Collaborating for a brighter future

What's the secret to developing collaborative people? And how can they help the construction industry overcome its current challenges?

Last week BAM’s COO, John Wilkinson, spoke to the Institute of Collaborative Working at the House of Lords, on the importance of developing people with the skills and determination to build a sustainable tomorrow.

Within the construction industry, we have some major challenges ahead of us. Within a landscape of reduced treasury budgets for infrastructure investments, we have a key role to play in creating the sustainable built environments needed for the future. We must also continue to modernise our working practises, embrace new technology and innovations, and address a shortage of people and skills.

We are an industry that has always walked a tightrope, balancing hard-won, small margins, with the need for innovation, modernisation, and investment in skills for the future. Yet it has never been more important to save time and money in project delivery, to deliver greater social value and sustainability outcomes, and to help funding pots stretch further.

Working with clients who share our vision

We know that we are not alone in the difficulties that we face. When we sit around the table with our clients, we learn that the challenges we face are shared. To deliver the buildings and infrastructure that they need, our clients are not simply looking for a contractor who knows how to build, but for a true collaborative partner - a partner who knows them, who understands their challenges, and who shares their visions and aspirations.

It will only be by working together with our clients that we can face these challenges head-on. If a project is to be as efficient and successful as it can be, then all project partners need to work together to develop the best solutions.  Collaboration means making the best of the unique combination of talents and knowledge that each of us brings, to create a stronger team, who together can deliver a better result.

What role will collaboration play in delivering the projects of the future?

Within our industry, a lot of time is spent talking about the importance of collaboration, but perhaps less time is spent considering exactly what it means, and how we can most effectively collaborate. For example, early engagement of contractors on projects is an excellent way of enabling collaboration and improving project delivery. It enables project partners to agree on collaborative ways of working and sharing information right from the start, so that they can deliver the best school, hospital, bridge, or railway possible.

With a demand to create better value for funders, stakeholders, and society, we are seeing more and more of our clients seeking this purposeful collaboration and engaging with contractors earlier. Taking guidance from UK Government Construction and Sourcing Playbooks, we are being appointed through new collaborative contracts within the industry, such as partnerships and alliances.