The importance of focus in any project relies upon the owners' representative

The secret to any project is to maintain focus on one's target without diversion onto tangents during the critical decision process. Due to the nature of the development business, most critical decisions are made in meetings of large groups (sometimes with bleacher seating!) of individuals with similarly large opinions. Good manners dictate that one acknowledges each idea presented; however, good leadership mandates that one selects only 2-3 viable options and brings the group to consensus on the best one. In the event that the critical decision path is not "focused," items that might normally comprise moments of a single weekly project meeting might instead linger for hours over several meetings without reaching a practical solution. Critical development decisions will always receive input from three distinct sources: the architect/design team, construction manager and the owner/developer. The owners' representative plays, perhaps, the most important role in the decision process because it also serves as the project's mediator. Although generally retained by the owner/developer, the owners' representative can be relied upon to offer an objective view of the ideas presented and can provide focus to the decision making process. The architect/design team brings vital information regarding the details, systems and constructibility of a project. If not "focused," the selection of appropriate systems for a specific project can become a major obstacle in its development, while costs for redesign or constructibility generally cannot be borne by tight budgets. An example of this is found when considering which HVAC system to use. Selection factors can include initial cost, operating cost, aesthetic value, etc. The choice of system must be more than simply what system is in place at a neighboring site, and often will be decided largely by the recommendation of the owners' representative after it has carefully considered all options. The construction manager's role in project development is similar to the others in that, if purchasing or project management gets distracted from the established goals, the project will fall off schedule and will incur cost overruns including unforeseen carrying costs. Purchasing departments need to have concise scopes of work assigned for all trades so that there is no delay for long lead items and so that disputes do not arise over the responsibility for specific aspects of the work. Field supervisors must have good coordination so as not to impact the flow on-site and each subcontractor must be required to live up to the commitments of its contract. Focus during active construction is maintained through highly detailed schedules and open lines of communication between all parties. The owner/developer has often engaged a marketing consultant early on in the development process to ensure that the end result will be well received in the marketplace when brought online. It is imperative that the marketing team be included in the decision process early on in order to communicate market trends to the design team during the preliminary design phase of drawing development. The marketing consultant will greatly influence the owner/developer when making decisions regarding room size, flow and finishes. Interaction with the construction manager is key so that milestone and lease agreement dates can be met. Once again, the owners' representative will coordinate this work so that the input flows seamlessly between all team members. With constantly changing markets, new innovations in technology, and quickly moving trends, it is becoming increasingly more challenging to keep all members of a project team focused on its ultimate goal. This is especially true when projects span multiple years or are extensively phased. A good owners' representative has the requisite knowledge and expertise to corral digressing members and to maintain focus through final completion. Jeffry Wengroff is the executive vice president of HE2 Project Development, LLC, Rockville Center, N.Y.