The people business: Mastering the art of building relationships as a project manager

Dec 1, 2022

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Episode 165:

On today’s episode of “The Building Code,” Zach and Charley are talking to Tom Henning, director of construction management at Westminster Canterbury Richmond. Tom has an extensive career in the industry that started when he was in college. After graduating with in field engineering, he worked for several companies managing projects and even owned his own construction company for over five years.

Tune in to the full episode to hear more about what it takes to be a successful project manager and how building relationships is a key component.

What is one thing you’ve learned after so many years in project management?

“What I've learned with all my wisdom is that you should be humble enough to say, ‘Look, I'm not the smartest guy in the room.’ And that's what you find as you get older. You don't want to be the smartest guy in the room. I want the smart guys doing the work. You know what I'm trying to say? What I want people to look at me as being smart for is I get the right guys doing the work. That's where you're smart. I think that only comes with experience, and it also comes with just good people skills and working well with folks.”

How has Buildertrend helped manage so many renovations at the same time?

“I have a schedule on Buildertrend, so I actually use Buildertrend. I actually have a Westminster Canterbury renovation tab job that everybody has access to, and you pop that open and it has a schedule in there of all my bids, when they're due, and what apartments they are, and what time the pre bids are. Going to Buildertrend University though I learned, not only can I do that, but I can actually have them put the bids in. I truly believe it's the Buildertrend organization pieces that I'm using, that helps my guys just stay dialed in. The schedule feature alone is phenomenal. You just pop guys, when you update stuff and they're tied into the schedule. The plumber gets an update that, hey, we didn't pass an inspection, so you're going to have to come back tomorrow. It's not going to get done today, or whatever it might be. It's phenomenal.”

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