Sustainable Land Development Today - November/December 2007 - (Page 16) BUSINESS MANAGEMENT I know what you are thinking. “This is going to be a mess.” It need not be a disaster. However, it clearly can be if the proper steps are not taken to ensure that the meeting accomplishes what it is intended to accomplish – that is to achieve a common understanding and vision of the project. Identifying the Players As you can see by Figure 1, the personalities involved in this meeting are very different. The key, though, is to have someone that can communicate the complete vision of the project. While we recommend that the developer maintain control over the project, it may be more beneficial to have someone else on the team lead the meeting. Understanding that there are a wide range of professionals within the industry, extroverts tend to have the greatest success, particularly at the important early stage. The challenges of this meeting are clear. Initially, everyone attending has their own agenda. What are those agendas? Disclaimer: Personality profiling is admittedly stereotyping. Obviously, not everyone within a profile fits the stereotypes. Using the typical personality profiles and experiences from many in the industry is often a good starting point for analysis. Technical professionals, such as engineers and architects, have specific tasks. Architects are typically concerned with appearances and the structural design. Civil engineers ensure the functionality of the site and related infrastructure. As a side note, if a project’s objective includes sustainability – and we certainly hope that it does, we highly recommend that a landscape architect is on your team. While combining the art and science of site design, most landscape architects are educated in environmental and low impact development and can bring continuity between the “greening” of the building architect’s structures and the engineer’s site functionality. Ironically, these professional designers, as well as the general public, often hold the developer in contempt because they do not understand the primary over-riding objective of the developer. When I speak in front of these professionals I often ask them what they think a developer’s role or end product is. Unlike a set of drawings, or a building, they often have a hard time pinpointing what a developer “produces.” They often answer that a developer builds houses or commercial buildings. I remind them that this is often the objective of the builder, not the developer. So, what is the primary product for a developer? Well, in many cases a private developer’s product is the entire project. However, success of a development project for a developer is profit. It is Personality Types and Land Development Stakeholders ESTP Land Developer ESFP Landscape Architect ISFP Landscape Architect I STP Land Surveyor ENTP Land Developer ENFP INFP I NTP Building Architect ESTJ General Public (Male) ESFJ General Public (Female) ISFJ I STJ Engineer E NTJ ENFJ INFJ Building Architect I NTJ Engineer Adapted from Myers-Briggs Temperment Indicator and US Dept. of Interior data Figure 1 16 November/December 2007 Sustainable Land Development Today
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