How to Make BIM Agile? – Agile BIM 10/10

How to unleash the creativity of BIM teams, improve communication, and use changes to build a competitive advantage?

In previous posts in the Agile BIM series, we introduced the basics of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and agile management methods (Agile) along with translating Agile principles into BIM language. There are already the first investments successfully combining the informational order provided by BIM with the agility offered by Agile. An example of this is the El Camino Medical Group Hospital Campus Project in Mountain View, California [1]. Read about Agile BIM Implementation.

This post is part of the “Agile BIM” series. Click below to check out other entries.

1. Why BIM? Origins of New Solutions – Agile BIM Part 1/10
2. British Approach to BIM – Standards and Protocols – Agile BIM Part 2/10
3. CDE in British Standards – Agile BIM Part 3/10
4. Why is CDE so important in BIM? – Agile BIM Part 4/10
5. Przykłady platform wymiany danych CDE – zwinny BIM cz. 5/10
6. What is BIM? – Agile BIM Part 6/10
7. BIM vs. Traditionally Managed Construction Projects – Agile BIM 7/10
8. Agile Project Management – Introduction to Agile – Agile BIM 8/10
9. Translating Agile Principles into BIM – Agile BIM Part 9/10
10. How to Make BIM Agile? – Agile BIM 10/10

Inspiration

In this post, inspired by the above example, I will look for answers to the following questions:

• Can Agile complement BIM?
• To what extent are BIM and Agile principles identical?
• How to unleash the creativity of BIM teams, improve communication, and use changes to build a competitive advantage?
• Which elements of construction project management can be changed to better take advantage of the agility enabled by BIM?

Due to the wide range of issues that can be discussed in answering the above questions, I will focus on three areas:

• division of roles and responsibilities,
• work organization, and
• communication, primarily in meetings.

There are many variants of Agile, one of the most popular being Agile Scrum, so further, more detailed considerations will be based and limited to this variant [2] [3].

Roles in an Agile Project

In Agile Scrum, 3 roles are distinguished:

1. Project Team, which should have all the necessary resources and skills (various, complementary competencies) and is responsible for planning, organizing, and performing the work. Teams consisting of specialists know exactly how and when to do the work to achieve the set goal. This means they should be able to self-organize to best utilize their knowledge and unleash creativity.
2. Product Owner is responsible for contact with the client and represents their point of view. Making decisions regarding product development and the use of the project team’s time.
3. Scrum Master is responsible for implementing Scrum, understanding and following the principles, and removing obstacles.

In construction projects (investment tasks), there are more roles, but within the BIM project team, the role corresponding to the “Scrum Master” can be taken by the “BIM Coordinator.” This person is responsible for adhering to standards, supporting the team, and delivering the model with agreed quality parameters. A role similar to “Product Owner” can be taken by the “Project Manager or BIM Manager.” The basic difference is that in traditionally managed construction projects, including those implemented in BIM, project teams have a plan, division, and organization of work imposed by superiors, which may result in the underutilization of their potential. Changing the team structure to a self-organizing one is possible because specialists know their work perfectly and can choose the optimal way to achieve the goal. Management should create and nurture an appropriate work environment, motivate the team, and exercise more subtle control.

Planning, Division of Work, and Information Exchange

A characteristic feature of Scrum are the so-called sprints, iterations (repetitive time cycles, usually from one to four weeks) of length determined by the team, adapted to the company’s natural work cycle or project specifics. Scrum is based on teamwork, which at the end of each sprint should deliver a finished product. This guarantees feedback from the client and the Product Owner that if the project is going in the wrong direction, it won’t lose more time than the sprint length.

Each sprint should consist of:

• Sprint Planning, setting goals and ways to achieve them,
• Daily work control by any methods chosen by the team,
• Sprint Review, summarizing and presenting the day’s work results,
• Review, improvement suggestions, corrections, and new concepts.

Such a defined sprint can be treated as an individual project, which means reducing the scope of work to be done and completed within a specified time.

Information Exchange in Agile BIM – Agile BIM Implementation

The Product Owner creates a list of needs in the Product Backlog in order from most to least important. At the beginning of the Sprint, the team decides what and how they can deliver from the Product Backlog. This meeting, called Sprint Planning, should not last more than one day. The plan, called the Sprint Backlog, is created by the team, so the team is responsible for it and knows how to implement it. A crucial part of this process is short daily meetings. This is the Daily Scrum or Stand-up meeting and should not exceed 15 minutes. During the Sprint, the team also prepares for the next Sprints by reviewing, discussing, and organizing the Product Backlog. This Product Backlog Refinement usually takes 5-10% of the total Sprint time.

CDE structure with Agile BIM Implementation

The organization of the Common Data Environment (CDE) and its division into Work in Progress (WIP), Shared, and Published is based on a similar solution. Iterative information addition and planned space for feedback collection are present. Information is collected from the client and other project participants (investment tasks). Differences that may arise compared to Scrum principles include longer iteration periods without feedback.

Additionally, there is a tendency to keep tasks in the “almost finished” state for a long time. In traditionally managed construction projects, teams do not have the opportunity to independently plan their work. There is no custom of daily short 15-minute meetings. In most traditionally managed projects, there is only one type of meeting – “the meeting.” It is long, covers a wide range of issues, and participants engage minimally to endure it [4]. In projects implemented according to BIM, it is possible to change the organization of the team’s work, including the types and intensity of meetings.

El Camino Medical Group Hospital Campus Project in Mountain View (California), source: www.dpr.com

Example of Agile BIM Application in Practice

A good example mentioned at the beginning of the post is the El Camino Medical Group Hospital Campus Project in Mountain View, California. [1]

The hospital building of about 23,000m2 (with parking about 40,000m2) and a value of about 100 million USD, thanks to the combination of BIM and agile management methods (Agile):

• Was completed 6 months ahead of schedule (assuming traditional methods)
• Delivered below the assumed budget
• Had zero clashes on the construction site (all inter-branch clashes were resolved in the coordinated BIM project)
• Was estimated to improve work efficiency by 15-30%

Designers worked under a tight time regime. MEP modelers were required to interrupt work daily for 15 minutes to check progress with each other and the team leader. Also, to determine if they could meet the commitments of weekly coordination meetings. The MEP engineers worked in an agile process mode (frequent short face-to-face or online meetings to continuously verify the project status and take corrective actions).

Based on experiences from this project, 4 types of meetings can be distinguished, the scope and form of which corresponded to meetings characteristic of Agile:

• Kick-off meeting
• Daily Stand-up Meeting
• Weekly Coordination Meeting
• Sign-off meeting

The task and priority planning method named in Scrum, Backlog, is technically nothing more than a board that allows tasks to be placed, assigned to specific people, and moved to appropriate columns. The simplest structure is, for example, “To Do,” “In Progress,” “Done.” There are simple programs like Asana, Jira, Trello, Smartsheet, and many others. Such solutions are successfully used in BIM projects.

El Camino Medical Group Hospital Campus Project in Mountain View (California) executed in BIM technology, source: www.dpr.com

Transparency and Following the Change

For Agile Scrum to work, it should be based on three pillars:

• Transparency – allows everyone to see what is happening in the project and reduces the risk of hiding or postponing problems. If the Team says it has completed work, it means it is truly finished and can be shared. If there are delays or organizational problems (e.g., members of different departments do not cooperate), they are visible to the Product Owner, who can take immediate corrective action.
• Inspection – analyzing what is happening in the team, project, and organization. This allows quickly noticing problems but also opportunities for improvements.
• Adaptation – the ability to change plans and adjust the entire process to reality (e.g., changing the scope, technology, team operation).

In construction projects with BIM, the 3D model and standards PN-EN ISO 19650-1 (and earlier BS 1192:2007+A2:2016 and PAS 1192-2:2013) common data environment (CDE) provide full transparency. The BIM Manager can track project progress, analyze the situation, and respond to problems.

In traditionally managed projects, the problem is sticking to initial plans and schedules. This results from contract provisions, leading to ignoring the impact of changing external conditions. The El Camino Medical Group Hospital Campus project shows that time and budget can be preserved while unleashing team creativity. By adjusting plans and scopes of action, the desired outcome is achieved.

This cycle does not exhaust the topic of Agile in BIM projects but indicates trends in the pursuit of greater productivity in construction. It also highlights selected areas where improvements are possible.

Synergy of Agile BIM – Agile BIM Implementation

In summary:

• In many areas, BIM and Agile methodologies have very similar principles. Agile management methods can support projects (investment tasks) carried out according to BIM.
• Organization of the Common Data Environment (CDE). The transparency it creates and its division into Work in Progress, Shared, and Published (according to BS 1192:2007+A2:2016 standards). These solutions are similar to Agile principles that emphasize breaking down work into smaller series and subsequently presenting completed work results to the client to obtain feedback.
• Unleashing team creativity. Teams are composed of specialists: architects, engineers, managers who know their work perfectly. Increasing their self-organization and enabling a creative approach to problem-solving is possible through changing the way teams are managed.
• Reducing the number of “almost finished” tasks and obtaining feedback in short cycles. Publishing results of “finished” work will improve the efficiency and quality of team performance.
• Improving communication is not only about CDE but also effectively gathering feedback and adjusting plans based on the current situation. Very helpful are short 15-minute daily meetings. Through these, you can understand the progress of work, identify problems, and adapt plans to the current situation.

Literature

[1] https://www.dpr.com/projects/camino-medical-group-medical-office-building

[2] https://agilemanifesto.org/iso/pl/principles.html

[3] Krystian Kaczor, “SCRUM i nie tylko. Teoria i praktyka w metodach Agile.” Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 2019

[4] Patrick Lencioni “Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Busines”, John Wiley & Sons, 2004