1. Be well-read. Reading provides you with an important skill for today’s manager: the ability to see linkages between unrelated events.
2. Improve your language skills. You are increasingly called upon to express yourself in reports, letters, presentations, and interviews. Look up words you don’t understand, and fine-tune your grammar skills.
3. Be politically effective. Make contacts and take responsibility for letting people know your skills. Good politicking is a skill, not a vice.
4. Watch other people. Notice how to interpret their facial expressions. You can’t afford to miss the clues that indicate dissatisfaction, boredom, anger, or contentment.
5. Cope with your work problems. Symptoms of an inability to cope include: long-term recurrence of the same problems; replacement of one problem with another; disposing of problems instead of learning from them; dealing with problems through anger; and needing other people to deal with your problems.
Learn more tips for becoming a better PM team leader with the world's most successful project managers by attending PSMJ's A/E/C Project Management Bootcamp. This Bootcamp is a revolutionary training like no other--through interactive case-studies, real-world examples, and proven solutions, you will foster innovation, elevate communications, increase productivity, and improve your firm's bottom line.
PSMJ's A/E/C Project Management Bootcamp can instantly and dramatically improve your ability to manage projects for quality, speed, and profitability. Click here to order or contact PSMJ Education Department at education@psmj.com or (800) 537-7765.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Collecting Effective Client Feedback
Increasing a firm’s value to their clients improves client loyalty, referrals, profitability, marketing, staff performance and retention, and reduces liability. Improving this value involves tracking client preferences and managing the refinement of staff processes accordingly. This is best accomplished by collecting client feedback to produce actionable data. But knowing how and when to collect the most helpful data is a strategy that eludes most firms.
The ultimate challenge of gathering effective feedback is to make the survey comprehensive while also concise. The system we have developed over the last decade distills the basic survey questions to seven. They are divided into two categories: Deliverables (the client’s perceptions on WHAT the design firm produced) and Relationships (feedback on HOW the firm’s process worked).
Increasing your value to your clients involves measuring your value to your clients and using those metrics to manage improvement. If your firm is not using feedback to measure client value you are missing a valuable chance to better communicate and understand your client. XL insurance, a leading provider of professional liability insurance for design firms, has determined that 8 out of 10 lawsuits against designers stem from poor communication and understanding between design firms and their clients.
Need help gathering client feedback? PSMJ can help! PSMJ, in partnership with DesignFacilitator (founded by the author of this article, Mike Phillips, AIA), has developed a cost-effective survey program to measure client perception and satisfaction that yield rich, highly useful information for the success of your firm, the PSMJ Premier Award for Client Satisfaction. The Premier Award is the A/E/C industry's first client-focused accolade and honors firms that consistently provide their clients with top quality communications, impressive performance, and cost-effective solutions.
By entering this award program, you will get independent, confidential feedback from up to 40 of your most important clients. Additionally, if you win, you will have the winning advantage of marketing your firm as award-winning in client satisfaction. And at only $595, it is a great opportunity to jump-start a client feedback initiative and prove the importance this information has for your firm. You will even receive a customized consultation session to review and help interpret your results with a client feedback expert from DesignFacilitator. With a deal like that, how can you pass up this valuable opportunity to gain a significant advantage in today’s highly competitive marketplace!
The ultimate challenge of gathering effective feedback is to make the survey comprehensive while also concise. The system we have developed over the last decade distills the basic survey questions to seven. They are divided into two categories: Deliverables (the client’s perceptions on WHAT the design firm produced) and Relationships (feedback on HOW the firm’s process worked).
Increasing your value to your clients involves measuring your value to your clients and using those metrics to manage improvement. If your firm is not using feedback to measure client value you are missing a valuable chance to better communicate and understand your client. XL insurance, a leading provider of professional liability insurance for design firms, has determined that 8 out of 10 lawsuits against designers stem from poor communication and understanding between design firms and their clients.
Need help gathering client feedback? PSMJ can help! PSMJ, in partnership with DesignFacilitator (founded by the author of this article, Mike Phillips, AIA), has developed a cost-effective survey program to measure client perception and satisfaction that yield rich, highly useful information for the success of your firm, the PSMJ Premier Award for Client Satisfaction. The Premier Award is the A/E/C industry's first client-focused accolade and honors firms that consistently provide their clients with top quality communications, impressive performance, and cost-effective solutions.
By entering this award program, you will get independent, confidential feedback from up to 40 of your most important clients. Additionally, if you win, you will have the winning advantage of marketing your firm as award-winning in client satisfaction. And at only $595, it is a great opportunity to jump-start a client feedback initiative and prove the importance this information has for your firm. You will even receive a customized consultation session to review and help interpret your results with a client feedback expert from DesignFacilitator. With a deal like that, how can you pass up this valuable opportunity to gain a significant advantage in today’s highly competitive marketplace!
Monday, December 12, 2011
Mega-leap Your Competition
If you can get clients to respond to questions on long-term needs, you can position your firm for serious success. In order to “mega-leap” way ahead of your competition, consider the following steps:
1. Ask clients about specific ideas that will give them clear and quantitative benefits.
2. Be ready to demonstrate the improvement in a low-risk fashion to the client.
3. Lead clients to picture their own future through:
• Education — making certain the client understands all the options and why yours is the best.
• Partnering — joining with the client as a team member to ensure “buy-in” and teamwork.
• Visioning — working closely with the client in the beginning to develop a long-term vision that is exciting, motivational, and rewarding.
Corner the business
As a result of researching an expanding market, one Midwest firm realized that most of its potential clients were interested in the idea of getting things done faster. When meeting with these clients, the firm offered to work toward decreasing the total cycle-time of a project by at least 33 percent.
Of the 75 surveyed decision-makers, 20 responded with a “let’s try to do it” attitude. After all, if the firm failed to achieve a 33 percent reduction and completed the project in 20 percent to 25 percent less time, this would still be a leap over present performance.
Thanks to their aggressive and timely approach, the firm closed a dozen contracts in 14 months in very competitive situations.
Beat ’em to the punch
Clients want to buy a major benefit faster, cheaper, or better, but often are not sure of the details. It’s up to the architects or engineers to identify, refine, and respond to that need with a mega-leap benefit and systems to achieve it. So don’t wait to react during periods of heavy competition. Decide early how you can outperform your rivals, go out swinging, and land some business!
Learn more about how to get ahead of your competition and really integrate your firm into your client’s long term plan. Join PSMJ this spring for our Business Development for A/E/C Firms Seminar, coming to 6 locations across North America. Get the tools and confidence you need to succeed in bringing in more work for the firm – register today!
1. Ask clients about specific ideas that will give them clear and quantitative benefits.
2. Be ready to demonstrate the improvement in a low-risk fashion to the client.
3. Lead clients to picture their own future through:
• Education — making certain the client understands all the options and why yours is the best.
• Partnering — joining with the client as a team member to ensure “buy-in” and teamwork.
• Visioning — working closely with the client in the beginning to develop a long-term vision that is exciting, motivational, and rewarding.
Corner the business
As a result of researching an expanding market, one Midwest firm realized that most of its potential clients were interested in the idea of getting things done faster. When meeting with these clients, the firm offered to work toward decreasing the total cycle-time of a project by at least 33 percent.
Of the 75 surveyed decision-makers, 20 responded with a “let’s try to do it” attitude. After all, if the firm failed to achieve a 33 percent reduction and completed the project in 20 percent to 25 percent less time, this would still be a leap over present performance.
Thanks to their aggressive and timely approach, the firm closed a dozen contracts in 14 months in very competitive situations.
Beat ’em to the punch
Clients want to buy a major benefit faster, cheaper, or better, but often are not sure of the details. It’s up to the architects or engineers to identify, refine, and respond to that need with a mega-leap benefit and systems to achieve it. So don’t wait to react during periods of heavy competition. Decide early how you can outperform your rivals, go out swinging, and land some business!
Learn more about how to get ahead of your competition and really integrate your firm into your client’s long term plan. Join PSMJ this spring for our Business Development for A/E/C Firms Seminar, coming to 6 locations across North America. Get the tools and confidence you need to succeed in bringing in more work for the firm – register today!
Monday, December 5, 2011
8 Quality Control Tips Every PM Should Know
No matter how well your projects are managed, some errors and omissions will occur. You must therefore have a way to identify and correct them before the design is released to clients, subcontractors, or the operating staff. This is the purpose of a quality control (QC) program. Before problems occur on your next project, implement these 8 tips to prevent as many QC issues as possible.
1. Encourage those actually doing the work, not just principals, to stamp or seal documents. Responsibility and initial quality rise with the signing of plans.
2. Adopt a formal checking system, instead of relying on the experience of individuals.
3. Build into a project’s schedule and budget the time and costs of review by individual(s) not involved with the initial design. A good rule of thumb is 3-5% for the cost of QC checks.
4. Have a final design review after all documents are prepared. Late changes can have a major impact upon quality. But, don’t let that be your only review.
5. Get people to job sites as a continual training process. This is especially important for designers and drafters working on details.
6. Make sure cost estimates are accurate. Develop in-house expertise, use an outside expert cost estimator when necessary and continually update and check the cost of items with suppliers and contractors.
7. Schedule post construction design reviews between site inspector and designer.
8. Don’t allow field decisions to be made under pressure. Here’s the rule: “No critical decisions in a vacuum by the PM”; bring your supervisor into the decision.
Learn more about the quality control responsibilities of a PM by attending PSMJ's A/E/C Project Management Bootcamp. This Bootcamp is a revolutionary training like no other--through interactive case-studies, real-world examples, and proven solutions, you will foster innovation, elevate communications, increase productivity, and improve your firm's bottom line.
PSMJ is now accepting registrations for our Spring 2012 A/E/C Project Management Bootcamp series - instantly and dramatically improve your ability to manage projects for quality, speed, and profitability with PSMJ’s two-day intensive PM training seminar. Click here to order or contact PSMJ Education Department at education@psmj.com or (800) 537-7765.
1. Encourage those actually doing the work, not just principals, to stamp or seal documents. Responsibility and initial quality rise with the signing of plans.
2. Adopt a formal checking system, instead of relying on the experience of individuals.
3. Build into a project’s schedule and budget the time and costs of review by individual(s) not involved with the initial design. A good rule of thumb is 3-5% for the cost of QC checks.
4. Have a final design review after all documents are prepared. Late changes can have a major impact upon quality. But, don’t let that be your only review.
5. Get people to job sites as a continual training process. This is especially important for designers and drafters working on details.
6. Make sure cost estimates are accurate. Develop in-house expertise, use an outside expert cost estimator when necessary and continually update and check the cost of items with suppliers and contractors.
7. Schedule post construction design reviews between site inspector and designer.
8. Don’t allow field decisions to be made under pressure. Here’s the rule: “No critical decisions in a vacuum by the PM”; bring your supervisor into the decision.
Learn more about the quality control responsibilities of a PM by attending PSMJ's A/E/C Project Management Bootcamp. This Bootcamp is a revolutionary training like no other--through interactive case-studies, real-world examples, and proven solutions, you will foster innovation, elevate communications, increase productivity, and improve your firm's bottom line.
PSMJ is now accepting registrations for our Spring 2012 A/E/C Project Management Bootcamp series - instantly and dramatically improve your ability to manage projects for quality, speed, and profitability with PSMJ’s two-day intensive PM training seminar. Click here to order or contact PSMJ Education Department at education@psmj.com or (800) 537-7765.
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