Happy New Year!  And good riddance to 2008.

With the new year comes Hope, in many forms.  Our new president ran his campaign on the theme of Hope, and I do think he will bring that to us all, regardless of political ideology.  The most tangible outcome of this initial hope in the Obama administration will be the much ballyhooed and currently undefined Economic Stimulus Plan.  Other than “Roads and Bridges” not much else is known about what will be in the plan as of yet, but you can be sure that it will be huge.

I’m reminded of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, another example of government stimulus plans at work.  If you will recall, that plan essentially involved dumping several billion dollars along the gulf coast and sending thousands of mobile home trailers to Louisiana and Mississippi, without much planning aforethought.  A sad result of this was that billions of dollars were wasted, lost, and plain stolen.  Very little of the money was used efficiently, and thousands of the infamous FEMA trailers sit unused and rotting somewhere.  The parts of that plan that did work were those projects that were thought through, planned over time, and incentivized with tax breaks.  And, overseen by competent governments. 

The good news is that hopefully, the new administration will approach this new stimulus plan with a bit more planning and oversight, while keeping inefficient politically motivated mandates to a minimum.  Transparency and thorough deliberation are keys here.  An informed, watchful, and vocal public that insists on keeping stupid stuff out of the package is also critical.  (True story: one group is requesting that $6 million of the stimulus money be earmarked for snow making equipment – in Minnesota.) Surely the next stimulus plan can’t be handled as incompetently as the last one, right?

Well, one can hope.

At any rate, the message to the construction industry is to get ready.  One of the biggest boom times in the history of the construction industry is coming soon, for those who know how to work the system.  Put yourself in position to grab those dollars that the government will soon be throwing at you.  Figure out how to get on the bidding list for infrastructure projects.  Network with your GC and subcontractor colleagues who have experience in this kind of work, and build those relationships so that you can help each other when the dollars start flowing.

In my memory, 2008 will rank among the most vivid.  In 2008, the financial system collapsed; century old Wall Street firms folded;  energy costs skyrocketed and then tumbled; commodity prices mirrored energy; and construction lending came to a near standstill.  We will have a tough time forgetting this year despite our best efforts.  But ever the optimist (I can’t help it – I have Irish roots), 2008 will also be a year from which we learned more about managing our businesses than any other.  What have I learned from 2008?

We have learned that the theory of “De-coupling”, in which global trade would make the global economy less dependent on the American financial system, was incorrect.  In essence, 2008 proved to an even higher degree the importance of the much too villified American consumer.  We were blamed while energy prices were escalating for our excess, and pandered to while the global economy was tanking.  For the forseeable future, the American consumer will continue to drive the global economy.  De-coupling is a clever concept on a doctoral thesis.

We learned that rising energy prices and environmental activism will make building science “cool” again.  Many of us in the industry know that the “Green” term of the day is better known as “sound building practice”.  Our industry has been the advocates for proper (often more expensive) building techniques for decades.  We now have the court of public opinion on our side helping to advocate and willing to pay for the best practices that we have been preaching about for years - something I haven’t seen previously in my career.

We’ve seen untold gobs (scientific terminology) of dollars float to building science. Bill Gates once was asked by an interviewer about how the tech bubble of the 90′s was a disappointment.  In essence, he said that the money invested to develop the network infrastructure is not a waste, despite the crash.  I firmly believe the dollars invested in building science during this boom will reward us with handsome dividends for generations to come.  In a few short years we have gone from holding a candle or smoke stick by a window to show a client an air leak to monitoring it with heat seeking infrared technology, recording it digitally and being able to review our repair afterwards.  This is stuff we could ony dream of a short while ago.  Science such as this will make our built environments and those that create them even better over time.

I have  learned that when banks forget their fundamental, core business - (lending the savings of others to those of an excellent credit risk)  Run, Run, Run away from their chosen darling of the day.

As an extension of the item above, 2008 yet again confirmed that proper business fundamentals are the only way to long term wealth and sustainable growth (had to pitch my theme – please forgive me) .  Chasing the cause of the day might work and fatten our pocket books short term, but it is not nor ever will be a long term strategy. 

I have learned that the Law of Unintended Consequences will always occur.  Think of the corn ethanol bandwagon and the subsequent food prices/shortages.  In our industry, think of the best intentions for providing the American Dream to those of modes means that created high risk lending and subprime loans.  But in keeping with one of the statements above, I believe we are in our alternative energy infancy and must invest and fail in order to succeed at some point down the road.  Now we know what works in the lending arena , and what doesn’t

Most importantly, I have learned that the only constant is the love of our family, the daily work that we do, and the habits of constant improvement have made us great as a nation in the past and will get us past this incredibly rough economic time.  2008 was an incredibly curious year that I will never forget.  I am sure the political/economic landscape of 2009 and beyond will look very much different to what I consider the norm in prior years.  Getting back to basics has been and will be the only consistently successful theme across industries.  Those with proper fundamentals are forecasting what 2009 will be like and are having a tough time doing so with all of the unknowns and variables.  Those that aren’t making this effort will undoubtedly be one of the casualties of the crash of 2008.

What have some of you learned from 2008?  I am most curious to hear from you and learn your stories of lessons learned from the “Crash of 2008″ - I bet this would make for excellent reading a few years from now.  Funny thing is, after all of the difficulties of this year, I still hope I get a new tool for Christmas! Despite the deeply cyclical nature of building, I simply will never be able to get it out of my blood.  I wish all of you a blessed and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

QUESTION:  I’m working as a Technician and would like to move into Project Management.  What can I do? 

In the first post on this subject (From Technician to Project Manager:  The Technical Side) we covered things that should be done during the first 18 months of wanting to make a transition from technician to project manager. 

Below we explore the second phase where you start to hone your management abilities.  Also included are some basic skills needed at the project management level that you may or may-not already be good at. 

Depending on your time availability and learning curve you may be able to start some of these things at the same time as the technical phase. 

• General Management Library:  As with your technical library start building your management library investing time each day to read.  Books like “Execution” by Larry Bossidy, “Winning” by Jack Welch and “The Toyota Way” should be in your library along with others you find interesting.  If your construction career is anything like mine and you drive a lot then invest in audio books.  I can typically listen to about 1 business book per week – that’s the equivalent of an MBA in a couple years.  In addition to Amazon.com and the local bookstore I recommend two additional resources – www.audible.com and www.audio-tech.com. 
• Project Management Library:  Augmenting your technical library find some good books; specific to your trade if possible on estimating, scheduling, change orders, construction claims and general project management.  Don’t go overboard here – the basics of being a PM are pretty simple – most PMs fail due to lack of attention to the basics. 
• Local Seminars & Classes:  There are usually dozens of classes taught each year by industry professionals through local trade associations and colleges.  Look around and see what is out there.  Some internet search time will go a long ways.  Set yourself up for a series of classes that include technical, management, legal (contract / lien law) and financial management classes.  Your employer may or may not pay for these.  Set your own budget and trust me that the money will come. 
• Money:  As a Project Manager a major aspect of how you are judged has to do with your ability to manage the profitability and cash flow of the project.  We have NEVER seen a PM who was good at both of those things lose their job – and conversely a major aspect of every decision to let a PM go was that they weren’t that good at managing the money regardless of the “Official” reasons given.  Build your library of books to teach yourself about money including books like “What the CEO Wants You to Know” and books specific to budgeting for construction projects. 
• Typing:  As simple as this sounds being able to type fast is a huge benefit.  There are dozens of programs out there that can help you learn to type – strive for 60 words per minute.  As with the reading set aside some time to practice a few times per week and you will achieve your goals. 
• Writing:  The ability to clearly articulate your thoughts is another big deal for a project manager.  If this is a strong point for you then great – if not you should work on it by taking classes at your local college and by practicing.  Those lists of questions that you were making when you were reviewing plans – turn those all into individual RFIs written as if you were running the job.  When a situation arises while you are on the project that requires a letter to be written try writing the draft yourself and comparing it to the one your PM wrote. 
• Computer / Microsoft Office:  If you don’t have a computer at home invest in one that runs the same software you would have in a business – Windows XP or Vista Business + Microsoft Office.  You need to be excellent with your use of Word and Excel.  Take classes and practice, practice, practice.  Learn to make forms and lists in both Work and Excel.  Going back to your plans start making your lists directly in Excel.  Learn your formulas and how to make simple spreadsheets.  I learned all my computer skills starting with basic to-do lists in Excel for the project.  Learn to not only make your documents look good but also make them functional. 
• Microsoft Project:  Learn to make your own schedules.  In the latter part of your training after mastering the basics of Word and Excel invest in MS Project and learn how to build schedules.  There are only a few other pieces of software out there for scheduling but the basics of Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling are the same for all of them.
• Accounting, Estimating & PM Software:  Once you get into the role of a PM it is likely that your company will have some sort of system in place for job cost reporting, purchasing and project management.  Strive to learn as much about this as you can and use it – remember that your company paid a ton of money for the system and if you can show that you can effectively use the system it will not only help you do your job better but will get you noticed. 
• Contacts:  The people you meet during this process will be key to helping you both now and throughout your career including those “Field Friends” you worked with on the jobsite who helped you learn the other trades, the suppliers you bummed catalogs from and the consultants / teachers you took classes from.  Start assembling these all into one contact management location like Outlook.  Stay in contact with them regularly. 

This may seem like a lot but if you set some goals you can knock a lot of this out over a three year period of time.  It is a sacrifice but one that is well worth it.  As far as getting a job as a PM – that’s easy if you are taking even some of the steps above you will get noticed by everyone and opportunities will open up right and left. 

Are all these things really necessary to become a Project Manager?  Absolutely not but they are necessary to become a Project Manager in the top percentile of all PMs.  There is a huge difference in pay between Project Managers – it is your choice where on that scale you end up at over the next 10 years. 

As always, ask any questions and comments are always welcome.  You can post them here or send an email to david@dbrownmanagement.com.