Lunch & Panel Discussion on Successful Project Collaboration
Rachael Beam
Chief Engineering Officer
Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority
Alexander Dick,
Owner
Dick Building Company
Heather Dodson
Senior Manager
Brown and Caldwell
Thomas Prusak
Vice President
Hatch
Moderator & CMAA3R Communications Committee Chair:
Laura Nee
CEO & President
VPO Construction Project Management Software & Services
If you ruled the world, what would be different about the way construction projects are conceived, designed, planned, and executed?
We heard our panelists' thoughts on this question and more, when we listened in as they discussed what's essential to working well together.
Across the topics of safety, shortages, and communications, the overarching message from our panelists was that we need to keep humanity and humility at the forefront while working on construction projects together. We're most successful when we consider each other's roles, responsibilities, viewpoints, pressures, needs, and goals--and not just as parties but also as individual people.
For just one example, as part of our safety discussion Alex Dick talked about the mental-health crisis and disproportionately-high suicide rates in our industry. He stressed the importance of ensuring that workers are able to put their full focus on the tasks at hand.
"We're not saving the world" is how he self-deprecatingly began his comment, but then he went on to describe, wisely, the real-world impact that a distracted or unwell worker can have on the safety of a construction team and their project's end users. Safety plans that are carefully crafted and executed save lives, and some say that to save a life is to save the world.
Many thanks to all of our speakers for giving of their time and effort so that we could benefit from the experience and expertise they've shared!
We would also like to thank our Silver Sponsor, Wade Trim, for supporting our organization and our scholarship fund.
Sponsorship Information