Breakout Sessions

Overview: Have you ever wondered how you can combine your passion for work with your passion for world travel? Several team members have the opportunity to do just that through our work with the Overseas Buildings Operations “OBO.” Our team provides services ranging from constructibility reviews to estimating, scheduling to risk workshops, partnering sessions to being a CM agency. Join us on a journey around the world, highlighting some key projects and how we continue to grow our services and add value.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain how services from different service lines can be used together to create a “one team” approach and how that adds value to the client experience.
• Discover how team members can apply their existing experience to contribute to serving large key clients with a variety of needs.
• Understand what team members can do for overseas projects to make a favorable impact and provide valuable professional growth for themselves.

Overview: Explore the critical strategies for effectively managing Unit Price construction contracts. This presentation will cover best practices for accurate cost estimation, scope management, and handling unforeseen conditions. Attendees will learn how to optimize project budgets, maintain flexibility, and ensure transparency in billing and payments, ultimately driving project success and client satisfaction.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about common mistakes found during bid ability/constructibility reviews
• How to properly track and manage overruns and underruns
• How to use a unit price contract to minimize change orders

Overview: Audience members will be able to hear from a panel discussion featuring mentors and mentees about their experiences as part of an official mentor program. Panelists will share perspectives and insights into best practices for establishing and maintaining an official pairing to ensure they are set up for success. Some topics include: how to give and receive constructive feedback, the impact of mentorship on organizational culture, and how to realize the most ROI from a Mentor/Mentee Relationship.

Learning Objectives:

• Realize strategies to set up a new mentor/mentee relationship for success
• Learn ways to maximize the value of mentor/mentee relationship for both sides
• Gain insight into the various ways being part of a Mentor Program helps in one’s professional growth.

Overview: A fast-paced, serious, but often humorous look at people’s differences and similarities. We will dig into the importance of understanding what makes us tick and what makes us tick off others. We will discuss some of the tools available to help us on this journey. Then, we will conclude by delving into what you need to know to build and lead diverse, high-functioning teams that can capitalize on everyone’s strengths.

Learning Objectives:

• Develop an understanding of where stereotypes come from and if they are grounded in truth.
• Learn the importance of understanding our habits, behaviors, and tendencies and how they impact others on our team.
• Provide ways on how to build and lead diverse teams that function at a high level and draw on everybody’s strengths.

Overview: Even the best-laid plans can face real-world challenges in the field. Discover practical strategies for overcoming these obstacles while ensuring full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG). Learn to utilize accessible, inclusive solutions that work for everyone.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the basics of curb ramp standards and variations.
• Understanding non-compliant curb ramp layouts.
• Lessons learned from actual PROWAG and ADA compliance issues.

Overview: Have you ever wondered how your daily efforts contribute to the bigger picture within a CM agency firm offering diverse services? This session introduces a model fighter pilot used to navigate complex aerial maneuvers and how it aligns with purposeful CMs targeting successful projects. A hands-on exercise provides practical exposure to model components engagingly and dynamically. We’ll also explore the connection between individual roles, service offerings, and the broader strategy for achieving better project outcomes. Finally, we’ll examine how this model enhances understanding of the triple constraints – scope, cost, and time – and how applying it can give an edge in delivering higher-quality services to project owners.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the components of the loop model for defining service roles in agency construction management.
• Understand how defining the purpose of service roles can aid in providing a higher level of service to owner organizations.
• Explain an alternate version of the project triple constraints that can help drive service quality and market differentiation.

Overview: Leadership skills are observed through internal teams and by external teams and clients. These skills allow teams to be focused, continue learning, develop together, and find success. But how do you build these skills, and how do you bring out these skills in others? Your job as a leader is not in how you manage but in how you support and provide for others, set goals and direction, and help others progress in their careers, skills, and project wins.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify what makes a person a leader
• Techniques to motivate and influence your team
• Learn what skills you can use to empower teams and leaders to succeed

Overview: Join us for an exciting journey as we explore firsthand experiences, innovative approaches, and valuable lessons learned from recruiting in a competitive labor market. Our goal is to find the right Team Members and drive company growth. We’ll compare direct applicant submissions versus outside sourcing recruiting and highlight their successes. We’ll discuss Branding and ways we are here to support recruiting efforts collectively as a company, as it takes a village. Additionally, we will explore strategies for finding candidates, evaluating their fit for the team, and navigating the entire recruitment process.

Learning Objectives:

• Understanding the different types of recruiting
• Learning how to effectively communicate through the recruiting process
• Ways to get involved in recruiting efforts

Overview: Navigating through construction, we encounter risks, issues, decisions, and opportunities that create impacts on projects. These impacts can be mitigated or even turned into successes by understanding historical situations and refining responses. Determining these requires a systematic approach to capture real-time information and provide it to future teams. This session will explore how to facilitate sessions, capture information, and organize meaningfully to utilize in future work.

Learning Objectives:

• How to prepare for capturing lessons learned on a project
• Ways to facilitate sessions to capture meaningful lessons learned from multiple stakeholders on a project team
• Capturing information in a way that manages output and allows the use of lessons learned in future projects.

Overview: Are you passionate about technology, being one step ahead of the game or providing services above and beyond what clients are used to? Join us for a presentation on the innovative use of 3D models/surrounding environments and 4D scheduling with cmBuilder to visualize the constructibility of complex projects. This session will explore how easy it is to use readily available tools to analyze risks, create scenarios, and, most importantly, improve communication with any stakeholder. Don’t have a model of your project? That is no problem; we can work around that. Discover how cmBuilder empowers teams to make confident decisions, drive purpose in our business, and ultimately create better project outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand 4D scheduling fundamentals and potential site scenarios/considerations
• Be able to list 3D tools use cases to enable risk mitigation for projects
• Describe options for ways 3D tools can enhance project communication

Overview: We have put together a panel of experienced commissioning professionals and Construction Managers to answer your most pressing questions on how commissioning integrates into the project schedule, common pitfalls with commissioning, and how MBP as Construction Managers can aid commissioning efforts in order to achieve better project outcomes. Our panel consists dedicated commissioning professionals and construction managers with background experiences ranging from Certified Commissioning Professionals, Certified Construction Managers, Professional Engineers and LEED professionals who have a unique insight into what makes a successful project. Join us in exploring the commissioning process from a project management point of view.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn the best and most critical times to integrate commissioning into a project schedule.
• Show how Construction Managers can benefit from early identification of issues by the commissioning process.
• Learn how commissioning and construction management can work together to achieve better project outcomes.

Overview: This presentation will explore the current and future transformative impact of digital tools on construction management and inspection within transportation projects. Key technologies include drones, 360-degree cameras, and artificial intelligence (AI). Drones offer aerial perspectives for progress monitoring, enhancing safety and efficiency. 360-degree cameras provide comprehensive visual documentation, facilitating detailed inspections and stakeholder communication. AI algorithms analyze data from these tools, predicting potential issues and optimizing project workflow. Attendees will gain insights into current practical applications as well as future trends.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn how drones, 360-degree cameras, and Artificial Intelligence are revolutionizing construction management and inspection services in transportation projects.
• Explore case studies demonstrating the use of technology to enhance better project outcomes.
• Provide insights into emerging trends and future advancements in digital construction management, preparing attendees to leverage these innovations in their own projects.