“Even in the best-thought-out project, changes along the way are inevitable.”
Eric Schmitt, Vice President of Rapids, hit the nail on the head with these words. No matter how carefully you plan, many aspects of your project will remain beyond your control – project challenges will come up over the course of the job.
One of the biggest examples of this is turnover. Hiring a new executive chef who wants to slightly alter the focus of the menu or a foodservice director who wants to incorporate his own vision into the project can cause a lot of upheaval.
Fortunately, there are ways to prepare for the unexpected. Putting together a contingency fund your project managers can pull from to accommodate changes is a great start – it gives them freedom to make alterations without deviating from your budget. Another solid option is to build flexibility into the design from the beginning; in other words, make sure that your setup allows you to easily switch equipment out down the line if necessary.
For more tips on handling design project challenges, we recommend the Foodservice Equipment Reports article It’s Who You Know (And What They Know).
