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1.0 Why

2.0 When

3.0 How ConditionsofSatisfaction

DesignVision

TeamStucture

TeamCulture

References/Sources

Team Forming Team Initiation(Kick Off)

“COMINGTOGETHERISA

BEGINNING.

KEEPINGTOGETHERIS

PROGRESS.

WORKINGTOGETHERIS

SUCCESS.”| Henry Ford |

A collaborative presentation from over a dozen experienced Lean IPD practitioners.

© 2015 Lean Construction Institute

TEAMFORMING,TEAMINITIATION | 2

1.0 Why

While Lean/IPDprojects always beginwith a collabo-rative teamselectionprocess (Partner Selection), thememberfirmsandindividualsinvolvedareoftenunfa-miliarwitheachother.Lean/IPDprojectsbenefitfromafocusedeffortonteambuilding,dynamics,roledefi-nition,andvision-castingactivitieswhicharerepeatedwheneveranewteamisformed,newparticipantsenterteams,andwhenever therearesignificantchanges inteamoperations.

Lean/IPDprojectsaremanagedbyandemployvariouskinds of project teams – some permanent and sometemporary–asaregularpartoftheiroperations.EachLean/IPDprojectteamissetupforaspecificpurpose,mayhave a specific assignment, andwill be asked todeliverspecificresults.Teamsareassembledfromproj-ect participants who may have not worked togetherpreviously. Sometimespeoplenotpreviously involvedinaLean/IPDprocessmaybeincludedintheseteams.

Memberfirms typically comewithhistoricalmanage-ment infrastructureand tools for scheduling,estimat-ing, and finance/accounting. Left unexamined, theseseparate systems may have redundancies, gaps, orevenbeatoddswiththeproject’s integrateddeliveryobjectives.Tools,reportingmechanisms,andresourcedeployment must be examined, taken apart firm byfirm, and put back together in service of the projectobjectives.

TheLean/IPDprocess,thewaypeopleworkintheproj-ects,thebehaviorsthatareexpected,andtheculturalstyles that characterize the projects are new tomostbuilding industry participants. These processes repre-sentasignificantparadigmshiftfromthepastexperi-enceofmost.Forexample,allteammembersareaskedtoprovideinputwhentheypreviouslymightnothavehadtheauthority tospeak.Teammembersareaskedto listento ideas,processes,means,andmethods.Allparticipantsarechallengedtodriveresultsthatwouldpreviously been considered extremely difficult orimpossible.

Project teamformation is important inunderstandingtheboundariesof theprojectand ismorethanatra-ditionalprojectKick-Off.WithLean/IPDprojects,teamformationdoesnothappeninasingleeventormeeting;it is developedandevolvesovertime. Therearealsomultiplepurposestothis teaminitiation:determiningdesign parameters, establishing team behaviors andstructure, and developing Conditions of Satisfaction (CoS) metrics that monitor and measure the team’ssuccess.

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TEAMFORMING,TEAMINITIATION | 3

The relationships, operating system, and commercial terms of aLean/IPDprojectdiffersignificantlydifferentfromtraditionalproj-ectdelivery.Itiscriticaltoinformparticipantsofthenewbehaviors,tools,andtransformationalchangerequiredtobesuccessfulinthiseffort.Whilenoindividualconceptiscomplicatedtograsp,changeisdifficult–particularlywhenitaffectsbehaviors,relationshipsandpreviouslysuccessfulindividuals.KickOffmeetingswillsetthestagefornewlearning.

Successfulteamshavelearnedthatthesoonerallnewteammem-berslearnaboutnewbehaviors,thebettertheoutcomes.Itisquiteeasyfortheoriginalmemberstoforgetthattheyhaveadoptednewbehaviors; theoriginalmembersmayexpectnewteammemberstoautomaticallyhavethisnewknowledge.Itisthereforecrucialforteams to continue this learning for all newmembers as they areon-boarded.

Initial Kick-Off discussion topics should include Conditions of Satisfaction, design vision, teamstructureand teamculture. It ishelpfulforthecoreprojectleadershiptowritedraftor“strawman”conceptsaheadof theKick-Off,which thebroader teamcaneditandimprove.Itisusefulforteamstobreakoutintosmallerworkgroupstoadvancetheseconcepts,thenreportbacktothebroaderteamabout developing objectives, actionplans, identifying road-blocksorneeds,etc.Thistransfersownershiptothebroaderteam,advances the initiative and encourages collaboration and trustbuilding in a learn-by-doing atmosphere. Teams should focus ontheir teamdevelopment andbroader concepts of success beforedivingintoprojectdetails.

3.0 How

2.0 WhenTheteamKick-Offisheldbeforeanyprojectdeliverablesarecom-pleted and should involve all current project teammembers. Asteammembersareadded,theyneedtobeOn-boarded.On-board-ingallowsnewteammemberstounderstandandrespondtocur-rentteamstructureandCoS.Italsoalignsnewteammemberswiththeprojectcultureandcurrentteammembers.

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TEAMFORMING,TEAMINITIATION | 4

The followingkeypointsmaynotbeaddressed fully intheinitialday(s)thataprojectteamforms,butadiscus-sionandplanfordevelopingthemshouldbepartoftheteam-formingmeeting.

Conditions of SatisfactionDevelopconditionsthatwill leaveallparticipantssatis-fiedwiththeoutcomeof theproject.Theseconditionsusuallyincludecost,schedule,community,environment,businessobjectives,relationship,andprofit-basedgoals.

DesignVision• Define design parameters in terms of quality and

aestheticdirection.• Identifykeydriverstothedesign-whatareelements

customercan/cannotlivewithout.• Identifywhatvalueistotheultimateendcustomer.• Determinewhomakesaestheticdecisionsandwhen

theywillbemade.

TeamStructure• Definerolesandresponsibilitiesofteammembers.• Defineanyhierarchywithintheteam.• Definedecision-makingstructure.• Developanon-boardingprocess for future integra-

tionofteammembers.• DevelopaneffectiveBig Room.• DevelopaTarget Value Design Plan.• A3log-Innovation(TVD)ideas.• Identifyrisks/opportunities.• Identifycollaborationtoolstobeused-methods.• DevelopaBIMPlan,earlydiscussion,butattheright

timewiththerightteammembers.

TeamCulture-• KeyPrinciples

• Transparency• Trust• AligningMinds• Don’tDesignAlone

• Developalearningwithaction/continuouslearningprocess.

• Norms,rituals,taboos.• Buildtrustthroughintentionalinteraction.• Conduct personal assessments of team members

tounderstandhowtheteammemberscanbalanceeachother.

This initialeffort is thegroundwork foronboardingallwhointeractwiththeteam.Themorecommonknowl-edgeandalignedthegoals,thebettertheoutcomesforall.Thevalueofthiseffortcannotbeoverstated.

3.0 How

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