Session 3.2
Technology and the Team – a Case Study in Maximising User Engagement
Synopsis:
Technology is only as powerful as those using it, and personal technological development is never-ending.
Jake Nash, of Warren and Mahoney, has spent the three years taking a more personal approach to staff development, in an effort to increase user engagement with technology with excellent results.
Learning Objectives:
1. Learn to better manage your time across staff members, teams and project duties. Making yourself available whilst retaining your sanity
2. Learn to open yourself up personally by sharing in your teams burdens, build rapport and change the preconceived notion of the “BIM Manager”
3. Learn to create a culture of constant learning, where the team is passionate, enthusiastic and keen to continuously engage with new technologies
Body:
For documenting large projects, resourcing generally comes down to positions and availability, over the individual. This can be detrimental to staff development, it can deprive staff of new learning opportunities, leading to lower work satisfaction, and ultimately a higher staff turnover. Our people, unique and interesting, are the single most valuable thing we as an industry can invest in.
Jake Nash has spent the last three years taking a more personal approach to staff development, to upskill his team with both technical knowledge, and technological ability, with excellent results. Building this relationship is hard work, it requires passion, humour and time to break down the barriers separating us from speaking freely and comfortably.
This process involves knowing the individual, identifying their current skillsets, and acknowledging their personal interests in the technology space. This information is fed into the resourcing for projects.
There are two questions to consider. What can this individual, with their unique skillset bring to the project? And what can they learn from the team?
The process involves personal, long form conversations with each staff member, recorded and revisited every six months, with online tools in place to track progression. Levels are established to clearly highlight progression to staff, to generate a sense of achievement as they advance. At the same time, common frustrations are collated into a report for senior leadership to assess. Common bottlenecks in the technology space also help to inform training sessions.
This case study, presented from a light-hearted, slightly self-deprecating perspective, will look at the increased adoption and upskilling of technology, with a focus on the individuals. We will look at a large project team and discuss why this group of individuals is best suited for the project. We will look at what uniqueness each member brings to the team, and what each of them will take away at the end of the project.
From this presentation, the attendees will learn three key points. Firstly, that the single most powerful thing you can offer staff is your time. We will look at how to effectively manage time across multiple projects, staff, and other duties to the practice
Secondly, while celebrating success is fun, sharing in burdens helps to build rapport far more meaningful. BIM managers have a reputation of being the enforcer, the person who visits when you’re in trouble. Changing that perception requires effort.
Lastly, we must understand that the journey is never truly ends. We will look at building a culture of constantly learning and challenging ourselves, and each other, in an ever-evolving industry.
We like to see every team member develop their skillsets organically across the span of their career. In order to achieve this, we need to facilitate staff with the right projects, and the right opportunities, to encourage the natural development of their skills.
At Warren and Mahoney, we like to identify the interests and ambitions of each team member, to maximise their strengths, while offering the best training to help them overcome their challenges