George FreemanThought Leader | Author | Architect| Florida, United States
Is there a gap between what you do and what you are perceived as doing in your role as a project manager within your company/client? What are the consequences of this gap, and what are you doing (or what have you done) to close it? Saving Changes...
MARK A ANNUNZIATA, SrVP/EXPERT CONSULTANCY TO THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY| ROMAN STRUCTURES, INC WELLINGTON FLDammam, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia
All-
I thought I would share with you a typical day's Agenda for me while managing my 100 Million USD+ Construction Projects:
My typical Schedule each day would include:
• 5 A.M. meet the Safety Team on site to witness the workforce mobilization and confirm they were entering the site with all their required PPE
• 6 A.M. Create and Respond to all official Correspondence.
• 7 A.M. Meet with the Construction Execution Managers to discuss the game plan for the day
• 8 A.M. Meet the Staff to discuss the Progress of each Discipline with the Managers of each Department: Quality Control, Procurement, Project Controls, Document Controls, Construction Managers, Finish Managers, Equipment Managers, Safety Manager, Architects.
• 10 A.M. Meeting with the Key Stakeholders, Owners Rep, and Vendor management to discuss Project progress.
• 1 PM- meet with my Admin Staff to resolve HR challenges, transfers, Housing, Recruiting
• 2 PM- Meet with the Procurement Staff to discuss outstanding submittals and long lead items
• 3 PM-Meet with the Quality Assurance and Quality Controls Managers to discuss the Inspection and Testing Protocols, Staffing requirements and training
• 4 PM Meet with the Project Controls staff to discuss Schedule challenges, and Invoice Milestones
• 5 PM- E-mail correspondence, Report writing, Communications with the CEO
It has been my experience that my staff members interact with me directly during short specific blocks of time during my typical management day, thus have no idea about my schedule, or the breadth of the challenges I deal with each day. Othe subjects I monitor include Employee Housing, Employee HR Challenges, Heavy Equipment usage, and Rental, Stakeholder Management, Change Management Projects, Technical Challenges affecting the Execution Process.
The only feedback I receive from my staff happens to be upon my return from a short Vacation- Then my replacement will inform me he cannot understand how I maintain such a high level of effort- and then promptly dumps a handful of problems he could not resolve in my absence---happens every time!
Otherwise-my staff informs me they think my job is easy (or maybe I make it look easy!)
From the Trenches!
M Saving Changes...
Mar Allan CastañoAPAC Lead, PMO & Delivery Assurance| ChubbParañaque, Philippines
I agree that it has most to do with the organizational maturity towards projects.
I've seen large organizations that deals with project delivery day in and day out where PMs are highly attributed towards progressing the project towards goal completion, even to the point that resources or teams themselves self-organize organically as well. This is because the PM concepts extend well beyond just the actual PMs. More so in fact that most initiatives are primarily driven without a formal PM which freed up the organization to focus their PM resources on higher value projects.
But then again there are organizations (even large ones!) that have low project management maturity that thinks all you need is a PM for a project to be completed (as if PMs can magically conjure stuff out of thin air!). This is where you'll see evidently that there are people who won't act because they are waiting for the PM to prod them or thinks the PM will give up and do it themselves (sucks!).
As for me, it boils down to one simple thing. And this is what I tell my team constantly - The value of a PM is that you are able to make outcomes better, whether it's you who does it or your project team members is up to you as a PM. Saving Changes...
