Planning and implementation of effective collaboration in construction projects

Abstract

Purpose The twenty‐first century is now seen as the time for the construction industry to embrace new ways of working if it is to continue to be competitive and meet the needs of its ever demanding clients. Collaborative working is considered by many to be essential if design and construction teams are to consider the whole lifecycle of the construction process. Much of the recent work undertaken on collaborative working has focused on the delivery of technological solutions with a focus on web (extranets), CAD (visualisation), and knowledge management technologies. However, it is now recognised that good collaboration does not result from the implementation of information technology solutions alone, the organisational and people issues, which are not readily solved by pure technical systems, need also to be resolved. This paper aims to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach Work discussed in this paper brings together the benefits provided by technology, with organisational issues, and people issues, in developing a framework to implement effective collaboration. The research uses a literature search, semi‐structured interviews and a questionnaire to gain the industry's requirements for effective collaboration in the construction sector. From these requirements a develop‐test‐refine approach was taken to develop the methodology for effective collaborative working for construction. Findings The findings reported in this paper are a summary of the results from the semi‐structured interviews and questionnaire used to gain the industry's requirements. They show that a focus on the “softer” issues (business process and an organisations' people) rather than a technology focus is needed to plan and implement collaborative working more effectively in projects. An initial approach is discussed in this paper concerning a structured approach to be developed further in the research to highlight to the industry the issues associated with the planning and implementation of effective collaborative working in projects. Originality/value This paper uses a socio‐technical approach to the planning and implementation of effective collaborative working in construction. It combines technology with the people and business aspects of collaborative working to provide an approach which can enable stakeholders in a project to benefit fully from having a collaborative working approach to their projects.

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