Time is money in every business. Disputes devour time. Executive time, management time, labor time, outside counsel and consultant time (and money), time that could be used to develop new business and make your business better.
Unfortunately, disputes often arise when trust between the people needed to solve a problem has been compromised. And it is often impossible to bring principals and outside advisors up to speed on a dispute in a short enough timeframe to avoid further time-related damages. Principals are unwilling to compromise their positions without an internal investigation that requires too much time and outside counsel cannot ethically advise their clients to resolve a dispute with the limited amount of information that can be formally obtained within a short amount of time.
What is needed is the ability for someone you can trust to quickly comprehend the nature of a dispute; dive into the details as time and circumstances permit; distill, organize, and summarize relevant information; and develop unbiased and practical solutions in real time. What is needed is a “Project Neutral”.
In the construction industry, a Project Neutral periodically observes the project and regularly communicates with the team members to stay familiar with the progress of construction. When a dispute arises, any party involved in the project can request an initial decision by the Project Neutral. The Project Neutral then has a short period of time (5-7 days) to investigate the problem. The parties agree in advance that the Project Neutral will be given free, but confidential, access to all of their records and people.
At the end of the investigation period, the Project Neutral issues a decision, without written commentary, which is implemented immediately. This decision is considered final for purposes of constructing the project. This expedited process creates an environment where trust between people at the project-level can be maintained while the dispute is addressed or, if necessary, quickly restored after a decision is implemented.
Because it is made in real time without the benefit of a more formal resolution process, the Project Neutral’s decision is subject to a formal de novo appeal after final completion of the project. The hope is that by mitigating the damages associated with dispute-related delay, the incentive to appeal is also mitigated. The real time problem-solving skills developed by Mr. Dean, principal of Integrative Business Solutions, LLC, over the course of his career makes him an ideal Project Neutral.
When combined with Mr. Dean’s experience in architectural design, the above-referenced skills also make him an excellent owner’s representative for residential and commercial construction projects.
While utilized primarily in the construction industry, where delay-related damages can quickly exceed millions of dollars, the Project Neutral concept can be applied to any time-critical business to obtain real-world solutions to real-world problems in real time.