A recent business trip took some of our executives and new hires to project sites in Charlotte, Chicago, San Francisco and New York City. By day, we visited stores under construction and those we recently completed. By night, we met with clients, designers, architects, local sub-con-tractors and superintendents to discuss how the leadership of a general contractor affects a project, from their perspective. The purpose of these discussions was to determine how sound job site leadership resonates throughout a project to make things happen, especially when faced with tight deadlines.

While these conversations touched on various issues, there was one common thread; we all had great respect and appreciation for good leaders, particularly project managers and superintendents who work at the job site. But, what constitutes effective job site leadership?  And how does it influence the outcome of a project?

Good leaders have a collection of traits and skills that are refined with experience overtime. We have all been in meetings and felt at ease in the presence of a seasoned, credible leader.

Effective leadership
From a fundamental perspective, effective on-site project managers and superintendents are competent builders and are well versed in all aspects of general contracting.  They are able to organize multiple trades to work concurrently on the same project and are experts in time management and executing action plans.

One of the lighter moments we had on our trip was a dinner with a very competent superintendent in Chicago. As we discussed the relevance of project schedules versus the effectiveness of a time and action plan, he said, quite profoundly and confidently, “A schedule is not a plan, it’s just a fancy calendar we hang on the wall when we feel like showing off.” Although we understood his stance, we did not fully agree. A schedule is a baseline, and a time and action plan allows you to think, act and adapt to the realities of a job site.  The progress of the work must be checked against the preset parameters of the construction schedule.

A clear sense of direction seems like an inherent skill to the best on-site leaders.  They diligently review the drawings, build the job in their minds and know what information is missing or conflicting. They verbalize their thoughts in project meetings, verify that their requests are recorded accurately in project minutes and know with certainty the deadlines for which specific information is needed before it affects a project schedule or budget.

Effective leaders are also inspiring. In their own way, they motivate us to do our absolute best.

One of the best on-site project managers I know starts each day standing cheerfully at the construction entrance, greeting every worker as they come through the door. He does not know every name but he shakes every hand, looks everyone in the eye, and always says a little more than good morning. He says things such as, “Thanks for getting that temporary circuit installed yesterday, it really helped out.” Or, if someone had a problem or conflict the day before, he will say, “Today’s a new day, go do your thing.”

Leaders like this make workers of every vocation understand that their efforts are appreciated and they are an important part of the team. This is a critical trait that helps foster timely completion of every aspect of a project.

After four days, we were back in New York City touring three large, but very different, retail projects including the Abercrombie & Fitch flag-ship store on Fifth Avenue, Anthropologie in Rockefeller Center and M&M’s World in Times Square.

M&M’s World is more than just an enormous candy store.  Located in the heart of Times Square, it consumes nearly half of the 48th Street block between Broadway and Seventh Avenue. It is home to all things M&M’s — candy in dozens of colors, merchandise, clothing, souvenirs, and more.

The space was originally two floors, but was not big enough. An additional floor, inspired by the shapes found in a bag of peanut M&M’s, was added. The store’s three floors of candy and other products are set behind a 50-footglass curtain wall that runs along three streets of the store’s front age.  Visible through the glass are fabric-wrapped structural columns that change color several times per minute with the use of LED up-lighting.  Broadcasting outside the store on opposite corners are two of the largest, brightest, clearest display screens in Times Square.

The interior theme of the store is I “M”NY. The finishes are mostly industrial with dozens of bold M&M’s brand displays and scaled-up trademark graphics installed throughout. The first floor cash wrap theme is a subway stop on the “M” train and also features a disco dancing blue M&M at the Seventh Avenue entrance.  The second floor is the largest and features a giant green M&M Lady Liberty, the world’s largest wall of M&M’s, and an authentic  NASCAR car. The third floor is the top of the great wall of M&M’s and is enclosed with curved glass rails against the shape of a peanut M&M.

There are three escalators to move shoppers among floors, in addition to a three-stop passenger elevator and a four-stop freight elevator that also services the basement stock area. There are five staircases running through the space, but only one is accessible for non-emergencies.

On-site leadership
How did effective on-site leadership make things happen for M&M’s World?

When we presented our qualifications to M&M’s World, we were asked to provide a strategic outline of how we would organize the project, although construction documents were incomplete. Furthermore, the store needed to open in just six months. We presented our qualifications, as well as our time and action planning model. The following week, we began work as construction manager and general contractor.

Due to the tight schedule, our usual nuts-and-bolts time and action plan was expanded to include the coordination of the architect, engineers and five or six specialty vendors.  Daily monitoring of the time and action plan, as well as weekly review with all trades present, established real-time accountability of individual deliverables. The reality of measurable consequences to a failed time and action plan on the project helped keep everyone involved focused.

The foresight of the project manager and superintendent was critical to the success of the project. They looked ahead and anticipated what they needed from the design staff and knew when to ask for it early enough so that it could reasonably be delivered. In many respects, they shined a light on the path in front of us and kept the project continuously advancing on all fronts.

To motivate one’s self is easy; to motivate 100 workers is a true challenge. For the on-site staff that worked at M&M’s World, inspiring the work force seemed to come naturally. The hours were long and erratic but no one complained.

An extremely aggressive timeframe,  an evolving, challenging design presented to the M&M’s World project team, and a lack of good leadership could have been impossible to overcome. However, excellent on-site leadership helped all team members to understand that each had a small role in making something big happen.  The sense of pride and the can-do attitude that this effective leadership fostered was the critical element in making the project a great success.

Dan Keck is the founder of Mackenzie Keck, Inc., a nationwide general contracting and construction management firm.  He can be reached at dk@mackenziekeck.com or 908.850.1006.

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