Tracking and dealing with information from the team

Archive of Older Topics Archive - Specifications Discussions
1

How do you deal with and track decision making information from the team? For instance I get my direction from the team in the following ways:

phone calls
meeting in person
mark ups in the spec
notes on the actual spec file
e-mail
handwritten notes on my desk
cut sheets
information in the product binder
(Am I missing anything?)

Since the information is coming at me from all sides, it is difficult to track/record it. Someone will come up later on and ask why or who gave me direction to specify a certain product.

2

I, like you, had the same problem of tracking input. While working on multiple projects at one time, it was easy to miss something.

As a result, I created a spreadsheet which resides in each project folder on the network drive. If someone on the design team has input or a revision, they log it in on the sheet with the section and paragraph reference, description of the input/revision, name of the team member, and the date it was entered. There are two columns for me: one for the date I included the input or revised the text, and any comments I had.

Using it has worked very well. I know exactly what needs to be done, and/or a person to contact if I have questions. It also allows the design team to know what the status is of their changes.

3

I have a method that is semi-successful. At least if I keep up with it on a project it is sucessful.
I keep a “section decision” sheet in my job notebook which is tabbed by Div# and these sheets are in section order. They have a section # on the top and in the table I have the following headers: date; item; what; who; attachement;.
As information hits my desk or whenever I catch a breath, I’ll log information as it comes in on these sheets in the appropriate place and put the note, cut, or whatever behind it with at least the section # and date. Sometimes things get a bit fast and furious, so its all I can to to at least stuff the information in its appropriate div tab, hopefully with the pertinent information added.
Doesn’t always work perfectly, but has saved me on occasion.
Hope this helps.

4

We have a formal process in the office which I created - helps being an internal specifier rather than a consultant.

Every project manager is required to obtain a checklist at the time a project is assigned. The checklist is very complete, and is fashioned not only for what I need from them, but also as a working tool for their own use to keep a record of decisions.

As soon as they have a schedule, project managers are required to coordinate with me. We set up reminders as ‘meeting notices’ on an office shared calendar system which schedules when they need to get a list of sections to send to some consultants for editing, and when they have to be returned or when consultant written sections have to be returned (typically limited to landscaping and MEP for consultant written sections).

The ‘checklist interview’ is established as a date that is 3 weeks prior to permit. That also is the date we create a draft version of the project manual. At the interview missing elements are identified and over the next 3 days the project manager and project architect complete all critical elements.

The draft is completed, and is sent to the owner and consultants for their review and comment.

There is then a period between the draft and the final where I don’t accept random additional information. Then there is a period that starts 17 days prior to the final and ends 10 days prior to the final - it is during that period that the team is required to provide me with a single package. These 2 dates that frame this period show up on the schedule as checkin and cutoff dates.

Naturally, I don’t expect absolutely everything to be there, there are always items missing, but the missing information is specifically itemized so I know what to expect. The caution is that during this final 10 days, nothing not given in the single package is likely to make the final unless its on this special missing items list.

3 days prior to final, its a total cutoff, no information will get in unless I have nothing else to do. Again, I am actually flexible on this, but its understood that they really must honor this date.

As noted, all these dates are scheduled on the office schedule calendar that is available to all project managers. I update it constantly, and all project managers consult it prior to promising dates to owners to assure they are not setting up to a conflict that can’t be honored. A set of guidelines are published with the calendar that lets them know what kinds of activities can be overlapped or jointly scheduled.

This typically results in a project where the majority of work is done at the time of the review draft. The work that is done at the end of the project is all attention to detail.

William

5

David:

You forgot “ESP” …

6

I have also found that sometimes the PM’s & PA’s think we the Spec Writers acquire the information by osmosis!

7

Sometimes? USUALLY!

8

You mean to say that I’m not the only spec writer that feels that way?

9

I once got osmosis, but I found a good cream for it. It cured the osmosis and kill anything that came within ten feet.

Never got ESP, but I have lived a sheltered life.

10

My method of using a spreadsheet has a lot to be desired. As an in-house specifier, William is in an ideal situation where he can use a little bit of teeth to his requests. Specifier consultants just “don’t get any respect” when we push for timely project communications and imput. Most of the time it’s like herding cats.

Years ago I did try various “project management software” programs - all of which were a waste of time and effort. Does anyone use or know of any current programs available?

11

Ron, I’m with you on the cats, tho’ it seems I’m trying it on a flatbed truck.
As a SCIP also, I find the spreadsheet system works pretty well. Not elegant, and it does need to be kept up to date, but sometimes its the KISS methods that work the best.
Margaret

12

One local consultant is famous/infamous for his approach. He sits down with the designer, starts into his checklist, and when he gets to the point where the designer answers “I don’t know” about three times, closes his notebook and leaves, saying, “Call me when you’re ready.”

The in-house specifier has no choice but to deal with uncooperative project managers, as they have to work together every day. For those PMs who work with the system and cooperate, things can go quite well. But since the PM is usually higher on the food chain than the lowly specifier, in-house specifiers face the same problems as consultants.

13

I track the information I get from the team on a relatively simple table in Word, and I periodically print it and use it as an interview tool for getting updates from the team. It’s the same table I use to track which sections are complete and which need input. I’ve never had much luck getting the team to actually keep the spreadsheet up to date themselves, so I generally maintain complete control of it.

I’m an in-house specifier, so it’s relatively easy to buttonhole the right team members if the job is in my office. I support several remote offices, though, and buttonholing is a challenge when I have to do it by phone. For fast-burn jobs, I’ve been known to undock my laptop and go sit with the team.

I also find spying on the in-progress drawings to be quite effective: I have read access to everyone’s CAD files, and we have a common naming scheme that ensures I can always find the door schedule and the finish schedule. I only have to be able to open, pan, zoom, and print; I never change the drawings, though I have the ability. If the drawings don’t give me the answer I’m looking for, I’m back to buttonholing.

As far as the decision-getting challenges go, I think people skills and trust go much further than tracking tools. I like William’s idea of a no-random-input period, but it’s not effective for me to ever turn away information. I note any randomly acquired input in my chart or save it as “correspondence” and add it later. This way I create the illusion of always being available and receptive, while maintaining the train of thought that gets the work done.

14

It’s easy to mock the “ESP” process in spec writing (i.e., the spec writer figures out the unseen/unstated attributes of the design). Yet, one of the most valuable attributes of an experienced spec writer is just that: experience.

As the spec writer works with the design team – whether as an in-house specifier or an independent contractor – many, many design decisions become familiar. That is, the architectural firm’s tendencies and de facto standards become clear and the specifier develops what I call prototypical specifications for the firm.

This is like going back to the last similar project and using it as the basis for the new project but in a positive way. To use a buzz-word I learned from Mark Kalin, FAIA, FCSI, this is the “corporate mememory”. It is very valuable. It expedites the design and specification process. It ensures quality. It can also backfire and lead to repeating mistakes.