--- title: The Construction Advantage With Matt Ulliman description: Ulliman Schutte co-founder Matt Ulliman on why construction projects fail in alignment first, and how partnering sessions build trust and clarity. image: https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/hubfs/blog-featured-images/ep-11-MATT-2.png --- [![Velocity Advisory Group](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Velocity-Logo-2023-Wide-1.png)](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/) ☰ Menu - About - [Meet Our Team](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/about/) - [Meet Our Coaches](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/coaches/) - [Careers](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/careers/) - [Speaking Engagements](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/velocity-speakers/) - Solutions - [Culture & Engagement](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/culture-engagement/) - [DISC Assessments & Training](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/disc-assessments-training/) - [Employee Experience](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/employee-experience/) - [Executive Coaching](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/executive-coaching/) - [Family Business](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/family-business/) - [Leadership Development](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/leadership-development/) - [Sales Training](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/5cs-of-selling/) - [Strategy & Implementation](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/strategy-implementation/) - Resources - [Activating Greatness Podcast](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/podcast/) - [Blog](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/blog/) - [Case Studies](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/case-studies/) - [News and Announcements](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/news-and-events/) - [OrderDisc](https://orderdisc.com/) - [Upcoming Events](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/upcoming-events/) - Industries - [Construction](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/construction/) - [Financial Services](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/financial-services/) - [Life Sciences](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/lifesciences/) - [Contact](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/contact/) Activating Greatness Podcast Episodes March 8, 2026 | Episode 11 # Why Projects Fail in Alignment First, and How Partnering Builds Trust — with Matt Ulliman ## Before the First Shovel: Matt Ulliman on 35 Years of Construction Partnering **In this post:** *Ulliman Schutte Construction Co-Founder and CEO Matt Ulliman has spent 35 years partnering on complex water and wastewater projects. He explains why alignment comes before execution, how communication and conflict resolution matrices work, and why partnering can rescue a troubled project.* The project was already on a rocky road. The client had partnered on its previous job, and it had not gone well, so no one pushed for formal partnering this time. Matt Ulliman understood the hesitation. "Can't say I blame them," he said. Then the work started slipping. Ulliman's team suggested giving partnering a try anyway, mid-project. "I'm telling you things really improved, things really smoothed out," he said on *Activating Greatness*, the leadership podcast from Velocity Advisory Group. Ulliman, Co-Founder and CEO of Ulliman Schutte Construction, has spent his career on complex water and wastewater infrastructure. A civil and environmental engineer from Ohio, he has worked on water quality projects in about 12 states. His conviction about construction partnering rests on a simple premise. "It's people that build projects," he said. ## Projects Fail in Alignment First Every person on a project arrives with different education, professional experience, personality, strengths, and weaknesses. "We bring all that to the table and to the project for good or bad," Ulliman said. The project leader's job is to bring those people together around a common, defined goal. He believes partnering, led by outstanding facilitators, is the most effective way to do that. A partnering session is not a typical kickoff meeting or a readout of who owns which task. It is an early agreement among owners, designers, and contractors on how they will work together when the work gets hard. "Before you turn the first shovel, what you want to do is build trusting relationships, and you want to establish effective forms of communication and processes to communicate well as a team, especially in times of conflict," he said. Large, complex projects will have challenges. The question is how the team will handle them. ## Two Matrices That Prevent Friction Ulliman points to two tools from kickoff sessions. The first is a communication matrix, covering formal channels such as submittals and requests for information as well as what happens when a challenge comes up. The second is a conflict resolution matrix, which empowers people to solve problems "at the lowest possible level." Combine those protocols with a baseline of common goals, he said, "and you're really off to a good start." The stakes are financial. On projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars, stakeholders collectively spend north of a million dollars a month. "What does slow decision making cost in terms of dollars? Well, a lot," he said. They also cost a lot in aggravation. Ulliman's teams are happier when partnering works, he said, and "they're having a better project experience." Going to work is tough enough without making it harder. Partnering also connects strategy to daily work. Crews who understand the goal, such as producing clean water by a certain date, know they cannot kick the can down the road when they hit a problem. Ulliman favors at least quarterly follow-up sessions, because a project changes. Early on, the talk is about moving dirt and pouring concrete. Near the end, it turns to commissioning, startup, and training, with new stakeholders in the room. FREE ONE-PAGE CHECKLIST ### The Partnering Kickoff Checklist Use it to define what you expect from a partnering session, choose a facilitator, and build your communication and conflict resolution matrices before work begins. [Get the free checklist](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/leadership-library/partnering-kickoff-checklist) ## When Partnering Falls Flat Ulliman has heard the complaints: the session felt like a waste of time, the owner forced it, or the subcontractors were not paying attention. His answer is effort up front. Define what you expect from partnering. Select an experienced facilitator. Have the whole leadership team talk with that facilitator about past projects that succeeded, the role partnering played in them, and what the team got out of it. His firm has added one more element, with help from Velocity. More than half the time, kickoffs now include behavioral style training through the Birds model. Understanding the styles of people you will work beside for the next two, three, or four years matters, he said. The training also surfaced a pattern. "There are a lot of Owls in the construction and engineering business," Ulliman said, and the industry could use a few more Parrots, Doves, and Eagles. > "Before you turn the first shovel, what you want to do is build trusting relationships." > > *Matt Ulliman, Co-Founder and CEO, Ulliman Schutte Construction* ## It Is Never Too Late to Partner The best time to partner is at the start. But for a project already behind schedule and over budget, Ulliman said, "it might be more important to do it." That troubled job with the skeptical client proved the point. He credited the turnaround to what Stephen Covey called the speed of trust. "Having a trusting relationship is a big deal," he said. "I don't think it's ever too late," he added. Success depends on setting up the right format with the right people and having leadership believe in it. Jesse Hernandez made a similar argument for [why trust and culture drive results](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-21-why-trust-and-culture-drive-results-jesse-hernandez) in construction. After 35 years of partnering, Ulliman's verdict is firm. "Projects which embrace partnering principles achieve better results," he said. "The teams perform better. They're more effective at problem solving." ## Rapid-Fire Leadership Lessons - **Daily habit:** Lead by example. "People cling on to your actions, cling on to your words, and what is important to you becomes important to them." - **Most underrated skill:** Communicating effectively. Break through the habit of texting and emailing, be visible, and be proactive in how you communicate with fellow employees. - **Stop doing:** Avoiding difficult conversations. "It's the only way to hold people accountable and to set expectations," he said, and high performers need those conversations. Harry Barnick explored the same skill in [the leadership leap](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-6-the-leadership-leap-harry-barnick). - **Best advice:** "Take in all the information you've got, rely on your experience, and trust your gut." Analysis paralysis stalls the organization. HOW VELOCITY HELPS ### Velocity DISC Assessments & Training Ulliman's firm now builds behavioral style training into many partnering kickoffs, because the people on a project will work together for years and conflict is inevitable. Velocity's DISC Assessments & Training gives project teams a shared language through the Birds: Eagle, Parrot, Dove, and Owl. Owners, designers, and contractors learn how each colleague communicates, decides, and handles pressure, so the communication and conflict resolution protocols set at kickoff hold up when the schedule tightens. See how Velocity works with [construction teams](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/construction/). [Explore DISC Assessments & Training](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/disc-assessments-training/) ## The Takeaway: Set the Intention Up Front Ulliman calls himself an Eagle, and his best advice reflects it: gather the information, trust your gut, and move. His approach to partnering follows the same logic. Do the work up front, decide what you expect, and commit. Partnering treated as a box to check produces box-checking results. Partnering built on clear intentions, a strong facilitator, and leaders who believe in it changes how a project runs and how the people on it feel about coming to work. ## Listen to the Full Episode Hear Matt Ulliman's full conversation with host Alec McChesney on *Activating Greatness*. [Watch on YouTube](https://youtu.be/XqZVEGM4O64), or listen on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/4LcgAut0KyYiGyDhFvMjPD) and [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1868386871). Follow Matt on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-ulliman-563444b8/). FREE GUIDE ### The Partnering Principle Ulliman argues that partnering sessions decide project success. This short framework shows how to set intention before a project starts, with communication and conflict resolution tools that let teams solve problems at the lowest possible level. [Get the free guide](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/leadership-library/partnering-principle) Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-11-the-construction-advantage-matt-ulliman) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-11-the-construction-advantage-matt-ulliman) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-11-the-construction-advantage-matt-ulliman) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-11-the-construction-advantage-matt-ulliman) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-11-the-construction-advantage-matt-ulliman) [Construction](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/tag/construction) [Team Alignment](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/tag/team-alignment) ## Ready to activate greatness on your team? Velocity Advisory Group helps leadership teams build the culture, strategy, and systems that let good people do their best work. 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[Read more](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-30-hiring-for-culture-fit-jackie-fisher) --- [![](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Velocity%20Logo%202023%20Wide-2.png?width=1025&height=267&name=Velocity%20Logo%202023%20Wide-2.png)](http://velocityadvisorygroup.com) Copyright © 2026, Velocity Advisory Group ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Alec McChesney", "url" : "https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/author/alec-mcchesney" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-20T15:01:14.008Z", "datePublished" : "2026-03-08T22:14:00.000Z", "headline" : "The Construction Advantage With Matt Ulliman", "image" : [ "https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/hubfs/blog-featured-images/ep-11-MATT-2.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-11-the-construction-advantage-matt-ulliman", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/hubfs/Velocity%20Logo%202023%20Wide-2.png" }, "name" : "Velocity Advisory Group" } } ```