How can I motivate teammates to adopt yet another workflow? I recognize the value of BIM, but my teammate has a hard time seeing it the same way. How do I close the gap?
Helping your team adopt BIM is often no easy ask. To do it effectively, we need wide technical knowledge and the right application of soft skills. Here are three major principles that have helped us speak BIM fluently.
1. Keep the End in Mind
Habit 2 from Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People works just as well for BIM adoption. Helping your teammates see through the challenges ahead to the long term benefit of BIM is the most important to maintain motivation. We are big advocates of "showing, not just telling". Showing others what the potential result could be in look and feel creates an achievable possibility that they can strive for in their BIM journey.
2. Principles Over Procedures
You know when you've successfully onboarded a new BIM when they bring new workflows and techniques to the table that you've never heard of. BIM not only involves organization, but also system design and problem solving. Specified procedures are an efficient way to document project flows but can't adjust for a broad set of problems you will encounter project after project. Helping teammates walk on their own in BIM means also giving them the mental and perspective tools to design in BIM in addition to the skills required to work in it.
3. Adopt to Adapt
BIM adoption doesn't end at being able to produce a nice model. As our understanding of the world is enriched with data, the demands on BIM workflows will only increase. Evolving workflows is the new constant. Continued adoption means continuing to adopt new tools, workflows, and perspectives.