Demonstrating the value of an effective collaborative decision-making process in the design phase

Abstract

Decisions are the foundation for creating value in a project. Particularly in the early design phases, decisions form and restrict the value creation processes throughout the project's life cycle Therefore, project teams should pay attention to the decision-making process, and design it to secure maximum value creation and clear documentation. This paper shows and analyses the decision-making process in the design phase of four different projects based on four characteristics: (1) decision-making method, (2) structure of the decision-making process, (3) governance process, and (4) documentation process. Our findings demonstrate that all four characteristics are essential and need to be considered when designing the decision-making process. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that making decisions collaboratively will lead to value adding opportunities. Consequently, this paper explains how the decision-making process affects the value creation process and gives insights on how to design it in an effective manner.