Projects and Culture 101- The design of humane, engaging and effective

knowledge sharing environments.

Your presenters:Brian Hill

and Dr David Week

Dilberts ultimate

house(DUH)

A bit more about usDr David Week

PhD

Principal, Author, Architect

Brian Hill

Principal, Human factors consultant.

The conundrum..People in projects need to collaborate in effective knowledge sharing spaces.

But what activities do

those spaces need to support?

How can they be organised? How do they influence

people and project culture?

The answer…

It depends….

Sorry :-)

…On project organisation/s…

• Project effort typically occurs across clusters of people: FT/PT staff, subcontractors, 3rd parties and other organisational boundaries. All of them will have their own cultures, norms, business drivers and motivations. The greater the disparity, the greater the complexity and risk

• Increases reliance on shared learning, effective communication and co-operative cultures

…on artifact availability…• Knowledge artifacts (tacit/explicit/chaotic)• Information landscapes (how can you use the environmental cues

you have to work with?)• Opportunities for collaboration and access to shared learning• Shared or agreed tools, techniques and processes• Social and spatial organisation• Reference to timelines/sequence

…On peoples networks..Which can be

represented through Social Network Analysis tools (or information flows)

How many degrees of separation are you dealing with? How much can you plan for? What can you accommodate?

Balancing the tensions between:

• ‘caves and commons’• quiet vs collaborative

space• co-locating where

affinities and dependencies exist

• Commercial interests, customer needs /constraints and project outcomes

…On peoples environments..

EG Deacons lawyers projects

workgroup themes1:• More space allocated to

working together• Greater personal mobility• Greater security• Greater differentiation• Greater control over paper

…expressed as a pattern language..

1 Workgroup example provided in Week,D (2002) The Culture Driven Workplace, p190-191, RAIA, Canberra

The Courtyard Green the courtyard Add water Add a glazed space Place the entrance within

the courtyard Run circulation around

the courtyard

…and pattern language elaboration..

1 Industry example provided in Week,D (2002) The Culture Driven Workplace, p196-207, RAIA, Canberra

The Building Natural light and air Design against glare Create dedicated ‘concentration

space’ Views Create libraries, not rabbit

warrens Create dedicated ‘collaboration

space’ Create places to relax The kitchen

Furnishings and fitout Home away from home Comfortable chairs, big desks Surround people with amazing

objects and information Low ambient lighting, good task

lighting Relax the geometry Hide the cables

Lihir Island

Let’s consider a new KM

conundrum

Sustainable Lihir1983 Exploration commenced

1995 Integrated Benefits Package adopted

Construction started

1997 Production started

2023 Open pit mining and processing of

high-grade ore complete

2041 Processing of stockpiled low-grade ore complete