The Garrison Report #2003-6

A Partnering Strategy

Last month’s report discussed the importance of building relationships through the use of a Strategic Goalã. As you remember, a Strategic Goalã is “a project outcome that is mutually agreed on and creates a win-win environment for all stakeholders.” However, I’m sure many of you are thinking, where do I find others who think this way? First you must understand that people and/or organizations don’t change after the marriage, so you must start by finding people who want to build relationships. This is important because it takes work. Below are a few of the traits necessary for sound relationships.

 

Committed partners: Start by finding people or organizations that are committed to partnering or at least are willing to give the process a 110 percent effort because unless they are committed, they will not put in the necessary effort. The payback is worth the effort, but the effort must come first. Don’t waste your time trying to convert people who are only out for themselves. Some people whoare not sure in the beginning might come along after they see the benefits that partnering produces for others, but give up on the self-serving. Life is too short. The commitment includes understanding that partnering is not a two-day seminar, but a philosophy and a way of life throughout the project for all stakeholders.

 

Seek similar core values: It’s essential for all partners to share similar core values. For example, if one partner wants to focus on delivering very high quality while the other wants to focus on how to do things cheaply, there will be nothing but friction and ultimate failure. It will be impossible to define an achievable Strategic Goalã without common values.

Trust: Without trust, there is no partnership. It is impossible to craft an agreement that covers every possible condition, so in the end, it boils down to trusting your partner to do the right thing. This is one of the biggest challenges facing partnering in the construction industry. The current mood is a lack of trust by the various stakeholders. But we must start reaching out instead of just waiting for others to reach out to us. We must be proactive.

A key ingredient of trust is keeping your word. Just as no one could put Humpty Dumpty back together again, once we don’t live up to our word, it is virtually impossible to put trust back together again.

 

Win-win: Seek partners who believe in win-win situations. We all have dealt with people who must come out ahead on every transaction; these players will never make good partners and should be avoided. Partnering includes paying or charging a fair price. It includes at least trying to help out partners when they make honest mistakes. While this might seem overly generous to the person in trouble, in the long run it will benefit both parties. There is no such thing as a free lunch, so if a subcontractor makes a bidding mistake, holding its feet to the fire doesn’t serve anyone’s best interest. It could also be said if the GC did its job correctly, it would have realized there was something wrong with the bid. So the GC made a mistake too. Partners cover each other’s backs. The philosophy that’s needed is “treat your partners as you would want to be treated.” It will produce more gold for everyone in the long run.

 

Communication: The key to a good relationship is the ability to listen to each other, and I mean truly listen. Good listening is about dialogue, the ability to suspend one’s own beliefs and seek a mutual understanding, instead of each person attempting to win over the other person to his or her point of view. Good communication is important to owners. In an article by Engineer News Record, owners identified good communication as a leading factor of successful projects. One important reason that good communication is so important is it builds trust.

 

Seek partners who understand what makes your business successful: It is shocking how many people believe contractors are making substantially more money than they are, and they believe they have plenty of room to hammer down fees. Also, the actions of one stakeholder can have a substantial effect on the profitability of the other stakeholders. For example, people who can’t make decisions in a timely manner delay the project and increase everyone’s costs. You must find people who understand the critical conditions that make projects run smoother or are at least willing to learn. Keep in mind if you are good partner, you owe the other stakeholders the same courtesy.

 

Cooperation: Partners must cooperate with each other. This sometimes means following the intent of the agreement, not necessarily the letter of the agreement. In other words, partners must work together for the mutual good of the project and all the partners. If even one partner has a selfish attitude, the partnership will fall apart.

 

Tolerance: Good partners have tolerance. They don’t have unrealistic expectations of the other partner’s performance. All partners will make mistakes, and this is especially true in construction. By definition, projects are unique and have never been built before, which means something new. No one is able do something new all the time without some margin for error. Obviously good contractors minimize their mistakes, but they do make them. There is nothing to be ashamed of about this; this is how we grow. It’s about trying new things. In fact, we should encourage some mistakes to promote growth.

 

Flexibility: Flexibility is another way of looking at the relationship among partners. Plans will constantly have to be modified to reach the Strategic Goalã. People can’t run around with a scorecard, worrying about doing more than their partners. I’m not talking about the person who attempts to avoid doing his or her share. When everyone is giving 100 percent, stop worrying about where the exact location of the line of responsibility is located. Also, if it is clear one partner must cross the line too far or for too long, then an adjustment should be made. In other words, resort to win-win!

 

Chemistry: The final bit of advice is that if you have done all of the above and it still doesn’t feel right with a particular person or organization, then don’t do it. If the chemistry is not there, don’t do it. If you are just not sure about a particular organization, then if possible, try working together on a smaller project as a test. But don’t enter into a complex project with a partner you don’t have the right chemistry with, or you will both regret it.

 

The above traits apply to all your relationships with all project stakeholders, which include the five major food groups: owner, GC/CM, subcontractors, design professionals and employees. In closing, if you seek out partners who fit the above criteria, you will begin to realize the full benefits of partnering. Keep in mind the words of Ed Rigsbee, author of Developing Strategic Alliances, “In developing your strategic alliances, you are only limited by the quality of your alliance relationship and your imagination.” Therefore, the key is finding the right partners. Happy hunting!


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