DISPUTE AVOIDANCE





Collaborative Working

The assumption that recognising the objectives of collaborative working provides people with an understanding of the processes that enable them to implement it is fundamentally flawed.

Trust is a pre-requisite to the attainment of successful relational contracting outcomes.  Much is spoken of the need for trust in collaborative working arrangements yet little of it exists in the construction industry today (or ever did).

Modern forms of contract seek to embody collaborative working principles within contractual relationships in the form of a "spirit of mutual trust and cooperation".  However, many industry clients still seek to take advantage of lower prices when market conditions harden and the converse is true of contractors when prices rise.  Either way, the benefits gained through strategic partnering arrangements common at the turn of the century have, in today's markets, been somewhat lost.  What is required is a means of consistently achieving lowest price on individual projects whilst preserving the benefits that collaborative contracting brings.

HOW IT WORKS

  1. Register your project with us for free.  It will demonstrate your commitment to collaborative working and dispute avoidance.  Then purchase the ROPE Management Core Documentation.
  2. Start by using the Core Documentation within your own project environment and team.  Using the guidelines as a template, develop with your team your own plan for delivering the project including clear accountabilities.
  3. Add project risk management, change management and pain/gain mechanisms to suit the requirements of the Project.
  4. Essentially, employ the Relationship Monitor to identify underlying tensions or frustrations before they become projects issues.  And then engage with our advanced collaborative training modules to address project, process or people needs and develop deeper understanding of the project teams inner workings.
  5. Finally, don't shy away from those difficult conversations that are needed from time to time.  Our unique form of alternative dispute resolution is free when project teams utilise ROPE Management for their projects.

ENTER ROPE MANAGEMENT

ROPE Management stands for "Right Outcomes for Project Environments".  If a project can "Start Right, Stay Right and End Right" then the expectations of all project participants are more likely to be met.

ROPE Management is an enhancement to project activity applicable to both traditional and design and build contracts as well as being implicit in relational contracting.  We help you to unlock the value beyond the contract.  ROPE Management is part of our Dispute Resolution and Avoidance Toolbox (DART) and comprises a suite of tools that when used together deliver the best that collaborative working and dispute avoidance has to offer within today's increasingly price conscious market.

BENEFITS OF COLLABORATIVE WORKING

Adopting collaborative working is ot an act of altruism; it is a strategic business decision that yields significant returns:

  1. Improved Project Outcomes: Studies consistently show that collaborative projects have a higher probability of being delivered within budget and on-time.  The reduction in transactional costs and conflict costs feeds directly into the bottom line.
  2. Enhanced Innovation: A collaborative environment, free from fear of blame, empowers individuals to suggest new ideas, materials and methods.
  3. Increased Efficiency: Streamlined communication, joint problem solving and the reduction of rework and delays all contribute to a leaner, more efficient construction process.
  4. Reduced Conflicts and Disputes: BY building trust and maintaining open channels, misunderstandings are minimised and small issues resolved before they escalate into major disputes.
  5. Stronger Stakeholder Relationships: Successful collaboration builds social capital.  Clients are more likely to become repeat client and team members seek to work with each other again.

The ROPE Management Toolkit

Recognising the critical need to build and maintain trust, CINDAR has developed  a suite of tools for tangible change.  This takes the form of eight integrated Protocols.  These are not theoretical concepts but practical tools designed to operationalise collaborative working and provide the structure needed to avoid disputes.

Dispute Avoidance through Collaborative Working

This Protocol is the foundational philosophy and rationale.  It provides the "why" behind collaborative working, setting the cultural tone and shared understanding for the entire project team.

Download for Free

Project Management Guidelines for Collaborative Working

This Protocol provides the "how-to" guidelines.  It describes the processes for integrated team building, shared governance structures and collaborative decision making frameworks.

Project Processes for Collaborative Working

A partner document to and to be read with Protocol 2, this offers a detailed road-map.  It maps out the specific workflows for collaborative planning, design development, cost planning and change management, ensuring all parties are working from the same playbook.

Collaborative Risk Management

This Protocol moves risk from a defensive to a pro-active exercise.  It establishes a live, shared, Risk Register owned by the entire project team,.  Risks are identified, evaluated and allocated to the party best able to manage them, with mitigation plans developed jointly.  This allows for predictable cost forecasting through shared contingency.

Change

This Protocol shows project teams how to go about dealing with Change procedurally and in accordance with the main forms of contract.  It ensures that Change is dealt with in an approved way to minimise misunderstandings.  It includes procedures for dealing with urgent Change needs.

Pain/Gain Arrangement for Collaborative Contracting

This Protocol aligns commercial interests.  It moves beyond fixed fees to create transparent pain/gain mechanisms that rewards project team participants for achieving collective targets related to cost, time, quality, safety and sustainability.  This drives out waste and embeds lean thinking.

The Collaborative Relationship Monitor

This is the "trust thermometer", a revolutionary tool involving regular anonymised surveys of the project team to measure the health of key project variables and relationships.  It identifies underlying tensions or frustrations before they erupt into formal disputes.  It provides empirical data on the projects social dynamic.  It includes details of the Advanced Dispute Avoidance Training Modules that give effect to improvement in the several areas measured.

Project Issue and Dispute Resolution

This is the safety net.  It establishes a suite of clear processes for resolving issues that bypass traditional conflict methods with the goal of achieving resolution at the lowest level at the earliest time.

Reduce time and money spent on disputes


Today is the day to build the project environment of your dreams. 

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REGISTER YOUR PROJECT FOR ROPE MANAGEMENT



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