Trying to define what a project manager does in commercial construction today is problematic.
Not only is the position constantly changing, but more and more responsibilities are being tacked on to the title of "project manager." Duties include, but are certainly not limited to, estimator, purchaser, negotiator, arbitrator, inspector, sales and marketing. The list goes on.
There is no doubt that technology has revolutionized the construction industry in the last ten years. Computerized estimating has become a mainstay-it is a must for an industry that cannot afford mistakes. Today's market leaves no room for bad bids, and no time for antiquated business practices that can lead to more mistakes. Basically, technology rules the project management world. Owners, architects, engineers and general contractors are requiring more services from project managers these days. In order to compete and succeed, these project managers have to keep up with the latest in construction knowledge, methods, resources and technologies. Construction is no longer just hammers and nails; we've moved into a strange new world of laptops and software, electronic blueprints, robotics, laser-guided layout, pneumatic and cordless tools and computerized estimating. But once the initial shock over the strides in technology subsides, project managers have the opportunity to work with the advancements made in order to spend less time and energy completing more accurate and cost-efficient work.
In today's competitive market, the price tag on obtaining, shipping, storing and estimating from paper plans is no longer cost effective. One set of project plans for a large hospital or hotel that would normally be a fifty pound set of over 500 pages can much more easily be stored on and viewed from one single CD. Hefty shipping costs are becoming a thing of the past, as is the lengthy and cumbersome process of a pencil-and-paper takeoff. Software has pushed the project managers who use it past the line of survival and into success-at least more so than they could boast while trapped in a sea of paper plans and courier services. Now software companies are connecting even more of the dots by integrating estimating and takeoff software by digitally tracking labor production and payroll directly from the field to the project manager's office. This technology not only allows project managers to survive, it also brings them one step closer to obtaining the success that was once merely an elusive concept of doing more with less.
In the U.S. market as well as the global market for construction, the phrase "time is money" has never been truer. Project managers of today must be able to quickly respond to shortened bid cycles, complex structural designs, environmental and security constraints, intense budget scrutiny and a reduction in qualified workers. Using all of the latest resources, such as electronic plans and computerized estimating, have proven helpful in accomplishing this difficult task. All information is instantly accessible; material handling, manpower control and job budget information are all just a simple mouse click away. Change orders alone are priced, managed and tracked in half the time of the earlier manual methods. Basically, what were once impossible demands have now become everyday practices in the construction industry. Technology, and all the software and innovative programs it entails, is no longer a mere tool to give project Managers an edge over the competition. Technology is a necessity, pure and simple. It is a matter of survival in an extremely competitive world.
Now everyone from the owner of a project to the field personnel installing the work, to suppliers delivering materials has the capability to view all necessary project information in actual time. This not only saves the project manager's valuable time, shipping costs and the inevitable miscommunications, it also instills project owners with a certain confidence in their contractors and project managers. A successful project manager should be an information receptacle. Knowing the performance details of any given project at any given time is not only necessary, but downright crucial. Made available through technological advances, these possibilities give the project managers of the world both a fighting chance in a slowed-down economic environment of fierce competition and the highest standards to meet since the inception of the construction industry.
In the simplest terms, the project manager's main function is to complete a project as efficiently as possible. Project managers are facing challenging new jobs with the added impediments of less money, less time and less workers. Survival hinges on the ability to adapt, and industry-related technology is the key to that. But the ultimate goal of any project manager, of course, is not merely survival. Survival suggests a rather meager existence of tottering on the narrow edge that separates success from failure. Project managers absolutely hope to achieve more than this precarious state. Profits, success and a reputation that wins bid after bid-this is the direction in which they should all aim. All of this can be achieved through change. And right now, change just happens to be technology.
Construction Business Owner, February 2009
