91ÊÓƵ

In a down economy many companies may find that technical prowess is no longer sufficient to maintain the bottom line. Project managers are more essential than ever. A good project manager will steer the project to ensure that it is a success for all participants.

What makes a top-notch project manager? A project manager, while needing some experience in the business that drives the project, does not need to be a technical expert. That expertise likely will come from the team members with technical know-how. The project manager plays the role similar to a conductor of an orchestra or the coach of a team. The conductor knows what the music should sound like, but is not an expert instrumentalist. The best coaches are likely past their athletic prime but know who to play when to maximize the team’s potential. A project manager knows what makes a good project. The best ones focus on the following:

Project quality

It’s the most important and essential element of a successful project. We’ve all heard the old axiom that long after folks forget a project finished ahead of schedule or under budget, the quality is evident. It is what the team will be remembered by. Not only is it the final product, but it also includes how the product was built. If there are no winners at the end of a job, is it a quality project?

Organization

What are the organizational needs of the project? The project manager knows the strong suits of the major players: the owner, the design consultants and the contractor. They manage the team so that the best talents of the individual members can be utilized. The good ones know what is needed and how to organize the team to best assure the project’s success.

Communications

The project manager’s strategies for communication are essential to the project’s success. Certain members of the project team need to be informed appropriately. Owners and all team members should be kept up to date on overall progress of the project, its challenges and its risks.

Risk awareness and mitigation

The project manager must understand the risks that the project entails and the risk thresholds of the consultants, the contractor and the owner. These risks must be managed without sinking any of the team members. Yet the project manager’s proposed strategies for mitigating these risks must, in the end, benefit the project.

Procurement methodology

This involves scoping out what needs to be purchased or procured. The project manager plans this process so that it is carried out in an orderly way without needing to pay premiums for last-minute oversights.

Scope control

This includes the definition of the project as well as the ability to include changes in a responsible and reasonable manner. Change is a natural course of construction. A project starts with an existing condition and changes it to meet requirements. In the course of doing so, there will be minor course corrections. The needs of the project will change in the course of delivery. Even the most talented team cannot anticipate every detail that is required to deliver some complex projects.

Time and schedule management

These are essential to a successful project. Project managers monitor time and schedule and draw attention to those areas in which project needs are not being met. They reconcile those differences and develop recovery plans that ensure the project can recover; or identify a need to redefine. Experienced project managers know the 20-80 rule: at the project’s 20-percent mark, they can predict what the remaining 80 percent will look like.

Cost awareness

It begins with identifying the essential components of a project and then determining the budget. Monitoring budgeted costs against actual costs and developing surplus/deficit analyses is essential to good financial stewardship.

Good project managers do not put themselves, their clients or their projects in crises. They have the knowledge and experience to anticipate inevitable bottlenecks ahead of time, so that decisions are made in a reasonable and orderly manner. It is this kind of decision making that is an essential ingredient in today’s successful projects.

Christian Steinbrecher is the president of Ukiah Engineering Inc. and a senior consultant at Capital Project Consultants. Contact him at [email protected].