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Construction project manager infographic

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This construction project manager infographic shows, that construction projects vary, depending on whether they’re commercial, residential, institutional, agricultural, industrial or heavy civil projects. However, all great CM’s the same important qualities.

Construction Manager Profile

The construction project manager infographic

CMs can be responsible for as many as 120 tasks, ranging from planning, to execution, to monitoring, to control and closure.  It can get stressful and messy when things aren’t going well. How can a project manager successfully juggle budget, time management, quality, safety and contracts? Or in other words, what makes for a good project manager? Well, many things.

CM should be analytical yet creative on the job, cope well with stress and know how to remain cool and collected under all circumstances. Since a project manager has to deal with a variety of people from different backgrounds, everything runs easier if s/he is a people person, a motivator and a leader, and is showing to be supportive towards the rest of the team. Having good written, verbal and graphic communication is important and completes a solid technical preparation.

A good CM should be a problem solver, aware of what’s going on at all times and insightful in different situations. As challenges will inevitably arise in the process, a project manager has to be someone who likes challenges.

Professionally, a CM profile should include:

Solid math
Physics
IT knowledge
Technical engineering training
Training in evaluating performance and productivity
Construction site experience
And additional specialties related to the field they’re managing

A good CM should have both a strategical and tactical approach, understand technical complexity, have organizational data analysis skills and last but not least knowledge of security procedures and legal matters.

Here are 5 examples of good practices that great CM adopt, as illustrated in our construction project manager infographic:

1. Communicate clearly and effectively. Communication is key to having well-functioning project management, and it goes both ways. When speaking, a great CM keeps information and instructions as concise and precise as possible and keeps in mind that listening and asking questions is just as important.
2. Delegate tasks. A construction project is complex and it’s a many people’s job. Learning how to delegate well and assign the right tasks to the right people is essential.
3. Establish a routine of evaluating progress and deadlines. Deadlines should be respected, but if things come up, a great CM should know how to reschedule and re-prioritize tasks and deadlines.
4. Create a teamwork environment. You know things are going well when they smell like team spirit. Creating a good work environment makes coworkers collaborate better and help others out when needed.
5. Develop problem-solving skills. We already know that good project managers should be natural problem solvers, but what makes great project managers is their ability to also be open to change and innovation in their way of solving problems.

There is no perfect recipe for success, but keeping these points in mind as guidelines for professional conduct will definitely help. Construction management is more than just a job. Working as a construction manager means being a construction manager.