Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
9.4.4
Build trust from the start; cooperate rather than confront
Good relationships mean good business. If the relationships are right,
everyone will cooperate when problems occur. If they are wrong, every-
one will become defensive and seek to apportion blame. Trust is built by
allowing everyone to contribute, by being prepared to listen and value
others' views, by being open and transparent. Trust is hard-earned, and
difficult to recover when it is broken. So it needs to be treated as a pre-
cious commodity, to be nurtured and protected. It may be difficult and
may fly in the face of the tradition of a generally combative industry,
but parties should assume that each is to be trusted, and establish that
as a rule from the beginning. Assume that everyone is there with good
intent and that they are to be trusted. Assumption of trust, rather than
adopting a cautious and suspicious approach, creates a totally different
ethos and environment. If you assume that all are to be trusted, few
people will risk abusing you. But this may challenge the conventional
working of those who have long made the assumption that no one is to
be trusted and that everyone is out to gain advantage, usually at your
expense. Hang in there! Trust is good and should be the headline for all
relationships on any project.
9.4.5
Acknowledge problems, don't bury them
Things do go wrong. Human beings do make mistakes, but not everyone
feels able to admit to them. The worst thing is to hope that problems
will go away if they are ignored. The likelihood is that they will get
worse, and the fall-out will be greater the longer they remain unsorted.
The best thing is to give problems early recognition; involve others,
seek opinions and come to a decision that everyone understands and
will therefore support (even if they do not agree). Even if they are right,
unexplained decisions handed down from above are unlikely to be given
enthusiastic support by those who have to put the decisions into effect.
So if time does not permit consultation over a problem, giving a logic
to the decision will generate understanding and support.
9.4.6
Treat mistakes as learning points, not blame-makers
Everyone makes mistakes. It is part of being human and it is how most
of us learn. From a very early age we learn from doing, from testing
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