Masonry Magazine November 2007 Page. 52
Full Contact Project Management
FULL CONTACT
By "Coach" Gary Micheloni
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Flip This Project Manager
So the plan was to watch some NASCAR, and forget about all that construction stuff for a while (and ignore all those construction-type sponsors that NASCAR seems to attract). I wanted to relax a bit on a Saturday night after a long week, a week probably like the week you had. Know what I mean?
Well, somehow the channel changed to one of those so-called reality TV shows. No NASCAR; just one of those programs about buying, rehabing and then "flipping" (selling) a house. Of course, this program really made me think about project management. So, of course, I watched it. I couldn't seem to help myself, kind of like staring at an accident on the freeway. Anyway, I did pick up a couple of lessons that need to be discussed.
Lesson 1
THE FIRST LESSON has to do with your authority, versus your responsibility, as a PM. The guy on the TV program, who was labeled as project manager, actually was not. He was more of a project babysitter, because he could not make any decisions without first checking with his boss. Every time he would meet with his boss to tell him of the difficulties he was having because of changes to the work, and the change orders his contractor wanted, his boss would get really upset. Talk about wanting to kill the messenger!
The boss, seemingly caught up in his newly found TV stardom, had a huge ego. He wanted his PM and his contractor to work these things out, and leave him alone. He held his PM responsible for the completion of the project on time and on budget. Of course, his PM did not have the practical authority to make this happen. Plus, he was afraid of his boss and his contractor.
Here's the lesson: Don't allow yourself to be put into this position. Do not accept responsibility without the authority to pull it off. If you can't get both, even though your position requires it, guess what? It's time to shine up the 'ole resume and get it out to other companies.
And, if you happen to be the owner of such a company and don't believe in giving your managers the authority they need to do their work, then we'll just have to address that in another column.
Lesson 2
HERE'S THE SECOND lesson, and it has to do with the contractor. Funny, but he actually made more mistakes than the PM. He started work without a signed contract to show good faith, and wanted an increase of about 15 percent over what the project owner had budgeted. However, he never got that into writing. Worse, he let himself become intimidated by circumstances: unforeseen changes due to the character of the work, resulting in additional costs and extra time.
Did he send out any RFIs, lay out his case, explain how this was the responsibil-
COACH GARY SAYS:
Find good people, and let them de their jobs, so you can do your job