Introduction:
Sharing the project knowledge in the design phase is a very important process that facilitate the exchanging of the project knowledge and improving the communication between the project team. However, the most important is to know how to share this knowledge in a good way. Therefore, at the beginning of each project, a protocol and clear procedures for sharing information and knowledge in the project phases is determined. This protocol defines the required tools and techniques to share knowledge through the project till completion.
The Importance Knowledge Management:
In the academic researches, Amireddy (2014), defines Knowledge Management tools as “The technologies used to enhance and enable the implementation of the sub-processes of KM.” And classified them into a) IT tools, b) non-IT tools. However, KM tools need to have the following characteristics/features:
- Putting information in context and define its characteristics, to facilitate reaching them.
- Considering the nature of user, the content and the time while transforming information.
- Facilitating social interaction and verbal communication.
- Providing an easy and customized computer interface to help using and search for information and to keep continuance.
This will be facilitated by using the most appropriate IT and non-IT knowledge sharing tools and techniques, to fit the project nature and circumstance.
First, tools and techniques, that are used to share project knowledge between different professionals and between different phases of the project:
1. Face to face interaction:
Face to face interaction is the tradition way for communication between the project team. While, it is an informal approach, it is a very powerful tool to share knowledge as it depends on the interaction between people in the workplace. Despite there are many techniques and tools for KM, face-to-face interaction still the most effective way to share the project knowledge. The face-to-face interactions between project teams have a great effect on solving the projects’ problem and help to the create new ideas. Moreover, face to face interaction raised the understanding of the project issues as there is immediate feedback.
However, there are some issues faces the face to face interaction such as, geographical distance. It is not always possible that the design team in the same place or even in the same geographical region. For example, in the case of a project team consists of different organizations, where the team have to make an appointment to meet other project members which take much effort and time. This makes this tool hard to achieve its goals to facilitate the communication between the design team and improve the flow of knowledge in the design phase.
2. Meetings:
Meetings are a kind of face to face interactions as the design team members are gathering to discuss the project issues. Unlike face to face interaction, meetings are formal approach to exchange knowledge. While meetings serve important functions, they are also highly demanding in terms of the time required to prepare, travel and attend. It is important before holding the project meetings to determine the value of the meeting, the agenda and the aims and objectives of it.
The project manager must prepare a meeting management plan with meetings’ time and issues to be discussed, so every attendance knows his role and the required information to be discussed in the meeting. Therefore, a concise report must be adequate and sent to the attendance before the meeting. All the necessary participants in the decisions taking must attend the meeting to provide the necessary knowledge which help in the decision.
3. Project Filing System
One of the tools that help the project team to share the project knowledge which contain all the project information such as, letters, e-mail, drawings, sketches, specifications, submittals, surveys, test reports, and even samples or materials related to the project. The project filling system can be electronic on the database or hard copy or mix between both. The most important is to keep all the project information in order so, it can be reached and retrieved easily. Nowadays, the common way to preserve information of the project is to use soft copies (electronic files) instead of the hard copies (paper files). So, it is important to make an organized directory structure when archiving the project information to be flexible, comprehensive, and accessible enough to all the project team.
The directory structure of the filling could be adopted according to the nature of the project. For example, if the project is a hospital, there will be a medical drawing and specifications files, while if the project is a compound the structure will vary and contain more files representing the project details.
4. Workshops, Training and Seminar:
Organizations usually conduct training programs, workshops and seminars for the new hires, promoted employees or those that their job descriptions are changed. The main aim of training, workshops and seminars is to improve the employees’ skills, add more to their knowledge, encourage active learning, and allow them to be openable to different resources. These programs are a face-to-face interaction which facilitated by Information and Communication Tools (ICT) and sometimes involves online training, computer-based training or web-based training. On the project level a workshop, a training or a seminar could be held to enhance the project team knowledge about the project they involved in. For example, if there is a new material that would be used in a project, the supplier of the material could make a workshop or seminar to explain the material to the design team. One of the problems that faces the training and workshop tools is the ability of the instructor to explain well and contact the audience. In addition to the ability of the audience to receive the information and concentrate through the training time.
5. Recruitment:
Recruitment is the process of adding new knowledge to the organization through hiring new people with new experiences. It helps the organization members to learn from the recruited members in a formal and informal way, so knowledge will be transferred and retained if some employees leave the organization. On the level of the project, some expert’s knowledge is needed in projects, so design firm recruit them permanently or temporary to help in the project and share his knowledge with other design team. For example, in an opera project, the design firm hire a specialist in theaters to make the design. The design team who work with the specialist is gaining knowledge about theatres. This knowledge, which is stored in their minds or coded as an explicit knowledge, will be part of the organization repository to be used again in other similar projects. It is very important in these tools to select the recruited people right with good experience and attitude to share their knowledge.
Second, tools and techniques used to share knowledge across projects:
1. Post Project Reviews (PPRs):
PPR is a technique used to extract the lessons learned from previous project. PPRs are important to share the knowledge of projects in an organization and know the lessons learned during the design and execution of the project. PPRs highlights causes of failures or any mistakes identified in the design and how these issues were addressed by the project team during the project and the best practices identified in a project.
However, the effective use for this technique, depends on the time to capture the project knowledge. Whereas, after the completion of a project, the project teams are usually split up to reassigned in other projects where their skills are needed, in this case the project knowledge will be lost. Therefore, a successful technique would capture the lessons as soon as they are discovered and would make them available other projects’ teams to get benefit from them.
2. Communities of Practice (CoPs):
“A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis” (Wenger et al., 2002). Members of CoPs possess different skill sets and experiences backgrounds, but they have common objectives that they share together. CoPs seeks to find different solutions and discuss new ideas related to construction projects and design phases, this is happened through interactions and discussions during a brainstorm session. CoPs are important to share different experiences, which compose the tacit knowledge, whereas these communities share ‘a common experience of practice’. CoPs helps to share knowledge across projects too, because it provides a tool to know who knows what through the previous interactions and discussions between the CoPs members. This is facilitating the exchange of projects knowledge.
3. Intranet and Extranet:
Intranet and extranet are a technology that is used to share information and knowledge in an organization or outside it. Extranets could be considered an intranet for an organization, but with an extension outside the organization, to be spread to different vendors and suppliers.
A project extranet is linking various parties, who participate in the project, with a network to exchange and store the project information in digital form. Its access is only extended to a specific user from those parties. Project extranets can help project members to:
- Share with each other the project documents that are updated, such as, images, drawings, files, specifications, standards, etc.
- Collaborate, by sharing the project documents for reviewing, editing, updating and storing.
- Manage the project and follow its progress.
- Have all the project history, which help to take decisions.
- Allow the preservation of the project information to be used in similar projects in the future such as, lessons learned, project reports, etc.
Few examples of such systems include Buzzsaw and Constructware by Autodesk; ProjectWise by Bentley; ProjectTalk by Meridian Project Systems; PrimeContract by Primavera etc.
4. Groupware Systems:
Groupware is a software that facilitate communication and collaboration among people in the work, even if they are not in the same place or geographic region. Groupware provided the services of sharing of database access, collective writing, sharing of calendars, electronic meetings as each one in the work can present information to others. In the construction project groupware is helpful to follow the project information and manage its resources. Groupware systems help to creates a project memory that store everything about the project even the meetings, the minutes of meeting, the lessons learned etc., which could be used in other projects. Some examples of groupware include Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes, both of them facilitate e-mail handling, calendar sharing etc. However, there is an argument that groupware is less efficient for exchanging more complex information or human knowledge, it is preferable to transfer documented knowledge.
Conclusions:
The AEC industry has a tremendous opportunity to make a positive impact on the environment and society through sustainable design practices. By embracing sustainable design principles, professionals in the AEC sector can contribute to a more sustainable future by reducing environmental footprints, enhancing energy efficiency, promoting occupant well-being, and fostering resilience. Collaboration, education, and a collective commitment to sustainable design will be the driving forces in shaping a future where the built environment harmonizes with the natural world, creating a healthier and more sustainable planet for generations to come.