. While we encourage offsite workshops, the review workshops can be held in the jobsite trailers or in one of the team’s offices.
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Who needs to attend a partnering workshop?
Anyone that will directly affect the successful completion of the project needs to attend: design teams and their sub-consultants; the general contractor down to the superintendent level and all their key subcontractors; the owner, end-users, permitting agencies, and anyone else that is involved with making decisions that impact the project. Bringing the right people that are authorized to make decisions enables the team to make individual commitments to each other on how they will work together to produce their common definition of project success.
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How should we prepare for the partnering workshop?
First, make sure the right people that can make decisions for their organization attend the workshop. They should know their role and their legal and contractual obligations. It is not imperative that the team knows every detail of the design and drawings, but they should know the issues and opportunities of the project, as we will get into the specifics of these.
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What do we receive after the workshop?
The key stakeholders will receive a copy of the notes from the workshop to distribute to the team. The notes list the measurable project goals created by the team, the action plans and the personal commitments and accountabilities for each action to achieve the goals. The notes also spell out how the team will handle disputes and obstacles and the process they will take to get resolution. Along with the notes the team will receive a copy of the partnership charter and the sign-in sheet from the workshop.
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Do you have a process to follow-up after the initial partnering workshop?
Yes. It is important to dynamically steer the project. Top sport teams review their offensive and defensive game plans and adapt them throughout the season. Quarterly partnering review workshops enable the team to review and reset their goals, fix what’s not working, add what’s missing, acknowledge success and introduce new team players to the partnering process. Holding the Ω day partnering review workshops every 45 to 90 days enables the team to make progress, but not get too far off track where it will take major effort to get the team or project back on course. We also offer monthly online partnering surveys for a nominal fee that are sent to the team on the months they are not having a review workshop. The surveys measure the team’s goals, the key processes to achieve the goals, their teamwork and measures progress over time. It gives the managers an objective snapshot in time of what is working and not working on the project and becomes an objective project management tool.
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What are partnering review workshops?
Partnering review workshops are held quarterly and are a proactive method to ensure the team is on track to achieve their project goals. The workshops introduce new players to the partnership team, review the validity of their goals, distill lesson learned, celebrate what is working and spend time fixing what is not working. These workshops are very project specific and get into the details of how the project team is functioning and what it will take to move forward over the next 90+ days to get them closer to their team goals. Most clients tell us that they get even more value from the review workshops than from the initial partnering workshop.
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How do we get the most value from our surveys?
The surveys are a snapshot in time of how the team thinks they are doing and how the project is progressing. Often perception becomes reality. And perceptions are not always correct. Survey results enable the management team to address project progress objectively, giving them a tool to raise issues. The team can then focus on addressing what is not working or can align the team’s perception of project progress. Over time the surveys graph downward or upward progression of key processes and the team’s ability to achieve their goals. By using the surveys in their meetings, the management team can dynamically steer the project team towards their goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
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