Cutting Through the Complexities of Construction Law

Sarah’s Tips on

TEAMWORK AND DELEGATION

Sarah Fox, 2014

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Teamwork

Tips to help you understand why TEAM means ‘Together Everyone Achieves More’

An essential skill required to create a successful project is working effectively with colleagues, legal or project teams and managers. According to the Best Practice guide cited below, teams are “groups of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose and hold themselves mutually accountable for its achievement.” All construction projects (and many other projects in varying spheres) require people to work together in temporary multi-disciplinary teams. During your business, professional, sporting and family life, you will have to work in teams, ranging from two to as many as 200. Effective team working is essential for the smooth running of any project and there is plenty of advice available on the best processes and systems for effective team work. Constructing Excellence has produced a Best Practice Guide for the Construction Industry on Effective Teamwork which identified six key elements for effective teamwork:

1. Team identity 2. Shared vision and team objectives 3. Communication 4. Collaboration and participation 5. Issue negotiation and resolution 6. Reflection and self-assessment.

Communication One key to good teamworking is clear, concise and correct communication. It is too easy when we are pressed for time to make assumptions or fail to manage the expectations of the team members and our co-workers. But “in a professional organisation, there is no room for ‘mind-reading’.”1 No-one should expect a team member or co-worker to second guess what a specific task requires. Each task should be stated clearly by the person delegating the task to you, she should check your understanding and you should have the time to ask questions, either when the task is delegated or during the carrying out of the task. In the book ‘the Checklist Manifesto’2 the author discovers that the genius of a checklist is that it forces the members of a team to communicate and so co-operate more effectively. This extract is about construction companies, but it is just as pertinent to any team:

“All the separate contributions had to be included. Yet they also had to fit together somehow so as to make sense as a whole. And they had to be executed precisely and in co-ordination. On the face of it, the complexities seemed overwhelming.”3

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Delegation When you are given a task, you should ensure that you are given or ask for the information to provide SUPPORT:

S Supervision The name and role of the person monitoring the task or supervising you, how often and when

U Understanding Your role/responsibility e.g. Are you responsible for a task’s completion? Are you accountable for a task’s completion?

P Precision Precise & accurate details of the task

P People Names of all personnel - legal team, other adviser, team members or clients - involved in the task

O Outcomes The objectives4 sought or expected

R Resources The resources being allocated to the task (time, cost, equipment)

T Timescales All relevant times and dates, and whether these are flexible or strict

The Author Sarah Fox of Enjoy Legal Learning developed this guide. She is a professional speaker, innovator and trainer who cuts through the complexities of construction law. She provides confidence to those who use construction contracts through workshops that clarify and simplify the law. She is also author of the 500 Word Contract™. To find out how Enjoy can transform your technical training, contact Sarah on her mobile: 07767 342747 or by email: sarah@enjoylegallearning.co.uk

1 Lawyers’ Skills 2011-2012, page 211.

2 “Checklist Manifesto”, Atul Gawande (2010) Profile Books Limited.

3 Checklist Manifesto (2010), p58.

4 Ideally any task objectives should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timetabled). The

statement “Please sort this out” is none of these!