Intertwined Work Teams - Application of the Team Mental Model and Team Transactive Memory

Current Engineering Trends for the Execution of Capital Projects

It is increasingly common to hear from contractors and business specialists highlight the cost reduction achieved during the execution of capital projects by implementing, at least, one of the following approaches on project execution:

• Engineering, Procurement and Construction execution based on Advanced Work Packaging (AWP).
• Implementation of High-Value Engineering Centers (HVEC).
• Application of 4D Planning and Scheduling (4D-P&S).
• Application of Building Information Modeling (BIM).

A summary of the key characteristics of each approach is given below:

Advanced Work Packaging (AWP):

Engineering, Procurement and Construction execution based on the AWP means the sequential packetization of engineering deliverables so that the flow of this project information responds to the needs of the field construction, this in the form of predefined and sequentially programmed Construction Work Packages (CWP), that result in specific Installation Work Packages (IWP) of short execution periods.

In short, AWP is a construction-driven process that adopts the philosophy of “beginning with the end in mind.” The work packaging and constraint management process removes the guesswork from executing at the workface by tightly defining the scope of all work involved, and by ensuring that all things necessary for execution are in place.

Studies indicate that, under AWP scheme, capital projects have shown field productivity increases of up to 25% and reduction in total project costs by up to 10%.

Reference:

• Construction Industry Institute. Knowledge Base. No. RT-272: “Enhanced Work Packaging: Design through WorkFace Execution” (Best Practice). Volume 3: Case studies and expert interviews as a supplement to aid effective implementation.

 High-Value Engineering Centers (HVEC):

Implementation of High-Value Engineering Centers means activating the remote participation of well-trained engineers working at engineering centers in developing countries such as Mexico, Indonesia, Venezuela, India, Africa, called High-Value Engineering Centers (HVEC), which allows obtaining highly qualified engineering teams at a low cost.

4D Planning and Scheduling (4D-P&S):

4D Planning and Scheduling means the linking of a 3D digital model with time or schedule-related information to create animated sequences that show a structure’s components being built up, including both permanent and temporary works. 

4D-P&S allows visualizing the project as sequential tasks planned in a model to create simulation, and also allows changing the tasks and dependencies to optimize and validate efficiently the sequence of activities. From this, you can evaluate whether the project is constructible as planned and also visualize the effects of the schedule on the model, and compare planned dates against actual dates. Costs can also be assigned to tasks to track the cost of a project throughout its schedule. Also, for instance, 4D-P&S visualization may allow scheduling a crane placement during the construction phase, improving its performance and thus avoinding any possible interference.

Building Information Modeling (BIM):

The BIM approach means that all project stakeholders (e.g., architects, engineers, contractors, owner, etc.) actively collaborate to create a complete virtual model of the project. It enables the virtual information of the model to be handed from the design team to the main contractor and subcontractors and then on to the owner/operator; so that each stakeholder adds specific data, comments or constrains to the single shared model. This greater collaboration between stakeholders takes full advantage of the potential cost reduction opportunities. Also, the BIM approach focuses on the concept that different components of a model “know” what they are supposed to do, so as the 3D model is altered, these types of components self-adjust in logical ways.

Studies indicate that the application of BIM brings reducing costs (up to 40% of unbudgeted change orders eliminated), improving the accuracy and speed of cost estimates (up to 80% reduction in time taken to generate cost estimate and cost estimation accuracy within 3%), increasing clashes/interferences prevention (up to 10% of the contract value is saved by detecting clashes), and shortening execution time (up to 7% reduction in project time) 

References:

• German, P. 2012. Evaluation of training needs for Building Information Modeling (BIM). ProQuest, UMI Dissertation Publishing.
• Gilligan, B.; Kunz, J. 2007. VDC Use in 2007: significant value, dramatic growth, and apparent business opportunity (CIFE technical reports) [online], [cited 11 December 2010].
• Azhar, S.; Abid, N.; Mok, J.; Leung, B. 2008. Building information modeling (BIM): a new paradigm for visual interactive modeling and simulation for construction projects, in Proc. of the 1th International Conference on Construction in Developing Countries (ICCIDC–I), 4–5 August 2008, Karachi, Pakistan, 435–446.
• Nisbet, N.; Dinesen, B. 2010. Constructing the business case: Building Information Modeling. British Standards Institution and BuildingSMART, UK.

But, all engineering approaches above-mentioned have their risks of deviation from the goals set.

Namely:

1.      Some potential risks of the AWP approach:

·      The AWP approach basically addresses Engineering Work Packages (EWP), Construction Work Packages (CWP), and Installation Work Packages (IWP). Therefore, Procurement Work Packages (PWP) must be well aligned with the respective CWP and IWP to avoid the lack of material or equipment in the field. Here, procurement manager monitoring is crucial.

·        Lack of clear AWP implementation strategy.

·        Lack of appropriate stakeholder support for the AWP.

·        Lack of identifying the key personnel required for supporting AWP.

·    Inadequate sizing of the Installation Work Packages (IWP) and also an inadequate estimate of the respective execution times.

·        Inadequate Installation Work Packages sequence.

·        Potential redundancy in the IWP contingencies.

·    Potential loss of the benefit of economies of scale in the acquisition of materials and equipment for the IWP.

2.      Some potential risks of the HVEC approach:

·        Inadequate communication between the Project Main Office (PMO) and the HVEC.

·        Lack of adequate supervision within the HVEC and by the PMO.

·      Transfer of incomplete work packages from the PMO to the HVEC, without an adequate definition of the split of work between both parties.

·        Lack of accountability within the HVEC.

·    Staff turnover in the HVEC with the consequent loss of personnel already trained and committed to the project.

·   Redundancy between PMO and HVEC in the use of expensive special software. That means a lack of integration between both parties about the efficient use of software licenses that could be shared.

·   Lack of integration between the IT groups of PMO and HVEC to achieve optimal communication between their servers.

·        Lack of an adequate execution plan shared between the PMO and the HVEC.

·        Inadequate planning of the HVEC activities within the PMO’s master plan.

3.      Some potential risks of the 4D Planning and Scheduling approach:

·        Project size could be a decisive factor for 4D-P&S applicability.

·       At the beginning of the project, the implementation of 4D-P&S may take longer time than other planning and programming approaches.

·        Planning and Scheduling with too many details that could reduce accuracy.

·        Increased exposure to the planning fallacy (for example, increased optimism bias, lack of proper unpacking of tasks, etc.)

4.      Some potential risk of the BIM approach:

·        At the beginning of the project, if there are no references to start modeling, BIM modeling could take longer than other CAD modeling and negatively impact productivity. But it should be noted that in the final phases of the project, BIM provides better performance for the extraction of 2D drawings, better model rendering, and expedite the exchange of model information with the client.

·        BIM upfront cost of modeling could be higher than CAD.

·        Project size could be a decisive factor for BIM applicability.

Therefore, it is recommended to evaluate each approach in light of its risks and to identify how to apply them and whether they are viable or not.

Next Steps Ahead:

• Fully integration among AWP, HVEC, 4D-P&S, and BIM.
• Tearing down the barriers, not written but widely accepted, as a result of fears of the Project Main Office management about the potential risks to which the HVEC would expose them during project execution.

Namely:

ü  No more than 30% of the engineering deliverables would be allocated to HVEC.

ü All key activities and deliverables must be kept within the execution of the Project Main Office.

• Tearing down the paradigm that states that non-BIM 3D modeling approaches (e.g., CADWorx, Smartplant, PDS, etc.) should be used for the design of piping/mechanical and electrical assemblies for industrial plants, while BIM should be used exclusively in the design and construction of commercial and office buildings.

Monterrey. A thriving city that aims for more

Recently, I had the great opportunity to be in Monterrey, Mexico, providing project management services to a local company in the field of engineering projects.

My first impression of this city in northern Mexico was its obvious intention of modernity, captured by its magnificent new buildings under construction, in addition to those already built, which gives it a cutting edge profile among the main cities of Latin America. It is a city in rapid change and growth, which exudes prosperity and this, is perceived in everyday life. Added to this is the main symbol of this city, “El Cerro de la Silla” (Saddle Mountain), named for its similarity with a saddle on horseback, which gives the city its distinction.

After the pleasant visual impact received, there is the friendly, simple and respectful treatment of the “Regiomontano” (a term referring to the people from this city), very typical of the Mexican idiosyncrasy. To this must be added, already in the specific area of the execution of projects, that it can be verified the high skill and remarkable professional level of personnel located in this city. In the entire workgroup with which I shared my work, I observed great skills and technical capacity, cordiality, proactivity, pleasant openness, and transparency, commitment to the objectives set and high accountability in their actions. All these are key success factors for any company or entrepreneurship.

Also, it is perceived in the engineering projects environment, extended familiarization with the most recent approaches for the execution of projects, such as 3D Modeling, Advanced Work Packaging (AWP), 4D Planning & Scheduling, High-Value Engineering Centers (HVEC), and Building Information Modeling (BIM).

Everything described above, in addition to its very convenient proximity to the United States, gives Monterrey, a promising future for the intensive development of engineering projects. Not to mention the possible existence of tax incentives, which I could not validate, but which is very likely to exist. With which this city reinforces its position as a reference throughout the Americas as a fertile city for the development of all types of companies and especially those related to the area of engineering project execution.

The Interwoven Teamwork

Increasing teamwork effectiveness through the interwoven way of working

Currently, there are increasingly frequent requests of customers for effective solutions to problems or needs which do not have well defined at first the scope of work involved but it must be addressed in the shortest possible time, with optimum quality and a minimum budget. This type of request will in many cases require a very tight, progressive, concurrent, adaptive execution fully aligned with the expectations of these customers. Then, to adequately address this type of demand, organizations must have the necessary organizational structure, right tools, and the right personnel to allow the production of the needed information as requested, and an essential part of the right personnel is the team called upon to produce the necessary outputs to respond to the problems or the needs raised. The members of this team, in order to fulfill the functions that this kind of demand requires, besides being properly trained in the necessary hard technical skills (e.g., mastery of necessary technical theory, computer simulation software, 3D modeling, etc.), they should also be trained in the appropriate soft skills that allow them the following:

• Being very in tune with their colleagues and have full knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of the entire team.

• Being very open and communicative with each other, showing minimal dispersion in their performance, all oriented towards what is really important and all of them fully confident in the capacity of the others in the team.

• Being able to simultaneously execute different dependent activities with minimum rework (effective concurrency).

• Being able to achieve a collective understanding of the tasks in which they are involved.

• Being able to collectively encode, store and retrieve information.

• Being able to opportunely share and understand as a team the information and knowledge that enters and leaves the team.
• Being able to identify and remove the work blockers and bottlenecks to maintain the flow of results.

In short, they should be trained to work aligned and synchronized as a single entity for the fulfillment of the established objectives, fully transparent, accountable and all committed to the intended purpose. 
It should be noted that currently, most of the organizations concentrate the training efforts of their work teams in the strengthening of the hard technical skills, leaving aside the promotion of the soft skills that favor their integration as a team. 

A team trained to work operating according to the characteristics described above can be identified as a fully cohesive work team, what indicates that they have enough group cognition, and as a result of this, it is a group that operates as if the members work Functionally Interlaced or rather Interwoven among themselves due to their very close cognitive linking, which would allow them to reach optimal levels of effectiveness and efficiency as a group.

 

To train a team to operate functionally interwoven, first, it must be identified the personnel that could be able to work in that way and promote or instill in them the values of group cognition and then with them form a team to be trained in the functionally interweaved way of working.

Following are listed some key cognitive variables that could be identified, promoted and/or instilled in the group which would allow them to be trained on the functionally interwoven way of working:

1. Sharing Mental Models Capacity or Attitude to achieve the Team Mental Model:

A group that shares certain similarity in mental models, such as beliefs and ideas, will have similar understanding and expectations of the tasks that will be carried out, facilitating the processing and coordination of information that tends to minimize the meetings required and also facilitates the communication within the group even in stressful situations what improves their performance and cooperation leading them to a better quality of results in less time. The idea is the group shares a certain similarity in their mental models, essentially in their attitude because too much similarity will diminish their ability to generate ideas or solutions to events.

A group that shares certain similarities in mental models will allow in them the Team Mental Model assembly, which ensures that the entire group has a collective understanding of the state of each task and an understanding of how to achieve the stated objectives. R. Klimoski and S. Mohammed in their article "Team Mental Model: Construct or Metaphor?" (Journal of Management, Vol 20, Issue 2, Pages 403-437, 1994) define the Team Mental Model (TMM) as the shared understanding of the members of a group, so that the TMM preserves and handles all knowledge within the group as a single unit.  The personnel within a TMM interpret the information in a similar way, sharing expectations about future events and promoting among them the natural leadership, not imposed, which in turn facilitates the coordination between the members anticipating the needs of other members with their corresponding allocation of resources when and where they are necessary.

2. Sharing the Transactive Memory of the Group or System (TMS):

The Transactive Memory of the Group or System (TMS) is a mechanism through which the groups collectively encode, store and retrieve knowledge. While TMM refers to shared knowledge and understanding, TMS refers to the distribution of knowledge within the group.

3. Sharing the acuity in the identification of the essential:

A group that acts in a similar way, assigning importance to what is really important and omits the superfluous, minimizes as a group the loss of time in shared activities that are not essential or that are not really necessary for the solutions they are trying. This consequently decreases the intellectual waste of the group, improving the simultaneous execution.

4. Sharing the propensity for interactive creativity:

A group that shares the propensity to interactive creativity among its members achieves effective identification among them during the execution of activities, which promotes the most effective search for solutions for the needs of the group to the specific demands of the client. These solutions progress interactively in a synchronized way with the contribution of all. In this scenario, the concurrent execution within the group is maximized by the interactivity among its members.

5. Sharing the propensity to work as a team:

When all the members of a group share the propensity to be part of a team, they agree to share responsibility for the results of this team and interact to fit each other, operating as a single entity with common objectives.

Once the team with the potential to work in a cohesive manner is assembled, its training starts in order to be able to work functionally interwoven. This training is based on the criteria that the way of working as a very cohesive group can be instilled and trained, and this is achieved by focusing the training of the group towards the Team Mental Model and the Transaction Memory System (see the article "Developing Team Cognition: A Role for Simulation" by R. Fernandez, S. Shah, E. Rosenman, S. Kozlowski, S. Parker, J. Grand. Simulation in Healthcare: Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, 12-2: 96-103, Apr 2017).

The training is carried out through Simulations and Strategies that promote the development of the group cognition and influence the team positively, offering them opportunities to work together and develop a shared understanding, identifying and reinforcing communication patterns, and also identify the knowledge network accessible to group members when necessary.

Some examples of Simulations and Strategies to develop the group cognition are listed below:

Simulations:

• Type of Simulation 1: Systematic.

Description: Event-based simulation to ensure that specific behaviors are obtained.

Example: Expose the group to unexpected events (e.g., change in delivery date) that will induce answers in key aspects, such as:

·         Internal communication fluidity

·         Internal identification of the leader.

·         How knowledge is distributed within the group.

·         Verification of concurrent capacity.

·         Realignment capacity in the face of changes or new demands.

·         Level of identification of the objectives.

·         Identification of needs and the attention to these.

• Type of Simulation 2: Oriented to induce the exchange of information.

Description: Identification of relevant information, focused on quality, applicability, and importance instead of quantity.

Example:

·       Perform the simulation without the leader, which will force all group members to share key information.

·       Introduce pauses in the simulations at key points, to consult group members about how the exchange of information is contributing within the group.

·      In the case of resistance to sharing information, an external participant demands information to force the exchange.

• Type of Simulation 3: Oriented to reinforce the processes and behaviors of the group, which positively influence their performance.

Description: Identification of knowledge and processes within the group.

Example:

·         Introduce an unexpected change to induce the redefinition of priorities.

·         Remove the leader in the middle of the simulation.

·         Incorporate the group members in an outdated manner.

Strategies:

• Strategy 1: Crossed knowledge.

Description: Team members receive specific instructions about the roles and responsibilities of other group members.

•  Strategy 2: Reflexivity.

Description: Groups are guided to reflect on progress towards their objectives, consider how they can adjust their focus, and plan how to implement new strategies.

• Strategy 3: Interaction within the group.

Description: Team members are trained in teamwork skills.

In summary, the fostering and training of work teams in the proper soft skills to carry out their activities as a closely interlaced team (functionally interwoven teams) would give organizations with key competitive advantages for the adequate and timely attention of the current demands in the execution of projects.