Framework officers facilitate the establishment of the joint vision for the project.
Joint vision means a shared set of values and processes. Values are beliefs about how to design, operate and maintain a facility.
Project partnering workshops are likely to be the best forum to establish the joint vision. Participants should include the project sponsor, client’s project delivery team, contractor’s team (including any appointed specialists), client’s consultants and the proposed facility management team (for example, head teacher and governor(s)). Ward councillors may have an interest in the start-up session.
It is timely to revisit some of the references from Rethinking Construction in Local Government that you looked at when deciding on and setting up the framework.
Project Strategy
Establish a strategy for each project and communicate this to all members of the team (Strategic issue 5). Previously you did this for the whole framework and you communicated this to bidders in the ITN, which included sections on your vision for the framework. And you asked for bidders’ proposals on how they would contribute to local sustainability and help you to achieve long-term aspirations. Now you need to drill deeper and translate these things into the PROJECT NEEDS AND OBJECTIVES.
Leadership
Appendix 6 contains a checklist for the role of the project sponsor, whose job it is to co-ordinate, communicate, monitor performance, monitor budgets and make reports.
Ten golden rules for establishing a partnering agreement (Appendix 1) suggests specific actions for the project sponsor:
- Spend plenty of time planning.
- Clarify what is important to you.
- Benchmark current performance.
- Ensure everybody is ready.
- Establish a project board.
- Compile robust evaluation models for selecting partners (roll this idea out to the supply chain).
- Establish mutual objectives with your partners.
- Hold partnering workshops regularly.
- Monitor and review progress.
- Learn from the process and above all else, enjoy it!
Business Case
Before selecting a contractor, you must have an approved business case for the project (Appendix 4). Share this with the contractor and other stakeholders in order to ensure the joint vision is aligned with the business case.
Innovation
Encourage innovation by involving all those who can contribute (Strategic issue 2). You will need to document the needs of all stakeholders in order to achieve a balanced vision.
Encourage new technology where it can make a big impact (Operational issue 4).
Whole-life Issues
The vision must pay attention to the long-term effectiveness of the facility (Operational issue 2).
Risk
How you apportion and manage risk affects the separate visions of the client and contractor. This should already be outlined in the framework agreement and must be clear under the project contract.
Share risks and rewards and provide incentives to achieve the project objectives (Operational issue 3). The risk matrix (Appendix 8) and the Illustrative reward strategy (Appendix 9) are good starting models.
Feedback from Operational Risk Analysis
Ensure you take account of learning from the Operational Risk Analysis from existing similar facilities when establishing the joint vision for a new one. This is a fundamental way to make continuous improvement from project to project.
Case Study
New deal for stakeholders in partnered schools shows how a Coventry City Council project earned top marks from head teachers for consultation with users. A key feature was the partnering workshops used to gain a clear vision of what was needed.
