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By: Josh Mathews, CMAA
OAC Meeting. Laydown Area. Substantial Completion. CO. Topping Out Ceremony. Change Order. Punch list. PP&E. I would venture these are not topics that you learned in any teacher training coursework nor in any educational leadership degree program. However, for many of us, as we navigate our journey as an athletic administrator and/or school administrator, we encounter these things and many more during large construction projects on our campus. As the only athletic administrator on campus in most cases, you will most likely be called upon to oversee and/or offer input during times of renovation to buildings and areas that impact campus events. When it comes to construction renovations, the starting point should be the same as other components of our job: the mission. Although the starting line for construction may need to combine the overall school mission with the mission of the education-based athletics department, those missions must be the starting line for any project. Is the idea within the mission and vision of the school? Is the scope of the project consistent with the long-term mission of the school and athletics department? Is the project sustainable, or is it so myopic in nature that it would take away more value than it adds? Start with the mission before moving from the idea stage to planning a full-on project. How do building ideas become a reality? What do they look like in reality? This is where the design phase becomes critical. No idea ever becomes exactly what is later built or renovated, but no design plan for athletics construction projects works well without the input of the athletic administrator. Think about some of the common features that are often overlooked:
These are just a few examples of important design features that should be considered during the design phase of the project. In addition to those common features, be aware of what problems the construction project is intended to solve for the school. What were the areas of heartburn in the old building? Or, if this is a new construction, what elements are important to the stakeholders? Similar to how athletic directors are often asked to be amateur meteorologists, the design phase is the time to become an amateur architect. What will this construction project solve is the question that should be answered. When viewing architectural drawings, athletic directors must know what they are looking at. Just like watching film to study an opponent, viewing the big CAD drawings on paper or within an app is a must for the athletic administrator. Study them! Learn the vocabulary, the designations, the side notes, and spend time reviewing the drawings. You want to become familiar with not only how to get to the drawings, but also what is in the drawings - and, just as importantly, what is not in them. While you are studying the drawings, make notes of questions you have. Once you get your questions organized, put them in an email to the construction manager or project manager for answers. This will give you a paper trail and a place to remind you of how your questions about the project were solved by the leaders of the construction. Finally, it is not too early to start thinking about how you will manage events with this new or renovated facility operating on your campus. Will it change how only sports in that particular venue are managed, or will the new/improved venue alter the way other venues and events are managed? New facilities are great, but remember, when it is complete, you will have the responsibility of running all your campus events. Start formulating those plans during this design phase - mentally picture how your daily and game day checklists will work in this new facility. Once the architectural concept has been approved and the needed funds have been secured, determine who needs to be involved from this point forward. Is it a district-led project, where the district decides the group who will lead and oversee the construction? Sometimes this means the local school will decide upon a liaison who will represent the school in meetings and decisions throughout the construction process. It may be a project being orchestrated at the local school level, where you as the athletic director will take on the lead. Or maybe the booster club is funding it and a coach is the lead, but you will need to maintain involvement so the overall campus operations are always considered. Regardless of who owns the lead in the project, the athletic administrator is almost guaranteed to have some level of involvement during construction, so being informed of everyone’s role - including your own - is paramount for smooth operations during this time of disturbance. Once the plans have been submitted and approved, rest assured those disturbances just mentioned will start, so you will need to answer many questions. What will be the effect on practices, games, or summer camps? Will we need to alter game schedules or how we host games and events? How long will each organization be impacted? How will we hold events, especially major events, during the construction process? Where will the construction ‘lay down’ area be located, and how will that impact campus operations? How will parking be impacted? In general, who will be impacted and for how long? These questions and many, many more will need answers; the best answers come when input from all stakeholders is considered. Creating clean lines of communication between all of those involved can be difficult, but giving everyone necessary updates and providing avenues for feedback is absolutely essential. Not everyone can be in the weekly OAC (Owner, Architect, Contractor) meetings; however, you as the leader can communicate in the most appropriate ways with the stakeholders to gather as much feedback and preferences as possible. You are not likely to think of every possible issue or scenario that may affect the long-term success of the construction project, so talk to your stakeholders often, especially the ones who will use the facility on a daily basis. Communicating often with your stakeholders will allow you to be knowledgeable and prepared to make on-the-spot decisions that will be required to make on behalf of specific programs and users. If you are the project leader or liaison, the construction phase will be the most intense phase. It consists of weekly update (OAC) meetings, deliveries, informal meetings with the construction managers, and lots of time walking the site. Much like preparing to win a game and studying film, there are hours each day needed to oversee an active construction project. Just like our coaches planning for their games, this stage will require you to put other priorities on the back burner. If you have other duties outside of athletics and this construction project, you might want to sit with your supervisor to discuss which daily duties to delegate to another person during this intense building time. One leadership skill that needs to be present during the actual building phase is overall organizational management. Organization of time and materials is paramount during this time. You should have efficient processes to create reminders for yourself as you will experience many situations that require follow-ups while spending time out of your office. You will collect both hard copy and electronic documents that will need to be filed for easy retrieval and historical account. Your organizational capacity will be challenged during the construction phase; what mechanisms do you have in your management arsenal to steer you through this phase? Additionally, be prepared to create and add signage before, during, and after the project. Signage for afterwards can usually be built into the project as it relates directly to the operations of the new or renovated facility. Signage during the project is vital to directing visitors to the proper areas for the safety of them and the workers. Do you have someone who can make temporary signage for you quickly? Do you have a color printer? Who will routinely follow up to make sure that temporary signage has stayed in place? Also, consider alternate plans for these areas if your first attempts at redirecting traffic does not work. Before we discuss project completion, there is another phase to consider: the miscellaneous phase. Will you get everything you want? Maybe if the pocketbook is bottomless, but most likely, there will be plenty of times where compromise is required. Which of the items that might be luxuries do you prioritize over others? Do we want the third bullpen mound in the new covered pitching area, or do we want the project to cover the new cost of relocating the old batting cage? Do we add the laser projector, or do we choose the branded logo at the entry? If you can only choose one, what is your compromise? Most importantly in this phase is to tell people what you want. You cannot get things that people do not know you want. Start communicating what you want prior to the project and repeat these things throughout until you hear a hard no. Sometimes money can be saved and shifted to allow for 'extras' to be added, and the only way the managers will know how to use these extra funds is if you have portrayed the importance of what you want. Be persistently patient. Compromise, presence, and persistence are miscellaneous pieces that will help you build the project that brings the most benefit to your school. Speaking of compromise, how attached to your summer vacation are you? Most major projects happen during the summer or over holiday breaks, so by accepting this leadership 'opportunity,' you are committing to being present during times that you might typically be at the beach or an amusement park. Not that vacation is impossible, but construction can easily alter the normal rhythms of breaks in our school calendar. Finally, the completion phase. CO - Certificate of Occupancy! This is the goal; this is the scoreboard saying you have more points than the other team with no time left. What do you do now that the new or renovated facility is ready for use? Do you have a celebration? If so, when do you do it: before a game or stand alone? Who is invited? Do you give them a memento to remember this occasion? You have nurtured this project to the end, so you will want to be a part of creating and managing the final punch list. If the architect is a seasoned pro, he/she will catch a lot of details, but you should be a loud voice in creating the list of things that need to be fixed within the determined punch list time. No building will be perfect, but some things can be improved even after gaining occupancy. Lastly, a nugget from a wise coach, “Live in it before you go crazy decorating it.” Everyone will want to add banners, branding, and decoration, and while some of that is great, have a few events in it before decorating the walls. While the public sees the construction process through the scope of beautiful architectural drawings and new, modern images of your facility, very few see the construction project through a lens of the different stages that you will navigate during this season of construction. As you go through each stage of the process, you will be impacted the most and will be required to face new challenges that will grow you as a leader. These challenges will bring new expertise to your toolbelt and new energy to your community through the new or improved facility.
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Leading Through Big Construction [NIAAA]
