Listed below in order of priority are four barriers that can stop you from successfully partnering a project.
Barrier #1: Lack of commitment to, or believe in, the process and concept of partnering. This lack of commitment can range from seeing partnering as a waste of time to blatant hostility to partnering because of a belief that it gives someone else an advantage.
Barrier #2: Not bringing key stakeholders to the partnering sessions. Key stakeholders include anyone who can negatively effect the project. Often only the project management team members are invited to partnering sessions. Bring in senior management, field crew supervisors (i.e. foremen, superintendents, inspectors, etc.), subcontractors, designers and third parties such as utilities, cities, suppliers, etc.
Barrier #3: Lack of the skills required to effectively partner, in particular the stakeholders’ lack of ability to negotiate good agreements on their own after the partnering session and throughout the course of the project. As a result, the partnership breaks down as soon as there is a disagreement, a conflict, or when one party fears they are being taken advantage of. Everyone goes to their corner and comes out fighting.
Barrier #4: Lack of accountability makes the partnering session an “event” instead of setting norms that will be used for doing business on the project. If no one is responsible or held accountable for making the partnering successful (which in turn makes the project successful), then it is not likely the partnering will be successful. At the first sign of conflict the partnership will go out the door. Safety became a part of the job site culture when bonuses and reputations were tied to preventing accidents. The same is true with partnering – what gets measured and rewarded gets done.
Evaluate the potential for a successful partnering by looking at these four barriers. Determine to what extent each is present on your project. The Construction Industry Institute says we have not yet tapped the full potential of what partnering can offer our projects in terms of cost, schedule, innovation and job satisfaction. Get these four barriers out of the way to reach that potential.