The delivery phase of any contract is where the rubber meets the road. All the plans, thinking, documentation, meetings and relationships to date are put through their paces. In this 5 part blog series, Paul Wilson – Managing Director of Provelio – offers some advice to help project teams perform at this crucial stage of any project.
This series of blogs will explore 5 key areas of project delivery:
- The delivery philosophy
- Contract definition
- Contract preparation
- Contract administration
- Best practice and things to avoid
What is Delivery Philosophy?
The delivery philosophy is the attitude that provides the guiding principles for the project behaviour. Successful project teams create a shared and robust philosophy that the team can buy in to. This could be:
- Common goal(s): the clear expression and sharing of the project objectives so everyone knows what success will look like. Goals must reflect the needs of all the contracting parties and not just one.
- Shared values: professional behaviour and courtesy whilst being fair and respectful and with good humour. If you all behave well, the team will lean in to help with any problem rather than retreat to a position and deliver by attrition.
- Certainty and clarity: seek to resolve uncertainty quickly and be clear with requirements. All parties like certainty because it allows us to plan and coordinate activity once without constantly revising and wasting time.
- Be up front: be straight talking and direct about key issues. It is okay to disagree and still maintain a good relationship.
Contracts like the NEC spelt out the need for a philosophy, but it requires the team to embrace it and then stick to it. Adopting some deliberate delivery philosophies makes sure that the team are working together; and will continue to do so even under pressure which is when it is truly tested.
If we assume that this is in place we need to turn our attention to making sure we know what we want by effective Contract Definition. Read the next installation in this blog series on What Makes Great Contract Delivery: Contract Definition.