Adventures from P&Z
Group Projects Never Go Away
Remember those annoying group projects we had to do in high school and college? It seemed like everyone took on a different personality. There was the leader, the reliable second, someone who was annoyed but still doing some work, and then there was the total slacker- that Guy. Somehow, the project got done, but there was always drama.
I remember one in particular that I had to do. It was to design a book all the way through from concept, to design, to publishing, to sales. All the steps. (Lucky for my group I had taken graphic design classes.) We would meet at my home to talk about division of labor, help each other out if needed, and check each other’s progress.
But there was that one Guy…
Guy never showed up to our meetings. He didn’t respond to emails or group chat messages. He never let us know what he was coming up with for his part of the project. We had no idea what Guy was doing. His part? He had to come up with the sales and marketing plan.
Going into the actual presentation to the class, we had no idea what to expect from him.
It wasn’t pretty.
He had come up with a plan, but had never let us know what it was. We were all very surprised and had a few issues with his work. This could have been prevented if he had communicated with us.
Why am I telling you all this? Because group projects never go away in our professional lives. We may think they are a thing of the past, but that really isn’t true. This was made very clear during a planning and zoning commission meeting just two months ago.
As a P&Z commissioner I get to see all kinds of projects and requests. Some of the projects require multiple parts (building design, environmental reports, water, parking, sewer, etc). Each part has it’s own professional expert. Voila! Group project. It then has to be presented to the appropriate city/county departments, one or more commissions, and to city/county councils for final approval.
It is an expensive endeavor to put together a good set of plans and elevations. Each member of the team needs to communicate to get the job done right.
Well… there’s still always a Guy.
For example: a group was bringing forward an infill project. The agenda description looked like it should have been an easy approval. Unfortunately, Guy struck again.
The presentation was a mess. The wrong images were included and we could not read the drawings. The applicant had to try to create an image of what they really wanted to do by describing it in words.
The applicant apologized for not having the correct elevations, and definitely threw Guy under the bus. And, Guy deserved it.
In this case, Guy was actually hired to provide the information and elevations. He sent the wrong ones to the applicant, probably at the last minute. The applicant was embarrassed. He was also out a chunk of cash.
What could have prevented the issues? Honestly, at the very least, checking the work several days before the presentation. It would have provided time to fix errors and omissions. Of course, that assumes your contractor sends the completed work in a timely manner.
If your technical expert is from an outside organization, keep communicating with them. Check their work regularly. Make sure they understand what you need and when you need it.
This advice applies to any endeavor that involves more than one person, whether it be a duo or a dozen.
And, for everyone’s sake, do not wait until five minutes before the presentation to check what slides and images are included.