Shared Knowledge, New Perspectives, Even Better Collaboration

On 11 August, bim.GROUP held a workshop on its general design processes at BOOOK. The aim was to help our disciplines gain an even deeper understanding of one another’s work, processes and interfaces.

At bim.GROUP, numerous disciplines with extensive expertise work together. Each could operate as a fully-fledged organisation in its own right; at bim.GROUP, however, they work as one team, guided by shared expectations and often contributing to the success of the same projects.

General design is a complex process. Coordinating different spatial, scheduling and technical requirements, ensuring that information is shared at the right time, and managing changes are all essential to the success of every project. This requires our disciplines not only to understand their own responsibilities precisely, but also to recognise how their decisions and data affect the work of others.

Our internal general design workshop therefore went beyond a detailed presentation of tasks and responsibilities. It also created an opportunity to share experiences and ideas, gain a better understanding of different professional perspectives, and jointly explore the interfaces between our disciplines.

During the workshop, each discipline presented its work according to the same framework:

its role within the overall design process;
its tasks and responsibilities;
the information it requires from other disciplines and the information it provides to them;
the deliverables it produces during each design phase;
the critical interfaces between disciplines;
how it manages changes occurring throughout a project;
the BIM requirements it meets and the software it uses.

“General design does not work well simply because each discipline performs to a high standard individually. It succeeds when we understand one another’s needs, decisions and responsibilities in good time. We already have strong internal processes, but there is always both room and a need for further improvement—which is why this will not be our last workshop.” — Zsolt Ballay, General Manager of bim.GROUP

The workshop was an important step towards establishing a shared professional language, enabling more proactive communication and achieving even more integrated collaboration. We would like to thank the presenters for their preparation and all participants for their attention, questions and active involvement.