CIFECENTER FOR INTEGRATED FACILITY ENGINEERING Can You Accelerate Your Project Using Extreme Collaboration? A Model Based Analysis

This paper sets out our observations, modeling results, and conclusions regarding a novel organizational form applied variously as “extreme collaboration” (XC) or “radical collocation.” XC teams are cross-functional, co-located groups enabled with high-performance computer modeling and simulation tools, large interactive graphic displays, a mature shared generic project model that the design team instantiates for the project, and specialized charter, training, support and culture. Our primary data source is the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Team-X, which has consistently reduced task durations over many hundreds of projects from original values of 3-9 months down to a few days. Based on our observations, interviews, and surveys of the JPL team, we employ several computational models including the Virtual Design Team (VDT) to illuminate the practice’s basic mechanisms. Key aspects include very short information request-response latency (less than a minute to answer to a question, vs. several days in a traditional team) and a bounded and dedicated knowledge network that provides all the required skills and experience. Our models suggest steps by which designers can re-organize a limited range of projects to reproduce XC and reduce their durations by an order of magnitude. We do not evaluate the impact of this method on the team’s total work volume, cost, or quality. Nevertheless, we conclude that tightening collaboration in ways that are inspired by XC is a strategically powerful tool that is appropriate for most projects.