Why Live, Work, and Play Project Collaboration is Critical in the “New Normal”

On a regular basis, there is a fresh story in the Houston Business Journal about a new mixed-use development project in the works. It’s an exciting time for project collaboration in Houston because owners, service providers, and other leaders are seeing the importance of thinking bigger about project scope.

Specifically, there is a need to have bigger conversations about introducing new spaces that will attract individuals and families to live, work, and play in a centralized location. Creating these spaces and thinking creatively about how to attract people to these spaces will help businesses and stakeholders recoup lost revenue from the pandemic and then achieve long-term growth during the post-pandemic “new normal.”

Review the Dramatic Changes to Consumer Habits

Months ago when the conversation was about “flattening the curve” of the pandemic, there was a line of thinking that we would be working from home for just a few weeks. As we know, weeks have turned into months. Now, people have become accustomed to working from home and are considering whether to even return to the office.

Extrapolate that to everyday life. Ordering groceries can be done from home without ever walking into a grocery store. The latest movies can be watched without ever stepping foot inside a movie theater. Dinner can be ordered, prepared, and delivered at the touch of the button on an app without leaving the comfort of your couch.

People have become very comfortable never leaving home and feeling like they’re not really missing out on anything outside of the home. What started as a temporary solution to prevent the spread of the coronavirus has turned into the “new normal” of life as we know it.

Now, the onus is on owners, service providers, and stakeholders to collaboratively create projects that combine elements such as retail, healthcare, living spaces, workspaces, fitness, etc. into a centralized location. These types of spaces will encourage people to come out of their homes to spend money and then potentially move to these new locations, generating additional revenue streams.

Here’s the unspoken factor in all of this. People are yearning to connect. As convenient as it is to simply sit at home and never leave the house, most people still want to interact with other people in real-life settings. Managers want to re-connect with their employees in-person. People want to meet other people and have real conversations. Essentially, people are becoming tired of virtual meetings and web conferences for every aspect of life.

People want to interact, but they need places to connect. They need a destination to have a conversation with someone else, have a place to shop safely or receive health services without risk of contracting the coronavirus, or go to the driving range to feel like a normal person again.

The key is to review how the “new normal” has uniquely impacted your market. Then, you need to work toward building connections with other owners, firms, entities, or individuals who can help you collaboratively create project scope for mixed-use types of developments in Houston. This may require different types of conversations than your team is accustomed to.

Change the Conversation to Support Project Collaboration

Before the pandemic, your team may have focused on talking to a certain role or a certain team in a target market trying to win project scope or accelerate project scope delivery. For service providers, perhaps you strictly focused on selling an IT solution to a healthcare IT manager. Now, it’s time to think bigger about how you’re engaging with clients and changing the types of conversations you’re having.

Instead of limiting your conversations to IT, your team should be talking to HR, Operations, and other groups trying to gather intelligence about the larger problem your target client is facing during the “new normal.”

You’re no longer trying to sell directly to one person or team. You’re building multiple connections, connecting with different levels in the organization, aligning with business and political issues, and looking to leverage your solution for value and impact, not just solving one problem through a traditional sales approach.

Through these different conversations, you can use the client intelligence you have gathered to bring in other partners, owners, service providers, vendors, stakeholders, and project/scope delivery partners (P/SDPs) to create more comprehensive solutions that drive scope creation. This way, projects can quickly move forward to meet the emerging need for “live, work, and play” spaces that will drive revenue re-growth.

Work With RESET to Change the Conversation in Your Market

What we’re seeing in the Houston construction market are different types of conversations and different types of projects in the works. The constant flow of mixed-use development projects indicates that Houston business leaders are looking to capitalize on the trend.

Your firm can join the conversation by changing the conversation. We’ll help facilitate new connections with other firms, teams, or individuals who can help develop comprehensive solutions that solve larger problems in your market. Specifically, we’ll walk through how to bring together multiple parties to craft solutions for larger construction projects.

Through our proven methodology, The Connection Process, we’ll help you leverage connections to create faster, more sustainable revenue. By following this process, your business will be prepared to grow in a more collaborative and intelligent way.

We understand Houston construction trends and we can help your company take the next steps capitalizing on changes in your market. We’ll help you engage with smart clients, grow project scope, and accelerate deal flow to get more projects done so that you can generate more revenue. Talk to us today about how to take advantage.