Collaboration is key, but how do you do it?

Exploring the importance of values

Collaboration has become a buzzword in the world of major projects and programmes – on trend, and frequently used, but usually without tangible explanation. So, what does it really mean in practice?

At ResoLex, we think of collaboration simply as helping teams work more effectively together to deliver desired outcomes. We work with leadership and project teams on developing collaborative and integrated ways of working, designing and implementing effective strategies to manage interfaces, and monitoring and measuring cultural maturity and behavioural risk.

We’re starting this series, ‘Collaboration is key, but how do you do it?’ to explore the ways in which teams can actually embed their collaborative intent project-wide. Our first area of focus is: Creating a values-based culture.

 

The importance of values for building and nurturing a positive project culture

Major projects are rarely afforded sufficient time for mobilisation and setup, with political, leadership and stakeholder pressures more often than not, driving a focus on ‘getting spades in the ground’ to show some semblance (or illusion) of site progress. Time and budget constraints only add to such pressures, and collectively, these factors can mean leaders miss important opportunities to build strong foundations and set their teams up for success, especially when it comes to culture, values and behaviours.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, values are “the beliefs people have, especially about what is right and wrong and what is most important in life, that control their behaviour” . Our values help guide our decision-making, help to provide us with a sense of comfort and belonging, and help us connect with others, and to our organisations. In the project environment, meaningful values that resonate with people can encourage teams to connect, demonstrate desired behaviours, and make decisions that best support the desired outcomes and ways of working of the project or programme.

 

But why bother with project values when the individual organisations that make up a project almost always have their own?

Project values can help:

1. Create alignment:

• Drive focus on strategic objectives: In project environments, sometimes it can be a challenge to shift mindsets away from individual organisational goals, towards a project-centric focus. Co-created project values support that effort, and aligning project values with the project’s strategic objectives encourages every action, decision, and behaviour to contribute to achieving the project’s vision. This shared focus helps to unify efforts, build team cohesion and maintain clarity.
• Foster cooperation and collective success: Meaningful values can help foster a sense of mutual responsibility, with team members feeling a sense of belonging and purpose as they contribute to the project’s success.
• Consistent communication: Genuine, meaningful values can become a framework of sorts – a routemap that sets out how we do things around here, the attributes we value, and the way we talk to one another. Actively using the project’s values can support consistent and respectful communication internally within the team, and externally with stakeholders and customers, promoting trust, reliability and clarity.

2. Promote a positive environment:

• Encourage positive behaviours: When values reflect the project and are co-created, there’s a stronger sense of ownership and accountability amongst the team. People feel more committed to upholding the values and behaving in alignment with them. Shared values foster respect, openness, and psychological safety. This leads to a more supportive atmosphere where team members feel valued, stress is reduced, and performance and productivity enhanced. This doesn’t mean that the project environment is free of conflict – it means that diversity of thought and healthy conflict are encouraged, and the best decisions are made.
• Drive motivation and engagement: A values-driven culture creates a sense of shared purpose and belonging, which in turn boosts motivation. A strong sense of belonging has been proven to drive greater engagement and productivity.
• Enhance resilience and adaptability: In a project environment, challenges and setbacks are inevitable and can be dramatic in scale, cost and/or impact. Shared values demonstrated by all – especially those in leadership – and especially when in crisis, help to provide a clear sense of purpose, and a guiding light during difficult times. This can help the team remain focused and balanced as they work through the problems.

3. Enable and empower quick decision-making:

• Consistent decision-making: Values can help provide guidance for decision-making that aligns with the project’s long-term vision and principles. They act as anchors and behavioural guides that help keep decisions grounded in the project’s core objectives.
• Minimise conflict: When the team shares the same values, it becomes easier to work through differences and keep focused on collective success.
• Facilitate empowered decision-making: Values help to empower team members to be confident that their choices align with the projects core values.

At ResoLex, we work with many of our clients to co-create, embed and nurture values in major project teams, so we were already believers. But recently, the importance of values was really brought to life when we took our team to visit Align JV  at their South Portal site.

 

Site visit: Align Joint Venture

The Align joint venture consists of three international and privately-owned infrastructure companies; Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine, and VolkerFitzpatrick, who together, are constructing the Central 1 package of the UK High Speed 2 line (HS2). Their scope includes delivering the record-breaking Colne Valley Viaduct – which is the longest railway bridge in the UK, as well as constructing HS2’s longest twin-bore tunnel at 10 miles long.

We recently had the pleasure of visiting Align at the South Portal site, hosted by Head of Engagement & Compliance, Darielle Proctor and Stakeholder Engagement Specialist and Community Engagement Lead, Duncan Fallon.

Although we haven’t worked on this specific part of the HS2 project, we have supported the project in many other areas, and we were thrilled to be invited to the site to see the record-breaking works in action, and learn more about the JV renowned for their culture, collaboration, and ways of working.

Align have overcome some substantial geographical, environmental and technical challenges throughout the project, and have worked through the challenges thanks in part to their strong team culture.

Initially identifying a difference in culture and ways of working between their respective parent organisations, Align JV understood the need to create a one-team culture and an integrated project tea

m. They created values that supported the overall vision of the client, HS2, and brought together the partner organisations, including supply chain and they worked tirelessly to embed and nurture them until they became norms.

From the beginning of our visit, our team were surrounded by a feeling of community, identity and belonging. The values adorned on the side of the building as you drive in and across their sites were role-modelled by everyone we came across, from driver to receptionist to site supervisor. Our conversations with the team underscored the importance of good leadership and project champions, of cultural training and awareness, and of the value of a supportive, trusting client team. The commitment to collaboration and a values-based culture shone through in all aspects of delivery, from recruitment and training, to internal and external communications, and of course the physical working environment – on-site and in the office.

The values of safety, respect, integrity, excellence, and collaboration held by Align encourage a culture of inclusion and collaboration, and all accounts seem to be working!

Thanks for having us!

 

Darielle Proctor, head of engagement and compliance, said:

“It was a pleasure to show the Resolex team how we do things at Align and the lessons we’ve learnt along the way. We have made real effort to make sure that our culture at Align is engaging and empowering and that our values and associated behaviours drive our day to day interactions and project delivery. They are now part of who we are, what we do and how we do it!

“I believe that our success and ongoing commitment of the Align team is down to the emphasis we have continuously placed on the project culture and creating an integrated project team.”

Keep an eye on our LinkedIn page for the next instalment in the series.