SkanskaNorge
Ukens fredagsoppdatering!
k23blogg.skanska.no/ukens-fredagsoppdatering-14/
Jeff Soukup er en av våre kollega fra USA, og han har vært på prosjektet siden januar gjennom Skanska Unlimited.
Han vil oppdatere dere denne uken:
Looking back on my six month assignment here in Bergen, Norway on the K23 project, I have been put into a situation that is outside of my comfort zone in regards to working in a foreign country that conducts language in Norwegian. Prior to coming to Norway, I tried to learn Norwegian, yet the language is spoken very different than it is written.
At first it was a bit overwhelming, yet I quickly settled in and started to notice differences in culture and in construction from the state where I live in the United States (Oregon). As the United States is huge, each state has its own sub-culture. Also Skanska in the United States has approximately 25 business units, so obviously I cannot speak for all of them or know the extent of the business workings and innovation in each business unit. The following are some of the differences that I have noticed during my stay here. The differences that I will mention come from a perspective where I am not stating that these ways are better than the United States or conversely the United States does them better. These items are just different:
- The first main differences that I have seen is the valuing of life outside of work and a promotion of physical fitness and family time. In the United States, we work a lot of hours per week for a prolonged amount of time with little vacation time. The typical company in the United States offers two weeks vacation, which with three and a half years with Skanska, I just got to three weeks this past January. It takes 20 years to get to five weeks vacation (at least with Skanska)! It seems that the Norwegian culture takes the right approach at valuing time outside of work. From what I have noticed, work appears to be more efficient and less stressful due to more vacation time and less work hours on a weekly basis.
- Skanska has an emphasis on self-performing work: In my home business unit in Oregon, we self-perform concrete work. Here in Bergen, Skanska self-performs survey, concrete, and carpentry. This appears to create a competitive edge for Skanska in Bergen.
- Prefabricated building elements: On this project, there has been the opportunity to use prefabricated building elements, which from my experience in construction I have not seen before. I know that the United States does do modulated building components such as modulated apartment buildings that are built into a steel skeleton, yet I am not aware if they do smaller prefabricated items such as the wall elements that have been installed on this project. I am sure we do something similar, yet these elements have been advantageous on saving schedule time for the project.
- BIM 360 checklists: On this project, I have been able to gain some experience in using BIM 360 for use in quality assurance (Kvalitetsikring). BIM 360 is a software that I have not used in the past. We do use BIM 360 for similar methods, yet being able to use BIM firsthand to make checklists for work that is ongoing and being completed in the field has been fun. Using BIM 360 checklists is definitely a step in the right direction into cutting down on the carbon footprint of printing paper and falls in line with how technology is progressing. BIM 360 definitely is needed to progress within the construction industry to save time and money.
- Project plans: This item is a little more detailed, yet another major difference from the United States was how the project drawings were housed and packaged on the project. Back in the United States, typically projects have a package or book of all the project drawings together split by discipline ( for example: plumbing, roofing, electrical, etc.). This is also starting to evolve to be digital copies rather than hard copies, yet they are kept in the same format. From being raised in this form of looking at project drawings, I have found that the method of having individual drawings to be a bit difficult as it is very different than the United States’s approach.
[caption id="attachment_963" align="alignnone" width="1024"] When I arrived[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_965" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Today[/caption]
- Cake: On a fun note, Norwegians celebrate with eating a lot of cake, especially the Jordbær & Kiwi cake. For celebrations or recognitions in my home business unit, we typically provide lunches to the staff and/or subcontractors to be recognized.
[caption id="attachment_962" align="alignnone" width="300"] The famous cake[/caption]
To conclude, this assignment in Norway has been a wonderful experience full of learning in construction and culture to further my personal and construction growth. This has been the first time that I have lived in another country outside of the United States for an extended period of time. I will miss this project team as they have been very helpful to me and a great group of people to work with.
God helg!
- Jeff Soukup
Ukens fredagsoppdatering!
k23blogg.skanska.no/ukens-fredagsoppdatering-14/
Jeff Soukup er en av våre kollega fra USA, og han har vært på prosjektet siden januar gjennom Skanska Unlimited.
Han vil oppdatere dere denne uken:
Looking back on my six month assignment here in Bergen, Norway on the K23 project, I have been put into a situation that is outside of my comfort zone in regards to working in a foreign country that conducts language in Norwegian. Prior to coming to Norway, I tried to learn Norwegian, yet the language is spoken very different than it is written.
At first it was a bit overwhelming, yet I quickly settled in and started to notice differences in culture and in construction from the state where I live in the United States (Oregon). As the United States is huge, each state has its own sub-culture. Also Skanska in the United States has approximately 25 business units, so obviously I cannot speak for all of them or know the extent of the business workings and innovation in each business unit. The following are some of the differences that I have noticed during my stay here. The differences that I will mention come from a perspective where I am not stating that these ways are better than the United States or conversely the United States does them better. These items are just different:
- The first main differences that I have seen is the valuing of life outside of work and a promotion of physical fitness and family time. In the United States, we work a lot of hours per week for a prolonged amount of time with little vacation time. The typical company in the United States offers two weeks vacation, which with three and a half years with Skanska, I just got to three weeks this past January. It takes 20 years to get to five weeks vacation (at least with Skanska)! It seems that the Norwegian culture takes the right approach at valuing time outside of work. From what I have noticed, work appears to be more efficient and less stressful due to more vacation time and less work hours on a weekly basis.
- Skanska has an emphasis on self-performing work: In my home business unit in Oregon, we self-perform concrete work. Here in Bergen, Skanska self-performs survey, concrete, and carpentry. This appears to create a competitive edge for Skanska in Bergen.
- Prefabricated building elements: On this project, there has been the opportunity to use prefabricated building elements, which from my experience in construction I have not seen before. I know that the United States does do modulated building components such as modulated apartment buildings that are built into a steel skeleton, yet I am not aware if they do smaller prefabricated items such as the wall elements that have been installed on this project. I am sure we do something similar, yet these elements have been advantageous on saving schedule time for the project.
- BIM 360 checklists: On this project, I have been able to gain some experience in using BIM 360 for use in quality assurance (Kvalitetsikring). BIM 360 is a software that I have not used in the past. We do use BIM 360 for similar methods, yet being able to use BIM firsthand to make checklists for work that is ongoing and being completed in the field has been fun. Using BIM 360 checklists is definitely a step in the right direction into cutting down on the carbon footprint of printing paper and falls in line with how technology is progressing. BIM 360 definitely is needed to progress within the construction industry to save time and money.
- Project plans: This item is a little more detailed, yet another major difference from the United States was how the project drawings were housed and packaged on the project. Back in the United States, typically projects have a package or book of all the project drawings together split by discipline ( for example: plumbing, roofing, electrical, etc.). This is also starting to evolve to be digital copies rather than hard copies, yet they are kept in the same format. From being raised in this form of looking at project drawings, I have found that the method of having individual drawings to be a bit difficult as it is very different than the United States’s approach.
[caption id="attachment_963" align="alignnone" width="1024"] When I arrived[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_965" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Today[/caption]
- Cake: On a fun note, Norwegians celebrate with eating a lot of cake, especially the Jordbær & Kiwi cake. For celebrations or recognitions in my home business unit, we typically provide lunches to the staff and/or subcontractors to be recognized.
[caption id="attachment_962" align="alignnone" width="300"] The famous cake[/caption]
To conclude, this assignment in Norway has been a wonderful experience full of learning in construction and culture to further my personal and construction growth. This has been the first time that I have lived in another country outside of the United States for an extended period of time. I will miss this project team as they have been very helpful to me and a great group of people to work with.
God helg!
- Jeff Soukup