Partnering: Key Concepts and Strategies

Partnering

• A concept that establishes a working relationship among stakeholders through a mutually developed strategy of commitment and communication.
• Key elements include commitment, equity, trust, goal development, implementation, continuous evaluation and timely responsiveness.
• Commitment requires top management involvement and is symbolized through a jointly developed partnership charter.
• Equity involves considering interests of all stakeholders in achieving mutual goals, creating win-win relationships.
• Trust is built through open communication about risks, goals, and the development of personal relationships.
• Mutual goals should align with the interests of all parties involved, such as achieving value engineering savings, meeting financial goals, limiting review periods, ensuring safety, and eliminating litigation.
• Implementation requires developing strategies for achieving mutual goals and problem-solving mechanisms.
• Continuous evaluation focuses on periodic joint assessments based on agreed-upon goals, ensuring progress and shared responsibility.
• Timely responsiveness through communication and decision-making prevents issues from escalating into disputes.

Partnering Process

• Steps include educating the organization about partnering, making intentions clear, securing commitment from top management, conducting a partnering workshop, periodic evaluation, occasional issue escalation, and final evaluation and celebration.
• Educating the organization involves raising awareness and fostering understanding about partnering among internal stakeholders.
• Making intentions clear requires outlining the owner's commitment and the rationale for adopting a partnering approach, which might be mentioned in project advertisements.
• Commitment from top management is crucial, involving meetings with CEOs to discuss the partnering approach and designate partnering leaders.
• The partnering workshop brings together key players from all parties, including contractors, designers, subcontractors, owners, suppliers, vendors, and community representatives.
• The workshop aims to establish roles, define success, share experiences, and openly discuss risks.
• A facilitator guides the workshop agenda, provides training in conflict management and communication skills, and helps generate key outputs such as the partnering charter, issue resolution system, and joint evaluation system.

The Partnering Charter

• A document that outlines common project goals for all stakeholders.
• Represents a commitment to partnering and serves as a benchmark for evaluating process implementation.

Issue Resolution System

• Involves technical teams from various stakeholders to discuss potential problems and preferred handling methods.
• Establishes escalation procedures for unresolved issues.

Joint Evaluation System

• Periodic reviews and evaluations of the partnering process effectiveness by all participants.
• Evaluations include periodic written reports, meetings of key players, and executive level meetings.

Periodic Evaluation

• Ensures the sustainability of relationships and attitudes established during the workshop.
• Monitors project implementation progress against established goals.

Value Engineering

• A systematic approach to identify unnecessary costs and optimize project design, methods, and resources for maximum value.
• Involves a structured job plan with distinct phases: information gathering, speculation, analysis, development, presentation, implementation, and follow-up.

Information Phase

• Focuses on understanding the item being studied, its functions, and evaluating current design and costs.

Speculation Phase

• Involves brainstorming sessions to generate multiple alternatives for achieving the item's functions.

Analysis Phase

• Evaluates and critiques alternatives, analyzing worth/costs, and selecting those with the greatest potential for cost savings.

Development Phase

• Further evaluates surviving alternatives, documenting them into a Value Engineering (VE) proposal.

Presentation, Implementation, and Follow-Up Phases

• Involve presenting the VE proposal, securing implementation approval, translating ideas into actions, auditing results, preparing final assessment reports, making awards, and initiating new project ideas.