Development of North Carolina Department of Transportation’s CLEAR Program for Enhanced Project Performance

Abstract

Valuable lessons learned and best practices gleaned from construction projects often do not transfer to future generations because of the lack of a formalized process. This ongoing issue gives rise to the need to impart fresh training to new North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) employees once the aging workforce retires or in the event of turnover. In addition, a platform for personnel to record pertinent project information about successes and failures in projects is needed. Such information can help solve problems and avoid repeated mistakes. The aim of this research project is to create a new program called Communicate Lessons, Exchange Advice, Record (CLEAR) to reposit knowledge gained by personnel. Integral to this program is an internal-only web-based database on NCDOT’s Connect SharePoint portal with MS Access as its backend. The North Carolina State University researchers used a Design for Six Sigma approach to identify, define, develop, optimize, and verify lessons learned/best practices to create the CLEAR database. The database fields were selected based on end-user input as well as a review of existing data, such as claims and supplemental agreements, within NCDOT data repositories. Training materials, including videos and standard operating procedures, were created to disseminate information about this new program. The CLEAR program will help the NCDOT to institutionalize knowledge and is expected to improve project cost variability and scheduling.