Pathfinder rewards

By - , Build 108

Sharing ideas and pooling knowledge is the key to innovation. The new Pathfinder project faciliates the sharing of local innovative ideas in the construction industry and offers many benefits for those involved.

The Pathfinder project initiative is all about good old Kiwi innovation – people and teams working together to discover better ways of constructing our built environment. Run by the NZ Construction Clients’ Group (NZCCG), the programme has been established to:

• create a visible network of contacts for people who are striving to innovate and connect them to each other

• encourage a culture of ‘knowledge-sharing’ across the industry

• build a body of knowledge around innovation.

This month sees the launch of an exciting new phase of the initiative. In partnership with BRANZ, up to 18 case studies of various Pathfinder projects will be produced, and Build will feature summaries over the coming issues.

From innovation to sheer brilliance

The definition of a Pathfinder project is one that has demonstrated, is demonstrating, or will demonstrate innovation, good practice or sheer brilliance. In particular, we are looking for repeatable ideas that can be shared around the industry. The long-term goal of the programme is to boost performance for all industry participants – public/private, vertical/horizontal.

The five main objectives of Pathfinder projects are to:

• capture learning

• share knowledge

• encourage innovation

• create networks

• change culture.

Getting involved is easy

We provide a simple template for you to complete. It will guide you through the thinking process and provide us with the information we need to make your innovation public.

First, you need to talk to your team and make sure that everyone is happy to be involved. This applies particularly to your client, as being a Pathfinder project means there will be a certain amount of public information-sharing. Once you have the buy-in to proceed, you need to think through your innovation. You may be just about to start your project, be part way through or it may even be complete.

If it’s complete, the innovation should already be clear, but if you’re just starting out and know that you have a great team and the opportunity to do something different, you may be looking for some inspiration. That could come from NZCCG guiding principles, the NZ Construction Industry Council Best practice in procurement guide or the Constructing Excellence UK website’s innovation programme ‘demonstration projects’. These and more sources of potential inspiration can be found on our website.

Once you’ve decided on your approach, you’ll need to complete a Pathfinder project submission form, downloadable from our website. We will then upload your information so that others can see who is innovating what in New Zealand.

Check the website regularly to see new projects. This could be especially useful if you are embarking upon something new – someone may already be working on something similar elsewhere.

We ask for the contact details of the main Pathfinder project representative to be made public, so you need to ensure that whoever has been chosen for this role is comfortable with potential phone calls, emails and perhaps requests to speak.

Pooling knowledge and ideas

Worldwide, successful industry change program-mes all have one key thing in common – the industry pool ideas and shares knowledge on innovation and performance improvements.

Within this programme, for each idea you share, you’ll receive multiple ideas back. If you’re worried about ‘copycatting’, you shouldn’t be. As you know, ideas are not so easy to implement. People may follow you but they will be unlikely to catch up straight away. Through the Pathfinder project scheme, you will have established that ‘you were there first’.

Imagine a world where software programmers did not share their knowledge – would we have such great tools today? The same is true of any industry. It is far more powerful to have a culture of sharing and learning than one of secrecy. Through the former, various companies and individuals drive each other to higher levels of performance, which benefits everyone. Employees mostly enjoy an atmosphere of creativity; therefore, the industry also stands to attract and retain more people, especially in management.

What is expected of you?

Pathfinder projects must be open and willing to share their experiments – good, bad or ugly! Often the difficult ones are the ones that create growth and may help people embarking on the same track to avoid pitfalls. Key participations include:

• sharing your experiences with us face-to-face at a NZCCG monthly forum

• publishing the details you provide – this will be on both the NZCCG and BRANZ websites and possibly as an article in Build or Constructing NZ

• participating in a written case study at the end of your project

• measuring the performance of your project using industry KPIs (key performance indicators) – this will tell us whether the project was on time, on budget and to the desired quality and whether the client was satisfied.

For more

Please visit www.clientsuccess.org.nz. See a summary of the first Pathfinder project on page 38.

Download the PDF

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Articles are correct at the time of publication but may have since become outdated.

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