Drawing from your professional experiences, the information contained in this we

Question

Drawing from your professional experiences, the information contained in this week’s Learning Resources, and your own additional research, please respond to the following questions:

-What would you say are the top three technical skills required of successful BIM professionals? Why?

-What do you think are the threemost importantinterpersonal skills of BIM professionals? Why?

-Which skill (technical OR interpersonal) would you say is the most important for project success in multi-cultural, digital environments? Why?

Explanation / Answer

1. The three main skills required in BIM Prfessionals-

Building Information Modelling (BIM) offers the possibility of prototyping building design and construction options in a simulated system, before construction begins, offering the potential for improvements in productivity, product quality and sustainability. In addition, the information resulting from the design and construction process can be transferred for use in the ongoing management and operation of the building.

A. Soft skills-Personal and interpersonal management skills were rarely identified by BIM specialists as specific skills requirements within a BIM team, but more detailed exploration of the roles and relationships in a BIM environment brought out numerous characteristics that can all be categorized under this heading. Almost across the board, the response in the interviews to the question “What is the current roadblock to better BIM practice?” was “People”. Following up on this revealed a variety of peoplerelated issues that needed to be managed. In many cases the leading issue was change management and resistance to change. Successful project teams in a BIM environment require people who are flexible, open to new ideas, willing to discuss problems and negotiate solutions. As such, many of the skills required for successful project teams in a BIM environment are focused around soft skills. Several interviewees stated that when making appointments they select candidates based primarily on communication skills, personal traits or personality; I hire for personality, never hire for technology. That’s skills to be learnt.

B. BIM Technical skills-Although BIM-technical skills would appear to be a primary consideration in BIM roles, almost all of the interviewees agreed that it was the least important skill set, and meant nothing unless it was supported by discipline-specific skills and soft skills. One respondent stated that in their company they “have no place for someone who just knows the software”, and this sentiment was echoed by many others. Project teams were commonly selected on the basis of which people contributed the appropriate discipline expertise, and were the right “fit” for the team. BIM-technical skills were considered easily teachable to anyone who had the right attitude, and thus were just seen as an overlay to the other skill sets. In some organizations there was a role for those with purely BIMtechnical skills, but this was viewed as a limited position that had little opportunity for development within the industry or for wider project involvement. There is a role… as long as you know their strengths and weaknesses you can have them in the group and make sure that we do the process work around them and they can just carry on with what they like.

C. Negotiation and conflict management-The collaborative nature of BIM projects gives rise to the potential for conflict over roles and responsibility, particularly at the outset of a project when these are being defined. The BIM specialist in particular is often called on to lead the development of BIM project protocols and execution plans, which requires negotiation skills to help the various project contributors to come to an agreement. However, all of the project team members have to work with this throughout the project as responsibilities are revisited and adjusted along the way. Clash avoidance and clash detection processes can give rise to conflict between various parties to the project. In contrast to traditional project processes, such conflicts are more commonly resolved at an individual level within a BIM framework. As a result each member of the project team must be involved in managing conflict and negotiating solutions to problems, rather than relying on project leads in a more adversarial approach, as was previously the case.

D.Authority and leadership-Not every member of the project team needs to display leadership in the wider project context, but leadership more generally was a commonly identified soft-skill requirement in a BIM environment. In any construction project each person can be considered to have their own areas of responsibility, but interviewees felt that that this is accentuated in a BIM project team where project decision making is made in the context of a shared information model. In developing BIM environments, this is a particular issue.

2.The most important personal skills of BIM professionals-

According to the factor that i have learnt the most important skills are Experience,Internal - training and mentoring and  External - education and training etc

A.Experience-A number of participants argued that many of the soft skills identified stem from sound knowledge of the discipline, and that any BIM manager needs field experience in order to, variously “speak the language”, “feel the pain” or “stand toe to toe” with other participants in the design and construction process. In order to achieve good communication, there needs to be common understanding of construction roles and processes. Authority and leadership will not be granted or respected without solid grounding in practical knowledge. “You get out on site and start arguing with the guys on their playing field, doesn’t do any harm, doesn’t do anything negative to show them you know what you are talking about, people actually start listening to you for a change. Similarly, experience is essential for project participants to negotiate effectively, as an underlying knowledge is required to ensure that clashes are resolved appropriately and that decisions are made that suit the wider project environment. Although negotiation may be necessary to resolve conflicts, there is no advantage to the project if it results in the wrong decision.

B.Personality-One school of thought is that soft skills are innate, part of the personality, and so can be developed if a person already possesses them but cannot be instilled if they are not already present. Participants discussed personality traits such as introversion and extroversion in this context. One respondent suggested that a shy or quiet person could be good at the technical side of BIM, but was likely to struggle with much of the management aspect of the role which required projecting an air of authority.  As such, relying on personality assessments in order to develop team members with the desired soft skills is an uncertain approach, though mentioned by interviewees in terms of a person’s “fit” in a team.

C.Internal - training and mentoring- Senior management roles made a strong case for company-specific training in BIM processes generally, and in soft skills specifically. Because BIM processes in most cases are still in the development stage, each company and every project is still evolving their own ways of working. Developing relationships, agreeing processes and establishing cross-project communication approaches were all identified as elements of soft skills that should be included in company-specific training and mentoring for BIM project teams.

A related aspect was the approach taken by some companies of trying to make a significant step forward in BIM by hiring in BIM specialists from outside organizations. In this case the point was made that while technical and discipline skills may be transferable across the industry, soft skills are more individual to each company in terms of its vision of BIM and approach to collaboration. As explained by one management level BIM specialist.In one instance, as well as providing mentoring the company developed a “script” for project relationships. The team leader coached staff on the way their role interacted project participants. “I also give them direction, who your interaction is going to be with. So; you're supposed to interact with this person this way, you're supposed to interact with these ones this way, so that they understand exactly how their structure is.” In this way relationships were modelled and structured so that even staff with limited interpersonal skills could develop their roles appropriately.  

D.Currently, external training is most commonly offered by software companies, so it tends to be very generic and focused on simply using the software, rather than looking at the wider framework of processes and relationships. Some interviewees had worked with external providers to develop tailored training programs for their own staff, but most were critical of the courses and expertise such providers offered. Similarly, commercial skills accreditation processes were not seen to add any value. One of the key reasons for interviewees’ dismissive attitude is the emphasis on BIM-technical aspects, with soft skills elements presented as secondary or not presented at all.

University and other higher education courses are seen as similarly behind the times. Most recent graduates come into the industry with only a very limited knowledge of BIM. Although current students are being introduced to BIM, this is often limited to BIM-technical skills.BIM-technical skills can be learned relatively easily and passed on to students, interviewees felt that the biggest area of change in the industry was within the soft skills and relationships area, thus requiring the involvement of active practitioners to help prepare students for the environment they will be working within.

3.Both the Technical as well as personal skills required for a better results-

Tecnical skills helps to understand the project and analyse with your technical knowledge u can develop new essential thing in a project according to situation of project BIM skills help related the project.

Personal skills like Experience,communication,leadership quality and management.these personal quality make project quite smooth and easy.these are the quality which a BIM professionals should possess.its also improve indirect efficiency of project.

So both the technical as well as personal skills required in a BIM professionals.

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