Name: Shaun Evans MCIOB
Employer: previously of Carillion
Project: Jefferson Place, Manchester
Contract: JCT 98
Parachuted into this project, which had seen a succession of construction managers come and go, Shaun Evans revitalised an unhappy team that was eight weeks behind schedule after seven months onsite and seemingly locked into poor productivity.
Shaun rebuilt the management team, retaining and recruiting colleagues for their sense of responsibility and ownership, as well as their enthusiasm and people skills. By stocking up on soft skills to go with the team’s engineering and technical abilities, he turned the project around.
Shaun gave his managers specific roles, with defined responsibilities and measurable deliverables for the first time. He involved them in client meetings to boost their sense of engagement, and insisted on each manager producing weekly progress reports to help them anticipate and resolve problems.
His leadership won him the respect and enthusiasm of the workforce as well as the professional team. Unrest in the project turned into motivation and staff churn sank to zero. Productivity shot up, with the team handing over 10 apartments a week, compared with an industry norm of 6.5.
And that fantastic output was not bought at the cost of poor quality. On the contrary: the client rated the project quality as the best it had ever seen, backed up by the best ever tenant satisfaction ratings it had ever recorded.
Shaun did it by constructing a sample room before any apartments were handed over, and holding weekly quality meetings with the client’s clerk of works. Defective works were discussed at weekly meetings and closed out in a timely manner. And despite achieving the client’s best ever defect statistics (this in the context of having to deliver 39 apartments two months earlier than planned), Shaun set up a separate team to rectify any outstanding defects within a week of tenant occupation.
A highly visible and inspirational leader, Shaun hit budget (thanks in part to delivering £1.25m of value-engineering) and programme and delivered exceptional quality. His performance has won Alfred McAlpine repeat business and a possible framework agreement from a delighted client.