176 Hahn, Schmiedinger, and Stephan
Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written
All group meetings are documented in a protocol which is published via the
electronic project management tool to all relevant employees (mostly all participating
employees), which grants that all involved people have the actual information about
decisions, problems, or facts. The IT solution also enables employees who are not
directly involved to keep in touch and stay informed, for example, marketing or purchas-
ing department as members of the information group.
Information means, therefore, creating the possibility for facing future situations.
In a special case, the purchasing department was so able to check possible suppliers in
advance to obtain better conditions.
Subphase II.4 – Exchange and Feedback
The exchange process defines the interaction between all technical topic groups to
prevent information gaps. In their group meetings, the technical topic groups work out
important elements of their special areas of interest. Important elements include those
that are of highly complex or are very time critical during the transfer between develop-
ment and construction department. These elements are gathered in a structured collec-
tion which is periodically reviewed.
A possible way to increase the quality of work is to establish an internal (or if
possible, external) feedback group, consisting of experts or experienced people. The
optional involvement of external specialists could be done by cooperations with
universities or research institutes, which is an upcoming topic in Germany (Edler,
2003).
The results (relevant elements, part concepts, solution concepts, or important
experiences) of a technical topic group are sent to a defined feedback group. This group
reviews the results and brings in their own opinion and also experience. The main goal
is here to use synergies between the knowledge of different groups and also to avoid
technological or organizational blindness.
Communication, information, exchange, and feedback:- Participants: all employees (partly), technical topic groups for communication,
exchange and feedback are managed by members of the development or construc-
tion department - Responsibility: project manager (for informing all employees)
group responsible for the work in the group - Preparation: information for all employees; in special cases (confidential informa-
tion), it is useful to involve the top management, organization of technical topic
groups and search for group manager (this task is performed during the target
definition workshop) - Content: information about project realization status; communication, exchange,
and feedback about important (development or transfer) topics - Goal: ongoing information of all employees during the project run time in all
departments following the development department. Usage of existing know-
how in following departments. Creating an increased “our product” feeling in
all participating employees for securing efficient and target-oriented coop-
eration