Major infrastructure projects seem to become more complex every year with new technologies, equipment and regulations, numerous stakeholders and suppliers and agendas. The opportunities for something to go wrong are numerous.

When things get complicated, human nature being what it is we all tend to revert to looking inward and protecting our own position. Everyone is anxious to make sure they do their part and, by default, won’t be blamed if something goes wrong, so they start with a defensive, protectionist attitude to working with other companies.

Ask most senior managers what is the best way to achieve an outstanding project result, and the answer is consistent: collaboration. It is well known that the team is stronger than the individual. Yet, time after time, companies retreat from taking a collaborative approach when procuring supplier services in the belief that by doing so they can drive down prices and have greater distance and protection if something goes wrong. Ironically of course the odds of something going awry increase with poor communication chains.

The economic pressures of the last few years and tighter budgets have led to the people elements of projects getting lost. Organisations need to remember team collaboration is the best way to save time and money and deliver the best possible outcome.

TenBroeke’s approach has been built on collaboration right from the start. Experience working on major infrastructure projects had shown time and again that expensive mistakes happen when people don’t work as a team, across functions and companies.  The upside is significant. Better value for money, greater certainty of programme delivery and outcome and improved whole life costs can all be realised through collaboration.