Project Management

Project Management is a term used in America today to describe positions ranging from an EPC Manager overseeing a $10B project all the way down to the person managing a team installing $2K worth of landscaping in your yard.

What's the difference between those two positions? One could argue there is no difference. Remove the monetary value, and both Project Managers still have the same job duties. Both need to be part of the design and initial approval phase. Both oversee the planning before moving into implementation, where they provide oversight to keep the project on budget and on schedule. And both finish with a proper closeout.

So whether it's a $10B LNG grassroots facility or a $2K project replacing the grass in your yard, executing a project takes dedication and attention to detail.

It starts on day one

How does a Project Manager guide their Team with the confidence it takes to accomplish great things?

They immerse themselves in every facet of the project during the earliest stages, so they have an intimate knowledge of the scope. Many of the costly issues projects run into later should have, and could have, been resolved early on if only leadership had recognized them, and at the end of the day, the responsibility for that failure falls at the feet of the Project Manager.

No matter how experienced a Project Manager is, they won't have enough time to be involved in every facet once implementation starts. That's why it's vital that the Project Manager mentor and empower the Leadership Team from day one!

A Project Manager doesn't always get to pick their Team. Knowing the entire scope lets them make sure the Team, as a whole and as individuals, is capable and prepared for their roles. This is where their knowledge of scope, procurement, planning, scheduling, risk analysis, costs, quality, efficiency, and progress reporting comes into play. A little coaching and mentoring can quickly build a Team's confidence in its leadership, and in themselves.

Leader-leader, not leader-follower

Having the right leadership in place is vital, and it's one reason we believe so strongly in the leader-leader model over the leader-follower model. It's true, one person can make a difference, but imagine the difference an entire Team of goal-oriented, self-motivated individuals can make on your project. Imagine a Team that can rely on, and trust, each other to work toward a common goal. Fortunately, we don't have to imagine it, because we have that Team.

A great Project Management Team doesn't just fall in your lap from the HR gods. It starts with people who, regardless of education or experience, have the drive to keep learning and to excel with each new assignment, who ask for more responsibility every day, and who can envision success even under the most challenging circumstances. As they learn and grow together, they feed off each other: believing in each other, trusting each other, teaching each other, and encouraging each other. Before you know it, you have the true definition of a Team.

Think about the best Project Management Teams you've worked with. You'll probably recall leaders who empowered Team Members to think outside the box and make critical decisions. Teams that used every resource available and collaborated across disciplines and companies. Team Members who spoke positively of each other, and experienced people who took the time to raise the skills and knowledge of those with less experience.

If you haven't seen that before, then maybe you haven't seen a true Project Management Team.

Give them the whole system

On large-scale projects, we go right back to the same leader-leader model. Instead of assigning one task out of many to a Team Member, we assign them a system, along with every task associated with that system. That does three things:

1. It creates ownership. The Team Member has total responsibility for every phase of that system, from beginning to end, and gets the satisfaction that comes with it.
2. It builds a more knowledgeable, skilled workforce. Each Team Member doesn't just see how the entire implementation process works; they're an integral part of every stage of it.
3. It creates a system expert and nearly does away with rework. One person reviews the documentation, builds the construction and commissioning packages, guides construction, interfaces with the other crafts and scheduling, tracks and reports progress, and finally commissions the system they've watched grow.

Think about that for a minute. From a cost standpoint, you've created a position that no longer has downtime and almost eliminates rework. You'll never again hear a Team Member say, "I'm waiting on construction," or "I'm waiting on commissioning."

Information stops traveling up and back down, picking up misinformation along the way, and starts traveling laterally: from the source to the scheduler, to management, to the interfacing crafts, to construction. Danger words like "I think so," "that sounds right," "it should be done," and "I'm not 100% sure" become a thing of the past. Detailed, accurate information becomes king, and that means better decisions by the Project Management Team, better KPIs, and the confidence of knowing someone is intimately involved at every level of the project.

We track everything

We don't just believe our work processes work in theory; we know they work, because our Team Members have been successful with them on projects both large and small. One thing you learn quickly is that Clients only care about KPIs when a job is over budget and has fallen off the rails. No one ever seems to ask about KPIs when the project is on time and on budget.

Don't worry though. We build custom tracking databases for every project we manage, so we never miss scope, always have a handle on progress, and always have live data for the Client to review.