At the request of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, AGC recently led several workshops with Department resident engineers from around the country on the value of project-level partnering. Over the course of two days, AGC discussed the need for contractors and owner representatives to not only establish trust at the front end of the project, but to maintain it throughout project delivery—whether through formal or informal partnering means. Several AGC contractor members participated in the workshops and stressed the need for honest, consistent communication and the establishment of decision escalation processes as a means to deliver projects on time and on budget. The workshops included brief presentations from contractors, interactive team-building exercises and back and forth questions and answers between the Department engineers and AGC contractors. The Department held this workshop as part of a broader training initiative, the theme of which was “turning the page” on the old ways and looking towards improvement ahead.
For more information, please contact Jimmy Christianson at 703-837-5325 or christiansonj@agc.org.