Construction Industry
Collaboration? Who’s got time for that?
Collaboration might be back on the government’s agenda following publication of The Construction Playbook, but how prominently does it feature in the typical project director’s mind? It wasn’t on my mind 30 years ago when I was a project manager. There wasn’t a name for it back then, I probably wouldn’t have thought it was important, nor known how to do it and I wouldn’t have had time for it. Things have changed since then, or have they? Who’s got time for collaboration or even The Construction Playbook?
Read MoreField guide to the Construction Playbook: Four ways you can prepare for it
The Construction Playbook is the latest Government publication urging reform. Pay attention construction business leaders, this is how the government will be trying to use its purchasing power to change the way you behave.
Read on to find out how to prepare your company for changes that might happen if the Playbook sticks. Or if it doesn’t, you might still set a strategic course for increased capability that is worthwhile whatever happens.
Read MoreHappy anniversary
Forty years ago today, fresh out of school and armed with one “O” level (art) I started work in the construction industry. Bill, the bloke who took me on called me trainee civil engineer. He was the Resident Engineer on The Whitley Bay Coastal Interceptor Sewer, part of a bigger scheme to clean up the…
Read MoreHere’s what has changed in construction in 40 years
Caution – memories are particularly unreliable and my reality is not your reality 1976 2016 Lots of the workforce directly employed. Plant was owned, materials were made in Britain Mainly subcontracted. Plant is hired in. Materials from around the world. Workforce from around the world Most stuff was dug, poured and built on site Most…
Read MoreChronic confusion
When you hear that someone is chronically sick what do you think? It seems we are confused about ‘chronic’. It’s not high alert, really bad, about to die, intensive care, emergency. Chronic is actually low level and over a long period of time. Here are a few of the chronic conditions afflicting the construction industry:…
Read MoreChris and the importance of social capital
Chris joined the company in the seventies as a young QS. He was quick, bright and an early adopter of what we now call information technology. Throughout the eighties he did most of his own work on a computer, creating and joining up spreadsheets into a system that made his job easier. Slowly, at first,…
Read MoreConstruction – thirty years on and what’s going to be different this time round?
Last week I gate-crashed a G4C (Generation for Change) event in Newcastle; I was the oldest bloke in the room by at least 25 years. It felt weird and I found myself asking why am I here, though that’s another story. Anyway after a bit of an ice breaker Jackie the speaker asked the young…
Read More