What To Ask About Project Management? Upcoming Survey

JH
John Honovich
Jul 24, 2017
IPVM

We are going to do a survey on project management for integrators. Here is your chance to propose questions we should ask. We'll get 100+ integrators to respond in detail to these questions so this is a good opportunity to understand how various integrators approach project management.

The format will be similar to this post - Manufacturer Sales People Are Very Important - Statistics

So, I'll through out a few project management topics to get the conversation going:

  • Who manages projects in your company (e.g., project managers or sales people or technicians or the owner, etc.)? Why?
  • Once the job is sold, who is the primary interface with the customer? Why?
  • How do you deal with customer requests that are beyond the scope of work?
  • What do you do if the project goes over budget?
  • What type of software do you use to help manage projects? Why?

Add you own in the comments and we'll figure out ~10 to ask integrators.

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Jul 24, 2017

I would be interested to know what other integrators are doing for: 

- The number of technicians/subs per project manager? 

- The sum of annual projects managed per PM? 

- How many simultaneous projects per PM or projects team?

- If there are teams how are they structured project managers vs project coordinators vs field supervisors etc.

 

(1)
Avatar
Mike Rose
Jul 24, 2017

1. Who would be responsible for manufacture on site support?

2. Who would manage customer expectations on sequence of  operations?

3. Who is responsible for the training component?

4. Who confirms the equipment sold meets the operational requirement of the system 

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #2
Jul 24, 2017

A a rep, we are often asked to get involved as a "connection to/agent of" the manufacturer. This occurs at different stages of the installation...meet with consultants, train the end user, etc.  What role do integrators see for this type of project support?

Avatar
Robert Baxter
Jul 26, 2017

Perhaps the Survey could first list the different models an integrator can structure the business and then responders can identify which model they are structured. I presume there is more than one way a business could be structured depending on the type of work and size of the organization... 

Related to the above is what are the different positions (we have 7 different positions)the business has created  and who performs the various duties to get a project completed on time and on budget: preliminary design and estimate, sell, final design, creating the bill of material, ordering, scheduling, assemble, program, test, install, customer complaints, commissioning and customer orientation, sub-trade coordination, pulling video requests, setting up new customers in project management/ accounting job costing software, billing, setting up access credentials for customer, set up for monitoring station, burn in, deficiencies, trades and false alarm permits, managing service requests,...       

JB
Jeremy Binder
Aug 14, 2017
Thiel Strategic Communications

- Are your Project Managers, PMP certified?

- If you have multiple Project Managers, are they aligned by client account, account manager, vertical market/industry, etc.?

- What type of training does your company provide for Project Managers?

- How does your company define success for the Project Management Role?

- Do your Project Managers create workplans for each project?

- Do technicians "report" to Project Managers? If so, are they brought into the interviewing process for new technicians?

- How large or small is a project to require or not require a Project Manager being assigned? 

- Do your Project Managers have financial responsibilities?

- Are your Project Managers required to have security experience?

- How often and what method do your Project Managers communicate with clients?

- What is your number one Project Management Challenge?

Scope Creep? Poor Communication? Lack of Resources (Qualified or Quantity)?

- What are the most important competencies in a Project Manager?

- How do your Project Managers assess risk?

- How are internal resource conflicts resolved?

- Are dependencies identified and outlined to ensure workflow?

- What role in your company do Project Managers report to?

- How much does your Project Manager make?

- Are Project Managers salaried and expected to be "on" 24/7?

- What are the education requirements for your Project Managers?

- What software do you use for Project Management?

- Do Project Managers review quotes and estimates?

- Are Project Managers responsible for Labor Forecasts?

- How do your clients "accept" the software configuration and feature usaget?

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #3
Aug 15, 2017

What additional project management roles are you directly responsible for?

- Sales

- Purchasing

- Contract Negotiation

- CAD

- Acquisition/termination of personnel

- Invoicing

- AP Collections

- Estimates/Bids/Proposals

- Material and Equipment Logistics

 

i ask because I do all of those, some more poorly than others :). I am interested in what our industry defines as a PM versus say the software industry where many PMs cannot write a line of code and are simply in charge of scheduling meetings and handing out meeting minutes.

(1)
UI
Undisclosed Integrator #3
Aug 15, 2017

Also, VMS programming and 1st tier technical support.

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