Amin Terouhid, Ph.D., CVS

Maryam Mirhadi, Ph.D., VMA

 

Executive takeaway. An orientation meeting prepares the value engineering (VE) team for the workshop. It confirms the objective, scope, information, participants, and decision process. It does not perform the VE study; it creates the shared understanding needed to conduct the workshop effectively.

Define the meeting before defining the agenda

An orientation meeting, often referred to as a pre-workshop or VE kickoff, is a structured, targeted session held prior to the formal value engineering (VE) workshop. To understand its purpose, it is helpful to define key VE terms:

• VE: A systematic, multidisciplinary process led by a qualified facilitator using function analysis to optimize the balance between performance and resources.[1]
• Function: What an element must accomplish.
• Performance: How well the function must be fulfilled, including parameters like safety, capacity, reliability, quality, and maintainability.
• Resources: The total commitments required, encompassing capital cost, construction schedule, labor, materials, equipment, and operating energy.

As such, the orientation meeting is not a shortened or preliminary workshop. The actual workshop adheres strictly to the six-phase VE Job Plan; therefore, the workshop follows the VE Job Plan: information, function analysis, creativity, evaluation, development, and presentation. The orientation meeting, however, confirms scope, information, participants, logistics, and decision process. This separation is important and prevents unintended outcomes (e.g., solutions from being selected before functions and alternatives are analyzed) for the orientation meeting.

Align the study with the decisions the owner must make

VE teams are recommended to begin by defining the core decision the study must support (e.g., closing a budget gap, mitigating schedule risks, or confirming major systems). Evaluating life-cycle value, which requires balancing performance against resources across all stages, and deciding on the approach to use the life-cycle approach throughout the VE study are also important. A well-defined objective guides preparation while keeping the team open to creative alternatives. Some of the key agenda items for orientation meetings can include:

• Study Boundaries: Define the specific systems, physical areas, project interfaces, and decision points included in the review.
• Constraints: Identify non-negotiable requirements that every viable alternative must satisfy, including legal mandates, permits, environmental commitments, owner standards, funding limits, and stakeholder approvals.
• Preferences: Document desirable features that can be re-evaluated if a competing approach delivers superior value.

Therefore, some of the key items discussed in orientation meetings are as follows:

 

Orientation topic	Description
Purpose and scope	Study objectives, boundaries, decisions to be supported
Project requirements	Required functions, performance criteria, commitments, constraints
Information readiness	Current drawings, estimate, schedule, risks, operations data
People and roles	Sponsor, decision makers, facilitator, team members, presenters
Workshop plan	Dates, location, Job Plan, deliverables, decision and follow-up process

USACE identifies pre-workshop tasks that include defining scope and schedule, selecting the team, and collecting cost, schedule, scope, and risk information. Its guidance also recognizes implementation meetings and resolution of technical issues after the workshop. A credible VE study therefore begins with preparation and continues through implementation. [2]

Put the right people and information in the room

The VE sponsoring agency or sponsor should explain the need, approve the objective, and identify the decision authority, the person or group authorized to accept or reject recommendations. The project manager coordinates records and follow-up. The facilitator confirms the Job Plan, schedule, team, and deliverables. Collectively, the VE team should provide relevant design, construction, cost, schedule, procurement, operations, maintenance, safety, and user knowledge.

The meeting should also identify missing or inconsistent information and assign a responsible person and due date. Inputs typically include owner requirements, design criteria, drawings, specifications, estimate, schedule, risk register, site data, permits, procurement assumptions, operating costs, and lessons learned. A risk register records identified risks, potential impacts, and planned risk responses, also referred to as risk response strategies. The facilitator can also distribute a focused welcome package for participants.

Use the meeting to protect workshop independence

Preparation should support creative analysis. Designers should explain the design basis, the documented criteria and assumptions behind the current design, without defending solutions or rejecting alternatives in advance. The facilitator should record required functions, measurable performance criteria, constraints, unresolved questions, and assumptions so the team can question solutions while respecting requirements.

FHWA’s VE process and also SAVE International value mythology begin with an Information Phase that gathers facts, constraints, costs, schedule data, and stakeholder objectives before function analysis. The orientation meeting supports this phase by identifying presenters and controlling documents. The meeting is not intended to replace independent review or the Job Plan. [1,3]

Concluding

By establishing clear boundaries, securing the right multidisciplinary expertise, and gathering complete baseline data prior to the VE study kickoff, the orientation meeting sets the stage for a disciplined VE study. Rather than rushing into premature problem-solving, this crucial preparation phase aligns the VE team around the owner’s core decisions, protects the independence of the formal VE Job Plan, and ensures that the upcoming workshop can focus entirely on maximizing project value.

References

[1] SAVE International. About the Value Methodology.

[2] U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Value Engineering Frequently Asked Questions.

[3] Federal Highway Administration. The Value Engineering Process and Job Plan.