FACILITATING PARTNERING WORKSHOPS

Our Partnering Workshops for new build and refurbishment projects enable design teams, contractors and residents to work together to create a collaborative culture for continuous improvement and change.

In line with the Egan principles, the Partnering Workshops we run make it possible for integrated teams to explore issues, achieve mutually agreed goals and understand each other’s needs.

Given that it often takes longer to plan than to do, a couple of preliminary meetings are held with the design team to outline the project in a Mind Map and validate its content.

This second meeting prepares the ground for convening a Steering Committee that will include the design team, contractors, consultants and residents.

The Steering Committee discusses the overall partnering objectives, and what the Partnering Workshop needs to achieve?

Once the objectives are clear, the Committee fine tunes the focus of the workshop, decides who will attend, determines how issues and information will be recorded and how the event itself will be staged.

Steering Committee planning meetings often become mini Partnering Workshops because they cover many topics related to the content of the workshop, although these aren’t worked on as such. All matters discussed and agreed upon are again documented on visual Mind Maps.

These planning meetings ensure the Partnering Workshop runs smoothly and is completed in one afternoon, with the full participation of the design team, contractors, consultants, architects and residents.

This four stage process based on regular face-to-face contact helps break down the barriers for cross-organization understanding, stimulates the development of inclusive relationships, explores opportunities for further improvement, and offers an understanding of the roles and responsibilities needed to implement the project.