Assembling A Collaborative Team - Other - Page 112
Assembling a Collaborative Project Team
Technology Strategy
Although the UK Government is advocating the use of Level 2 BIM on all public
sector projects by 2016, many designers will continue to use traditional tools well
into the future. To accommodate these situations, the Technology Strategy may
stipulate that no technology is to be used (the design may use freehand sketches,
for example). However, it will normally set out the software and hardware that the
project team will utilise on a project.
Software
The software selected can have a significant effect on a project. It is less likely
to have an impact where specialist software is used by a single party (an energy
or structural analysis package, for example) but the core modelling platform
can be a crucial issue since, despite the move towards interchangeable outputs,
problems can be encountered when transferring from one file format output to
another. In some instances, additional software or processes may be required
to undertake tasks, such as clash detection where the team is using different
software and, in extreme circumstances, it may not be possible for one project
team member to use certain outputs generated by others. Furthermore, different
versions of the same software packages can be incompatible and present
additional problems. Asking each party to state in the Technology Strategy the
software, and its version, to be used allows any potential issues to be dealt with
during Stage 1. In some instances, the client may impose requirements to ensure
that all the members of the project team are working on the same software
platforms and versions. This gives the client the confidence that no fee or
process issues will arise from this aspect of the project.
Hardware
Hardware is not likely to be a project issue as most members of the project team
will use computers suitable for running their specific software packages. However,
certain hardware may be required to accommodate the Communication Strategy
(video conferencing equipment, for example) and it is therefore beneficial for all
members of the team to set out the hardware that they are likely to be using on
a project so that any potential issues related to proposed software can be
investigated and resolved.
Training
Any training requirements should be highlighted in the Technology Strategy.
For example, a new portal might be implemented for the collaborative exchange
and storage of information, requiring training for all members of the project team.
The exchange formats to be issued for different elements of information and the
means of exchanging them are also crucial technology issues. This will inevitably
involve a degree of overlap as these issues are also covered in the Communication
Strategy, as set out above.
www.ribaplanofwork.com
105
