Moving further along our Commercial Project Roadmap: Step 3

Dec 21, 2022 | Commercial and Industrial

In our previous two blogs, we’ve covered the initial pre-works planning that can improve the success of a commercial project. We’ve also addressed the importance of setting up the right project team.

This month, we’re moving on to Step 3 on our ‘Roadmap to success’ for commercial projects.

STEP 3: DETERMINE IF YOU NEED A PROJECT MANAGER

You may have thought that, once you’ve established your project team, you’d be ready to hit the deck running. Not quite.

Sometimes, you may need to engage to engage the services of a project manager to assist with delivering the project. This should also be considered and decided before work starts.

Determining need

There are a few factors that are relevant to whether or not you need a project manager. These include the complexity of the project and your own abilities, experience and availability (or that of the people within your organisation).

A good gauge is how you feel after reading the 12 blogs in this series. If you feel a little (or a lot!) overwhelmed by the recommended process in the context of your upcoming project, we strongly recommend that you engage the services of a project manager.

If you can’t wait that long to get across the recommended 12 steps, feel free to touch base with us to get the low-down sooner.

Benefits

An external project manager brings similar benefits to any other external consultant you might engage from time to time. These are some benefits.

  • They take ownership of the project, which gives you someone to turn to when there is any uncertainty. (After all, you have engaged them for their ability to deliver the project.)
  • They bring a higher level of expertise and experience to the project, giving them the ability to identify and address actual and potential issues that could arise throughout the planning and execution of the building works.
  • They have the ability to not get emotionally caught up in the process and, instead, to stand back and work at arm’s length.
  • They can dedicate the necessary time to the project.
  • They will advise and work closely with the project team, alleviating stress that would otherwise be carried by the project team.
  • They can be just as cost effective as not engaging an external project manager, as they can identify opportunities for greater efficiencies across the life of the project.
  • When hiccups arise, they can act as a mediator and obtain the best outcome for the project.

Get the best out of your project manager

If you decide that an external project manager is needed, involve them from the start of the project rather than part of the way in. This is much more efficient for everyone involved than them starting later — often when something has gone wrong — and having to piece together previous discussions, designs and quotes. The latter approach takes up time and costs money, and if any key element has been missed, chances are the project manager will need to start from the beginning again anyway.

What do project managers charge?

The cost of engaging an external project manager varies depending on the size and complexity of each project. However, to give you a rough guide, you can typically expect an external project manager’s fees to be roughly 4% to 6% of the total project cost. You should be able to recover these costs if you choose an experienced and reliable project manager, as the cost of the project will be offset by their industry knowledge, connections and ability.

Project management is just one of the consultancy services we offer here at Core4. If you’d like more information on how we can help you in this area, reach out. We don’t bite! And we like to think we shape up pretty well against our competition. You can find us at:

Head Office (AU)
7/121 Newmarket Road
Windsor QLD 4030
www.core4service.com.au
hello@core4service.com
1300 267 333

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