The Project Director – Roles & Responsibilities!

Project Director Walked Through Office Straight To PM Office Shut Door And Talked Never Building Team Never Rallying Anyone Creating Detrimental Environment

Project site. Project director arrives. Operations manager. Executive. Walks through office. Walks past superintendent. Walks past field engineers. Walks past project coordinators. Goes straight into PM’s office. Shuts door. Talks. And talks. And talks. Never builds team. Never rallies everybody. Never checks in with superintendent. Never asks how workers are doing. Never participates in huddles. Never provides meaningful mentoring. Never assesses team health. Never gives connection relevance measurement. Just walks in. Shuts door with PM. Talks about technical items. Walks out. Leaves. And team suffers. Superintendent feels isolated. Field engineers feel disconnected. Project coordinator wonders if anyone cares. 

Workers never see leadership. Never feel valued. Never understand how they are relevant to bigger picture. And project becomes transactional instead of relational. Metrics instead of meaning. Tasks instead of team. Because project director forgot fundamental truth: project directors build people not just projects. This negative example stayed with Jason forever. What NOT to do. Because when project director does not show up way team needs them to team struggles. Not because they lack competence. But because they lack connection. Not because they cannot execute. But because they do not know they are relevant. Not because they are not winning. But because they do not know how to measure what winning looks like. Project directors are senior team builders not just managers. They curate environment where teams can win. They provide connection relevance measurement. They build people who build great things. When they fail at this everything else fails regardless of technical competence. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Project Director Versus Project Manager Roles

Project manager will lead and develop project. Start to expand their role and own risk and lead team and negotiate and resolve conflict. Really lead and manage that team with very little oversight whether small midsize or large project. Become primary owner interface with excellent communication skills from pre-construction to construction to end of project.

Project director in contrast really helps own strategy from start to finish and will own strategy of multiple projects. Should be no oversight required. Project director or PX will work with executive level leadership within region or district. May be called project director or project executive but really point is to curate people to make sure that those multiple projects have well-built teams that can execute on their own. Yes they own client. Yes they own architect and engineer relationship. Yes they lead efforts in precon. But at end of day project director or project executive ensures that team has all same things that company would need for organizational health. Build team first. Create clarity around where that project is headed. Communicate that clarity. Reinforce that clarity through project systems just like company would reinforce it through human systems. Bottom line: all about team building.

Project Director Checklist Through Project Phases

Pre-sell and proposal phase: Project director should be engaged throughout process. Run point for all content. Review final proposals. Run point for interview preparation. Oversee interview not only preparation but be part of interview itself. Once award work with owner and client stay in touch.

Pre-construction: Stay with design team precon and estimating team to make sure we have good plan from start. That includes Takt plan. That includes general conditions GRs bid coverage. Make sure meeting owner’s conditions of satisfaction and really providing remarkable experience. Taking care of customer every step of process.

Design development phase: Setting up meetings with key trade partners. Overseeing right constructability reviews owner coordination early procurement. Engaging in early submittal process deferred design. Reviewing estimate. Making sure schedule logistics all construction management items being provided at right time in coordination with design and on budget. At this phase project executive director better be looking at how to build that team. Who is going to compose team? Do we have right GCs GRs? Do we have team reviewing Takt plan logistics plan Takt zone maps and basically general strategy of project? Do we have startup plan for project? Are all items scopes one-offs bought out that are needed to actually build project? Are we preparing for fresh eyes meeting to bring team on board?

Critical point: If project director ahead of completion of CD phase ahead of submission of GMP and signing owner contract is not pulling that team in pulling that superintendent in pulling that PM we are missing opportunity because we have to be developing that team from start even if they are on different projects. Need to be getting them to review plan. Best advantage in precon is that they create it themselves. Basically curating this process to where when they start when they break ground it is project manager’s and superintendent’s plan and they are working together in cohesive way.

What typically gets done well: Estimate. Trade partner buy-in. Early trade partner involvement. Deferred design. Deferred submittals. Permitting.

What typically does NOT get done well by project director: Use of Takt plan to where we have correct overall project duration. Bringing supers and PMs in early enough to where it is their plan. Making sure we have right team size right trailer layout right budgets for workers for bathrooms and lunchrooms. Right overall logistical support and GCs and GRs to pay for right logistics carpenters and laborers. These are generally things that really are not done well in pre-construction and we need to get to point where they are.

Anybody can review job. Anybody can do precon. Anybody can do estimating. Anybody can kind of curate that process. But can you do it where we get overall project duration right team size right team composition right funding for project support and right environments? Have we in pre-construction bought out in that process integrated production control system? If not we need to check ourselves and get that done.

Notice to proceed: Once received NTP prepare for mobilization. Project director takes huge part. Risk assessment. Making sure all financial systems set up. Contingencies set up and communicated to team. Monthly financial and project status check-in set up. Exposures and way to track exposures all set up. Once mobilized make sure team understands prime agreement. Procurement up and running. All financial systems up and running. Get buyout and submittals process going.

Most crucial part: Build team. Bringing team together through phases of forming storming norming and performing. Yes team writing contracts. Yes in middle of procurement. Yes in middle of mobilization. Yes queuing up self-perform. Yes making sure design is complete. Yes tracking contingency. Yes creating systems for change management. Yes mapping out plans for commissioning. Yes mapping out plans for owner move-in. All that stuff happening. But most important thing is that team is being built so they can manage that themselves and project director can check in at least once week but once month to make sure project running well. This stuff will all be fairly well hidden with non-transparent team. That is why important to bring team into concept training mode of having trust conflict goal setting accountability and performance really working in collaboration with project director to win themselves.

Daily Weekly Monthly Standard Work For Project Directors

Daily standard work for project directors:

• Scale communication to teams for company or for critical issues daily
• Receive scaled roadblocks from teams to help clear work and create flow in field
• Provide prompt communication with owner about change conditions or safety incidents or anything they need to know about real time
• Ask right questions about safety that morning day you check in
• Make sure removing roadblocks for your teams fanatically
• Be positive example and rally team with good energy
• Participate in team huddles while on project and escalate critical issues to corporate

Notice: Nothing daily about regular management tasks. All team building stuff.

Weekly standard work:

• Check in on team health address any concerns
• Review roadblock tracking system – are we winning?
• Perform safety check-in using instincts going out in field
• Financial check-ins for contingency exposures payment sub pays regular pay applications to owner
• Look at job cost projections
• Look at critical submittals procurement make sure everything tracking
• Check status of RFIs and buyout
• Provide meaningful mentoring and training for PMs and PEs together line them out provide clarity make sure they have what they need
• Participate with project superintendent do not just think she or he has it under control – go check in on schedule ask how things going
• Check in with owner in person or by phone see how team doing
• Assess meetings team is having and look ahead – see if they are anticipating things that need queued up for quality process roadblock removal upcoming phases
• Get feel and teach and coach and mentor team

Monthly standard work:

• Meaningful check-ins with supers – sitdown lunch
• Check finances again change order management check payoffs
• Make sure team doing healthy monthly project status check-ins check on coordination
• Provide general training for team make sure people heading in good direction
• Check in on environment the trailer
• Check in on how team doing on health – maybe time to do off-site
• Make sure team providing remarkable experience for client
• Dig into some of biggest challenges team has
• Do health check of team – maybe team health assessment to see what three things you should dive in and help team fix
• Attend and participate in some of meetings they have on site get feel for how project going
• Provide encouragement in three different ways: connection relevance measurement

Connection Relevance Measurement From Patrick Lencioni

Everybody needs connection relevance and measurement. On monthly basis question is: Have you connected with each member of that team? Have you communicated to them why they are relevant? Have you given them keys to success so they know how to measure what winning looks like daily? If answer is no there is no blame or shame but you have opportunity to go make huge difference in these people’s lives.

Recommend reading The Truth About Employee Engagement or what is sometimes called Three Signs of Miserable Job by Patrick Lencioni.

Signs Project Director Not Showing Up Way Team Needs

Watch for these patterns that signal project director not building people just managing projects:

• Project director walks through office goes straight to PM’s office shuts door talks never builds team never rallies everybody never checks in with superintendent creating detrimental environment where team feels isolated disconnected undervalued
• Superintendents say they have not heard from leader in years proving project director not checking in monthly not providing mentoring not taking care of people not helping careers not digging in not helping team anticipate phases not present not engaged
• Project director says I do not like team building I do not like training I do not like organizational health stuff I do not like fluffy stuff I do not like dealing with superintendent getting into his business I just talk to PM I trust they are doing job showing lack of engagement
• Team health suffers because project director focuses on technical items (estimate trade partner buy-in deferred design permitting) but misses crucial items (correct overall project duration bringing supers and PMs in early right team size right trailer layout right budgets for workers right environments)
• Pre-construction does not buy out integrated production control system because project director curates estimate and contracts but not team building and systems that enable team to win
• Monthly check-ins never happen or only focus on financial metrics RFIs submittals buyout but never provide connection (knowing team personally) relevance (why their work matters) measurement (how to know they are winning)

These are signs project director managing projects not building people. And when you build projects without building people projects suffer regardless of technical competence.

What Success Actually Looks Like For Project Directors

Measurement of success: Did we finish project on time with great safety and great quality on budget meaning we made full fee where owner is raving fan everybody met their career goals and team is super happy and healthy? Person that curates that environment is project director executive or operations manager.

This is not soft stuff. This is hard business results. Projects finish on time when teams are healthy. Projects finish on budget when teams communicate well. Owners become raving fans when teams provide remarkable experience. Team members meet career goals when project directors mentor and develop them. Teams stay happy and healthy when project directors provide connection relevance measurement.

You cannot separate team health from project success. They are same thing. Project directors who think they can manage projects without building people discover projects suffer. Technical competence without relational investment creates transactional environments where teams execute minimally. Relational investment with technical competence creates transformational environments where teams exceed expectations.

Best advice for PM or project executive or project director: read all of Patrick Lencioni’s books and use that to curate health of team. We have to make sure we are building great people who build great things.

The Challenge

Stop walking through office straight to PM’s office shutting door talking never building team never rallying anyone. Start providing connection relevance measurement to every team member monthly ensuring they know you care why their work matters and how to measure winning. Stop saying I do not like team building training organizational health fluffy stuff dealing with superintendent. Start recognizing leaders build teams first have hard conversations coach and mentor direct reports ensure remarkable meetings scale communication repeat vision seven times. Stop focusing only on technical items that typically get done well (estimate trade partner buy-in deferred design permitting). Start focusing on crucial items that typically do NOT get done well (correct overall project duration bringing supers and PMs in early right team size right environments integrated production control system). Stop thinking project director role is about managing multiple projects with no oversight required. Start recognizing project director role is about curating people ensuring multiple projects have well-built teams that can execute on their own. Stop measuring success only by on-time on-budget metrics. Start measuring success by: on time great safety/quality on budget/full fee owner raving fan everybody met career goals team super happy and healthy.

As Patrick Lencioni teaches: everybody needs connection relevance measurement. Have you connected with each member of team? Have you communicated why they are relevant? Have you given them keys to success so they know how to measure what winning looks like daily? Project directors build people not just projects. Build team first. Create clarity around where project headed. Communicate that clarity. Reinforce that clarity through project systems. Bring team together through forming storming norming and performing. Provide daily rallying and positive example. Provide weekly mentoring and coaching. Provide monthly meaningful check-ins. Check in with teams at least monthly even if remotely by Zoom. Because measurement of success is not just finishing on time on budget. Measurement of success is finishing on time with great safety/quality on budget making full fee with owner as raving fan where everybody met career goals and team is super happy and healthy. Person who curates that environment is project director. So dig in. Build great people who build great things. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is difference between project manager and project director roles?
Project manager leads and develops project with very little oversight becoming primary owner interface from pre-construction to end, while project director owns strategy of multiple projects curating people to ensure those projects have well-built teams that can execute on their own, project director builds people not just projects.

What do project directors typically do well versus what they miss?
Typically done well: estimate, trade partner buy-in, deferred design, permitting. Typically NOT done well: using Takt plan for correct overall project duration, bringing supers and PMs in early enough to where it is their plan, right team size, right trailer layout, right budgets for workers/bathrooms/lunchrooms, right environments, buying out integrated production control system in pre-construction.

What are daily weekly monthly standard work for project directors?
Daily: scale communication, receive scaled roadblocks, provide prompt owner communication, ask safety questions, remove roadblocks fanatically, rally team, participate in huddles. Weekly: check team health, review roadblocks, safety check-in, financial check-ins, provide meaningful mentoring. Monthly: meaningful check-ins with supers, check finances, assess team health, provide connection relevance measurement.

What are connection relevance measurement from Patrick Lencioni?
Everybody needs connection (knowing team personally), relevance (why their work matters), measurement (how to know they are winning), on monthly basis ask: have you connected with each member? Have you communicated why they are relevant? Have you given them keys to success so they know how to measure winning daily?

What does project director success actually look like?
Finished on time with great safety and great quality, on budget meaning made full fee, owner is raving fan, everybody met their career goals, team is super happy and healthy, person who curates that environment is project director, cannot separate team health from project success because they are same thing.