Understanding Data Visually

If you have looked at many graphs and charts displaying metrics data you have no doubt scratched your head from time to time and asked what the chart is really trying to tell you, or why someone thought it important. The graphic portrayal of data should have one, and only one purpose; to make understanding of the data clear. Here are a few simple pointers:

Don’t measure and report something simply because you can. Measure and report what does or can make a difference.

Think about the timescale. Just because you can track it in real time doesn’t mean you should, or that it should be reported that way. If the variances over time are small, or if the opportunity to use it as a lever for positive change is small, then consider reporting the item on a quarterly basis.

Simplify for clarity. Too many charts confuse or hide what is really important because they include unimportant information and/or get too cute with the graphics. Graphics should be used minimally and to clarify, not to make the chart a piece of art.

Watch the value scale. Logarithmic scales are generally hard to interpret because we tend to take spatial relationships literally. If you have values with large spreads consider weighting them or annualizing them to normalize spread.

http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Gallery/ is one of the best websites I’ve seen about visual presentation of metrics data. Take a tour and look at samples of good and bad metrics reporting. Then look at your own metrics reports and ask yourself if you are really telling the story the way it should be told.

Green Construction Processes

See Greg Zimmerman's article at http://www.facilitiesnet.com/bom/article.asp?id=7357&keywords=green%20building,%20leed for an excellent summary of issues that surround green building projects. Notably, Greg comments on mindset changes that FM's are faced with when building Green.

Data Center Optimization: Increasing reliability, decreasing energy consumption Thursday, September 27 1:00 p.m. (EST)

Building Operating Management magazine is presenting a free webinar that many of you may be interested in. Here is the basic info, with a link to register.

Attend this free Webcast on high-performing data centers for a comprehensive look at their role in energy use, IT sophistication, sustainable practices and 24/7 operations.Produced by Building Operating Management magazine, this free, online, 75–minute Webcast will introduce you the best practices and latest technologies you need to ensure your data center operates consistently and cost-effectively.

Presented by Steve Spinazzola, Vice President of RTKL, an international architectural, engineering and planning firm, the Webcast will address many important topics related to a fully functioning data center, including:• the growing demand for uptime• what IT knows (and what facility executives don't)• factors making existing data centers obsolete• how these trends affect an organization• planning for the future• energy efficiency and green designRegister for this free data–saving (and job-saving) Webcast right now.

Negotiated Fee Contracts Have Their Place

Most Owners are reluctant to issue a major construction contract without knowing the bottom line cost. Getting to that point, of course, requires lead time for design evolution and documentation so that contractors can bid. There are times, however, when the advantages of getting the Contractor on board as early as possible warrant the acceptance of some additional risk. The question then is which project delivery method should be used, Fast-Track, Design-Build, or Negotiated Fee.

Negotiated Fee contracts offer many advantages, including early engagement of the Contractor while avoiding the contractual and schedule intricacies of other project acceleration methods. Certain project conditions strongly favor this option. Examples would be a hyper-critical schedule or the need for contractor participation in pre-construction activities such as value engineering, project estimating, and constructability reviews in a project where the Owner wants to retain as much control as possible.

In Negotiated Fee projects the selection of the Contractor is based upon a review of qualifications, appropriateness for the work, availability, and the negotiated fee points. RFP’s for a Negotiated Fee contract should include all of these and other routine due diligence questions, and your follow-up should be just as complete. Negotiated Fee contracts may or may not include a Guaranteed Maximum Price, depending on the state of design documentation and allowable time (use AIA Document A-411 for projects with a GMP, and AIA A-414 for those without a GMP).

The heart of the matter (assuming all of the contractors you are considering are qualified and appropriate) are the fees that you negotiate. These are provided by the Contractor in its RFP response and may be accepted as-is or further negotiated. Typically these include overhead and profit rates expressed as a percentage, a set amount per day for General Conditions, and the Change Order mark-up rate. Also consider locking in hourly labor rates and unit costs for typical items. Remember that General Conditions should be a set fee for a defined time period (day or week), not a percentage of the project cost. Finally, make open book bidding and Owner review and/or participation in the sub-trades buy-out process a firm requirement.

While some Owners may feel there is risk in this methodology the fact is that the Contractor is assuming more risk by setting these rates and agreeing to opening the books during trade bidding and buy-out, which protects the Owner against any attempts to embed additional costs. The Contractor also shares in the responsibility to deliver at the expected overall cost since they participate in value engineering and provide cost estimating services during the design process. Significantly, this model eliminates protracted bidding exercises between design completion and start of construction, thereby, saving time and money without compromising value or quality. The advantages of this delivery method go primarily to the Owner in increased speed and flexibility.

Call It What You Will

Six Sigma, Lean Sigma, Continuous Improvement and a few other labels you could name all define initiatives aimed at improving organizational performance. Regardless of which one you are called to execute, there are a few common strategies to ensure success.

De-mystify the initiative. Often people will trapped in set thought patterns and need help breaking out, or do not understand the real purpose and value of the initiative. The answer here is to keep it simple. Overcome complacency and resistance by being transparent and as always, communicate, communicate, communicate.

Consider beginning quietly. Instead of making a big splash with lots of hype, simply select a small number of projects that will demonstrate improvement and value, and go do them. Set up the teams, assign leaders, give them clear charters, and then get out of their way. In four to six months all should be complete and your teams will be able to point to their improvements. Before long you have several improvements, a new culture, new team-based relationships, and emerging leaders.

Speak clearly. All of the various systems seek to improve speed, quality, and cost. Too often, however, the goals or results are stated in these bottom-line numbers. That may mean something to the CEO and CFO, but be meaningless to those who have to do it and live with the changes. For example, in the construction business we always state the project in terms of its performance against the scheduled completion date and cost. Delivering a project early not only saves project costs, it also accelerates revenue generation from the new project. Saying that the client can begin shipping 10,000 units a day thirty days earlier than planned is sometimes a more powerful statement than telling them you saved $100,000 on project costs.