USE THE GILBANE METHOD

Another method used to get input from the prime subcontractors and involve the whole management team in the development of the schedule is to use a technique attributed to the Gilbane Building Company. This technique is addressed as a case study in

Construction Planning & Scheduling, written and published by the Associated General

Contractors (1994, pp. 23–25).

The general process of the Gilbane method is as follows: First, a preconstruction meeting is held with all the key team players present. Everyone should be thoroughly familiar with the project plans prior to this meeting. The project is discussed and a basic method or plan for the construction process is agreed upon. The team reaches a conclusion

of where operations will begin and how they plan on moving through the project. This is a fairly short meeting, lasting no longer than an hour or so in length. A follow-up meeting is scheduled within the next week to develop the schedule.

Each team member is supplied with colored 3 × 5-inch cards or sticky notes. Each person has his or her own unique color of note card. On their own, the team members list their activities on individual note cards. The activities are broken down the way team members feel is necessary to achieve control of the project following the process agreed to in the prior meeting. Each card or note contains the name of the activity and the duration of the activity at a minimum. The predecessors and successors could also be recorded, as well as the crew size and major equipment needed, particularly if the schedule is to be crew loaded or equipment loaded.

At the schedule development meeting, the facilitator (typically the project manager) tapes butcher paper or poster paper on the conference room wall. Some facilitators prefer the butcher paper that has a plastic film on one side because it is very durable. It is not unusual for the paper to completely wrap around the conference room. The project man- ager then posts the first note card with the appropriate activity on it. Next, each team member comes to the wall in turn and tapes or posts the activities on the poster paper in the appropriate place. As this takes place, the project is scheduled and discussed by the entire management team. Each person comes forward and then steps back as others post their notes to the schedule. The appropriate predecessor and successor lines are drawn with a pencil showing the correct relationships as the project is developed and discussed. Everyone brings extra blank cards because new activities and a further refining of activi- ties will happen as the meeting progresses. Each team member can easily recognize his or her individual activities in the schedule due to the unique color of the note cards.

After the schedule logic diagram is completed, it is a good idea to review the sched- ule to ensure the logic is correct and no major errors or omissions have been made. A quick forward pass could be done to determine if the project completion date is within the con- tract requirements. If the completion date does not meet contract requirements or team goals, the team addresses the problem now and adjusts the schedule to make sure it meets team goals and contract requirements. The attitude is, what are we going to do in order to improve our project plan and schedule. It should be emphasized that it is the participants’ schedule and they will have to live with it, so let’s get it right.

This meeting typically will take a few hours. However, generally it is a lively meeting and the time goes by fast. There will always be those subcontractors or team members who are too busy to attend, so the rest of the team members do their best to take into account the missing members’ responsibilities. It is not unusual for the missing members to be in contention with the schedule and to be the complainers at the job site. They will be reminded by the rest of the management team that they were too busy to attend the schedule develop- ment meeting or to send a capable replacement. Hopefully, they will not choose to miss that meeting again. This meeting is the best opportunity for everyone to provide input into the project plan and schedule, and has the potential of making the project a real team project.

After the schedule development meeting, the schedule is computerized and the logic diagram is printed. It is then desirable to hold a follow-up meeting with all the major team players to review and reanalyze the schedule prior to printing the reports that will be sent to all participants. It also works well to project the schedule onto a large screen so that all participants can easily see and review it. If problems are identified they should be noted. For example, the person inputting the schedule into the computer must not make any adjustments or changes to the schedule.

Chapter 17 • Creating Teamwork and Getting Subcontractors to Conform to the Schedule 167

This development process could be repeated as the job progresses. On very large projects, this process is done for a specified period of the job, rather than doing it for the entire project at once.