I'm begining to plan for the next step in the process, adding a project manager to handle, well, projects.

At this point I do all of this, along with the selling, the administration, HR, all that. Too much. I want a person to watch over the millions of details on a project, communicate with the subs, building professionals, client on day to day stuff, all that.

I need to write a job description in order to define the scope of work the project manager will do. What is a job description that makes sense? Those of you who manage projects, what is it at the nuts & bolts level that gets done?

I invite your input.

Wanted: Someone to handle every aspect of a job once the client has signed on the dotted Line.

Salespeople should be concentrating on sales... Not following up on everything little thing. Of course they (The sales person) needs to be there to atend to sales related questions, but install specific stuf should be handled in the field by the project manager.

The Work order should be witten by the PM, The GC's Contact should be the PM, If the installers on the job have an issue with Slot A Not fiting into Fitting B, they should call the Project Manager, Not the sales person...........

Pretty simplistic view, but a Sales person who doesnt have to worry about all that stuf can sell twice as much. I have no idea what industry average is, but that could relate to 1/2 million in sales in some cases. More than enough to justify the PM's salary.



This message was edited by Impaqt on 09/01/04 23:33 ET.

Good point, not distracting from sales. Funny how it's hard to separate the sales from the project management when I've done both for so long; they just blend together. For example:

I sell a project. I spend a lot of time defining the scope of work in documentation (sales). We begin the job, and I manage the work flow (project management). A problem crops up that relates back to an error made on the sales side; I sold an item or a feature that wasn't provided for in the equipment list (project management finding an error in sales). The salesman in me goes back to the client with the news and a proposed fix (sales). Client OK's it and I go back to work after writing the change order (sales).

sales and management goes toogether. an effective manager needs to be able to sell. an effective salesman needs to be able to manage and INSTALL. eliminates sales errors and mistakes.

Clients also hate to feel that someone else has been assigned to their project once a good rapore has been established with the salesman

Project managers have been defined as people responsible for doing something that has never been done before, for people who don’t know what they want, who must first predict the unknown, make a plan to cope with the unforeseen, and execute the plan with limited resources that they do not control, and who are held completely responsible for the results, even if miracles are required.

In our industry, a Project Manager must be a well-rounded, organized individual. He/she must be part salesperson, part accountant, part technician, part entrepreneur, part manager & part inspirational/motivational leader.

90% of a project manager's time is spent communicating - communicating with his team in an effort to coordinate tasks and to keep project information flowing and communicating with external stakeholders (homeowner, builder, architect, designer, subs, etc.). In a nutshell, the PM is the hub of the project he is tasked to manage.

True enough. Anyone selling for me (that list, right now, would be.....uh, me) needs to know how to install. I know how.

Clients do sometimes hate to be be "handed off" to a project manager. Some people just want to deal with the guy they started with. Some of this, in my view, is the individual client. These individuals are nice folks, but if they had their way I would be doing all their installing as well; that makes me in effect a captive guy for them, which does not allow me opportunity to grow. In other words, if I cannot assign an installer or project manager to handle parts of their job, the client has hit me in the head with a glass ceiling.

Most clients are OK with a hand-off, if done correctly. It happened to me on a big project at my house this year, as a matter of fact. The project manager was better at manageing the job and getting back to us than the salesman was, to be perfectly honest. It worked out fine.

In my view, there are several key points in the hand-off. The salesman needs to be available to check with on questions concerning what was specified/promised. The hand-off needs to be done smoothly, not just dumped off on some guy that confesses that he dosen't know much and is clueless on what the client is expecting. The client needs to know that he can reach anybody he needs to quickly, but that his first point of contact is the project manager.

I'm presuming that is largely said tounge in cheek. True enough, but not a situation I would view as a goal, but problems to be dealt with and avoided with planning and foresite.


That's the knid of feedback I was looking for! More, please, more!!

Sign on desk of Project Manager:

THE BUCK STOPS HERE

What we do to make the hand off smooth is the sales guy does the "dream building" and comes up with an approximate price then he informs the client that with a 10% deposit , they can meet withthe engineering/project management team and then we come up with a more accurate proposal making sure all the clients needs are met. Before the installation starts the engineering team introduces the installation manager and the install team. The sales guy stays in contact with the client throughout the project by picking up the scheduled payments and through weekly meetings withthe sales, engineering and installation members we keep the communication flowing and everyone is up to date. We have been using this system for the last 12 jobs or so and it seems to work great with the clients and for us.

Hello KC....well said!

The project manager is the COO (chief operations officer) of our industry, which means he is responsible for the day to day operations of the company. I'm sure most of you that have started your own company in this industry probably think that is YOUR job, but as you expand you will come to know that it is difficult to be both the CEO (policies, procedures, advertising, networking, legal, acounting, etc.) and the COO ie project manager (scheduling, ordering, planning, communicating, etc.) Most large corporations employ both and they are both very important jobs.

Hi guys,

Sorry. I'm not a regular on this forum, so it takes me a little longer than AVDUDE to reply. ;-)

Before you consider adding the position of project manager to your organizartion, you must first define your project management process. How do projects flow thru from initiation to closeout? Who's responsible for EACH task along the way? How does your team communicate their needs for resources, products, etc.? Etc., etc., etc.

In order for a project manager to be successful, a system must be in place for him/her to "manipulate" or you are setting them up for failure. Consider this effort of defining your process an examination of your organiuzation's business health. You'll be surprised by what you learn. WARNING: Don't expect to get it right the first time and plan on spending a LOT of time on this. It can take years to perfect the process once it's been implemented.

BTW - I've been volunteering on CEDIA's Ed council for two years now as a Co-Dean and an instructor for the PM curriculum/track. I helped develop and have taught a 2-day course entilted PM Boot Camp. It's basically a crash course on developing the PM process. I'll be teaching this course again at the Long Beach EH Expo coming up in November. NSCA offers a commercial version of this course that's twice the price of what CEDIA charges. It's worth every penny if you're struggling with implementing project management. Will also be teaching a 90-minute course titled PM101 which is an introduction to a best practices model for the profession of project management (checkout www.pmi.org).

BTW #2 - I'm currently looking for two candidates to fill vacated Dean slots on CEDIA's ed council (I'm the "Dean of Deans" now - Chairman of the committee). If you know of anyone who may be interested in volunteering, I need help with the Designer track and the Technician/Installer track.

Best regards,
PMP
(aka Keith Cottrell; Director of System Design for Audio Advisors)

Keith,

Will this course be available at CEDIA regionals next year?

When, i did the job it was described to me in this way. "The PM puts the ball in the end zone"

Basically he coordinated all of the efforts between the installers/subcontractors and the sales/customers. He handles all issues, complaints, requests, schedules, re-schedules. When i did it, i would, personally view and test, every job under my direction before it was given back to sales for the close w/ the customer.

A good PM is worth his weight in sales. A bad one can kill your company.

For me my first job as a pm was to check the design of the project and make sure that the equipment list was complete. I didnt interact w/ the customers only the sales guys. Sales had no contact w/ installers or subs. That was all PM.

It frees everyone up to do what they are best at. Salesmen sell, installers install. Pm's put it all together.