Knowledge (Requirement) Capturing/ Elicitation in Client Briefing

KM during the briefing process follows the established generic system (Ibrahim et al., 2006), summarised in six processes (Turban et al., 2011) i.e. capture knowledge, refine knowledge, store knowledge, manage knowledge, disseminate knowledge and create knowledge as depicted in the figure 3.10.

Figure 3.10: Cyclic Model of Knowledge Management System (adapted from Turban, 2011)

For the purpose of this paper, emphasis is placed on knowledge capturing during the client briefing process. This first stage of the briefing process is essential to the success of any project and figure 3.10 shows knowledge capturing as the first process in the KM system (Turban et al., 2011). Hari et al (2005) defined knowledge capture as a process through which knowledge is recognised from its source, examined and in accordance with the organisation’s strategy. Appropriate techniques and technologies are implemented to retain the knowledge, which is filtered, banked, disseminated and updated. Powers (2005) suggests that one of the first steps in capturing knowledge is to identify the critical knowledge that might be at risk in the organisation as a result of downsizing or retirements. Collison and Parcell (2001) put forth their views that knowledge capture means capturing know-how in such a way that it can be reused. There needs to be a link between capturing knowledge before, during and after an event, project or task has

Capture Knowledge

Refine

Knowledge _Knowledge Store

Create Knowledge Manage Knowledge Disseminate Knowledge

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been executed; and in terms of accessing what has already been captured. Train et al., (2006) study focus on efficiency and effectiveness to drag the construction industry out of its perceived low productivity growth.

Clients are becoming more sophisticated, insisting on better value for money, and demanding more units of construction for fewer units of expenditure (Egan, 1998). The demanded products are also becoming more complex, with increasing emphasis on environmentally friendly facilities. The fragmented nature in which the industry is organized means that efficiency in project delivery is less than expected, resulting in dissatisfied clients, and low profitability for construction firms (Hari et al., 2005; Carrillo et al., 2004). In addition to the many initiatives that are being introduced to address these issues, the effective management of project knowledge is now seen as vital in enhancing project performance in construction projects. Becerra-Fernandez et al., (2004) defined knowledge capturing as the combination of knowledge elicitation and knowledge representation. During the client briefing process, knowledge (requirement) elicitation is carried out by capturing client’s requirements which is useful and important information from the users and this process represents the starting base of a good client brief. Certain knowledge do exists during the client briefing process and these knowledge must be adequately captured, elicited and properly documented in order to allow the project to meet its desired objectives thereby leading to satisfied clients in the end. The next section addresses the benefits of KC as an important tool in the project client briefing process in the UK construction industry.

3.7.1 Importance of Knowledge (Requirement) capturing or Elicitation in

Client Briefing

Olatokun and Pathirage (2015) reported that KC initiatives provide opportunities for organisations to innovate, improve project methodologies, cut costs, save client time and reduce time to market. Knowledge is a complex concept which consists of information and skills acquired through experience. Knowledge represents itself in truth and belief, perspective and judgments, expectations and methodologies and exists in individuals, groups and in organisations, in various forms. Capturing client’s requirements using KC techniques during client briefing is vital for the competitiveness of an organisation as well as performance. The type of decisions made is based on the quality of information elicited from clients during the client briefing process (Hari et al., 2005). KC initiatives provide opportunities for organisations to innovate, improve project methodologies, cut costs, save client time and reduce time to market. Knowledge is a complex concept which consists of information and skills acquired through

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experience. Knowledge represents itself in truth and belief, perspective and judgments, expectations and methodologies and exists in individuals, groups and in organisations, in various forms. Capturing client’s requirements using KC techniques during client briefing is vital for the competitiveness of an organisation as well as performance. The type of decisions made is based on the quality of information elicited from clients during the client briefing process (Hari et al., 2005). The Information Technology Construction Best Practice (ITCBP, 2004) suggests that discussions about knowledge management usually refer to the need to capture one or both of the different types of knowledge which are the explicit and tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is the very factual information that is relatively easily to document, i.e. a list of experts; telephone numbers, and details of previous contracts for a particular client; methods of repairing a common fault, and so on. Tacit knowledge is much harder to address. It refers to the more subjective approaches people take in situations where there may be no single right or wrong answer. Tacit knowledge is seen as one of the keys to why a particular organisation is successful.

Knowledge capturing in the client briefing process involves use of both tacit and explicit knowledge. One of the key benefits of knowledge capturing in the client briefing process is the ability to elicit requirements from clients which is knowledge embedded in the mind of the clients in relation to the anticipated building they have in mind and these requirements needs to be properly documented (explicit) in such a manner that the client team can produce quality clients. It has been identified that one of the major reason behind defective clients can be traced to inadequate time given to the briefing process and this can account for the high level of increased cost and delay in project delivery. Quintas (2004) suggests that knowledge capture could lead to better problem solving and higher client satisfaction and improvement in the client briefing process in the pre-client stage of construction projects. As a result, giving adequate time to the client briefing process can reduce the level of client mistake that occur in the construction process and also improve the quality of output produced at the end of the project. However, no matter the amount of time given to the client briefing process without the right knowledge capturing tools and techniques, it could most likely lead to a frustrating activity which could impact on the overall objective of the briefing process. This goes to highlight the importance of knowledge capturing in the client briefing process and shows that no matter the quality of knowledgeable professionals and client present at a briefing meeting, the knowledge management strategy used to address the process has a major significance on the productivity of the process.

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According to Achammer (2009), the costs of briefing cost about 1.5% of the total life cycle costs of the project. However, this relatively small amount immensely influences the performance of the overall costs, which can rise up to more than 80% of the total life cycle cost. When a project commences, the costs for changes are still minimal, but as the project progresses, there is an increase with the cost of changes that occur to the project. This is why it is very essential to capture the necessary knowledge available at the early phase of the project by properly eliciting requirements and documenting them properly. One of the underlying challenges discovered is the lacking willingness of today’s clients and professionals to invest into the pre-design phase and this can be addressed by proper and adequate insistent communication between clients and professionals. The intention of every client is to build an excellent and unique building. However, the definition of excellence is subjective and varies within the different decision makers and the planners transforming the wishes into the build reality. “There can´t be an excellent building without knowing what´s excellent”. The client briefing process uses several knowledge capturing methods to make these different pictures transparent and decreases the variety of diverse imaginations. The client briefing process provides the basic discussion and supports the development of clearly defined goals. Gould & Joyce, (2009) stressed the importance of involving the user (client) in the writing of the brief because they have unique and specific requirements for that particular project. Client’s understanding may vary when it comes to building processes, as a result, those owners who seldom occupy themselves with building projects often need guidance and assistance from the professionals hired to produce the client brief (brief) and the client. In such cases, the professional may need to take more initiative in involving the owner in the client briefing process.

Conversely, owners that are more familiar with the building process do not need as much assistance since they are already familiar with other building projects. This does not, however, rule out the importance of client brief and effective requirement elicitation process. Once the decisions have been made in the pre-design stage, they cannot be easily changed in other stages. This means that early stages are very critical to the success of the project and it is vital that decisions are made cautiously. This is a stage that requires all the stakeholders’ involvement, clients and expertise of the client team (Wapukha, 2013). The pre-client stage is the most critical phase in the construction decision making process, however, if the knowledge that exists between the professionals and the clients is not properly elicited and documented accurately, it may lead to deficiency in performance output and this can also lead to dissatisfied clients and a bad reputation for the organisation. Having discussed the importance of KC in the construction

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project especially during the client briefing process, capturing client knowledge adequately during the briefing process can be one of the major differences between satisfied and unsatisfied clients. The next section discusses the importance of client satisfaction, the factors that affect client satisfaction and the need to invest time and energy to the satisfaction of clients in construction projects.