Integrated Project Delivery (IPD)

Mutual Trust  : For an integrated project, the basic principle is definitely mutual trust between the participants of that project. The owners, developers, technicians, engineers, managers and, contractors need to understand and properly practice the principle of mutual trust and respect. Without any trust between the participants, it is practically impossible for the teams to work together for a single dedicated goal.

Mutual trust must be built up by team project managers and program managers. This can also be done by trainers and specialized personality building managers. The mutual trust is the core principle on which the projects are based.

Mutual trust is usually brought forth through other friendlier activities where participants essentially bond overwork or another kind of activities which involved their participation.

Early Involvement : Any project that undertakes integrated project delivery protocols as their standard, the key stakeholders are normally involved from the very early practice moments. Usually, project managers and program managers improve the decision-making process by reeling in all the opinions and insight of the key stakeholders involved. This is best for the project as all the people involved pitch in their solutions and ideas.

In the integrated project delivery processes, the brainstorming is done in a mutual meeting room where all the stakeholders or some few representatives gather to discuss the ideas, solutions and other parts of the project which are still pipelined. The early involvement and the vigorous communication of the teams helps to bring the entire team and all the stakeholders on a single page.

Mutual Rewards : NY Engineers highly believe that all stakeholders and participants take benefit from the Integrated Project Delivery processes and protocols. Since the IPDs involve early involvement by more stakeholders and partners, the compensation and reward structures recognize milestones and achievements early on. This compensation or reward is determined according to the value added to the project and the organization by that particular team or stakeholder. This reward is also sometimes compensated based on the behavior of the teams as well who show concern as well.

These rewards are necessary for trust building and building communication between teams and stakeholders. The organization effectively provides incentives and bonuses to teams working above the standard of the organization or the client’s expectation.

However, there is no concept of individual rewards unless this is a specific individual reward reserved for the individual such as holiday bonuses.

Collaborative Decision-Making : It is generally believed that innovation can be brought forth in a project and other endeavors through freely exchanging ideas in a productive environment. Ideas can be debated upon and made better through collaborative decision-making. This is usually done in large meeting rooms or smaller more casual rooms where the stakeholders mingle with each other to exchange ideas.

In the IPD, the ideas are judged and debated upon their merit, but not on the person’s status or their job description. Ideas have transparency and somewhat anonymity in order to limit any sort of discrimination. All of these decision and other major ideas are evaluated by the project managers and other higher authorities. This is only to regulate ideas that are worth the while and not just every idea which has not been probably debated upon.

Communication : The integrated project delivery processes and protocols allow for the project managers and program managers to focus on the team’s performance. This performance is based on the open, direct, multi-dimensional and honest communication protocols within the organization or team. All of the responsibilities of the projects are assigned without any tolerance for the blame game culture which is rampant in most other organizations.

All of the communication protocols and open communication allows for the identification of problems and finding their resolution. Once the teams are well-integrated and are communication professionally yet effectively, then there is no room for personal grudges or stagnant growth. Problems with the projects will be defined clearly early on and teams can collaborate to work towards making them better.

Any and all disputes within the team or with other teams are immediately identified by the project managers and other higher authorities. They are then dealt with accordingly in order to prevent the progression from going stagnant.

Planning Efforts : The integrated project delivery approach recognizes and acknowledges that increasing the efforts in planning the results and objectives of the project goes a long way. The project managers invest in planning processes in order to increase efficiency and time management efficiency later in the processes. Therefore, it can be said that the integrated approach aims to reduce the efforts in design and implementation phases later on in the development of the project. This is also done in order to properly improve the results of the design, streamlining the effort and also shortening it to some extent.

Leadership Roles : The project’s team can be thought of as a whole organization on its own as all the team members are fully committed to achieving the team’s goals and objectives. Leadership roles are taken by the team’s most capable individuals who are able to carry out all the protocols of the project planning process without fail.

In the Integrated Project Delivery protocols and processes, it is of utmost importance that the roles of each team member are defined clearly in order for individual work to be analyzed as well. The role of the leader is most important which is why it is important to clearly define the role and objective of the project manager and leader before starting the project.