June 2008 IssuE
project management
Keeping the Job on Track
Project owners and builders have faced their share of woes in recent years.
Is hiring an outside specialist in project management a way to avoid trouble?
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OLYMPIC OVAL |
BY DON BUCHANAN
Freelance Writer
Within the past few years, many Alberta companies have come to recognize project management as a specialized discipline within the broader engineering and construction domains. The boom, in fact, has brought the need for good project management into sharp relief.
“There is now widespread awareness in Alberta of the very real challenges of delivering successful projects on time and on budget in a booming economy,” says Peter Martyniuk, P.Eng., the western region vice-president of MHPM Project Managers Inc. “The tight labour market in the construction sector, a scarcity of design capacity and capability, and rising costs associated with material, labour and land are a few of the factors making the project environment increasingly challenging and creating increased stress for project owners.”
Says Art Froese of Art Froese Consulting of Calgary: “A project manager has to have genuine leadership skills and the experience to understand and integrate the design and construction aspects of a project.” Mr. Froese has worked on such projects as the Alberta Calgary Children’s Hospital, the Calgary Convention Centre and major renovations to the Calgary Saddledome.
“One of the issues is that there are different perceptions out there about what project management is or how it is defined,” he says. “A good project manager needs to know how to work with a project owner, to unravel or consider their thoughts, and help them to consider and finalize their project objectives.”
Mr. Martyniuk notes that owners often reach out to external project managers for the resources or skills they do not have in house. His company, MHPM, is one place they turn.
“Project management is our only business,” says Mr. Martyniuk. “We mobilize the lessons learned from hundreds of projects. We help assure the project owner that management of the project is in competent hands.”
Project managers are often drawn from the design and construction industries. Not surprisingly, many are professional engineers. Certification as a project management professional — Mr. Martyniuk carries the PMP designation — can be obtained through the internationally recognized Project Management Institute.
Dr. Kam Jugdev, also PMP-certified, is the associate professor of project management and strategy at Athabasca University’s Centre for Innovative Management. Even the best planned projects, he says, will usually experience cost overruns or problematic situations at one or more points.
“Among the key roles for a project manager — during the execution phase in particular where most of the money is spent — is to deal clearly with cost overruns or other problems when they arise, and carry out effective stakeholder management with the project sponsor and other partners or sub-contractors on the project.”
Dr. Jugdev says that project managers can’t just have a “paper credential” to be effective in their work. “In addition to their construction/engineering education, effective project managers in the field have also learned experientially from their projects and sought out or received mentoring and training in project management.”
He adds: “Good project managers learn from the ‘good, the bad, and the ugly’ experiences that they have either personally experienced or learned from others who have solid backgrounds in project management.”
But don’t discount the paper, either. “Being a successful project manager is very much about employing a disciplined approach to leadership,” says Mr. Martyniuk. “Knowledge of fundamental disciplines — including the management of project scope, time, cost, quality and risk — is essential. PMP certification helps ensure that all project managers have a common nomenclature and are singing from a common song sheet.”
In addition to being a PMP-certified engineer, Mr. Martyniuk also has an MBA and a LEED-AP designation, which means he’s an accredited professional with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.
MHPM President Franklin Holtforster, P.Eng., has credentials beyond his APEGGA designation, too — both PMP and LEED-AP. He says that going outside for project management is big in the U.S. and Australia, and that it’s gaining momentum in Canada.
“The role of the project manager is gaining increasing acceptance within the project environment, and project management is a rapidly growing discipline and business opportunity.”
One of MHPM’s recent projects is the $178-million Richmond Oval in B.C., which will host long-track speed skating events for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The Richmond Oval will be a leading-edge sustainable project, prominently featuring B.C. wood products and meeting LEED Silver requirements, says Mr. Holtforster.
“Environmental sustainability is now an imperative, not an option. Until very recently the project stool had three legs — time, cost and quality. That stool now has a fourth leg — sustainability. Project managers cannot ignore the value of realizing sustainability within their projects, and they must be able to provide guidance through the LEED process.”
Mr. Martyniuk says that owners realize cost savings when they engage a qualified project management firm. “The project manager’s job is to realize opportunities to improve project performance. For example, in the current Alberta market, shortcomings in design documents arise from the simple fact that people are too busy.
“We help the design team to identify and remedy shortcomings, to minimize errors and omissions. In this way, everyone benefits from the project manager’s involvement.”
Mr. Holtforster says that project managers typically lead a project through all stages of programming, design, construction and commissioning. “We represent the owner to ensure the successful integration of the contributions from the various project stakeholders — including the facility users, design consultants, construction manager and trades.”
But Dr. Jugdev adds a note of caution. Even though project owners may feel confident assigning project management responsibilities to a contracted project management firm, they should still take steps to monitor progress on deliverables.
“If the project manager has been hired based on reputation and experience and things proceed well, then that’s great. But owners should be aware from the outset of a project that if issues arise during the project that aren’t managed well, then there is always some risk of conflicts or litigation.
“The project manager’s job is to minimize such risks and to manage the expectations of the stakeholders.”