BIM Business Culture = Change
It is apparent that BIM will become the normal working process in the future; evidence have shown current benefits of BIM and even more opportunities it may bring in the future. But how do we embrace BIM? ,there are no two answers to that question, the only answer is "CHANGE".I often heard from small companies " How do we implement BIM" , I have highlighted some areas to be addressed when taking the steps towards transition to BIM.
1. Implementing BIM means you are changing your software as well as your culture because changing to BIM will affect your workflow between team members and consultants and your projects .Therefore every team member must be ready for this change.
2. Do you sometimes work with contractors and engineers, how do you exchange information or how do you collaborate? This also matters because we are not always alone on a project, your shift to BIM will affect other stakeholders as well, is either they are forced to adopt the change or you can’t work together due to software compatibility issue. It’s easier to transfer CAD drawing to BIM than BIM to CAD in fact in practice nobody will transfer BIM model to CAD since you can achieve everything your CAD software can do in BIM.
3. Deciding on the right software might be difficult and time consuming if you are not familiar with BIM software. Get an experience trainer that could take you through the software and could help you develop a template based on your company workflow. A good way to do this is to take a previous project that you and every team member are familiar with and go through it with the trainer, this will help you to develop your skills in BIM faster and at the same time help you to see the opportunities of BIM over CAD.
4. Remember that training time is an investment, and the productivity paybacks of BIM will quickly cover up the short-term loss of some billable hours. Invest in Training; attend BIM seminars and workshops to improve your skills. All the software have trial versions that you can use for 30 days, if you get an experienced trainer, based on my experience, in 30 days, you can go through all the basic features that are needed for you to execute small projects.
5. Take time to evaluate how the new process worked so that adjustments can be made.
