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PCCA Journal|3

rd

Quarter 2015

14

case studies and samples of checklists, best practices, plans,

specs, contracts, change orders, etc. Your people won’t be

discussing homebuilding, general construction, or road build-

ing; they’ll be discussing plowing, drilling, fiber to the home,

transmission & distribution lines, and substations.

FMI has many years of experience teaching this program

and admits that the techniques of managing projects are well-

known. Training in scheduling, budgeting, and cost tracking

is available from many sources. But to graduate to the next

level, your project staff must learn to think and act like busi-

ness owners. When projects break down, they have to feel

like they are bleeding their own money. When customers are

dissatisfied, your managers and staff must take it personally.

When jobs are running smoothly, they must remain vigilant.

The three main FMI facilitators at the PCCA PMA—Andy

Patron, Ethan Cowles, and Rick Reese—are very enthusias-

tic and engaging instructors. On the program evaluations,

participants raved about the instructors’ knowledge and

their ability to hold the group’s attention. “Coming from a

hands-on environment to sitting in a classroom for 11 hours

a day, I think all three presenters did a great job of keeping it

a fun and exciting learning experience,” said one participant.

“Thank you!”

The PCCA Project Manager Academy is built around four

core themes:

• Profitable customer relationship development

• Powerful, integrated project teams

• Financial control of projects

• Planning projects for profits and customer satisfaction

During this high-level, immersion experience, your project

delivery people will examine themselves, their organizations,

and their processes. Our goal is to transform talented builders

into true construction entrepreneurs.

An entrepreneur is a self-directed person who corrals and

coordinates diverse talents and resources to service custom-

ers and return profits. While this description may fit many

“managers,” there is a key difference between an entrepre-

neur and a manager. While most managers are capable and

dedicated to their jobs, entrepreneurs will always act as if

they have a personal stake in the success or failure of the

project.

The Journey Begins Now

The goal of this program is fundamental behavioral change.

Stop your PMs from seeing themselves as just another em-

ployee or a witness to project outcomes. Turn them into vir-

tual owners who have a personal stake in project outcomes

and the tools necessary to succeed.

The PCCA Project Manager Academy begins weeks before

attendees arrive, as each participant completes ProScan

and 360

o

personality surveys prior to the PMA and also has

surveys completed by supervisors, co-workers, people who

report to them, vendors, and customers. Once at the PMA,

participants learn about the value of honest feedback, the

qualities of effective feedback, how to best give it, how to

best receive it, and its importance to the success of one’s

company. During the PMA, each participant has an hour-

long, one-on-one session with an FMI facilitator who reviews

the specifics of their personal ProScan and 360

o

reports and

helps them understand how the results relate to their work

and their lives.

PCCA PMA participants have been amazed by the survey

tools’ ability to accurately describe their personality and

appreciative of the assistance provided by the FMI facilita-

tors. The participants’ comments were telling: “Wow! I am

amazed on how dead on this report came out. It is as if

someone had stepped into my life and lived it. To hear who I

am and what to do with my faults and plusses is great! Good

job!”

“Thank you for helping me understand me,” said another

participant. “Great exercise. Very eye-opening. I could have

PCCA Project Manager Academy

Continued from page 13

“I attended the first Project Manager Academy to see what it

was all about and could not have been more impressed. We will

continue sending our people. If they put 25 percent of what they

learned to use on the job, we will get a return on our investment

that is much more than the registration fee.”

– Heath Sellenriek, Sellenriek Construction