Jul 04

Lines of Communication

When compared to the construction itself, I suppose this may seem somewhat trivial, but I believe communication and collaboration are critical factors that shouldn’t be overlooked. Especially in the design stages of the project.

Working with a constrained timeline has required that we communicate openly make decisions as quickly as possible. To maintain forward momentum, we insisted that we have a weekly meeting with our architects, which happen every Thursday at 8am. We use these meetings to review the latest drawings, or discuss building materials, or review supplier quotes. It’s basically just a check-in for the week, but it ensures the team has everything they need to keep moving. The last thing I want to be is a bottleneck.

However these meetings are only part of the solution. To better coordinate everyone, we’re also using 2 pieces of networked software that the entire team has access to:

Basecamp
I was quite familiar with Basecamp previously, but I hadn’t had the luxury of actually using it in any meaningful way prior to this project. By design, it’s incredibly basic and acts as a simple way to share and collaborate on documents. Its beauty comes in its simplicity—The entire team can view and send messages and comments, plus it acts as a centralized repository for all files. Floor plans, inspirational photos, construction drawings—they’re all there for the team to see and comment on. We also use it for tracking project “to-do’s”, which has been incredibly helpful for Jess and I.

Google Docs
Another invaluable tool has been Google Docs. We’ve been using the spreadsheets to track supplier quotes, and the calendar to coordinate our schedules. Because it’s networked, you’re able to share and edit the same documents in real-time, which eliminates a lot confusion as everyone is literally working off the same page. The interface will be immediately comfortable if you’re at all familiar with Excel. Plus, there are also a host of other features (such as version control) that make it even more useful.