Stakeholder - Joint Ventures

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In this post, I'll briefly delve into a short story about a joint venture (JV) team missing the mark of a deliverable of a project to investigate the subsurface conditions.

Recently, I was part of a project to investigate and design a building for structural and roof repairs. Part of the JV task was to investigate the subsurface conditions of roof leaders, downspouts, clean-outs, and the sewer system that was adjacent to this historical building since there was concern that its drainage lines may be clogged. This is an old building that had once been a combined sewer system. The project was in the beginning stages, so there weren't too many issues. We had a successful negotiation and contract award with the customer. There were follow-up meetings like internal and external kickoff meetings so the different stakeholders would become familiarized with the deliverables. During the coordination meetings, we reviewed on multiple occasions the different deliverables required. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but once we arrived on site to conduct the two-day investigation, it was soon apparent that the other JV team was not prepared or equipped to conduct the deliverable for the subsurface investigation. Mind you, there is a significant amount of coordination and effort that leads up to the actual site visit since folks are coming from different parts of the nation.

So, it's not like you can jump in your car and take another crack at it. Anyway, I don't know how this was missed, but it was. After this site investigation things became tense with my counterpart because the subsurface investigation wasn't done and yet it needed to still be done. A few joint venture meetings were held and it seemed like things were going nowhere. After a certain point, I grew exhausted from going in circles rationalizing why the subsurface investigation wasn't done. Eventually, I said that I would get it taken care of because it was simply approaching that point where it was taking more time, effort, and money to discuss this problem than it was fixing it. Needless to say, many weeks went by while a subcontractor was being found to do the work, then to do the work, and then to produce a findings and recommendations report. During this time, regularly scheduled joint venture meetings would be held weekly. Eventually, this whole issue was resolved and relationships turned to normal. I think (because I was never told thank you) my JV counterpart appreciated the approach I took because it could have gotten ugly but two wrongs don't make a right.

Conclusion

If I could do it over, I'd still do the coordination meeting, but I'd also make sure to talk with each individual on the JV team to ensure they have a full understanding of the list of deliverables required to be accomplished during the site visit investigation. Otherwise, I would still try to rise above the fray of placing blame and not get emotionally involved and keep working towards the end goal.