Changing Behaviors Upstream to Achieve Expected Outcomes

Abstract

A behavior-based approach to quality has been proposed to highlight the impact that upstream behaviors have on the overall outcomes of construction projects. The focus of this pioneering approach is first to understand that certain behaviors lead to conversations in which expectations are clearly identified and understood by the different project participants, and then to set measurable acceptance criteria so that the final result can be compared with what was agreed. Previous research has described the approach and provided positive results in satisfying client's expectations, but the process to achieve such outcomes has not been captured. This paper captures the implementation of this behavior-based quality (BBQ) approach to quality management, that has as its main goal to have no surprises, zero rework, and to improve delivery of value to all the project participants engaged at any point of a construction project. Construction projects are to be planned first for quality to fully understand expectations of what the team should build, then for safety to identify any potential risks associated with the processes to build the agreed work and define how tasks will be built in a safe manner, and then for production to secure flow and an adequate use of resources.

Lean, Psychological Safety, and Behavior-Based Quality: A Focus on People and Value Delivery

“…Pounds et al (2015) highlighted the impact of human behavior is achieving quality, saying that "quality is a result of what frontline employees do or don't do." The role frontline employees play is key in the process of quality; however, the authors of this paper also highlight the role of "first planners" in this process (Gomez et al 2019). In building psychological safety, it is expected that every member of the team takes ownership of their contribution to the process to achieve quality.…”

“…Schein (1992) said that psychological safety can help to overcome defensiveness and learning anxiety in an era where managing the change is not enough but managing surprises faster and faster is the new priority. Spencley et al (2018) and Gomez et al (2019) proposed that a BBQ approach will increase the likelihood of managing surprises in construction projects and achieving the expected quality. According to them, BBQ shifts the reactionary approach of quality approaches that act once problems have occurred, and highlights the impact that upstream behaviors have on the outcomes achieved.…”

Building Quality Builders: Lessons Learned From a Companywide Training on Behavior-Based Quality

“…In parallel with BQB training, the authors kept learning from project implementation stories. Gomez et al (2019) described a case study where the concept of BBQ was applied to the delivery of the component of architectural shear walls for a large project. This implementation highlighted areas for improvement in the delivery of quality components such as the need to:…”

“…During 2019 -2020, DPR Quality Group developed a virtual workshop called Building Quality Builders (BQB) to lead DPR teams through activities to prepare them with skills and resources to align and strategize on their quality implementation plan. The workshop was developed with the main intent of helping participants to create an action plan for the team to implement DPR's Behavior-Based Quality (BBQ) approach (Spencley et al 2018, Gomez et al 2019, and Gomez et al 2020. The workshop helps participants to identify Distinguishing Features (DF) from all stakeholders' perspectives, to manage DF's timely, to agree on Measurable Acceptance Criteria (MAC) before the scope of work is handed off, and to communicate MAC to the field to have clarity on the work to do and ultimately avoid surprises (e.g., defects, rework, owner's dissatisfaction).…”

Building Quality Builders: Lessons Learned From Scaling a Companywide Training

“…The course is designed to intrinsically initiate DPR's quality culture approach by invoking passion and excitement within the course content. The primary intent of the workshop was to help participants create an action plan to implement DPR's Behavior-Based Quality approach (Spencley et al 2018, Gomez et al 2019, and Gomez et al 2020 on their specific project jobsite. The workshop also initially intended to draw from the need for psychological safety in Quality conversations, training (Edmonson, 2012), and the need to improve communications using language action perspectives (Flores, 2012).…”