The role of a project manager (PM) is a critical part of successful project planning and execution. While the PMBOK (Project Management Book of Knowledge) lays out the critical steps for essential project management, it does not actually describe how to choose good project managers.
The first question is, “Do you like building (what this company builds)?” This is because the PM is often like the conductor of a large orchestra. The conductor studies the music, plans how it is to be played, selects and trains the musicians to deliver what he wants, schedules the practices, and organizes how the music is to be played according to his vision of a successful performance. By the time of the performance, the conductor and his team of musicians have worked through every detail of how the music must be performed from timing to tempo to watching for signals to volume to “mood” to create technical and visionary works of art. What people see as an hour-long performance is simply the result of serious effort and work of days, months, or years. If the audience does not like the music, they will not ask for more. If they do not ask for more, the orchestra is not funded, and the effort fails to be profitable.
Because engineers should have a love for building what the company needs, they are often chosen for project managers. However, the engineering is normally only one part of many large projects, and many other disciplines and specialties are also required. These include, but are not limited to, contract development, material specifications, manufacturing specifications, bidding specifications and management, cost estimating for each portion, environmental requirements for site selection to construction to operations, safety, landowner and public relations, regulatory permitting and compliance, vendor selection, contractor selection, construction practices, inspections, contractor and vendor management, scheduling, contingency planning, operator training and handbooks, start-up and commissioning procedures, waste disposal, utility planning and coordination, reporting, auditing, invoice verification, project records, and many other considerations.
Not only does the PM have to manage the above, but that PM must optimize each step for cost and time and maximize efficiency in operations and modifications for the future. Especially for large projects, this requires the PM to have significant practical experience in the above skills.
Failures in project management of large projects are often traced to either the project manager not having the skill to understand and control the scope of each activity, or not having the authority to control each step of the project. It is my observation that effective project managers for large projects must work closely with management AND operations AND HSE as integral team members.
I have had the blessing of working with a number of high-performing teams that were extremely successful at large and small projects as well as running projects myself.
I offer assistance to any company looking at large and small projects to either provide or advise on successful project management.