Marc Warren, BIM Delivery Lead at Bowmer & Kirkland, offers his expert career tips

After 12 years working with Architects, Marc saw the light 3 years ago and joined Bowmer + Kirkland where he is now driving better BIM alongside Laura Brown.  As you can read below, Marc has learned what it takes to be good in this job.  Note the overlaps with others’ tips – there’s a definite trend emerging!

MARC’S LINKEDIN PROFILE

Here are Marc’s top 5 career tips (plus 1 bonus):

TIP 1:    BE CLEAR AND CONCISE

If you know what you’re talking about and are sharing your knowledge with a new audience, don’t ‘BIM-boozle’ people, it will only weaken the message and delay the adoption. Stick to the facts and be selective in your language, speaking clearly and simply. Use plain English, with relatable examples, that a fresh audience can understand and retain – minimal acronyms here!

TIP 2:    BE OPEN-MINDED

There’s not a single “BIM-person” in the industry that will profess to be an expert (unless for commercial gain…) and know everything there is to know about BIM. As an industry, we are constantly learning and BIM adoption and implementation is quite the undertaking. Be sure to listen to your peers and gain knowledge from other people’s experiences. You will go much further if you approach it with an open mind.

TIP 3:    BE CONSISTENT AND STICK TO THE FACTS

Believe in yourself. If you are going to be leading a process or corporate strategy, be sure to deliver a consistent message and stick to what you believe to be true, from the standards that are there to guide us. Conflicting views and opinions within an organisation only dilute the message to the wider network. It really is ‘black-and-white’!

TIP 4:   BE PATIENT AND SYMPATHETIC TO YOUR AUDIENCE

BIM adoption is not just a young-person’s sport; this largely impacts the more experienced among us. Implementing any form of new Digital strategy is ever evolving and demands patience and sympathy to those not as quick to embrace the change in culture as you or I. The goal is to ‘improve’ the way the industry communicates and exchanges information on a project, not reinvent something from scratch – a brick still requires mortar… . Therefore, we need everyone in the industry to adopt the new principles and adapt to a more digitised process. Unfortunately, this is going to take a bit longer with some than others.

TIP 5:    “COLLABORATE” (…CUE EYE ROLL)

Take advice and experience from others – this thing [BIM] will be much simpler to adopt if everyone in the industry pulled together and followed the same path [standards], rather than individual organisations pulling away in different directions because a clause in ISO19650 uses the verb ‘should’, instead of ‘shall’.

BONUS TIP 6:    LISTEN…LEARN…LEAD

There’s a lot of experience, case studies and lessons learnt available now from what was around 5 or so years ago, and shared through working groups, networking events and social media, which is fantastic! All valuable knowledge required to take a company (and individual) forward in this ‘digital transition’. Use the experience of others to better shape your own knowledge. Combine this with your own experiences for a more holistic view in which to lead and inspire your peers.