THE BUILDER’S PROJECT MANAGER (PM)

GPM 711 – Project Management

Ar. Eli Jairus R. Madrid 2018 - 0161813
ROLE OF PROJECT MANAGERS

In the project life cycle, the most influential factors

affecting the outcome of the project often reside at the
early stages. At this point, decisions should be based on
competent economic evaluation with due consideration
for adequate financing, the prevalent social and
regulatory environment, and technological
considerations.

Architects and engineers might specialize in

planning, in construction field management, or in
operation, but as project managers, they must have
some familiarity with all such aspects in order to
understand properly their role and be able to make
competent decisions.
ROLE OF PROJECT MANAGERS
• The greatest stumbling block to effective
management in construction is the inertia and historic
divisions among planners, designers and constructors.

• Design and innovation remains the foundation of

engineering practice, the social, economic and
organizational factors that are pervasive in
influencing the success and failure of construction
projects must also be dealt with effectively

• Project Managers must be knowledgeable enough to

anticipate the problems of management so that they
can work harmoniously with professionals in related
fields to overcome the inertia and historic divisions.
ROLE OF PROJECT MANAGERS
• The project manager must possess the leadership
quality and the ability to handle effectively intricate
interpersonal relationships within an organization.

• The ultimate test of the education and experience of a

project manager for construction lies in her or his
ability to apply fundamental principles to solving
problems in the new and unfamiliar situations which
have become the hallmarks of the changing
environment in the construction industry.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The management of construction projects requires

knowledge of modern management as well as an
understanding of the design and construction process.
Construction projects have a specific set of objectives
and constraints such as a required time frame for
completion.

Project management is the art of directing and

coordinating human and material resources throughout
the life of a project by using modern management
techniques to achieve predetermined objectives of
scope, cost, time, quality and participation satisfaction.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project Management framework:

• A working knowledge of general management and

familiarity with special knowledge domain related to the
project are a necessary need.
• Modern management practices and various special
knowledge domains have absorbed various techniques or
tools which were once identified only with the supporting
disciplines.
• Examples are computer-based information systems and
decision support systems are now common-place tools for
general management. Similarly, many operations research
techniques such as linear programming and network
analysis are now widely used in many knowledge or
application domains.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Sources from which the Project Management Framework evolves:

Basic ingredients in Project

Management
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
• Project management in construction encompasses a set
of objectives which may be accomplished by
implementing a series of operations subject to resource
constraints.

• There are potential conflicts between the stated

objectives with regard to scope, cost, time and quality,
and the constraints imposed on human material and
financial resources. These conflicts should be resolved at
the onset of a project by making the necessary
tradeoffs or creating new alternatives.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Functions of project management for construction generally
include the following:

1. Specification of project objectives and plans including

delineation of scope, budgeting, scheduling, setting
performance requirements, and selecting project
participants.
2. Maximization of efficient resource utilization through
procurement of labor, materials and equipment according
to the prescribed schedule and plan.
3. Implementation of various operations through proper
coordination and control of planning, design, estimating,
contracting and construction in the entire process.
4. Development of effective communications and mechanisms
for resolving conflicts among the various participants.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Nine (9) distinct areas requiring project manager
knowledge and attention:

1. Project integration management

2. Project scope management
3. Project time management
4. Project cost management
5. Project quality management
6. Project human resource management
7. Project communications management
8. Project risk management
9. Project procurement management
PROJECT MANAGEMENT

1. Project integration management to ensure that the

various project elements are effectively coordinated.

2. Project scope management to ensure that all the

work required (and only the required work) is included.

3. Project time management to provide an effective

project schedule.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT

4. Project cost management to identify needed

resources and maintain budget control.

5. Project quality management to ensure functional

requirements are met.

6. Project human resource management to development

and effectively employ project personnel.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT

7. Project communications management to ensure

effective internal and external communications.

8. Project risk management to analyze and mitigate

potential risks.

9. Project procurement management to obtain

necessary resources from external sources.
LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION

• The project manager, in the broadest sense of the term,

is the most important person for the success or failure of
a project.

• The project manager receives authority from the

management of the organization to mobilize the
necessary resources to complete a project.

• The project manager must be able to exert

interpersonal influence in order to lead the project
team.
LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION
The project manager often gains the support of his/her
team through a combination of the following:

• Formal authority resulting from an official capacity which

is empowered to issue orders.

• Reward and/or penalty power resulting from his/her

capacity to dispense directly or indirectly valued
organization rewards or penalties.

• Expert power when the project manager is perceived as

possessing special knowledge or expertise for the job.

• Attractive power because the project manager has a

personality or other characteristics to convince others.
LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION
• In a matrix organization, the members of the functional
departments may be accustomed to a single reporting line
in a hierarchical structure, but the project manager
coordinates the activities of the team members drawn from
functional departments.
• The functional structure within the matrix organization is
responsible for priorities, coordination, administration and
final decisions pertaining to project implementation.
• The project manager must be given the responsibility and
authority to resolve various conflicts such that the
established project policy and quality standards will not be
jeopardized. When contending issues of a more fundamental
nature are developed, they must be brought to the attention
of a high level in the management and be resolved
expeditiously.
LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION
Matrix Organization Structure
LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION
Matrix Organization Structure

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
• Resources can be used • Employees are assigned
efficiently, since experts to multiple projects. This
and equipment can be creates the problem of
shared across projects. spreading an employee
• Products and projects are over too many projects
formally coordinated resulting in lost time as
across functional they transition physically
departments. or mentally between
• Information flows both projects.
across and up through • As the number of projects
the organization. supported increases so
does the lost time due to
transitioning.
LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION
In general, the project manager's authority must be clearly
documented as well as defined, particularly in a matrix
organization where the functional division managers often
retain certain authority over the personnel temporarily
assigned to a project. The following principles should be
observed:

1. The interface between the project manager and the

functional division managers should be kept as simple as
possible.
2. The project manager must gain control over those
elements of the project which may overlap with functional
division managers.
3. The project manager should encourage problem solving
rather than role playing of team members drawn from
various functional divisions.
Resources:

• Practical Project Management for Building and

Construction;1st Edition by Hans Ottosson

• https://pmhut.com/organization-structures-in-project-
management

• https://www.cmu.edu/cee/projects/PMbook/index.html

• https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/chapter/
chapter-2-what-is-a-project-project-management/