Our Healthcare Program Solutions team spends much of its time representing owners as they work their way through the execution of major capital programs. Many of our team members have spent time not only on the consulting side of the owner’s team but have worked for some of the clients we serve. In order to deliver superior outcomes to our healthcare clients, we have to know what our clients want. To do this, we spend time communicating with owners and listening to their thoughts on firms and people they hire for support. Based on that feedback, we offer the following three thoughts about what we believe our clients want—for us to collaborate, listen, and understand.
Collaborate
Most owners we partner with want teams that work effectively together to solve problems. As the primary holder of risk on any given project, owners realize there is a cost associated with poor teamwork and constant conflict. Owners do not expect perfection, but they do expect teams to find solutions to the problems we uncover (or create). They want us to learn from difficult situations and not repeat them. Certainly, the typical contract structure is at times an impediment to this way of thinking given that each firm is legally incentivized to protect themselves. With that said, we would argue that teams working together to solve problems, focusing on the greater good of the project, ultimately reduce the risk to their individual firms. In our experience, project teams exhibiting this type of behavior find themselves completing projects that meet their client’s needs.
Listen
Perhaps the most common complaint we hear from our clients is that team members are not listening to what they have to say. It’s virtually impossible to receive high performance marks from the client if you aren’t seen a good listener. One of my favorite quotes by Gene Buckley states, “Don’t try to tell the customer what he wants. If you want to be smart, be smart in the shower. Then get out, go to work and serve the customer!” Practice these simple tasks;
- Don’t interrupt when the client is talking
- Don’t inject yourself into their narrative of the problems they need your help to solve
- Just listen, quietly and intently
- Ask questions to clarify issues so your team has a clear understanding of what they’re being asked to do
- Thoughtfully bring back options and potential solutions
- Listen again, and again
Understand
Healthcare in the United States is complex and fraught with uncertainty. It often seems like the burden of navigating the rules of operating successfully are left to the clients we serve. In our experience, healthcare owners value service providers who understand the world the owner lives in—one who can think about how (or if) we can leverage the design and construction process to address some of these problems. These challenges may not always be conducive to a strict design and construction schedule. A simple example is using major capital projects to help maintain or even improve physician relationships. These key constituents have unique needs and, like all of us, want to be heard and listened to. Find the time and the way to do this. Involve them in your process and go out of your way to accommodate their daily schedule and be responsive to their thoughts.
Conclusion
Spend time considering the issues your client faces. Then, spend time considering how your area of expertise can be leveraged to address and overcome those challenges. Be flexible and willing to do whatever it takes to make the client successful. We have to partner together, no matter what side of the table you sit on.
As always, we welcome your thoughts and ideas on how we can together provide better service to our clients.
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 60 Medical Office Building Contractors + CM Firms for 2022
PCL Construction, Adolfson & Peterson, Swinerton, and Skanska USA top the ranking of the nation's largest medical office building (MOB) contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 50 Medical Office Building Engineering + EA Firms for 2022
Jacobs, Gresham Smith, KPFF Consulting Engineers, and IMEG Corp. head the ranking of the nation's largest medical office building (MOB) engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 100 Medical Office Building Architecture + AE Firms for 2022
CannonDesign, Perkins Eastman, HGA, and E4H Environments for Health Architecture top the ranking of the nation's largest medical office building (MOB) architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 60 Outpatient Facility Contractors + CM Firms for 2022
Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., PCL Construction, Skanska USA, and Power Construction top the ranking of the nation's largest outpatient facility contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 40 Outpatient Facility Engineering + EA Firms for 2022
Jacobs, IMEG Corp., Gresham Smith, and TLC Engineering Solutions head the ranking of the nation's largest outpatient facility engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 100 Outpatient Facility Architecture + AE Firms for 2022
Perkins and Will, HDR, CannonDesign, and Massa Multimedia Architecture top the ranking of the nation's largest outpatient facility architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 90 Hospital Facility Contractors + CM Firms for 2022
Turner Construction, Brasfield & Gorrie, DPR Construction, and JE Dunn top the ranking of the nation's largest hospital facility contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 80 Hospital Facility Engineering + EA Firms for 2022
Jacobs, AECOM, WSP, and Gresham Smith head the ranking of the nation's largest hospital facility engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 130 Hospital Facility Architecture + AE Firms for 2022
HDR, HKS, CannonDesign, and Stantec top the ranking of the nation's largest hospital facility architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 6, 2022
Top 115 Healthcare Sector Contractors + CM Firms for 2022
Turner Construction, Brasfield & Gorrie, DPR Construction, and JE Dunn Construction top the ranking of the nation's largest healthcare sector contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking factors all healthcare sector work, including hospitals, outpatient facilities, and medical office buildings.