Here’s Why You’re Better Off With A Turnkey Project Manager
Project Management is like golf – it looks easy until you try it for yourself! Although many couples are quick to think up reasons why they don’t need a project manager – much less a turnkey project manager – when building or renovating their home, the simple truth is this: proven project management practices waste a staggering 28 percent less money. The reason is simple. More projects coordinated by a project manager are completed successfully.
In the UK, the construction industry accounts for almost seven percent of our total GDP – about £90 billion every year. And yet, statistics show that for every billion Pounds spent, over 10 percent is wasted due to a lack of proper project management.
Despite these statistics, it’s common to hear these kinds of questions asked by business managers everywhere:
“Why do we need a turnkey project manager? We’re quite capable of sitting down together and sorting things out.”
“Our project is so small, surely we can’t justify the costs of a project manager?
“It’s too expensive – I’d rather spend the money on other things.”
And it’s not just businesses asking these questions. Many couples, too, when deciding to build a new home, or renovate their existing one, feel they can easily manage by themselves. Unfortunately, this often turns out not to be the case!
So, if you’ve asked any, or all, of these questions yourself, it’s clearly time to show you in a little more detail exactly what the realities are of choosing a turnkey project management solution, and how it can save you a significant amount of time, money and hassle.
What Does A Project Manager (PM) Actually Do?
Imagine all the people working on your project were musicians in an orchestra. If they all played their instruments at the same time, the noise would be deafening and it wouldn’t sound like Beethoven’s 5th at all. Each individual musician is highly talented and plays their instrument beautifully – but without the conductor, without someone telling them when to play, how loudly or softly to play, and when to stop, noise is all you’re ever going to hear.
Project managers are the conductors of the building world.
PM’s love chaos. Or rather, they love taking chaos and turning it into order and organisation. They bring method and structure to a project. Time and risk management are key strengths.
Project managers are also great with people. They co-ordinate diverse teams, all of whom want their needs prioritised. They very often have their own trusted network of craftsmen, tradesmen and builders, but will ensure they integrate these seamlessly with your own contractors and suppliers.
PMs work closely with other stakeholders to work out timelines, develop plans and calculate material and labour costs. One of their chief responsibilities is making sure your project is completed on time, on budget and within scope. They also obtain permits and ensure all parts of the project are up to code, as well as making sure all supplies and equipment – from the smallest nail to the largest piece of earthmoving machinery – are on-site when needed. All this stuff has to be stored somewhere, and a reliable, trackable inventory must be drawn up.
All in a day’s work for a project manager!
Benefits Of Using A Turnkey Project Manager
Apart from saving you from having to find several different people to do all the above tasks, a project manager has one very important additional function – he or she provides a single point of contact between you and the all the vendors involved in your build. It’s incredibly comforting to know you can go to one person – the same person – every time you need to talk about your project’s progress. They will have all the answers and hold themselves accountable to you directly.
Knowing your project is in safe hands, and that your PM is controlling the reins of all the day-to-day scheduling, is incredibly reassuring.
Of course, one of the most important benefits of hiring a project manager is that the money you save through having your project running on time and on budget is usually more than enough to cover the costs of hiring him or her in the first place.
At Marble Air, we look at your design brief through your eyes, so we can more fully understand and interpret the objectives of your project.
We believe in continuous dialogue, quality craftsmanship and on-budget project delivery. Whether you’re building from scratch or renovating, trust our turnkey project team to deliver exactly what you want. Talk to us today.
