Strategic client briefing : a model for building project inception

The pre-design phase of the building process, which involves client briefing at project inception, provides the foundation for a successful project. Indeed, a clear client statement of a project's strategic direction, with a definition of its performance requirements, is essential to guide the design team in its preliminary work of establishing the nature of the project. Moreover, an essential requirement in the project inception stage is the need to gain the views, ideas, knowledge and needs of stake-holders who can play a key role in the description and definition of the proposed project. But, sadly, past practice has tended to ignore or limit the role of these key participants. As a result many completed buildings have not satisfied the needs of this important group. Therefore, future practice aimed at gaining the best value buildings cannot afford to exclude them from the process. Yet, despite the acknowledged importance of this phase it has generally been neglected in terms of research and practice. Accordingly, an innovative method for the project inception stage called, Strategic Needs Analysis (SNA) has been developed here. This approach uses a seminar and workshops to formalise the project inception stage into a series of activities to encourage stake-holders: information sharing, options development and decision-making. The outcome of the process is a defined and documented strategic direction and a statement of desirable functional requirements expressed within an agreed, performance brief. The Strategic Needs Analysis process aims to be inclusive and formal yet flexible. Strategic Needs Analysis also adopts the use of the decision-making software, Strategizer, into its workshops to assist the participants in the workshops to arrive at an agreed decision on the project. This research describes project inception along with potential models for this stage and then proposes Strategic Needs Analysis as an improved model. The author describes how Strategic Needs Analysis was designed, piloted, analysed and tested in six case studies concerned with the activities and decisions made at the project inception stage. That is, this research follows an action research methodology using organisation-based case studies. All the case studies are based on actual projects in several different organisations with participants using Strategic Needs Analysis to guide them and to assist them in making a strategic project choice. The case studies are described in detail and they are consistently analysed using participant surveys and process attribute measures. This allows the strengths and weaknesses of Strategic Needs Analysis, using the participants survey data to be identified and discussed. Finally, recommendations regarding managerial commitment to this, or any project inception process, are stressed together with the need to ensure representative and solid stake-holder representation at all times are proposed for improving future processes and practice at this important stage in the development of a project. An idealised model of the project inception process is recommended