A Wrench in the Gears!

​When your design project vision is clear and you have selected the professional team that you will be working with, the last thing you want is for third parties to throw a wrench in the works.
 
The next-to-last thing you want is to be paying your design team for damage control, after the fact, because of trouble directly caused by neither you nor your team.
 
But, it does happen.  Because there are myriad details and many participants, sometimes trouble can develop in aspects of the project path where you or your team cannot have seen it coming.
 
The small stuff (it can feel big in the moment!) may be annoying, but can usually be resolved quickly.  Larger “wrenches’ that shut down the whole machine are quite a different matter.

There is no lack of examples – some that could curl your hair – and most of them could have been prevented.  Many of the mistakes, oversights, miscommunications or accidents can be traced directly back to poor quality controls.

For every detail there’s a process. For every process there’s an opportunity for good quality control – or big mistakes. No one wants problems!

Meticulous pre-shipping procedures are not always applied.  All the good training and instructional integrity possible still cannot rule out simple human factors such as distraction, preoccupation with personal problems or impatience.  Assembling the inventory of elements for a freight load that must be received – and installed – before the next stage of something can proceed, while arguing on a cell phone, is an invitation for trouble.  An entire project can be brought to a halt if what is needed is missing from the delivery.
 
A client may have invested many hours making selections of materials and components, only to have installers arrive, open boxes or crates and find damaged goods, the wrong goods or an incomplete order. 
 
One unfortunate experience occurred when one of my clients, after waiting patiently for weeks, finally received their custom order of imported, unique and beautiful fabric.   When the order was unpacked, it was discovered that within the folds of the fabric something had stained and ruined the beautiful material.  It was obvious that the damage had nothing to do with its journey from factory to destination.  It was packed in its damaged condition.  Someone did not carefully unfold and inspect the many yards before packing and shipping.
 
(Then there was that office completely painted in very wrong colors – to the horror of the client ...  But that’s another story!)
 
As upsetting as such examples are to the client, they do not compare to situations where entire aspects such as wiring or plumbing are placed on hold because equipment is delayed or arrives inconsistent with specifications.
 
When such trouble occurs, your professional team is best equipped to do the damage control on your behalf.  It is important to remember that your team knows the right channels through which to track down where and how the problem developed, and who can make it right.
 
When you make a mistake with your own part of the project, or the team has to backtrack for something in their bailiwick, that’s a very different challenge!   It’s the problems you or your team could not have predicted or prevented that can seriously compromise the timing and completion goals of your project.
 
Your professional team has made sure that the responsibility for such problems is placed squarely on the parties responsible.  It does not help the situation if you dive in and try to fix it without knowing the appropriately applicable way to get to the heart of the matter – however well meaning your intentions are.  Let your designer, project manager or other appropriate professional know there’s a problem -- as soon as possible!