Archive for December, 2011
|The Project Manager’s Role as Client Educator/Mentor
Thursday, December 29th, 2011
By Phillip Infelise, Chairman
In this 15th edition (have we really been tuning in for two years now?) I want to discuss a critical and expanding role of the Project Manager that is rarely articulated – that of Educator and Mentor to our clients (and other project team members) while steering them through the project processes.
In many cases the client is engaging an outside Project Manager very simply because there is no internal expertise or practical experience to execute such a project. Consequently, we are relied upon to articulate, explain, educate, mentor and provide additional perspective to the client throughout the process. In a very circuitous way our intent is to elevate the game of our principal client contact to the point that they could manage any subsequent projects without our day-to-day assistance (but may still rely upon us for item-specific expertise). Yes, I know that can mean educating ourselves out of future work, but that is our way of “doing the right thing.” Examples of this result abound among our clients new and old.
It is always important to start the education process off on the right foot, and we can do so by assuring that everyone around the project table speaks in a common vernacular. To that end, we make our Project Management Lexicon available to all of our clients, prospects, and team members. The Lexicon covers more than 20 pages of industry definitions and acronyms, some conventional and some rather eclectic or irreverent—even including fun additions from our clients themselves. Believe me, it is an interesting read.
We may also have an expanding role in educating our project team members and collaborators about our client’s specific needs and wants: how they want to operate, their style of decision making and, yes, even their specific vocabulary. Every client has unique internal processes and politics (whether they know it or not or admit it or not) and we need to tune the Project Team into those nuances if we are going to have a successful project team dynamic. One large client, for whom we are currently developing a build-to-suit headquarters, has such a specific brand of internal communication and team-wide approach that we have developed a Client Lexicon to distribute to project team members so that they everyone knows what we are talking about.
Opportunities for education and mentoring abound throughout the course of a normal project. We make a point of trying to understand what the client knows and doesn’t know from day one, so that we can adapt our style of communication to meet their needs. Likewise some of the documentation is presented very differently, depending on the client’s prior experiences. Certainly, during Project Team meetings, we make it a point to sit next to our client contact, so that we can answer questions and discuss options whenever serious issues are presented to them. Often it is trying to explain a very technical issue in non-technical terms. Or simply letting them know what something costs before they commit to loving it as a solution.
Walking the space together at various stages of development is also an opportunity to educate: not only about how the construction is progressing, but also about facilities management issues and approaches that are more understandable when looking at the raw, unfinished space. Another fun education is to provide the client with insight into the “games our vendors play” and how to control those games to work in our project’s favor.
Many clients have no idea what trauma they may be facing during the relocation phase of the project. We often educate the entire staff on what to expect during the relocation and how to cope with the issues that will arise during general staff orientations and specific move captain training.
The expanding role of the Project Manager as educator/mentor brings a new welcome dynamic to our perspective. This is simply because we too, as enlightened, new day Project Managers, are in the business of always educating ourselves and applying new learning and approaches to our client’s benefit.
In our next edition, stay tuned for a discussion about resolving internal project team conflicts and issues.
Tags: corporate real estate, educator, PM, project manager, vendor
Posted in Project Management | Comments Off
The Industrial Relocation Checklist
Wednesday, December 21st, 2011
By Sean Hoehn, Managing Principal, Industrial
Relocating your industrial facilities can be a challenging task and requires careful planning. It is important that equipment does not get damaged during the move, that the relocation is completed on time to limit disruption to operations, and that it is completed within budget.
It is important to research companies that specialize in the transportation of racking and machinery well in advance of the relocation. Be sure to choose a reputable mover, and do not base your decision on pricing alone; the latter can end up costing you more in the end. Try to find a moving company that can provide you turnkey services; it is more manageable, and less stressful, to deal with one project manager as opposed to dealing with several companies with different contacts for different services.
Prepare rough floor plans of the new site outlining where the machinery and equipment should go. Once you have a shortlist of moving companies to provide you with a final quote, have them perform site visits with you in your existing and future home and go over the rough floor plans.
Speak to your distribution or production manager regarding any possible down time and stock requirements, as you do not want your move to affect your relationships with your customers. You may want to consider over-holding machinery in your current facility for a short period and perform a staged relocation by moving certain lines at the most appropriate time.
Someone in your organization should create a timetable for coordinating services with your local providers. A common mistake when planning a relocation is forgetting a services checklist for things like draining of oil, electrical and mechanical disconnects and reconnects, or any other requirement that might apply to your operations.
Obtain budget approval from your associates and make sure they know what moving company you have chosen. Explain the plan to ensure both internal and external stakeholders are comfortable with the relocation and timetable.
Cresa and its project management team are well positioned to facilitate your relocation. Our integrated approach enables us to take you through the entire real estate process from strategy development, surveys, market opportunities, negotiations with landlords and renovations/relocations.
Tags: corporate real estate, industrial, relocation, tenant
Posted in Supply Chain | Comments Off
End of the Year Thoughts Regarding Facilities Management
Thursday, December 15th, 2011
By Jim Ricker, Vice President, Corporate Services
With 2011 coming to a close, this is a good time to reflect on some key points about FM.
Facilities Management is not a commodity.
Some consultants who advise corporations and institutions about outsourcing tend to view FM as a commodity that can be purchased similarly to services such as custodial, grounds, office supplies, and the like. This is a terrible concept and should be resisted by prospective acquirers of FM services. You are entrusting the care of your real estate assets to professionals from a service organization. The right decision hinges on much more than the fee per square foot and the generation of reams of reports. You need a provider who is trustworthy, experienced, innovative, and works well under a performance based contract. Think of this work as you would that performed by your accountants and attorneys—it is that important.
Outsourcing is not a universal panacea.
It works well for some organizations—those that don’t have the internal resources, have a history of outsourcing non-core work, have a culture that accepts the concept, and have an executive management team that is totally committed to the approach. In addition, organizations that are having difficulty keeping pace with rapid growth may be candidates for outsourcing.
For those corporations and institutions that have strong internal groups, outsourcing often has no benefit and may be more expensive. For an internal FM team that effectively manages costs, hires contractors for repetitive services such as custodial and grounds and infrequent, highly skilled services such as elevator maintenance and indoor air quality testing, keeps its team trained and skillful, and provides relevant information to senior management, outsourcing offers little. In fact, there could be a regression if the culture is complex and skeptical of outsiders.
Learn the language of the customer and use it to communicate.
FM teams frequently work for another function—often Finance, Administration or Human Resources. And FM’s key customers are usually senior managers of sales, service, engineering, or manufacturing. These constituencies are typically not fluent in the language of FM. They think in terms of their own functions: time to market, inventory turns, employee turnover, employee productivity, earnings per share, occupancy as a % of sales, and the like. Learn how they think about work, and adapt how you communicate to their way of thinking. You will be much more effective and appreciated and may be viewed as more integral to the success of the company. This is a critical concept for both internal FM teams and external, fee-based providers.
Look for more key points about FM on future blog posts.
Tags: corporate real estate, FM, real estate outsourcing
Posted in Facilities Management | Comments Off
International Best Practices for Lease Administration
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
By Jeff Tosello, Principal
I get asked all the time from clients: what are the best practices for capturing our international real estate portfolio? Maybe I’m just a little confused or too cynical but my immediate response is usually that there aren’t any. Even if there are, the reality of what you can do is usually more of a factor than what somebody thinks you should do.
So let’s look at what you should and can do and see if we can carve out something real and actionable rather than a hypothetical model that just sits on the planning table indefinitely.
Similar to the original data and document gathering that you did when the domestic portfolio was compiled and centralized, you’ll have to first get an idea of the total listing of properties, preferably by country. This is sort of a chicken and egg scenario because often there is no target listing of what you should be getting a copy of. This entire process relies heavily on senior level sponsorship and good relations and communication with local country managers or the on the ground personnel.
Lease translations are next and that’s almost an entire article in itself as there are many different ways to go about this and a huge disparity in costs depending on how you go about it. You’ll want to plan this out carefully before even beginning to translate.
Once locations are identified and documents are translated, you’ll need to plan what data to capture and how and how often updates will be made. Note: Whenever the other shoe drops on the FASB/IASB ruling, international leases are going to need to be included.
CresaPartners Lease Administration compiled a comprehensive International Lease Administration Integration Checklist into our modular service menu. If you need help with this and are not sure what makes the most sense for your company, feel free to contact me. We can help you build best practices that work!
Tags: corporate real estate, international, real estate portfolio
Posted in Lease Administration | Comments Off
