Building Dialogue

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50 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / JUNE 2015
How does your company take care of the client?
What specifics can you share? Why do you think it
makes a difference?
JB:At Saunders, weworkhard to define the success of the proj-
ect through our customer’s eyes. In fact, not only our customer,
but the entire team. By understanding what that success looks
like and what unique obstacles we need to overcome on each
project, customer care happens as a natural outcome.
EH: For over 40 years, Haselden Construction’s purpose is and
has always been to “fulfill our customer’s needs completely.” Ev-
ery one of our teammembers recognizes the importance of do-
ing the right thing and is empowered to make decisions, which
ultimately results in a better project outcome for our customers.
At the end of the day, we do what we say we’re going to do. It
makes all the difference in the world and in a highly competi-
tive marketplace, commitment is king.
DN: In an industrywhere reputation is everything, you need to
make darn sure that everyone in your company is putting the
client first. If you satisfy 50 clients but upset one, you are back to
rebuilding your reputation.
Early in a project, we engage clients in our Collaborative De-
sign Process to listen to their needs – and help themmake good
decisions. As projects progress, we complete three client satisfac-
tion surveys – to learn how we are doing and what we could
do more effectively. This is how we learn. We gather actionable
feedback through a robust in-person interview rather than em-
ploying a digital survey or push-poll.
TheNeenan Company has designed and built numerous suc-
cessful projects. We don’t point fingers; we take responsibility,
meaning we are also accountable to our clients. This is in sharp
contrast to our wasteful, litigious industry.
MR: Our goal is to be more than a builder – we strive to be
a business partner. We have made significant strides in bring-
ing more value to our customers, from the ability to offer broad
development and financing solutions to real estate and build-
ing assessment or looking at overall organizational and facility
operations on an energy-efficiency and operational cost basis
throughMortenson’s Center for Sustainable Energy.
Our highest goal is achieving our customer’s success factors.
The initial efforts in setting up the team and creating a collabo-
rative environment are crucial to a successful project. It makes a
huge difference because not only is there a lot of financial im-
pacts, but also impacts on both individual and corporate repu-
tations as well as overall impacts on the community as a whole.
How can the industry do projects “better, faster, cheaper?” (How
does technology fit into that equation?What elements contribute to
this outcome?Where does collaboration fit in? Self-performance?)
JB: Innovation has been a key strategic driver for Saunders for
some time now and we firmly believe in the advantages and
efficiencies it brings to design and build processes. However,
bringing teams together and developing high-functioning col-
laboration among all teammembers has the highest impact to
building better, faster and cheaper. The most state-of-the-art
technology or innovation can fail if the project team is func-
tioning poorly and communication is breaking down. Project
success is brought about by first building a strong and highly
functioning team and then implementing the best strategies
with the most effective tools and techniques available. While it
might be a bit “old school,” it still works.
Alongside high-functioning teams utilizing innovative tools
and techniques is the integration of the design and construc-
tion process. Streamlining design and incorporating modeling
techniques to flush out inefficiencies and conflicts earlier lead
to a quicker design cycle, fewer delays in construction, and lower
overall costs.
EH: WhenHaselden built the University of ColoradoHospital’s
new tower and critical care wing, we utilized multitrade pre-
fabrication andmodularization to build the project better, faster
and cheaper. In fact, our competitors said it couldn’t be done and
we beat both the schedule and the cost. We had the big national
contractors touring our project to learn fromus. Technology has
Recently, an esteemed group of construction industry lead-
ers presented a panel discussion during CREJ’s Development
& Construction conference. Topics ranged from taking care
of the client to doing things “better, faster, cheaper” (and the
new construction and technology solutions that enable it),
from collaborative efforts to the labor shortage, and from
funding to how a midsize company can grow and compete
against the big and the small companies.
Construction Panel
John Beeble
Chairman and CEO,
Saunders Construction Inc.
Ed Haselden
Chief Executive Officer,
Haselden Construction
David Neenan
Chairman,
The Neenan Company
Maja Rosenquist
Chairman, Vice President
and General Manager, Denver
Operating Group, Mortenson