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On your company鈥檚 next construction project, will you try to be a mindreader or a micro manager?聽 It鈥檚 a dilemma we often encounter in the construction world.

As businesses grow, they need to expand. But constructing new space brings many owners outside their comfort zones.聽 Suddenly they鈥檙e bombarded with the multiple risks of construction cost, schedule and quality. That鈥檚 in addition to the risks they face in their regular day jobs.

How involved should an owner be in the construction of their business expansions?

It鈥檚 tempting to transfer a project鈥檚 risks as soon as possible to the designer and/or builder. But experience strongly indicates this strategy isn鈥檛 in the owner鈥檚 best interest. An owner should stay involved in project planning until the project scope is clearly defined. Checking out early can backfire by shifting risk back to the owner in the form of change orders for additional and/or revised work as the project progresses.

What鈥檚 the ideal amount of owner involvement? The sweet spot of involvement is somewhere between mindreading and micromanaging your project team. The chart below illustrates the point.

Spending too little time helping define the project early has an insidious habit of driving costs higher. Without owner input a design/construction team will make assumptions that can lead to overestimation of project scope. When an owner seeks to add scope later in the game, budgets and schedules suffer.

Conversely, the owner who micro-manages the design and construction process can inadvertently 鈥済ild the lily鈥� with added features that may not be necessary for successful project delivery. Owners need to trust the experience of their design and construction professionals.

In other words, talk early and talk often. When owners and their project teams can avoid having to guess what each wants and needs, everyone works more efficiently.

Steve Cook is the vice president of industrial and advanced technology聽at聽. Contact him at [email protected].