What It Takes...
March 09, 2010 Filed in: Creating Solutions
Last month at the annual Stadium Managers Association Seminar in Orlando I was privileged to moderate a panel comprised of four of the leading individuals in sports facility design and construction: Earl Santee and Scott Radicec of Populous, and John Wood and Ken Sorenson of Mortenson Construction. The title of the session was “Construction: The First Thing We Do, Let’s Kill All The Lawyers” (thank you Shakespeare) and, as the title implies, was directed at project-level strategies for avoiding serious disputes.
The two firms had recently collaborated in building a new ballpark for the MLB’s Minnesota Twins (Target Field) and a Div. 1 football facility for the Minnesota Gophers (TCF Bank Stadium). Although both buildings experienced issues, they were great examples of how to overcome them within the project team. The panelists agreed upon a number of factors that were behind these successful projects, but the four most prominent were:
Of these four, field level solutions was deemed by far the most crucial to the avoidance of serious disputes and the delivery of successful and less stressful projects. It follows that implementing the means to that end results in a high return on investment, both quantitatively and qualitatively.
The two firms had recently collaborated in building a new ballpark for the MLB’s Minnesota Twins (Target Field) and a Div. 1 football facility for the Minnesota Gophers (TCF Bank Stadium). Although both buildings experienced issues, they were great examples of how to overcome them within the project team. The panelists agreed upon a number of factors that were behind these successful projects, but the four most prominent were:
- Resolution of issues at the lowest levels.
- Early collaboration sessions.
- Frequent communication, especially among principals for all parties.
- Timely change management.
Of these four, field level solutions was deemed by far the most crucial to the avoidance of serious disputes and the delivery of successful and less stressful projects. It follows that implementing the means to that end results in a high return on investment, both quantitatively and qualitatively.