Experience feedback in construction projects - Consulting firms

Purpose: By actively working with experience feedback, construction companies can reduce unnecessary errors and gain a competitive advantage. As the cost of correcting errors is lower at the beginning of the construction process, experience feedback is important for consultancies. Experience feedback is a term that describes the process of recording experiences then utilizing that recorded data in future projects to inform decisions and processes. The report studies the routines linked to experience feedback in a well-established consultancy in Sweden, identifies obstacles and propose possible improvement measures. Method: The research strategy underlying the study is a case study of a qualitative nature. In order to collect data, interviews were conducted with employees from different sections of the case company. Document analysis of the case company's routines and literature studies on the research area were conducted. Findings: The study finds that the company has experience feedback procedures in place, but they are used to different degrees depending on the type of project. The company meets certain objectives that contribute to good experience feedback, including the collection and documentation of experiences and the sharing of knowledge between employees. Emphasis needs to be placed on making knowledge more readily available so that it can be better used, while documentation of experiences needs to take place in all types of projects. Implications: Employees believe that time constraints in construction projects contribute to the fact that experience feedback is not done to the extent it should be. Projects are more or less complex and therefore the company works in different ways with experience feedback. This can be seen as an obstacle to better implementing experience feedback in the work process. If the case company places emphasis on documenting knowledge more continuously, including experience feedback in smaller projects, while making the information more searchable and easily accessible, there is a good chance for the organization to develop further. Limitations: The study has attempted to give a general picture of the experience feedback process in the Jönköping office. By interviewing employees from different sections of the company, the authors have managed to answer this question. As the number of respondents is six, it is not possible to guarantee that the results correspond to the image of the case company. The respondents who have contributed to the study possess knowledge of the chosen topic, which strengthens the result