Feature

May/June 2009

Jobsite Superheroes

Today’s project managers may not wear a cape, but more and more, they’re being asked to do it all

By Tony Illia

Mr. Fantastic is a well-known comic-book superhero who can stretch, compress, expand, contract and otherwise reshape himself at will. He also is the planner and team leader of the Fantastic Four, superheroes of comic-book and movie fame.

Photo Courtesy of Studio Southwest Photography

He probably would have made a good project manager.

Today’s project manager must be everything: confidant, coordinator, mentor, motivator, diplomat, quality inspector, scheduler and estimator. With the deepening recession, rising unemployment and frozen credit market, project managers are increasingly being asked to do more with less. Many are now doing more marketing than building.

“We now have project managers spending 80% of their time drumming up business,” says Jeff Esgar, operations manager for Sundt Construction Inc., a Tempe, Ariz.-based general contractor and Arizona Builders’ Alliance member. “We have asked them to become the primary point of contact with owners, maintaining relationships from past and present projects with an eye toward repeat business. We’re also having them become more involved in estimating and job proposals.”

Project managers interact with owners more frequently than anyone else in a construction organization. They can represent the company in a positive, professional light that leads to long-term associations and repeat customers. Conversely, they can offend and estrange clients with boorish, insensitive behavior that brings unwanted attention.

Project managers are additionally capable of generating work through a network of industry relationships, including subcontractors, suppliers, engineers and architects. A good experience from a prior encounter may lead to a referral or future project. Some companies view their project managers as frontline chief executive officers.

“We have a grassroots approach where our project managers are essentially running their own businesses,” says George Van Der Linden, operations vice president for Faith Technologies Inc., a Menasha, Wis.-based electrical contractor and AGC of Wisconsin member. “They’re pretty much given free rein to do their own business development.”

The approach has worked well for the 1,500-employee company, which anticipates $270 million in revenue in 2009, up nearly 15% from last year. Faith’s 80 project managers average 10 years or more with the firm. The company uses internal training and outside courses for developing project managers, some conducted by AGC of America.

“We saw a 100% jump in attendance in our project-management courses last year,” says Allison Brotman, senior director of education and certification for AGC of America, which has offered courses since 1990. “As soon as the economy went south, people started turning to their project managers to become more effective on the jobsite. That is where a lot of firms realize savings or additional profitability.”

Training can vary widely. Some contractors have project managers overseeing several smaller projects simultaneously, while large jobs often require full-time attention. Different project managers have different leadership styles based on their background, personality and experience.

The personal touch in jobsite leadership makes a difference. Good project managers ask their employees about families and hobbies as well as life goals and professional ambitions. (Photo Courtesy of Burke & Associates)

“Construction is an inherently chaotic business that attracts control freaks and strong personalities,” says Roger Thomas, senior project manager with Burke & Associates, a Las Vegas general contractor and Las Vegas chapter AGC member. “People who come up through the trades make better project managers because they have been in the trenches. They can relate.”

Project managers often develop naturally within a company over a period of time, starting as craftspeople who accumulate knowledge and seek promotion. Some project managers attend college for a four-year degree, although they too must first gain field experience before becoming a project manager.

“I came from the field, so I never had any trouble motivating people,” says Jeff Rensmon, business development director for Jaynes Corp., an Albuquerque-based gen­eral contractor and Las Vegas chapter AGC member. “I stuck up for them and kept my promises. You don’t ask them to do something that you wouldn’t do.”

Trust, camaraderie and team building don’t occur overnight. Project managers rely on a diverse set of tools and tactics to maximize worker performance. Most become familiar with their craftspeople, assessing strengths, weaknesses, personalities and skills, and they assign duties accordingly. Project managers must delegate work, avoid micromanagement and entrust crew members, yet remain ready to step in at a moment’s notice.

Generalists With Personality

“A good project manager is involved with the team,” says Esgar, who oversees 23 project managers in Arizona. “They understand that different people are motivated in different ways.”

Project managers often develop naturally within a company over a period of time, starting as craftspeople or foremen who accumulate experience, knowledge and technical skill. (Photo Courtesy of Faith Technologies)

Management styles vary, but a personal touch makes a difference. Project managers frequently inquire about families and hobbies as well as life goals and professional ambitions, giving the job a human face and fostering an on-site atmosphere of mutual caring and concern that leads to increased job safety and awareness among co-workers.

“When workers achieve a goal, they get rewarded with lunch or a gift card,” Thomas says. “Some guys just want a sincere thank you, while others respond to public recognition. You want to do it judiciously so it doesn’t appear that you’re buying them off.”

Modern project managers are generalists. They oversee a little of everything without specializing in any one area. Granite Construction Co., for example, a Watsonville, Calif.-based national highway contractor and a member of multiple AGC chapters, has a project-manager training checklist that covers everything from conflict resolution and labor laws to equipment utilization and negotiating skills.

AGC’s Brotman says the average project management class age is now 33.8, which is 3.69 years younger than two years ago.

“People with extensive field experience might need to sharpen their business management abilities, whereas someone with business experience may want to improve their technical skills,” she says. “The bottom line is, we don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach. Our program is designed to help project managers find the best way to improve their individual leadership style and construction skills.”