Managing Project Changes

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Highway infrastructure projects are an integration of several engineering disciplines. Highway geometry, bridge designs, drainage conveyance, signing, ITS infrastructure, lighting, landscaping and construction phasing, all have to converge into one product. Each discipline working independently but in lock-step with the others.

In my second year as an engineer, I became a task leader for my discipline on a large design-build project. I first needed to learn how to establish continuity between my work and the work of other disciplines.

Balancing project changes and maintaining continuity is an information problem. Nothing can disrupt a project more than the discontinuity of information. Weekly meetings are the standard approach to maintaining continuity between disciplines. If this simple approach were sufficient all project teams would employ this method and projects would progress without issue.

However, changes to a design still ripple through the plans affecting other disciplines and their work. Early on in my career I was trained to ask “What does this change affect?”. It became routine. However, as the size of my responsibilities grew, it became more difficult to stick with that routine.

One trick employed by a mentor was the use of a running action items list, with meetings centered around the maintenance of this list. A meeting centered around action versus discussion moves projects forward. It was in these action-oriented meetings that I learned to:

1. Inform other disciplines of change.
2. Work out the necessary steps for incorporating that change.
3. Assign the individual responsibility of making the change.

The process sounds simple, but many fail to make it past Step 2. Those that can quickly work through the change, its challenges and solutions will be rewarded for their ability to maintain continuity.

More important was the ingraining of the question “What does this change affect?”. Change is constant, so the more you are able to keep this question on the forefront of your mind, the more you project looks like it went off without a hitch.

Action Item: When you make a design decision or change, stop and ask yourself “What does this change affect?”. Write each of them out and ensure the task leader of those disciplines is informed of the change. Keep a running list of the issues, assign action steps and the responsible party.