Built assets underpin society and the economy. We must deliver a built environment that supports the needs of society while minimising its impact on the natural environment, argues Alison Nicholl, head of Constructing Excellence
The arguments about why we need to improve delivery are well made, and what needs to be delivered is clearly set out in the 10-year Infrastructure Strategy. But how do we deliver that strategy? How do we ensure that the assets we build and manage meet the fundamental needs of society, the economy and the environment?
This is what we will be unpacking at the Constructing Excellence Conference. The 2026 event will focus on the all-important “How?”
We have a plethora of industry reports and research. We have pockets of excellent practice, where organisations are demonstrating the art of the possible, showing that better outcomes are not a theoretical concept, but a reality.
There is so much pressure to deliver. In the rush to get projects off the ground, secure funding, gain planning, appoint teams and meet deadlines, we often follow well-trodden paths. There is little time to take a step back and think about how we can implement the best practice that will deliver better outcomes for all involved. We need to slow down to speed up!
Different clients and organisations are at different maturity levels. Expecting them to take a huge leap into a completely new way of doing things is unrealistic. It’s scary, it’s daunting and in many ways, it appears easier to stick to what you know – with all its flaws and failings.
Think about the changes you can make, look around for how others in similar situations are approaching those challenges, and implement a culture of continuous improvement.
How do we define what we want?
We often leap to defining the outputs we want rather than truly understanding the benefits we want to realise from our capital projects. Clients need to take a step back, ignore the external noise and think about what really matters to them.
We understand that client organisations have conflicting priorities and those need to be ironed out before we go to the marketplace – lack of alignment leads to difficulty downstream. Once we have clarity on what we want, we need to articulate that to the market in a way that allows them to innovate and find solutions that will deliver on those outcomes.
How do we set up for success?
Once we know what we want, how do we make sure that we don’t inadvertently create an environment that prevents us from delivering those outcomes? How do we ensure that we bring in the right people and organisations to help achieve our vision and incentivise them effectively? How do we use procurement as an enabler of success?
How do we deliver on that success?
Now to the challenge of delivery. How do we make sure that all of that great thinking and intent doesn’t get lost in the reality of deadlines, budgets and conflicting priorities?
What approaches, tools and techniques can we use to maximise performance and productivity successfully? How do we embrace technology and innovation?
At Constructing Excellence, we get it: you’ve probably tried lots of different ways to change, and they might not always have worked. You might be feeling a little disheartened. You might not be ready to go full throttle on a new delivery model. But we want you to consider how you can refine your approaches and embrace continuous improvement.
Constructing Excellence has a long-standing track record of driving improvement across the built environment sector. Our experience shows that meaningful and lasting change comes from collaboration and the open exchange of ideas and best practice.
Join us on 21 January to hear from our leading speakers, panellists and sponsors on how they have sat in your position and made change happen.
We want you to come away inspired about how you can build on the insight from the day and make meaningful changes in your own organisations, projects and roles. Through small steps and working together, we can deliver the high-quality built environment we deserve.
The post Actions not words: How will we deliver the quality built environment we deserve? appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.
